Ok, first question yes those going out for gag grouper and red snapper have done well. Those going after tarpon of the large variety, are still able to catch them regularly. Lastly the back bays and rivers continue to be good for most everything. Ok with that out of the way, looking forward it is not going to change much for most everything.
Those that fished in our back bays for most of the week did very well on juvenile tarpon early. Using pinfish, pilchards, and even a few times live shrimp worked well. Look for these fish moving forward in the area’s boats do not usually travel through, so basically “Not Near Channels”. The snook bite continues to be particularly good especially along our beaches. Anglers can walk beaches these days if they do not have a boat and often do better than those that do. Look for snook in the troughs right next to where the waves break. The redfish bite was just ok this week, probably because there so much bait.
Nearshore those going after big tarpon, fish from 60-200lb’s have had plenty of chances. Lots of fish have been relatively close to the beaches. Some captains have found fish in as shallow as eight feet from Gordons pass all the way to Cayo Costa. Crabs and threadfin herring have been the best all week. Permit fishing continues to be good as well as king fish, gag grouper, and even a few cobia.
Offshore its been all about red snapper all week. Those getting out past 120 feet have done well with limiting out being normal. Some of these red snappers have been up to 26lb’s this week. There is a bunch of groupers, mangrove snappers, lanes snappers, mutton snappers, and aj’s to fill up the rest of their time after the red snapper limit has been reached.
Tight lines, Capt. Greg Stamper
Snookstampcharters.com Fort Myers beach
239-313-1764