Cold front after cold front continues to push through Southwest Florida. The pattern of a cold front ever four days is getting a bit old around here and it has made for some challenging days. Low tides and wind mean mucked up water in the bays, and dirty water out to about 9 miles. Days with low winds have been few and far between as we move into February. Fish have been caught and there were even some nice surprises.
Most of the fishing reports this week came from the back bays. Even on windy days guides can hide on the backsides of islands and wind blocking shorelines throughout the area. On the days when its not blowing we spent a lot of time on the open flats using mainly popping corks with either live shrimp under them or DOA’s. Trout, pompano, bluefish, sharks, and ladyfish are mostly what you can expect from that. On the days when it was windy, we tucked into places and hid. Cut baits such as ladyfish or mullet worked well in the muddy water conditions, mainly for redfish. Snook made a showing this week around the deeper docks and bridges. Shrimp on 1/4oz jigs left along caught lots of fish in the 18–25-inch range.
Nearshore fishing was ok the few times they were able to get out. Sheepshead are beginning to show up more and more. The rock piles and local wrecks are where they are. Small jigs or 1/o circle hooks with a piece of shrimp or crab will do the job. Most of the sheepshead range from 10 to 25 inches. Mangrove snappers, a few permit, as well as some tripletail took up the rest of their time. Not much to report from the offshore bite this week, as strong winds and rough seas occurred basically every day.
Tight lines, Capt. Greg Stamper
Snookstampcharters.com Fort Myers beach, Fl
239-313-1764
Cold fronts
