Ft. Myers - Offshore

Winter Pattern Greetings; Boy is sure is nice to leave the house and only need a light jacket again. Hopefully this warmer air temperature will start to warm the Gulf up a bit. This should improve the over all fishing scenario. Fishing calls for a deep winter pattern to achieve a bent rod. Inshore there has been a steady bite of silver trout and whiting along the beaches. When conditions are right hundred fish days are possible. Although not large these guys are great sport on light tackle. Shrimp and jigs produce best for me. Sheepies and a few snapper and small gag grouper are holding their own on the inshore reefs, bridges, and rock piles. I prefer a head knocker rig with shrimp for bait, but if you can get fiddler crabs or dig your own worms at low tide these produce great results. Anchoring and chumming can work wonders if you use crushed oysters or scrape barnacles from a piling or seawall. Offshore has been hit and miss mostly because of the wind. On the nice days that we can make the longer runs they pay off with mangrove snapper, red, and gag grouper. The wrecks are holding a few gags if you can get them away from the structure also. Dead baits have been the best bet. Either fresh cut or frozen sardines have been the bait of choice for me for a month. The surface temperature is still around fifty six or fifty seven. This calls for a slow presentation. Lets hope this next cold front is not as severe, and our warming water trend continues. Hopefully it will be in the high sixties soon! I cant wait for the king mackerel run this year. Sincerely, Capt. Rick Featherstone