Winds finally abated enough over the past week for anglers to get after fish that never really quit biting. Offshore anglers and fly fishers benefitted most, hat sales least.
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Offshore anglers will lose the chance of keeping amberjack or gray triggerfish on June 1. But when that door closes the gag grouper door opens, through Dec. 31 in most Gulf waters. And spotted trout also reopen under new rules in local waters on Tuesday.
OFFSHORE: Sam Flores of Cape Coral and friends had a great offshore trip Monday, with Flores catching two nice African Pompano while losing a couple more that felt a lot bigger, slow-pitching Johnny Jigs. They also used natural baits to catch red grouper and lane and mangrove snappers, according to Lehr’s Economy Tackle. Lehr’s owner Mike Westra said he’s been shown multiple pictures of Africans and permit over the past week, with most of the Africans caught starting in 120 feet of water.
The King Fisher Island Girl, running out of Fishermen’s Village in Punta Gorda, made four offshore trips since last Saturday, averaging two or three red grouper and nice boxes of mostly lane snapper, plus a mix of grunts and porgies. Two parties signed on for and did battle with goliath grouper, one of which was estimated at “several hundred pounds.” They fished in depths of 60 to 70 feet, west-southwest of Boca Grande Pass.
ESTERO BAY: Fishbuster Charters Capt. Dave Hanson reports Jack Willis and Maddie Bruner had a big-time, underneath Friday’s morning’s stiff breezes in the southern Estero Bay back country. They used live shrimp for an all-catch-and-release outing that produced 24 mangrove snapper, four sheepshead, a 21-inch redfish, and a dandy (for its species) 14-inch yellowfin mojarra.
Get Hooked Charters Capt. Matt DeAngelis sent in shots from three trips starting last Thursday in the Hell Peckney sub-bay of Estero Bay, where Jason Hammond released a 27-inch redfish that tried to get away with a live pinfish. On Saturday AJ Harrington’s 26-inch red wasn’t any luckier at thievery, trying to steal a live sardine in the Rocky Bay area. And on Monday Estero River pro-staffer Skip Messinger used a sardine to catch and mandatorily release a fat spotted seatrout, the picture fish for this week’s Fish Tip segment on new trout regulations.
SANIBEL: Norm Zeigler’s Fly, Bait & Tackle on Periwinkle Way reports lots of snook now patrolling the island’s Gulf beaches, with the largest concentrations between the Tarpon Bay Beach access and Blind Pass. Blind Pass also has lots of snook, mostly just outside the pass, and snook are mixed with redfish and a few baby tarpon along Wildlife Drive (closed Fridays) in the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Trout fishing has been good from the causeway islands in the evenings, and beach anglers have been catching a few trout and Spanish mackerel.
PINE ISLAND: Lehr’s sent in shots of pro-staffer Leo Marino and Capt. Shane Kelly with some nice reds they caught while wading the bottom of Monday evening’s outgoing tide in southern Pine Island Sound with Z-Man Shrimp. Marino was back for Wednesday’s outgoing tide in Captiva Pass, where he hooked two large tarpon and got one to the boat while throwing big live thread herrings.
Wildfly Charters Capt. Greg McKee reports finding, if not inspiring bites from lots of tarpon in northern Pine Island Sound, where he suspects the feed was on during the brightest hours of this week’s “super moon.” He also reports catching lots of upper and over-slot trout (see this week’s Fish Tip) north of the bridge in Matlacha Pass, where “They’ve been hitting almost anything, especially live shrimp and Gulp! (baits).”
CHARLOTTE HARBOR: King Fisher bay boat guides reports a little less action on trout, but it’s still good for bonnethead sharks and ladyfish along the harbor’s upper east side flats. On Tuesday morning the Conklin party from North Georgia took their ladyfish as baits to the central harbor, thinking more sport with the 30-inch class blacktip sharks that have been available in the 20-foot holes. Their big (as in seven feet) bonus was a bull shark that took two hours to get to the boat.
FRESHWATER
CAPE CORAL: Zach Everly used a pumpkin worm Tuesday evening to catch two nice bass in the northwest section of the Cape, according to his dad, William.
LAKE TRAFFORD: Lake Trafford Marina owner Ski Olesky reports anglers fishing from the pier in Ann Olesky Park have been catching bluegills on red worms, and boaters drifting the Immokalee lake’s central depths have been finding a few crappie and anchoring to catch a few more in scattered concentrations.
LAKE OKEECHOBEE: Roland Martin Marina & Resort Capt. Bo White reports, ” I will be so glad when the wind lays down a little, here on the Big O.” The key to getting on a good bite, as he did with Kentuckian Danny Zoller, has been searching out pockets of clean water. Strong east winds have made the Bay Bottom and South Bay areas good places to start. Bluegill fishing has been off due to the dirty water, but the bream are expected to get better after this week’s full moon.
PIC OF THE WEEK
Capt. Shane Kelly used Z-Man Shrimp on the last of Monday evening’s outgoing tide to catch and release several tailing redfish in southern Pine Island Sound. Photo Leo Marino, Lehr’s Economy Tackle.
FISH TIP
Beginning Tuesday, June 1, spotted seatrout fishing will be a whole new ballgame in Florida’s newly reconfigured South Zone for trout management. That covers the state’s southern tip, from the  Fred Howard Park Causeway in Pinellas County near the Pasco County line, through Broward County on the Atlantic coast. In much of the Gulf portion of that zone, trout will reopen after a special red tide-precipitated closure from Pasco County south through Collier County’s Gordon Pass. The new rules reduce the trout bag limit from four fish to three, with a new slot size range reduction of 15 to 19 inches (formerly 15 to 20). Additionally, a new boat limit of six trout (instead of three per angler) will go into effect, with no more than one trout over 19 inches allowed per angler, or per vessel with two or more anglers. Captain and crew have a zero bag limit on for-hire trips. For complete state maps and rules, click here.
HOT SPOTS
No. 1: Eastern flats for ladyfish, then central depths with the ladies as bait for sharks.
No. 2: Northern Matlacha Pass for trout.
No. 3: Northern Pine Island Sound and Captiva Pass for tarpon.
No. 4: Western Sanibel shorelines for snook.
No. 5: MacKeever Keys for tailing reds at low tide.
No. 6: Estero Bay redfish, trout and more.
No. 7: Well offshore for red grouper, mixed snapper and African pompano.
Lake Okeechobee
No. 1: Bay Bottom and South Bay for bass in clean water.
No. 2: Okeechobee Waterway spoil islands for bluegill.
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