Already a week has gone by and as expected the waning moon has turned on the tarpon, redfish, snook and even trout! We will talk more about our back bays and river fishing soon. Those that got out deep this week did much better towards weekend, keeping our strong tide conversation going. Most of those fishing throughout the area in our near shore waters reported a mix of good days and bad, again based on tidal movement.
We will start off with what should be a great week for inshore fisherman. We will have great early morning tides as well as outgoings before noon through most of the weekend. Expect tarpon fishing to be particularly good for those that get out early. Concentrate on shorelines with strong moving water and a bit of a deeper trough than what surrounds. The redfish bite will be your backup plan if the tarpon does not want to oblige, as they’ll be tight on the same shorelines where the current hit oyster bars or mangroves. Snook fishing continues to be good for numbers of 18-27-inch fish in a lot of areas, but the passes that are tight are giving anglers all they can handle this last week. Good moving water is the key for all these species, so that will be key throughout this week.
The offshore fisherman has done well, mainly on mutton snappers this week. Those fishing the last few hours before sunset all the way until the tide slows have done best. Look for the best bite out past 120 feet if your up for that far of a run. Lane snappers, mangrove snappers, and the occasional grouper, of the gag and red variety will be your other bycatch. Anglers that chummed a lot and were patient did give the best reports. Pinfish worked great as well as squid, shrimp, and vertical jigs.
Nearshore was a story of two tides all week. Captains did very well on some tides for tarpon, permit, cobia, snappers, and snook. Again, good moving water was the difference. This week you will have a lot of good tides to work with, and they will be before most of the afternoon storms. Those that wait till the late evening will have a chance, but the thunderstorms will decide that for you.
Tight lines, Capt. Greg Stamper
Snookstampcharters.com Fort Myers beach, Fl
239-313-1764
Start early
