Allison Koss’ pompano dandy hit a shrimp pattern fly on a school of cownose rays at Matlacha Pass on her Wildfly Charter with Capt. Gregg McKee.Dennis Trice’s big black bass hit a wild shiner near Indian Prairie Channel on his Big O adventure with Roland Martin Marina & Resort Capt. Good White
Jim Van Ness’ 15-inch black snare drum is called puppies. Large dogs can weigh over 100 pounds, but they aren’t as good to eat.
Char Mercer and grandsons Lochlan and Landry Curtis had fun at Wiggins Pass with goliath groupers, which are protected from harvest.
Red tide has reared its ugly head in Southwest Florida, but so far the outbreaks seem very patchy. The waters around Sanibel and Pine Island Sound appear to be the most affected.
Strong winds limited offshore attempts last weekend, and the forecast for next weekend is for rough seas through Sunday, but the waters midweek have been full of fish and beautiful. An influx of pompano has been widespread, with catches reported from the shores of Bokeelia to the Sanibel Causeway and the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River.
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The Trafford Lake bite has slowed down a lot this week, but the Big O bass have been biting well.
ESTERO BAY: Bob Mignogna reports “Fish-a-polooza” Tuesday at Big Hickory Pass with friend Jim Van Ness. They used live shrimp to catch a 15-inch black drum, crevalle jack, nice trout, sheepshead and mangrove snapper “filo mare,” totaling 16 from 10 to 12 inches.
Jim Van Ness’ 15-inch black snare drum is called puppies. Large dogs can weigh over 100 pounds, but they aren’t as good to eat.
SANIBEL/PINE ISLAND SOUND: The captain of the city of St. James, George Grosselfinger, reported catching and releasing two undersized snook on Tuesday, but the action was extremely slow and he saw two dead fish presumably killed by red tide in lower Pine Island Sound. Thursday morning also released two mid-20-inch snook around Galt Island and a 30-inch snook across the sound into Sanibel’s Tarpon Bay, where he was seeing plenty of live baitfish . All Super Spook Jr Plugs. Snook hit modified chromes.
In Southwest Florida during the past week, red tide was observed in low concentrations in Charlotte County, very low to high concentrations in Lee County, and very low concentrations in coastal Collier County.
Mike Westra of Lehr’s Economy Tackle reports that a customer casting Hi Jinx pompano rigs from the abutments of the Sanibel Causeway Bridge has been catching up to 10 pompano per outing.
CHORAL HEAD: Lehr’s reports that two customers canoeing the canals and creeks accessible from Old Burnt Store Road had a super Sunday, releasing 20 snook, including five in the 28- to 33-inch slot. Each fish popped a Super Spook Jr. bone plug. in sunny shallow waters.
PAST MATLACHA: Wildfly Charters Capt. Gregg McKee reports plenty of life in Matlacha Pass, where the biggest problem in catching nice trout has been getting baits above a painful number of minnows. There have also been schools of large crevasses that send small pieces of glass flying in the early morning around the Matlacha Pass bridge. Allison Koss of Port Charlotte caught a very nice pompano while casting a shrimp fly to a large school of cownose rays, and McKee said some of her neighbors have caught a nice cobia that has been tracking the rays for fish of bait dragged by the flight schools.
Lehr reports trout and redfish have been biting on the Indian Field flats for anglers rigging Z-Man Slam Shady paddle tails.
OFFSHORE: Lehr’s has received reports as of Monday of this week from anglers fishing at various depths, from 90 to 170 feet, with very similar results. All have caught plenty of red grouper, usually in limited numbers, while casting gags out of season, with frozen squid and sardines consistently outstripping the pieces.
A group fishing a wreck in 120 feet of water (think Fantastico) caught and released a number of off-season walleyes in the 20-pound class, plus a very nice 3-4 pound mangrove snapper caught with chumping and freelining. Silversides frozen in the well running behind the ship. Catches of lane snapper have also been very good while fishing hard bottom reefs.
FRESH WATER
LAKE TRAFFORD: Boaters report that Lake Immokalee’s famous walleye moved from spawning grounds to shoreline vegetation and also became scarce in the deeper midwaters. A few bass were caught by those fishing Missouri jigs, and anglers fishing from the Ann Olesky Park pier and shorelines also found the going slow.
LAKE OKEECHOBEE: Roland Martin Marina & Resort Capt. Bo White reports that the bass bite has been good over the past week, with northern inshore areas such as Horse Island, Indian Prairie Canal, Tin House Cove and Kings Bar producing where there is clean water and edges of hard vegetation. together Wild baits are the best lures, but black and blue Senkos rigged in Texas are a good choice for throwing soft plastics.
Dennis Trice’s big black bass hit a wild shiner near Indian Prairie Channel on his Big O adventure with Roland Martin Marina & Resort Capt. Good White
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Allison Koss’ pompano dandy hit a shrimp pattern fly on a school of cownose rays at Matlacha Pass on her Wildfly Charter with Capt. Gregg McKee.
Pompano has livened up the fishing scene, from north to south.
FISH TIP
A limited harvest season for 20- to 36-inch goliath grouper begins in March for anglers who received permits. But if you’re not one of Florida’s 200 permit holders, there are plenty of guidelines to follow, even if you’ve caught a goliath by mistake.
Char Mercer and grandsons Lochlan and Landry Curtis had fun at Wiggins Pass with goliath groupers, which are protected from harvest.
In other words, “If you catch a goliath grouper, the fish must be immediately released alive, unharmed and with proper handling techniques.” The FWC states that large goliaths should never be removed from the water, although the definition of large is left to the discretion of the catcher. The recommendations also allow for a quick shot, “if it does not in any way delay the release of the fish.”
Click here for guidelines:
HOT POINTS
No. 1: Bokeelia bars for pompano and tortillas.
No 2: Matlacha pass for pompano and trout in deeper levels; cobia that sweeps the rays of the cow’s nose.
No. 3: Snook in western Cape Coral canals and creeks.
No. 4: Tarpon Bay for snook.
No. 5: Sanibel Causeway by Pompano.
No 6: Inland well for groupers and snappers.
No. 7: Big Hickory Pass for snapper.
Lake OKEECHOBEE
Lake OKEECHOBEE
No. 1: North Shores Down.
