Marco Island, Ft. Myers & Boca Grande

Cool water and freshwater slow fishing. Things should shape up next week! Its been a few weeks since my last update to the reports so this report will cover from the 10,000 Islands to Boca Grande and Charlotte Harbor and also the east coast of Florida out of Stuart. I try to fish the East Coast at least once a week during the month of July. Tarpon action has been spotty at best for the past two weeks. Charlotte Harbor is still your best bet to hook up on a 100-pounder in Southwest Florida. One day the fish will be rolling all over the harbor and the next we won’t see a fish. The routine is to run around the harbor and Pine Island Sound until you see tarpon rolling or “free jumping”. When you find the fish drift sardines, herring or pinfish. In the past, trolling plugs has done well. Snook fishing has been the best thing going since July 20th. We have been picking up some decent snook using jigs tipped with shrimp in the 10,000 Islands. Bait has been pushed well offshore due to almost two feet of rain that fell last week. Redfish pass is still holding snook on the south side of the pass. However, if you are really in need of a snook fix, go to the East Coast and fish for them from Stuart to Jupiter. We have been picking up 15-20 snook per trip using live sardines. I recommend using circle hooks to reduce the chance of gut hooking the snook. My customers have been using them all summer and I have not seen one snook that was even hooked deep. Look for the snook in the surf or around the inlets. Most of the fish are in the 6-8 pound range and we have been catching at least half a dozen over 10-pounds per trip. Trout, redfish and cobia round out the consistent catches for the past three weeks. I have been finding some “tailing” redfish on the shallow flats of northern Pine Island Sound. Wading is going to increase your chances of catching these fish because they have been very “spooky”. Trout are also in the same area. Fish the deeper potholes during low tide. We have been picking up a few cobia on most trips out of Punta Gorda. These cobia have been incidental catches while we were targeting tarpon. They haven’t been monsters. Most are just barely legal, around 35-37 inches. The forecast for the next few weeks should see some improvement due to better weather. Most of the poor fishing that we have had lately is due to colder than normal water temperatures and too much fresh water. If we quit getting 5-6 inches of rain a week the fishing will improve. Good Luck! Capt. Scott Hughes Blackwater Charters 863-946-9171