February Fishing Report 08 - Naples/Marco Island
February 29th, 2008 Posted in Fishing Report
Fishing this February has been great and Tarpon have been active due to warmer temperatures, making the Ten Thousand Islands a “must fish” for fly fisher’s. Tarpon in the morning have been rolling in the shallow bays and have allowed clients to hook the silver king during off season conditions. All we can hope is that these temperatures continue and that the fish continue to enjoy the shallow waters of the backcountry. This is especially helpful to all of you that came down last season only to find winds between 25 and 35 knots making fishing extremely tough.
Tarpon are very active when the water temperature reaches the magic number of 76 degrees. In no way are these fish the spring time migratory Tarpon that most are accustomed too, they are residents. Resident Tarpon typically range from 20-80 lbs so they are truly impressive in size. The resident Tarpon live in large numbers throughout the Everglades and Ten Thousand Islands spending most of the winter in deeper channels and slightly off shore. When the water temp rises to 76, and the wind cooperates, resident Tarpon seek the warm water and abundant food source of the backcountry. It is a great feeling when you happen to hit this condition and fool these silver giants into eating a well placed fly.
Snook and Redfish have been very active and fishing has been great lately. This is good news due to our January freeze that killed lots of fish, and the fishery seems to be doing just fine. The lower tides have been conducive to sight fishing for large Snook and Reds which have been eating smaller patterns. Shrimp colors when the water is clear and darker patterns (Black/Purple and Brown Puglisi style flies) when the water is high.
Most of you know that I purchased a new boat after last season. My old boat floated in about a foot of water, fully loaded it would only float in 15 inches or so. It ran shallow but not shallow enough on lower tides. My new boat floats in 4-5 inches of water and runs extremely shallow. It has definitely improved my Snook and Redfish catch rate by allowing me to get to places I couldn’t have in the past. It has taken great length to get the new boat dialed in so that it’s perfect and truly reminds me of something a great client told me…boats, airplanes, prostitutes….better to rent.
I look forward to seeing those of you that are booked for the spring and hope to see the rest of you this summer or fall.
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