As the last week and a half was split between calm glassy days and then windy ones, fishing was good. We fished throughout SouthWest Florida for a variety of different species and ran across schools of tarpon and snook in large numbers. The water releases from lake O made fishing around the Caloosahatchee river and its estuaries tough, but when we moved North or South of the discharge we got on them good. Charlotte harbor from two pines down to the Matlachee bridge held some nice pockets of snook along the troughs and occasionally on the flats. The snook ranged mostly in the 20-28 inch size and we caught most of them throwing soft plastics meant for redfish. Tarpon schools got giddy a few times this week with threadfins under corks working best. There were times that you could see them in every direction, so drifting using a little bit of trolling motor to position the boat into there path worked best. Ironically we also caught a few gar mixed in with the tarpon, not exactly a great upgrade but interesting. Redfishing has continued to improve as the summer weather patterns set in, and cut baits tossed in tight to the mangroves caught upper slot fish during the windy days.
It’s Hot, and so is the Bite!
