Although the large majority of this report is always centered on saltwater fishing, my e-mails each week are dominated by questions about freshwater fishing, particularly concerning where to fish for bass for those without a boat.

I admittedly know next to nothing about the freshwater fishing in this area, so recently, I have been doing a little hands-on research of my own.

Several weeks ago, I drove down to the Big “T” and tiptoed through the water moccasins to fish a few remote bridges where I did catch one undersized snook.

Last week, I tried the Seven Lakes, which are a group of old fill pits with easy access right at the Everglades City exit off Interstate 75. The water there is crystal clear so that you know before you even cast that you are not throwing your lure near any fish.

I did manage to catch one small bass, but became discouraged when I talked to a grisly gentleman who was fishing with live shiners and seemed to be an expert on the area. He said that he fished the lakes all of the time but seldom caught anything, so I went home.

This past week I took a friend, and very poor fisherman, Mark Forten, to a dirt road that led into the Big Cypress National Preserve. The week before, I had coincidentally met a Native American back in this same area who told me I was allowed to fish the canals, and that the best fishing was where the most alligators were.

I considered this some sort of mystical sign, so, this week, I dragged Mark some 20 miles back into the Everglades over dirt roads to where we were certain that we would find our legendary, monster Everglades largemouth bass.

The water was extremely low so that the fish were all pushed into the deeper holes. At our first stop, I cast into a pool of swirling fish and caught what looked to me to be a mutton snapper, although some of you might be skeptical about the number of mutton snapper on the north side of U.S. 41.

Anyway, it was big and had fins, and I spent considerable time and effort reviving and releasing it before an alligator about the size of a small submarine swam over and gobbled it up.

All of the pools were full of gar and exotics with stripes and spots, none of the fish which I could name. We never really caught much, and I had to trade in my car because of the dust and pot holes, but the trip was worth it. In fact, we almost caught a bass.

NAPLES: The fishing around the Naples Bay area has improved considerably this week. Big tarpon have moved into the area and can be targeted out along the beaches or in the passes early in the morning.

The snook have also increased in size, and there are schools of huge jacks mixed with the snook. The redfish fishing, however, has been slow.

Offshore, the action remains very strong. Capt. Tommy Robinson took Brady Aluminum and his family on Sunday, and Brady’s 10-year-old son, Kyle, proved to be the best fisherman.

Young Kyle landed the three biggest fish, including a 37-inch king mackerel and a 29-inch red grouper. The family limited on red grouper and added more kingfish plus sharks and barracuda to the day’s overall catch.

MARCO ISLAND/TEN THOUSAND ISLANDS: Capt. Roger Parcells spent most of last week tarpon fishing. He reported that there are tarpon, some as large as 180 pounds, schooled throughout the Marco Island area.

Parcells has been sighting fish rolling around the Marco Island Bridge, in the Marco Island River and out over the artificial reefs. Parcells has been primarily targeting the reef fish using thread herring, pinfish and catfish, and hook-ups have been common.

Parcells has also been finding Spanish mackerel, cobia and a few kingfish in the same offshore areas where the tarpon are.

A bit farther out in the 20-mile range, the red grouper have moved onto the hard bottom areas and are taking cut baits, and there are some mangrove snapper on the wrecks. In general, the fishing in all of the offshore areas has been good.

In the backwaters, Parcells’ boats have been catching numerous small snook, plus black drum, redfish and even a few permit.

This past week, the afternoon high tides were very strong, and that hampered the back bay fishing some, but Parcells said that these tides will weaken this week.

EVERGLADES CITY: Big snook were the fish to catch this past week, according to Capt. Shane Miller.

On Sunday, Miller’s party landed 38-, 37-, 36- and 28-inch snook all in a half hour of fishing in one spot. Miller said the large snook are gathered around the outside points on the incoming tide as they move in for the spawn.

Earlier in the week, there were also schools of large redfish on the outside, but they seemed to disappear on Sunday. There were still, however, some smaller redfish in the back bays.

Miller said that there are plenty of trout on the grass beds and tarpon a few miles offshore, but he did not target these species this past week.

WIGGINS PASS: Capt. Terry Davis reported that the tarpon have moved in just a few miles off of the beach. There are plenty of them, but sometimes it is difficult to get them to eat.

On Monday, Davis spent his morning anchored in a school of more than 500 big, rolling tarpon and could not get any to take a bait. He was using live thread herring and crabs for bait.

There were several other boats in the area, and Davis saw only one fish hooked. The day before, Terry Davis’ son, Eric, fished near the same area for permit and landed 18, but Davis said that there were none there on Monday.

Davis said that the fishing conditions are ideal with plenty of bait in the area and water temperatures approaching 80 degrees. The fish are definitely in the area, and Davis speculated that Monday’s poor bite was the result of a mild cold front and ensuing high pressure. He predicted that this weekend’s fishing should be excellent.

FRESHWATER: The freshwater fishing has improved out in the Everglades, according to Capt. Shane Miller, and also has been fairly good right in the Golden Gate area.

Miller said that the best fishing is probably in the canals along Everglades or DeSoto boulevards, or right in the Golden Gate City area around Sapphire Lake.

The bass should be feeding after the spawn, and there are snook and small tarpon in some of these same areas. Live shiners are the best baits, but soft jerk baits or small surface lures can also be effective.