Marco Island, Ft. Myers & Boca Grande

Ft Myers, Pine island and Marco Fishing Report The fishing has been hit and miss with the cold fronts that have been comming though each week. We have been having to hide from the cold winds and look for the deeper runs in the flats to find the fish. On the really cold days we have been running up the Calusahatchee River in Ft Myers and fishing for big jack crevelle in the powerplant outflow. These jacks have been running in the 15-20 pound range. They have been tacking large lipped plugs like the Rapla X-raps and the Bomber Long-A's. Storm swim baits have taken their share also. Ther have also been tarpon and snook in the area but they have very difficult to hook. On the flats of Marco island there has been lots of bluefish, jacks, speckled trout and some redfish. We have been mostly using live sardines and soft plastic jerk baits. The fish have been moving up onto the flats in the afternoon when the tide has been flooding. The lower stages of the tides have not been as productive. The trout fishing in the Pine Island area is still on fire. We are averaging around 100 trout per full-day and 40-60 on half-days. About 30-40% for the trout are in the keeper size range of 15-20 inches. I only soft plastic lures for trout and the best two baits have been Fishbites shrimp and Zoom Super Flukes soaked in Lunker Sause. Look for the fish to be in 4-6ft of water on the edges of channels where there is a shallow grass flat nearby with heavy grass. Good Luck, Capt. Scott Hughes Blackwater Charters 941-628-4247 cell 941-575-2389 home