Report for Naples, Marco Island and the Ten Thousand Islands
Capt. Matt Hoover
March 29, 2000
Marco Island - Saltwater Fishing Report
Final Blow
We had a super week. The weather was warm and the breezes were pleasant until the winds of the last front came through on Monday. Still, it’s hard to complain when you figure that it is the month of March. March is notorious for obnoxious weather. That can’t be said about the millennium March. There was super action despite lame tides and the blow on Monday.
Some of us concentrated on tarpon most of the week. I like the tides three days prior to and after a full or new moon for tarpon. Strong currents are good for just about any kind of saltwater fishing. I had clients catch and release tarpon in excess of one hundred pounds every day until the front came through on Monday this past week. Captain Stacy Mullendore and Captain Duane White had similar success. Tarpon showed up in bays and passes this week. Some of them were “laying up”. All of the fish fell for bait. Bait was a bit more difficult this past week but if you were persistent, you could get enough to do damage.
Some folks did excellent throwing jigs and lures. Captain Richard Donofrio reported several great days with snook, reds, and trout. His clients were throwing jigs all day long and they had several double-digit days.
Snook are starting to show up with regularity. If you get on a bank where you catch several, odds are there will be more down the rest of the bank. That was the case with my clients on several days, We got on a couple of productive long runs and were able to milk snook out of the nooks and crannies all the way. This is also where you will pick up an occasional redfish. Most of the fish were smaller. Some of them were keeper size. There have been some steroid jacks on the loose. You will tag a few while working a bank. I like to think of them as a hot sauce shaken on a well-rounded meal.
There have been some large trout hitting the filet table. Friends of mine have been releasing large trout as well. Some of the fish have measured on or over the twenty-inch mark. Most of the catches have been on jigs of one sort or the other. Rumor has it that smoke or rootbeer is a good choice. You will most likely catch a few mackerel and even a bluefish if you are going after trout. Anglers are still nailing a few pompano too.
The list goes on and on. There is so much happening and the best has yet to come. I have a hard time writing this report when the tarpon, snook, and redfish of spring are here. What do you go for first? I will leave that decision up to you. I’ll see you on the water.
More Fishing Reports:
