Report for Naples, Marco Island and the Ten Thousand Islands
Capt. Matt Hoover
May 4, 2000
Marco Island - Saltwater Fishing Report
Catch A Wave
The process of fishing has been a little bit like the act of surfing. Thank God that most of us fish better than we surf. This past week has been a repeat of the former weeks. There has been very little breaks in the weather pattern. Cool fronts have been blasting across the country. Heavy wind has been associated with those fronts. Fishing remained productive if you could catch a wave of calm during the week.
Plenty of snook and redfish were caught this past week. When it got windy, folks would work banks that were in a lee. Live bait was available and that is what most folks used. I received a great report from Captain Richard Donofrio. He has been fishing with two clients from the Carolinas that love to throw plugs. They have been tearing up snook and redfish with jigs and topwater plugs. It seems that a plug called “Spittin’ Image” has been doing real well. If you can’t find the saltwater version, just change the hooks on the fresh water job. Richard says they caught keeper sized fish as well as fish that took them to the cleaners.
I spent most of the week tarpon fishing. We have done very well around the passes using live mullet or cut bait. I have been fishing with my dad and his friend Jim Cross all week and have managed to land a few in the sixty to one hundred and twenty pound class. We lost some real monsters this week. Tarpon fishing can put you in the trick bag very quick and I have seen just about every thing that can go wrong do just that. We have had fun picking on ourselves for all of our mistakes. Captain Jay Peeler has managed to bring some large tarpon to the boat with his clients this past week as well. Other guides did very well with them too. Captain Al Keller has been fishing the fly this past week and has had good luck in finding laid up tarpon in back bays. They have managed to hook a few and enjoy the show that only a tarpon can provide.
The over all fishing has been very good around Marco and the Ten Thousand Islands. It will be even better if we could get locked in a normal weather pattern. In the meantime, pick up a board and catch a good wave.
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