Marco Island, Ft. Myers & Boca Grande

Cold Fronts run fish into the backcountry. We have begun to see frequent cold fronts push into our area. The fishing has been very good inbetween the fronts but if you try to go against Mother Nature your probably going to be dissapointed. As a front moves toward Southwest Florida the fishing picks up and peaks the day before a front hits. The fishing for 2-3 days during and after a cold front is some of the toughest fishing that we get. Lots of wind and colder temperatures are the norm and our subtropical fish don't respond well the those conditions. The last two weeks have been a mix of fronts and very tropical weather. On warm and calm days we have been finding lots of snook, redfish and trout on the flats of Pine Island Sound and Charlotte Harbor. This time of year I mostly use artifical lures. The snook have been feeding well on soft plastic jerk baits in various baitfish colors. Exude RT Sugs in Baby Bass, Gold, and Alwife have produced well. Redfish have been hitting the slugs along with the snook but as the water continues to cool I will use more tubes than slugs for the reds. Watermelon Seed and Pumpkin Exude tubes rigged on a 1/8 oz jighead work great for "tailing" reds. For trout all you have to do is work a top water and you'll have plenty of action. I've been working potholes in 1-2 ft of water and if the water is clean I'll use the top water and if there is alot of floating grass i'll use a jerk bait on a jighead. If you must fish during or right after a hard cold front then you need to focus you fishing efforts in the sheltered creeks and canals. The snook, reds and trout have been moving into these areas to absorb warmth due to darker bottom and shelter from cold winds. I like to work a tube on a 1/4 oz jighead very slowly along the bottom. Look for the deeper holes and you more than likelyfind the fish. Even though I haven't been fishing for them I've been seeing lots of nice keeper sized sheephead along the mangrove shorelines. The best way to catch them is a live shrimp rigged with a small split shot. Also look for the sheephead to stack up in the passes on the next full moon. Good Luck! Capt. Scott Hughes Blackwater Charters 941-575-2389 941-628-4247 cell