Fishing reports over the past week have ranged from good to “insane” (crazy good).
Coastal water temperatures well into the 70 degree range have fired up spotted seatrout appetites and moved the specks onto bay flats.
Redfish also have been biting well, and in all sizes, from 14 inches to 14 pounds.
Sheepshead fishing has been spotty, but pretty good for those who find a hotspot.
Offshore anglers may not have grouper to target. But panfish including snapper, grunts and porgies have been plentiful, and a few have hung some dandy cobia.
Lake Trafford has been living up to its recognition as one of Florida’s top crappie lakes.
And Lake Okeechobee has been crazy busy of late with bass anglers, guides, and tournament fishermen including this weekend’s FLW pros, all of whom have been catching fish.
TROUT: Hot One II Charters Capt. Roy Bennett and friend Arthur Rieser reported culling their limits of four trout each from about 100 caught on leadhead jigs north of Chino Island in Pine Island Sound Tuesday. Capt. Bennett also reports E3 Jeffery Mixon caught his limit of specks last Thursday on a complimentary Operation Open Arms trip, prior to his return to Afghanistan on Valentine’s Day.
Ontario angler Karen Balmer used a shrimp under a popping cork to catch a nice trout last Thursday at Regla Island with Capt. Jack Zinke of del Rio Charters.
The Bait Box reports anglers fishing from Wildlife Drive (closed Fridays) in Sanibel’s J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildife Refuge, and anglers casting into Blind Pass have been catching trout.
Andrew Sylvester, 10, reported his dad, Dan, and mother, of Mount Lake, N.J., caught 50 trout, several mangrove snapper to 13 inches, and a keeper size snook and redfish last Friday on shrimp. “Mom caught the most,” on the all-release trip to the Captiva Rocks area of Pine Island Sound, according to the Bait Box.
Cape Tool & Tackle Capt. Miles Meredith reports trout fishing on Pine Island Sound flats, and in potholes and deep cuts north of Rat Key with ¼-ounce pearl Redfish Magic jigs has been insane. Four of his anglers culled their limits Tuesday.
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King Fisher bay boats out of Fishermen’s Village in Punta Gorda have been catching lots of trout on the flats of eastern Charlotte Harbor. Those trout have been grading small, but an occasional pompano has been taking the live shrimp fished under corks.
REDFISH: John, Brian and Tom Kimmins used live shrimp to catch five redfish including three keepers to 21 inches, plus five sheepshead to 12 inches, a 19-inch snook, two stingrays and a gafftopsail catfish, Monday morning in Estero Bay on an inshore Fishbuster Charter with Bonita Beach Capt. Dave Hanson.
Lehr’s Economy Tackle reports Margie, Paul and George Kimble caught and released 25 way undersize redfish to 14 inches, casting frozen shrimp around the riprap under the Edison Bridge.
Bill Srorfo used cut ladyfish to catch the redfish of the week, a 15-pounder released from Mariner Point’s private pier near the Sanibel Causeway on San Carlos Bay. The Bait Box also reports redfish catches from the Sanibel Pier, the western end of Island B on the Sanibel Causeway, Ding Darling, and Blind Pass.
Fort Myers Fishing Adventures Capt. Joe Greco reports his best redfish action in years, with the bulk of keepers taking shrimp pieces under the bushes of San Carlos Bay and the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River.
Sanibelians Chris Davison and Steve Hatfield caught and released six oversize reds from 30 to 33 inches Wednesday on cut ladyfish in northern Pine Island Sound on their Tarpoons Charter with Cape Coral Capt. Greg Hood.
Casey Canada used a paddletail bait to catch three reds in overcast conditions on Sunday’s low tide in northern Pine Island Sound, on an exploratory trip with pal Steve Mason.
Minnesotans Jerry Rachel and Bruce Myers caught five reds averaging 24 inches, and culled their limits of trout from “a couple dozen,” including two over 20 inches, also baiting with cut ladyfish in northern Pine Island Sound with Capt. Meredith.
SHEEPSHEAD: John Boulger and Jimmy Hessel and two friends released 10 sheepshead, a 24-inch ladyfish and a puffer Saturday morning in Estero Bay. Also on a Fishbuster trip in Estero Bay, Jim and Marge Jambor and Bill and Joan Fabian caught a 13-inch sheepshead and a 21-inch black drum, and threw back some undersize fish, a 19-inch snook, a few stingrays and some puffers on Wednesday.
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Ontario anglers Dave Bunnaman, Brad Devine and Scott Hunter caught about a dozen keepers out of 22 sheepshead, plus a nice redfish Saturday around Fisherman Key and Shell Creek, in the mouth of the Caloosahatchee, Saturday with Capt. Greco.
Bait Box customers report sheepshead biting at the Sanibel Pier and from Wildlife Drive in Ding Darling.
Seth Rice of Fort Myers used frozen shrimp to catch five sheepshead to 14 inches Tuesday from Fort Myers’ Centennial Park, according to Lehr’s.
King Fisher bay boat captains report surprisingly few sheepshead biting at the Charlotte Harbor Reef below Mangrove Point, although there has been a surprising number of cobia, to 30 inches, taking shrimp.
SNAPPER: The Bait Box reports mangrove snapper have been biting pretty well at the Sanibel Pier.
King Fisher bay boats report snapper biting well enough around the riprap and docks of Punta Gorda canals to make up limit catches, although the maximum size has been under 12 inches.
SHARKS: Sharks have moved into unusually warm local waters, including those around the Sanibel Causeway, where Bait Box customers report catching small blacktips and bonnetheads.
Richard Nadeau was drifting for trout about a quarter-mile northwest of Regla Island in Pine Island Sound, with Harry Haskins, when a 90-pound blacktip began a 1-1/2 hour battle by nailing a cut ladyfish. Nadeau reported, “The steaks on the grill are wonderful.”
MULLET: The Bait Box is hearing of lots of mullet bunched up in Blind Pass.
OFFSHORE: Capt. Pete Rosco at Port-O-Call Marina on the Gordon River in Naples reports Ken Bullock used a gold Crippled Herring metal jig to entice a big cobia that took more than an hour to subdue, near the D.O.D. tower in 45 feet of water off Marco Island. Bullock, Pat Zilch and Bill Brennan also used the Crippled Herrings to catch their limits of snapper.
Ron Musick, Eddie Alfonse, Dick Arnett, Fred McNeal and Bob Mayer caught five mangrove snapper to 17-1/2 inches, five porkfish, a 15-inch sheepshead, a 14-inch hogfish, a mess of grunts and many undersize groupers, Tuesday in 43 feet of water out of New Pass on their offshore Fishbuster Charter. On Saturday, also with Capt. Hanson, Alfonse, Arnett, McNeal and their friend, John, fished the same area, 20 miles out, to catch 13 mangs to 17-1/2 inches, a 15-inch sheepshead, a 22-inch king mackerel, a 15-inch hogfish, two porkfish, a mess of whitebone porgies, and lots of throwbacks.
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Back in the same area Friday, Mike Connealy, Darci Simonsen of North Dakota, Rob Young of Kentucky, and Dan Bauer of Wisconsin ran into strong winds that held the catch to a few mangs, lane snapper, porkfish and grunts.
Richard Nadeau caught a 68-pound cobia in late January, drifting a half-ladyfish on a bucktail jig for grouper in 52 feet of water, eight miles off Redfish Pass with Harry Haskins and Tom Bloomingdale.
David, James and Charlie Stout, and Bob and Riley Bending caught 50 grunts in 60 feet of water off Redfish Pass, before moving to a hotspot off Boca Grande Pass to bag 32 sheepshead in their final hour and a half of fishing Sunday. They used shrimp for the grunts, with a mix of small black crabs for the sheepies.
On Tuesday, Paul Fania, Frank Merrill and Byron Stout boxed 16 sheepshead and 19 grunts, fishing with live and frozen shrimp in depths to 35 feet, off Cayo Costa.
King Fisher offshore boats fishing in 40 to 50 feet of water off Boca Grande Pass have been catching lots of white grunts and porgies, and as many as eight sheepshead per trip.Fresh water
LAKE TRAFFORD: Lehr’s reports Mr. Westerfield used minnows to catch 40 crappie to 13 inches Sunday in Lake Trafford. But a report to Lehr’s from the day before was for only five small specks, also on minnows.
Also Saturday, out of Lake Trafford Marina & Campground, anglers Benny and Mike used jigs to catch 35 crappie. And Don Floyd used a combination of minnows and jigs to cull his limit of 25 from a catch of 40.
On Sunday, John and Martin Post and Kyle and Nick Mantis tallied 56 specks on minnows.
Lake Okeechobee
Even with north winds blowing counter to good fishing conditions, Clewiston Capt. Mark King reports it has been no trouble to go through 10 dozen wild shiners ($20 per dozen), with catch rates averaging about 75 percent on bites. Fishing outside grass lines on Tuesday, his clients caught 10 bass over 5 pounds, and including over 7 pounds on shiners.
When casting artificials, King has had the best action on Charlie’s Zipper Dipper swimbaits in junebug, or occasionally Houdini patterns under bright sun. The swimbaits have had to be fished very slowly, using 1/16-ounce Trokar wide gap hooks.
Speck fishing out of Clewiston has been slow, but Capt. King noted the Kings Bar area at the mouth of the Kissimmee River, out of Okeetantie Recreation Area, has been covered up with crappie boats.
Bass fans can catch the $125,000 FLW Tour Open tournament weigh-ins on Lake Okeechobee at 3 p.m. today and Friday at Roland and Mary Ann Martin’s Marina & Resort, and at 4. p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Clewiston’s Walmart Super Center, 1005 W. Sugarland Highway.
Friday 10 February 2012
Southwest Florida fishing prospect positive USA Fishing Report
via news-press.com
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