Lookout for Tripletail

Offshore: Another beautiful day and the weathers getting even better. The wind made for rough sledding off the beaches 12-14 kt. gusts from ENE. Didn't hear much from the reefs fisherman but there was a tournament out of Naples that reported good results if you were nuts enough to flop around the close marks at 5 miles or so. Cobia, grouper, messes of bigger snapper, Spanish, kings and bonito all hammered live bait, spoons and bait tipped jigs. It's gonna be kinda windy by midday next week but I guess doable, small boaters be careful. Wish I could be more helpful. Tripletail are coming to the many pots off Naples and points south if the wind subsides. I can't wait, my favorite off the beach! Inshore: My crews struggle with winds countering the tides that pushed water outa the flats. Our best results were in the midafternoon, typical of all the other guys. Reds were hard to find in the low-low waters on the morning trips. We had to hide in the "Hole in the Wall" lagoon most of our morning trip, at least the snapper were cooperative. Crews that ran in the afternoon managed some nice reds on pins, shiners and big shrimp. Things are looking up for the weekend with nice high morning tides, that means aces to redfish. There are bruiser reds to be had throughout the area with pins the top offering; guys reported success with Gulps as well. Trout were slim pickins in Estero Bay but I heard there was good action in Charlotte Harbor "the big lake" just off Burnt Store Bars, reds as well. Snook action remains hot especially on the incoming tides around all the area passes. Live bait was the top pick with big shimmy shad style soft plastics producing. Them way-back creeks and lagoons offered some relief from the wind and had a decent mixed bag bite, fairly pleasant conditions and only getting better. Capt. Ron Kowalyk www.fishswfla.com [email protected] 239-267-9312