Fort Myers Fishing Report - Inshore Action

First of all happy new year to everyone. The holiday season is a great time of the year. Sorry I haven't posted a report lately but happily I have been very busy since mid December with very few breaks. I've talked to lots of anglers in the past 2 weeks and the re-curing theme is that everyone is having a hard time finding the trout and reds in Estero Bay. The water clarity, or lack of it in many places is the biggest culprit. The negative tides we experience this time of the year cloud the water with fine silt particles as the mud flats are flooded and drained every day. The good news is that this is coming to an end and water clarity will improve shortly. In the meantime look for cleaner water by going to areas where you are farther away from the super shallow flats. I been fishing in the North Naples area the past 2 weeks and the conditions are much better the farther south you go. I concentrate on Trout this time of the year and action as been very steady due to the warm weather and water we had during the past couple of weeks. There also seems to be a larger than normal population of jacks in the residential canals this winter and they are providing great action. There are also some large Snook on the flats near the schools of mullet. They have been hitting topwater or twitch baits with a vengeance.