Marco Island, Ft. Myers & Boca Grande

WEATHER IMPROVING, FISHING SHOULD FOLLOW ! Marco Island The weather finally turned toward spring this week after almost three weeks of cold, and windy conditions. The problem is that its been cold for so long that the water will need at least a week or so of eighties just to get the fish in a feeding mode. Trout are still the best bet for action and a good meal. We caught a few in the feeder creeks in the backbays and many more on the flats on the outside islands from Coon Key to Round Key. Jigs with shrimp did the best but flies were a close second. Some scattered spanish mackeral are moving through the passes and you'll probably hit a few while casting jigs for trout. A good way to catch some trout and maybe hook a mackeral also is to drift live sardines while you are casting jigs on the flats. Fish the sardines with the reel in free spool with the clicker on or put it in the lock position. Sheephead can be caught on the rocks outside of Caxambas Pass and on the docks around Marco River. I've had some fair success casting a whole shrimp threaded onto a jig. Reds aren't doing much but I did see a couple of bulls cruising the shoals. My customers got a cast off but they were moving to fast. Some snook are around but I haven't heard of anyone catching any. I know we haven't done much damage to the populations lately. Offshore actions has been a little slow compared to what it was just a few weeks ago. Ft Myers Trout fishing is good around Chino island and also around Cove Key. The flats around Redfish and Captiva passes have pompano, snapper, sheephead and whiting. A jig tipped with shrimp will catch all of them. A few scattered redfish are under the bushes and on the flats of the sound. Snook aren't being caught as far as I know. Big jacks are in the power plant outflow in the Orange River with a few tarpon starting to show up. Most of the fish are less than 50 lbs. Good Luck! Capt Scott Hughes