February 12 fishing report from Byron Stout

Fishing’s heated up a notch, along with the weather, and zero red tide fish kills have been reported over the past week.

Offshore anglers have been making great catches of snapper.

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The Big Three, snook, redfish and especially trout are biting in the bays, and the sheepshead run is peaking.

Freshwater fishing also has been excellent for crappie on Lake Trafford, and for bass on the Big O.

OFFSHORE: A&B Charters Capt. Jim Rinckey reports very good bottom fishing for mangrove snapper in waters tainted by recent winds. Daniel Lang of Naples and Heath Gerondale of Scottsdale, Ariz. had a great catch of mangroves in 85 feet of water, and Rapid City, S.D. angler Justin Keiser dug up his limit of red grouper and some nice snapper, also aboard the All In.

Mike Westra of Lehr’s Economy Tackle reports quite a few customers have reported very good catches of mangs and porgies in depths of 50 to 100 feet off Lee County shores, with sheepshead biting on reefs in 35 to 50 feet. One customer also was showing off pictures of a brace of nice permit caught on Pace’s Reef, in 36 feet of water off Sanibel.

King Fisher Charters out of Fishermen’s Village Marina in Punta Gorda reports four offshore trips over the past week, in depths around 65 feet, southwest of Boca Grande Pass. Each trip has produced one or two keeper red grouper, potentially keepable, but out-of-season gag grouper releases, nice boxes of lane snappers with an uptick in mangS, plus porgies and grunts.

ESTERO BAY: Get Hooked Charters Capt. Matt DeAngelis a tasty mix of sheepshead and the occasional pompano, plus spotted seatrout biting in Big Carlos and Big Hickory passes, and in the back bay around Black and Starvation keys. The go-to rig has been a live shrimp pinned on a green Hook Up jig head.

SANIBEL: Norm Zeigler’s Fly, Bait & Tackle Shop on Periwinkle Way reports “Blind Pass is full of sheepshead,” plus a mix of trout, snook, redfish, and snapper. Wildlife Drive (closed Fridays) offers four miles of winding roadway through the Sanibel back country, where there have been lots of baby tarpon and good numbers of schoolie size snook. San Carlos Bay including the Toll Booth Flats and islands of the Sanibel Causeway has been producing lots of trout and a few pompano, and Sanibel’s bay accesses at Bailey Road and Dixie Beach have been good for snook and lots of trout.

PINE ISLAND SOUND: Capt. Ozzie Lessinger sent in this shot of Mike Ripley with a 28-inch red he caught on a chartreuse-and-white Puglisi fly pattern in northern Pine Island Sound. The veteran guide reports oyster bars and mangrove shorelines are producing snook, redfish, and trout on fly, artificial lures, and natural baits.

Lehr’s reports Jason and Heather Harrington of Fort Myers fished mainly around Rat, Cat, and Panther keys in the northern sound on Tuesday for releases of two dozen trout, with many from 16 to 20 inches, caught on D.O.A. Deadly Combo clacker cork rigs and MirrOlure MirrOdine suspending twitchbaits.

CALOOSAHATCHEE RIVER: Lehr’s reports Kristian  Perez of Cape Coral and his 6-year-old daughter, Alyssa, had a big Sunday morning with snook on a shoreline just west of Deep Lagoon. He released a 37-incher, Alyssa handled a 27-incher by herself, and they also released several smaller snook and two big crevalle jacks while fishing with live sardines.

Upstream, from just west of the railroad trestle to past the S.R. 31 Bridge, Fort Myers Shores angler Justin Crilly fished creek mouths on both sides of the river on Saturday and Sunday mornings, for releases of “a couple dozen snook, three redfish and a couple of jacks,” according to Lehr’s. He was throwing Slam Shady color Z-Man Diezel Minnowz, and sometimes a Savage Salt Mullet.

MATLACHA PASS: Wildfly Charters Capt. Gregg McKee reports spending all Wednesday morning on the Indian Field flats, north of the bridge, where George and Sadie Rego used artificial baits and live shrimp to release several dozen slot-size trout, some redfish, and some very large jacks.

CHARLOTTE HARBOR: King Fisher bay boat guides report the warming trend moved the harbor’s trout back onto the east side flats, where shrimp and cork rigs also have produced battles with a number of bonnethead sharks. Three Spanish mackerel also were brought in from outside the barrier bar, although sheepshead grew inexplicably scarce this week.

FRESHWATER

LAKE TRAFFORD: Lake Trafford Marina & Campground in Immokalee reports good crappie catches for anglers drifting the lake’s central depths, which average 5-1/2 feet. The unusual thing was the specks were biting about two feet down, mostly on minnows. Anglers fishing with guide Joey Draple have been doing very well, and four Kentucky speck specialists in a pontoon boat brought in their combined limits of 100 crappie on Wednesday.

LAKE OKEECHOBEE: Roland Martin Marina & Resort Capt. Bo White reports bass fishing heated up with the weather as Thursday’s new moon came on. The hottest bite was on wild shiners in clear water along hard outside vegetation edges in House Boat and Boy Scout cuts and in the Monkey Box area. Water along Observation Shoal is pretty dirty, but cleaner tight to the inside hard edge, with good potential for artificials action.

Brad Lytle of Roland Martin’s Marine Center in Clewiston recommends starting with speed worms or swimbaits, and switching to 5- or 6-inch stick worms like Senkos or Gambler Fat Aces in black-and-blue, junebug, or watermelon red. For big fish under cabbage and hyacinth clumps, flip black-and-blue creature baits on 1-1/2- or 2-ounce tungsten weights. Lytle also reports good crappie action on the West Wall, clockwise to Uncle Joe’s (Mayaca) Cut, with minnows and chartreuse-and-white jigs doing the damage.

PIC OF THE WEEK

This 23-inch “gator” was the best of dozens of trout George and Sadie Rego caught Wednesday on the Indian Field area of Matlacha Pass with Wildfly Charters Capt. Gregg McKee.

FISH TIP

A&B Charters Capt. Jim Rinckey reports much improved snapper fishing in Gulf waters stirred up by recent winds. Snappers, including mangrove (gray) and yellowtail, are notoriously “leader-shy,” and reluctant to bite any baits their wary eyes deem fishy. Many an angler has been frustrated watching snapper boil up after dead shrimp cleaned from a marina bait tank, only to have their baited hooks completely snubbed by the dock pets. Solutions include using very light monofilament or, preferably, fluorocarbon leaders with minimal terminal tackle including swivels and sinkers. Cut squid or herring baits falling naturally in the current, or lying still on the bottom will produce much more action than baits being unnaturally influenced.

HOT SPOTS

No. 1: Northeastern flats for trout and bonnethead sharks.

No. 2: Indian Field flats for trout and redfish.

No. 3: Pine Island Sound oyster bars and shorelines for snook, redfish and trout.

No. 4: Blind Pass for sheepshead and more.

No. 5: Estero Bay passes for sheepshead and maybe a pompano.

No. 6: Offshore for snappers and red grouper.

No. 7: Lake Trafford for crappie

LAKE OKEECHOBEE

No. 1: Monkey Box for bass.

No. 2: Observation Shoal inside lines for bass.

No. 3: Uncle Joe’s to the West Wall for crappie.

No. 4: House Boat Cut for bass.

No. 5: Boy Scout Cut for bass.