Fishing was interesting this week as we dealt with two storms moving through the gulf. The storms never got close to Fort Myers Beach; therefore, we did not have great changes in pressure only a few small bands of rain. The bands we did get were mostly in the afternoon far after I was off the water. All said, fishing was good. Inshore, the juvenile tarpon became top bill again. Nearshore fishing continues to be good when the water moves well and the winds down. There was only a day or two when the offshore guides got out, but they did well when they did.
The back bays were the place to be this week based on weather, tides, and how it worked with the storms. Any time during the summer when we have good morning tides, fishing is good. With the tropical storms and eventual hurricanes moving from our west and 300 miles south of us, it was the right thing to do. Tarpon continue to eat in the bays, rivers, and creeks early in the mornings. This pattern will continue till October. Redfish fishing continues to get better and better and that means there is going to be some great fishing in September thru November. Most of the redfish have been on the shorelines with shade when it gets hot and spread out on the flats when its early or overcast.
The nearshore trips mostly stayed within a few miles of our beaches all week. Those that found good relief off the bottom did well on snappers, trout, permit, and a few sheepshead ironically. There was not much problem getting bait for those that fished before the seas got mixed up with the storms. Crabs continue to pour out our passes on strong outgoings, pilchards have been on the beaches until the waves picked up, and the pinfish have been easy to find.
There was truly little offshore fishing this week as expected. There were two days when things worked out and the few that went, did very well. 120 feet plus was where things happened on squid, pinfish, and vertical jigs. Snowy, gag, red, and scamp grouper showed up for several anglers. Nice mangrove snappers up to 5 pounds as well as mutton and lane snappers were their bycatch. I did not see any black tuna, mahi or other pelagic come into the docks this week.
Tight lines, Capt. Greg Stamper
Snookstampcharters.com Fort Myers Beach, Fl
239-313-1764
Dodging a few storms
