Another great week for those fishing the back bays and flats continued all week. There has been both an influx of fish coming from North of us as well as our usual suspects. The nearshore anglers also found that fish moving from the cooling Northern waters were hungry and ready to pull on some drags. There was only a day or two that the offshore guides got out far, but those that did caught fish.
Starting with our back-bays, rivers, and creeks this week was your best bet. The high wind days we have coming this week will make this the thing to do again. The redfish bite continues to be good for anglers fishing on the tides and currents that lined up with our wind directions. There have been several four hour trips all week with 6 to 12 redfish caught per trip. The bait of choice was live shrimp, making things easy for most. The Bi-catch this week had many of the usual suspects, but also gave us an abundance of pompano, permit, and black drum.
Those that fished nearshore saw the same pattern. This is great for those fishing from 15-45 feet moving through the next few weeks. Big black drum, cobia, and even a few kingfish started to show up. These fish are moving South and have found out that we have lots of bait hanging out here, so their happy. Tarpon, mangrove snappers, and mackerel continue to keep fisherman busy as well. It will not be long before tripletail become another go to target for many, but give the crab traps some time to get some growth on them before this happens.
The offshore bite was good for those that picked the one or two days that were doable. Red grouper is in shallower than months past and more than willing to eat squid, flutter jigs, and large pinfish. Look for these groupers this week in 65-85 feet of water along ledges and live bottom. The hardest part for those that want to go after these groupers will be the waiting on the winds to drop down a bit, as it will be a bit sporty out 30-40 miles.
Tight lines, Capt. Greg Stamper
Snookstampcharters.com Fort Myers beach, Fl
239-313-1764
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