Another week of hot weather and the bite continues. This week we had early morning storms that hampered some of the offshore trips a bit. The afternoon storms did not get going till around 3pm, so inshore and nearshore was doable till then. If you waited till 7pm then things cleared up nicely, and you could get back out.
The inshore bite was early and moving water was the key. Pine Island sound was a hot spot for redfish and snook this week. The islands on the Northwest side had plenty of fish to be caught. During the slacking tides fishing was tough and during those times dropping into 3 feet of water over the grass flats for trout was the plan. The Caloosahatchee River has had low discharges for a week now making the river salinity higher. This means besides snook and redfish the trout will now move back into the the river and adjacent Matlacha areas. The bait on our beaches continues to be plentiful as well as the snook that are mixed in with them.
Nearshore fishing for permit continues to be good. A few cobia come into play from time to time so always have a pitch rod with a jig or something handy. Mangrove snapper, mackerel, some trout, as well as random bluefish are also being caught. There has been plenty of threadfin herring schools in 20-35-feet. A quick stop to sabiki a few dozen before hitting the wrecks and reefs is a smart move. The big snook are hanging around these same areas and dropping down a live threadfin, usually gets their attention.
Offshore red snapper season has wound down. The focus moving forward is grouper and snappers. The long trips out to 160-feet plus are no longer needed. Red groupers will be in the 100-120-foot range until we get through September. Mangrove snapper, mutton snapper, vermillion, and yellowtail can be targeted in 70-110-feet regularly. Nighttime snapper fishing is a big thing around here. Most nighttime snapper trips produce much larger fish than the daytime anglers.
Tight lines, Capt. Greg Stamper
Snookstampcharters.com Fort Myers beach, Fl
239-313-1764
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