March 12 fishing report from Byron Stout

That old saw about March coming in like a lion couldn’t have been more prophetic over the past week. But winds should be much more lamblike this weekend.

Offshore fishing has been largely blown out over the past week, but A&B Charters reported the first push of northbound king mackerel starting to bite off Naples beaches.

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Inshore anglers who kept to leeward shores reported good fishing for snook, sheepshead and more.

Freshwater action on Lake Okeechobee for bass and crappie is reported best in years, but Lake Trafford’s speck fishing was far less than spectacular.

OFFSHORE: A&B Charters Capt. Jim Rinckey reported good trips this week, with snappers biting well in waters murked up by the strong winds. He also sent in shots of Madison, Wisc. angler Andrew Smith with a nice barracuda that hit a live blue runner at a DOD tower. And of youngsters Alex, Shay and Kate Doty, and Zach Vincent, whose Windy City upbringing stood them well for a catch of king mackerel that hit trolled chrome spoons within sight of Naples beaches.

Fishbuster Charters Capt. Dave Hanson reports Pat Dombrovski and his brother-in-law, Chuck, spent a half-day last Friday on nearshore reefs off Bonita Beach, where they used squid to catch two keepers among 10 sheepshead, while also boxing five Spanish mackerel and four grunts, and releasing three short gag grouper.

Ray Arnos of Cape Coral and three pals fished ledges off Boca Grande in depths from 31 to 41 feet last Friday and caught 40-plus sheepshead to 19 inches, and a few lane snapper and Spanish, all on shrimp, according to Lehr’s Economy Tackle.

King Fisher Capt. Ralph Allen reports seven straight days of wind-canceled offshore trips, with the last catches coming last Friday in depths from 65 to 70 feet off Boca Grande Pass. the Nawa party from Illinois released a six- to seven-foot sandbar shark, and also reeled in three keeper red grouper, some fat mangrove snapper, a bunch of lanes, and some porgies.

ESTERO BAY: Cameron Collins’ Tuesday offshore trip got blown out, but he still took home a 12-inch keeper snapper and a 14-inch keeper sheepshead, while releasing a 24-inch redfish on his inshore Fishbuster trip in southern Estero Bay backwaters.

Larry Sherman also found it too windy on Tuesday for boating, but he got a mid-slot redfish to bite a four-inch, MirrOlure shad tail that resembled a glass minnow on a 3/8-ounce Hookup Jig while casting from the shore at Lovers Key. “Not much going on,” he reported.

SANIBEL: Norm Zeigler’s Fly, Bait & Tackle on Periwinkle Way reports good action on the island’s back side, with landlubbers scoring on tarpon and snook along four-mile Wildlife Drive (closed Fridays) in the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge, where the bite has been after the sun got up on cooler mornings. Spotted seatrout have been plentiful in nearby Tarpon Bay, and snook have been cruising the backside beaches from the Sanibel Pier to Dixie Beach. Spanish mackerel have been plentiful at the pier and around the lighthouse point, with a few snook biting on Gulfside beaches.

PINE ISLAND: St. James City Capt. George Grosselfinger fished the lee sides of lower Pine Island Sound keys Monday and Tuesday, catching three snook of 30 inches or better among others on both days, plus a couple of reds and a trout while casting topwater baits and jigs. He also released nine sub-slot snook and a small tarpon on Wednesday, complaining the wind stopped the incoming tide and killed the bite.

Capt. Ozzie Lessinger also reports good fishing over the past week in mid-Pine Island Sound, where Joe Purpura used a Rapala Subwalk to catch and release a 34-inch snook. The veteran guide predicts even better conditions including warming waters and better tides as winds subside this weekend. He’ll be working channel edges and potholes on low water, and mangrove shorelines and oyster bars as tides rise.

Over on the other side of the island, Wildfly Charters Capt. Gregg McKee reports “Fish are absolutely everywhere, even though the conditions really stunk this week.” New Jersey angler Andy Uhler used a live shrimp to catch a 25-inch red, and he also caught several big trout on live and artificial baits, south of the Matlacha Pass Bridge on Monday morning.

CALOOSAHATCHEE RIVER: Steven Brown of North Fort Myers and Clifford Smith of Cape Coral racked up some of the first big tarpon of the year, going three releases on three hookups Tuesday night, and two for four Wednesday night. They’ve been baiting with live ladyfish at the Cape Coral Bridge.

Also according to Lehr’s, Brian, and Amy Fisher of Fort Myers used live sardines to catch an estimated 30 snook to 30 inches, plus a 24-inch redfish Saturday along shorelines from Peppertree Pointe to the Cape Coral Bridge.

Lehr’s owner Mike Westra also got reports of several cobia being caught recently, including one at the Sanibel Causeway and two in Charlotte Harbor.

CHARLOTTE HARBOR: King Fisher bay boat captains have been catching sheepshead to five pounds at the Charlotte Harbor Reef south of Mangrove Point, where a few Spanish mackerel also have been biting on live shrimp. Nearby flats continued to produce trout, and it’s been a banner year for bonnethead sharks plentiful enough to target on light tackle.

FRESHWATER

LAKE TRAFFORD: Lake Trafford Marina reports crappie fishing on the Immokalee lake has hit a wall. The few fish being caught have all been taken by boaters drifting the lake’s central depths.

LAKE OKEECHOBEE: Roland Martin Marina & Resort Capt. Mark King reports the best bass fishing in years on the Big O, where relatively high water (15.1 feet above sea level) is allowing winter access to back country areas loaded with hungry bass that may not have been fished for years. “On most days you can’t get baits (wild shiners) in the water fast enough.” The artificial lure bite has been slower, with Gambler Why Not craws and Fat Ace worms working best. Inside areas where the waters are cleanest have been producing all around the lake, according to scuttlebutt, with Capt. King personally attesting to waters on the south end.

Clewiston winter resident and crappie specialist George Lebo, Jr. reports the specks biting light-colored jigs and minnows fished in the Rim Canal around floating mats between marker 100 to Bare Beach, just southeast of the Clewiston Lock.

PIC OF THE WEEK

Joe Purpura used a Rapala Subwalk (almost topwater) lure to catch and release this 34-inch snook near a mid-Pine Island Sound oyster bar, with Capt. Ozzie Lessinger.

FISH TIP

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HOT SPOTS

No. 1: Charlotte Harbor Reef for sheepshead and Spanish mackerel.

No. 2: South Matlacha Pass for big trout.

No. 3: Pine Island Sound for snook and more.

No. 4: Baby Tarpon and snook along Wildlife Drive.

No. 5: Caloosahatchee River for snook and big tarpon.

No. 6: Nearshore reefs for sheepshead and mackerel.

No. 7: King mackerel off Naples beaches.

LAKE OKEECHOBEE

No. 1: Monkey Box for bass.

No. 2: Cochran’s Pass for bass.

No. 3: Rim Canal for crappie.

No. 4: Bay Bottom for bass.