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More Fishing

• Fishing: Hill finally reaches top of Redsnook
• Farmworkers’ children get chance to tackle new skill -- fishing
• Fishing: Plenty of fish, but few fishermen

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It has been a windy spring, so most of these reports have focused on the backwater fishing, but this past week, the winds subsided, and the deep sea fishing was excellent. The offshore waters are very clean, sometimes too clean, so the nearer shore fishing can be a bit difficult, but out past 25 miles, there are enough fish for everyone.

Red grouper are the easiest catch as they gobble up cut baits on the bottom. Both mangrove and yellowtail are active over the ledges and are eating shrimp or shiners, and there are cobia and permit on the wrecks. The cobia prefer live grunts or pinfish while the permit are suckers for a small live crab. There are even a few large “smoker” kings still hanging around certain select structures. In general, this is Naples’ offshore fishing at its best.

Certainly, the ideal fishing conditions are, in part, responsible for this great fishing, but another contributing factor is that there are very few fishermen out there.

The spring winds kept many anglers inshore, but probably a more pressing factor is the price of fuel. Marina gas can cost more than $5 a gallon and is rising, so if you are running a big boat, the cost of an ounce of grouper has now passed that of silver and is fast approaching that of gold. In fact, if you were previously investing in condominiums, and now are at a loss as to what to do with your money, I would suggest that you consider speculating in grouper futures. You can find them listed on the Everglades City stock exchange, or, if you can’t find that number, call me personally, and I will make you a deal.

-- NAPLES: I found a very happy Capt. Tommy Robinson at the filet table on Wednesday afternoon as he raved about his day of fishing.

His party limited on some “hog” red grouper between 24 and 26 inches at his first stop. He then moved to a wreck where he added some “flag” yellowtail snapper up to four pounds along with mangrove snapper, and then he tried a wreck and boated kingfish to 30 pounds. Earlier in the week, he found cobia and permit to go along with all of the grouper and snapper.

Robinson said that the offshore conditions are ideal: light east winds, a very light chop, clean water and plenty of hungry fish. With fewer boats out on the water, Robinson expects this excellent fishing to continue through the month.

-- MARCO ISLAND/TEN THOUSAND ISLANDS: The winds have finally died and moved around to the east, said Capt. Matt Hoover, and the fishing is as good as the weather.

There are small baits along the beaches, larger baits offshore and both baits are attracting hungry customers. The larger baits are best for snook and tarpon. The smaller offerings are preferred by the snapper and redfish.

Hoover has been fishing primarily in the Marco Island area because the water is cleaner. Down south in the Ten Thousand Islands, there are plenty of fish, but the water is dirtier because of the rains. Most of the fish are on the outside, and the incoming tide is slightly better than the outgoing tide.

Hoover said that on a half day trip, he has been averaging 12 to 15 snook, a few redfish and perhaps a mid-size tarpon in the 30- to 60-pound range. The tarpon fishing is best early in the morning along the beaches.

-- EVERGLADES CITY: Last week, Capt Shane Miller took advantage of the calm weather and moved offshore to hunt for a few permit, and at the first wreck that he approached, he came upon a massive school that he estimated included more than a 100 permit. His party landed four fish to 30 pounds before another boat moved in and spooked the school. Miller said that there has been cobia in the same area, but he did not get any that day.

If you are fishing inshore, there are plenty of snook all along the outside islands and points. Schools of small baits continue to wash in with the tide, and the snook and mackerel are greedily gobbling them up. There are some redfish in the same areas.

-- NORTH NAPLES: Capt. Terry Davis said that the fishing can be good, but it is also somewhat unpredictable. Davis had a great day on Tuesday, landing 18 snook to 32 inches plus some large jacks in the morning. He then moved offshore in the afternoon and added four permit to 30 pounds.

On Wednesday, however, he fished the same areas and nearly got “skunked”. Davis said that there was no change in the conditions. The fish simply did not bite on Wednesday.

Davis said that most of the usable bait is several miles offshore, although there are schools of tiny glass minnows all through the back bays and passes. The water is fairly clear, but tinted in some areas because of the rains.

The one certain catch is Spanish mackerel that are schooled all along the beaches and out on the reefs. They can be caught by trolling spoons or by chumming over the structures and catching them on freelined shrimp. The Spanish mackerel are excellent targets for kids as well as tasty table fare if they are iced immediately upon being caught.

-- FRESHWATER: There has not been enough rain to get the canals running, but the waters are rising, and the fishing is getting better. There is excellent snook fishing in the Naples area and good bass fishing out along Alligator Alley. The bass fishing is much better early and late, and the best fishing is actually at night.

There was a night bass tournament last Saturday that ran from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Anglers battled both bass and mosquitoes, and the winning catch was over 26 pounds for five fish. In comparison, a day tournament the same week, was won with just 12 pounds of fish. The obvious conclusion is that the bass are there, but they are feeding at the coolest part of the day, and that means at night.

Interestingly, the winning fish were caught on a black worm. At night, color is unimportant. The fish look for the shadow.

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E-mail John Preeg at captjohnpreeg@aol.com