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Report for Naples, Marco Island and the Ten Thousand Islands
Capt. Matt Hoover
April 16, 2007
Marco Island - Saltwater Fishing Report
Hot n Cold
Fishing has been hot and cold literally and figuratively speaking. Just as things are getting right temperature wise, another cold front slams us. Still, the fishing has been quite good. If you have been using live bait, which has been the tricky part; sometimes it’s along the beach, back country or offshore. It helps if you are fishing as much as possible to keep your finger on the pulse of things.
Snook and redfish have been out front, in the middle and in the back country. I have been catching them on mostly live bait, but my fly trips have been very successful as long as the wind hasn’t been blowing. I have been using a bait pattern that I call Matt’s 40. I really don’t put a whole lot of stock in the “secret fly” like a lot of rooky guides do. Try to match what the fish are eating and have confidence in what you are throwing. Make the dang thing look like a scared hunk of protein. The trick is in the striping action of the fly. Once again, make it look like food.
While I haven’t really been targeting trout, they have been over the grass flats and I have been catching larger trout while fishing for snook. The bigger trout like to hang a little further off of the bank than the snook and redfish do.
Tarpon are here in our area but they are sketchy at best, I know, I know there are other guys that get excited about seeing two or three laid up, but I like to pull into a quiet spot and see twenty fish or more there. I have a feeling that those days are gone because of boat traffic. These cold fronts have been holding the real tarpon action at bay. We have suspected that the tarpon move north with each passing cold front. Well the recent satellite tagging efforts in the past couple of seasons have actually proved that to be true. We need stable weather right now. It is noon right now and the temperature is 62. That just won’t do. I have been catching a few tarpon on cut bait and live bait. My last fly trip, we jumped two and landed one all on an ancient fly pattern that I have been using. It is a black and red Casa Mar that the late Harry Kime used to use in Costa Rica. It has always worked very well for me. If it ain’t broke…………
Hopefully, this will be the last cold front that we will have to contend with. Fishing is going to be a little tough this week. Nothing we haven’t dealt with before though. I’ll see you on the water.
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