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A&B Charters Capt. Kase Van Der Aa’s smile was for his clients, who caught this 40-pound “smoker” king mackerel on the All In, out of Naples’ Gordon Pass. -
Tom Suthers raised his rod in victory after decking this hefty red grouper, 40 miles off Naples with A&B Charters Capt. Jim Rinckey. -
Capt. Bobby Nagaj helped show off Ryan Volk’s full-size cobia caught on a half-day charter on the A&B, out of Naples. -
Chase Conley’s ringading ling (cobia) gobbled a live thread herring in 90 feet of water on a slicked off Saturday. Photo courtesy Lehr’s Economy Tackle. -
Vito Mirra, Capt. Ant Fantauzzi and Jason Stretch scored big with permit and cobia, speared in 180 feet of water, 70 miles off the Sanibel Light. -
Allen Ringsmuth’s dandy African pompano was a bonus for the five anglers who caught limits of red snapper, 80 miles into the Gulf with Tom Fowler. Photo courtesy Lehr’s Economy Tackle. -
Bob Brooks hosted wildlife photographer Andre Nieuwenhuizen on his first false albacore quest, and the mission was accomplished with his own fly, an Sqwhitey pattern. -
Bruce Churton’s 34-inch snook was feeding just before Monday’s front rolled in, on his Get Hooked Charter with Capt. Matt DeAngelis. -
Bruce’s brother, Matt, from Texas, also got in on the hot cold front bite Monday, with Capt. DeAngelis. -
John Gerard’s 17-incher was one of three keepers among 15 sheepshead he and his soon-to-be son-in-law caught Monday during the prefrontal bite with Fishbuster Charters Capt. Dave Hanson. -
Matt Eber’s 19-inch red also joined the catch-and-release frenzy Monday morning, on his Fishbuster trip in southern Estero Bay. -
St James City Capt. George Grosselfinger targets snook, but he’s been catching more and more nice trout on his daily outings in eastern Pine Island Sound. -
Cape Coral Tarpon Hunter switched gears, and coasts, to catch this 34-inch Atlantic subspecies snook in Sebastian Inlet. -
This 6-1/2-pound bass was only part of the hot shiner bite Fort Lauderdale anglers Randy Washburn and his grandson, Seth, got into on the Bit O, with Roland Martin Marina Capt. Bo White.
Offshore anglers scored big during light winds over the Thanksgiving holiday, and inshore anglers got into a very hot bite as Monday’s cold front bore down on the area.
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Big cobia were newcomers on the hit parade, the last weekend of red snapper season produced lots of limits, and sheepshead took their winter run up a notch.
OFFSHORE: Oh, where to begin: A&B Charters Jim Rinckey reports full and half-day trips off Gordon Pass have been great. Red grouper and snappers have been the targets on deeper reefs in 80-foot depths, 40 miles out of Gordon Pass. And half days, out to 45 feet of water, have produced Spanish and smoker king mackerel, plus a big cobia taken 12 miles offshore by Ryan Volk, with Capt. Bobby Nagaj.
Vito Mirra and Jason Stretch scored with big permit and cobia, respectively, while spearfishing in 180 feet of water off the Sanibel Light with H2O Offshore Adventures Capt. Ant Fantauzzi.
Bob Brooks reports continued success much closer to Sanibel, in 20 feet of water, where he turned on fly fisher and wildlife photographer Andre Nieuwenhuizen to his first false albacore (little tunny), made doubly delicious by fooling it with his own fly, a Sqwhitey pattern.
Lehr’s Economy Tackle reports Fort Myers skipper Nick Smith and some six friends ran 100 miles offshore to get their limits of “American” red snapper plus other bottom dwellers, and they also trolled up a whopper wahoo that provided steaks for all.
Tom Fowler and four friends including Allen Ringsmuth and Dennis DeWitt rounded up their limits of large red snapper from 10 to 15 pounds, plus some big porgies, a small king, a nice gag grouper, and a dandy African pompano that fell for a mix of cut squid, sardines, or metal butterfly jigs, 80 miles offshore.
Also from Lehr’s is a shot of a jumbo cobia caught on a live thread herring in about 90 feet of water by Chase Conley.
ESTERO BAY: The Estero Bay bite was red hot as Monday morning’s south winds stirred the appetites of just about everything with fins. Get Hooked Charter Capt. Matt DeAngelis reports clients focused on points with strong current to catch trout, pompano, and jacks. He sent in pics of brothers Bruce Churton of West Bay, and Matt Churton of Texas, with a 34-inch snook and a 33-inch redfish, respectively.
Fishbuster Charters Capt. Dave Hanson was keeping busy Monday morning, unhooking 15 sheepshead and a couple of low-slot redfish caught in southern Estero Bay by John Gerard and Matt. On Saturday Capt. Hanson and his wife, Marti, replenished their taco supplies with four keeper sheepshead and a 15-inch black drum that also bit on live shrimp.
CALOOSAHATCHEE RIVER: Fort Myers Shores angler Justin Crilly caught a dozen snook from 27 to 36 inches on both Saturday and Sunday mornings, casting 3/4- and 1-ounce white-and-red Gulfstream Flairhawk jigs at the Wilson Pigott (SR 31) Bridge and the Seaboard Coastline trestle, according to Lehr’s.
PINE ISLAND: St. James City Capt. George Grosselfinger reports a very good snook bite along east side shorelines of Pine Island Sound, north to Pine Island Commercial Marina, as this week’s cold front bore down. He released two slot-size linesides Monday on topwater baits, and he caught his biggest snook of the week casting quarter-ounce jigs with a 5-inch tail on Tuesday, along with several big spotted seatrout he said are getting more and more numerous.
CHARLOTTE HARBOR: Also on Tuesday “in less than stellar conditions,” Russell Stevens of Fort Myers used peeled shrimp to catch 11 sheepshead to 20 inches and a brace of mangrove snapper of 11 and 12 inches at the Charlotte Harbor Reef south of Mangrove Point. Lehr’s reports he also was cut off several times by sharp-toothed Spanish mackerel that all managed to elude capture.
King Fisher bay boat captains out of Fishermen’s Village in Punta Gorda also report Spanish mackerel and sheepshead biting at the Charlotte Harbor Reef, with more Spanish feeding on schools of glass minnows (bay anchovies) along the outside of the eastern bar, and more sheepshead along riprapped PGI canal mouths. There has been “all you want” catch-and-release action on all sizes of trout taking shrimp under popping corks along east side flats south to Pirate Harbor, plus low-slot and undersize redfish and mostly small mangrove snapper biting along nearby mangrove shorelines.
FRESHWATER
LAKE TRAFFORD: Lake Trafford Marina owner Ski Olesky reports Grundy Falwell and his grandson caught their limits of crappie while drifting central depths of the Immokalee lake with minnows on Wednesday. Land-bound anglers also have been catching a few specks along the shorelines and pier at Ann Olesky Park.
LAKE OKEECHOBEE: Roland Martin Marina & Resort Capt. Bo White reports, “The shiner bite has been great anywhere you find clean water and a hard edge of cattails or joint grass (Kissimmeegrass).” He’s been having good luck on Clewiston’s West Wall, the east side of Ritta Island, the Bay Bottom area, and in the back of Pelican Bay. Brad Lytle of Roland Martin’s Marine Center recommends the same areas for anglers with artificial baits, starting with a speed worm or topwater Spook, and switching to a 5- or 6-inch stick worm or flukes in dark colors, or soft jerkbaits in shad patterns. Flipping black-and-blue creature baits with 1-1/2 or 2-ounce tungsten weights also has been a good way to target tournament fish underwater lettuce clumps.
Taylor Creek and the Harney Pond Canal have been crappie hotspots.
PIC OF THE WEEK
It takes two hands to handle a whopper cobia like Chase Conley’s. Photo courtesy Lehr’s Economy Tackle.
FISH TIP
At 34 inches, Vince Parkinson’s snook was too big to keep in any case. But had it been two inches shorter, it would have been legal to harvest at Sebastian Inlet, where he was visiting fishing friends on Florida’s Atlantic Coast. Snook season closed Dec. 1 for Gulf Coast anglers, but those hankering for another snook dinner have until the season closes on Dec. 15 to catch an Atlantic region keeper from 28 to 32 inches, bag limit one. Details at MyFWC.com.
HOT SPOTS
No. 1: Charlotte Harbor Reef for sheepshead and Spanish mackerel.
No.2: Eastern Pine Island Sound shorelines for snook and spotted seatrout.
No. 3: Caloosahatchee River bridges for big snook.
No. 4: Estero Bay for lots of species.
No. 5: Nearshore waters for king and Spanish mackerel.
No. 6: Offshore reefs and wrecks for cobia.
No. 7: Lake Trafford for crappie.
LAKE OKEECHOBEE
No. 1: Taylor Creek for crappie.
No. 2: Harney Pond Canal for crappie.
No. 3: West Wall to Bay Bottom for bass.
No. 4: Pelican Bay for bass.
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