July 23 fishing report from Byron Stout

Now’s a great time to find elbow room in local waters, with 32,999 fishin’ friends from Southwest Florida gone for bugs, down in the Florida Keys. Those are all lobster permit holders from Lee, Charlotte, and Collier counties (not counting divers exempt from licensing requirements).

– EMAIL YOUR PICS TO BYRON STOUT

Where not to go is the Tampa Bay area, where red tide fish kills by the ton have prompted fishery managers to close the harvest of snook, redfish, and spotted seatrout. The similar closure of those fisheries in Southwest Florida continues for snook and reds through May 31, 2022, but has been lifted for trout. South of Naples’ Gordon Pass, redfish now are legal to harvest, but snook remain closed by rule until Sept. 1. Get details here.

GOODLAND: Brittney Short had a good day fishing for redfish in southern Collier County with her daughter, Brooklyn, and fiance, Ruairi McCaughey. And they had a fine evening enjoying it, blackened. The red’s last meal was a chunk of cut mullet.

ESTERO BAY: Get Hooked Charter Capt. Matt DeAngelis sent in pics of success from three trips since Sunday when Mike Boshart used a live pinfish to land a 28-inch red off Black Key. On Tuesday Hailey Stegner and companions boated their (new) boat limit of six trout using pop’n cork combo rigs near Coon Key. And the popping cork magic continued Wednesday near Mound Key for Matt Churton, whose best trout was an 18-incher.

A customer at Norm Zeigler’s Fly, Bait & Tackle on Sanibel reported large numbers of mangrove snapper in Matanzas Pass (fishable from the “sky bridge” to Fort Myers Beach).

SANIBEL: Bob Brooks got Wednesday morning off to a fast start with eight snook to 32 inches caught on the “early bite” along the beach at Blind Pass, where his Squgly fly pattern also proved attractive to five trout and a pompano.

Zeigler’s reports snook scattered along all of the island’s Gulf shorelines, where light nor’easterlies and a high sun have been making for good sight fishing for fly flingers. Small snook and “jubilee” tarpon also have been biting along Wildlife Drive (closed Fridays) in the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

PINE ISLAND: Theresa Jakubowski sent in shots of daughters Katelynn and Emily with their respective sheepshead and snook they caught with shrimp while fishing from the pier at Matlacha Park last Thursday with their dad. Parking fees will be suspended this weekend, July 24-25, at all Lee County parks and boat ramps.

Bob Elliott scored with a nice snook caught last Thursday while kayaking with West Coast Kayak guide Mike Lahn.

Keith DeYoung used a white rabbit fur pattern to catch and release an estimated 10-pound tarpon just outside of Pine Island Creek in Matlacha Pass, where a pair of snook and some spotted seatrout left the Sarasota angler just a redfish shy of an inshore grand slam on fly. Wildfly Charters Capt. Gregg McKee reports the lack of a red was an anomaly, given how reds “have really turned on this week. Bait is still everywhere, and even though the water is turbid around Matlacha, the fish don’t seem bothered by it at all.”

CHARLOTTE HARBOR: King Fisher bay boat guides report boat limits of trout along upper east side flats aren’t a slam dunk, but they’re not unlikely, given the nice average size of specks. Fishing with live shrimp also has produced bonnethead sharks on the flats, and mangrove snapper numbers have been on the upswing in deeper stretches and the mouths of east side creeks. Spanish mackerel also have been plentiful along the outside of the eastern barrier bar, as well as in the harbor’s deeper waters.

OFFSHORE: Calm seas have made for comfortable rides to offshore grounds over the past week. Depths around 65 feet out of Gordon Pass have been reported great for A&B Charters with Naples Capt. Bobby Nagaj. Live herrings and pinfish have been producing keeper red grouper, mangrove snapper, and sharks.

Vince Parkinson sent in this shot of his false albacore (little tunny) caught Saturday in 120 feet of water, 50 miles off Sanibel, where the water temperature was a tepid 84 degrees.

Little tunny also have been among the frequent catches for King Fisher clients with Capt. John Baines, who keeps frozen sardines astern on a free line while fishing at anchor off Boca Grande Pass. He’s also found 65 feet to be the sweet spot, with daily boxes of red grouper and lane snapper taken off the bottom.

FRESHWATER

LAKE TRAFFORD: Anglers fishing from the shorelines and pier at Ann Olesky Park, and along Lake Trafford Road’s north side canal were catching Mayan cichlids and tilapia on red worms, earlier this week. But Lake Trafford Marina reports that action slowed by midweek, and next to no boaters have been trying their luck.

LAKE OKEECHOBEE: Roland Martin Marina & Resort Capt. Bo White reports continued good bass fishing out of Clewiston on the Big O, where the key to bass success is getting out early, as in first light. The bite, while it lasts, has been on both live golden shiners and artificial baits including topwater plugs like River2Sea’s big bone Whopper Plopper. Friday’s full moon for July often is called the buck moon, because that’s when antlers begin growing across much of the country. On Lake Okeechobee, it’s also the time when bluegills move back on the beds, and crickets are the tickets to bountiful fish fries, during one of the last big spawning events of summer.

PIC OF THE WEEK

Want to sneak up on a snook? The linesides are scarcely bothered by the dip of a kayak paddle.

FISH TIP

Showing off a fly-caught tarpon like Keith DeYoung’s estimated 10-pounder, caught on his Wildfly Charter, is no problem for the fish or angler, as long as the time out of water is as brief as possible. Take the shot while carefully supporting the fish and holding your breath as an ad hoc timer, and a reminder of what the fish is going through. For large tarpon, however, removal from the water is a big no-no, as in a violation of Florida Statute 68B-32.004(3). “Tarpon greater than 40 inches fork length may not be removed from the water.” That’s one of the counts against two Dade County anglers who also were charged with killing a tarpon without a tarpon tag, and not releasing a tarpon alive and unharmed. Their bonds were set at $75,000, and a third suspect is being sought. For detailed rules on tarpon fishing, including special rules for Boca Grande Pass, click here.

HOT SPOTS

No. 1: Charlotte Harbor’s eastern flats and creeks for trout and snapper.

No. 2: Trout, redfish, snook, and young tarpon in Matlacha Pass.

No. 3: Trout and more in Pine Island Sound.

No. 4: Blind Pass for snook and trout.

No. 5: Barrier island beaches for sightfishing snook.

No. 6: Estero Bay for reds and trout.

No. 7: Offshore for the last week of red snapper season, closing Thursday, July 29 for private recreational boaters.

Lake Okeechobee

No. 1: Outside vegetation lines for bass; bluegills on nearby beds.

No. 2: Bluegills around spoil islands of Uncle Joe’s (Mayaca) Cut and the Okeechobee Waterway channel.