Finally, we have some warming conditions, and the fish are happy. The lower end of this last cold front did practically nothing, and we are now reaping the benefits. We did have a few days of wind keeping the offshore trips to a few days, but the back bays have been the place to be. Nearshore anglers that were within sight of shore did well and even had a few visitors that were unexpected.
We can start off with the last week of offshore fishing, as when fishermen could get out it was successful. The mangrove snappers, red groupers, lane snappers, and porgies bite continues to be good. They did mention the bite was a bit harder to get going, so bring a lot of chum with you should you decide to do it this week. Amberjack, kingfish, and a few sailfish have also been reported this week. This pattern will continue for several more days based on the weather predictions given. Those that wanted to bring home grouper and caught the big ones “Up to 15 pounds” were mostly out past 120 feet. All the snappers, porgies, even a few cobia were found inside of that 100 foot range.
The back bays continue to be good, especially for trout, pompano, and redfish. There has been a bunch of small black drums in the mix but, the 20-40 pounders are still offshore. Throwing jigs tipped with shrimp in our passes and around some of our nearshore reefs has been the ticket for the pompano. Redfish continue to warm up on the flats that have dark bottom till the afternoons. Sight fishing for the redfish is your best bet early in the day and throwing cut baits or shrimp along the mangrove shorelines in the afternoon should continue to work well.
The nearshore fishing has been predominantly sheepshead and snappers. Some permit did show up this week on a few of the wrecks in 40 feet of water. Using crabs for both the sheepshead and the permit is your best bet. If its snapper that you want shrimp on jigs will work fine. The bi-catch this week comprised of mostly Spanish mackerel, but a few flounder made their way to the fillet station as well.
Tight lines, Capt. Greg Stamper
Snookstampcharters.com Fort Myers beach
239-313-1764
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