Gulf Fishing for Grouper, Snapper and Cobia Excellent

Fishing in both Estero Bay and on the Gulf of Mexico has been top notch this past week and should continue with warming water temperatures and a normal weather pattern. Tarpon season is getting closer with "silver kings" being spotted daily and there have been lots of big cobia as well. The action on the near shore wrecks and reefs has been really good with lots of spanish mackerel and grouper leading the way. Macs are hitting just about anything thrown their way but bucktail jigs tipped with shrimp seem to work best. Grouper are hitting cut and live bait dropped on the bottom and some nice sized mangrove snapper have also moved in. The snook action bumped up a bit in the backcountry with some over slot ones caught and released using live white bait around mangrove islands. Quality trout are being caught in both the backcountry and on the shallow reefs and rocks in the Gulf. Most are in the three to four pound range with some going over five pounds! It's time to wet a line!