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Updated 2/11/08
Conditions Remain
Good For
Non-stop Action
by Capt. Matt Mitchell
Spring-like conditions have made the fishing action non-stop at
times. Tons of whitebait caught at your favorite bait spot are
easly feed for hungry fish on both tides. Watching gamefish fire
up on chummed live shiners, it almost felt like April.
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For sheer numbers of fish this was about as good as it gets in February.
As long as winter conditions stay mild like they have been the last few
weeks the outstanding fishing should continue. Water temperatures in
the sound are up to 75 degrees — one of the big reasons fishing is as
good as it is..
Deeper channels in the back
country all contained snook and big seatrout. Freelined shiners cast
anywhere in the channels drew explosive topwater strikes. The three- to
four-inch shiners that have been too big to catch fish on all winter
were quickly chased down and crushed by hungry predators. Some of the
biggest topwater hits came with the rod in the holder and the shiner
freelined back with the tide to the middle or edge of the channel.
Watching a big snook crash and miss a bait two or three times before
finally getting it down them is always great entertainment.
Snook can be found all over the sound right now. Anywhere from shallow
potholes to areas of deeper water with fast moving tide. When chasing
snook, reading the tide chart might be the most important factor. Fish
during the times when the current is strongest to improve your odds. The
fish love to stage up around structure that makes an eddie that breaks
the tide. This gives them a place to sit and ambush bait as it sweeps by
on the current. Cast the bait so it drifts through the rip and hold on.
The same feeding stations with snook on them now will hold fish time
after time.
February in my opinion can be considered high on the list as the best
month for trout fishing in Southwest Florida. Trout over 20 inches are
common right now, though I don't remember seeing so many large trout in
the mix as this year. The lack of freshwater releases from Lake
Pkeechobee and no red tides I think are the major factor in this. Clear
water really makes for great trout fishing too.
If you like to cast artificial for trout now is the time. Try the new
MirrorLure suspending twitch baits; they might just be the most deadly
trout plug I have ever fished. The silver with a green back is simply a
trout-catching weapon.
Redfish fishing has not been quite as hot as the snook and trout bite.
Lower than usual high tides in the day kept water levels low and a lot
of good redfish water was just unreachable. Catching rat reds was still
pretty consistent though with lots of them in the 16- to 20-inch Range
The rat reds have been feeding well on live shrimp and small pinfish
fished on the bottom under the deeper mangrove banks.
Click the links below to view copies of my other recent reports.
01/21/2008 -
01/28/2008 -
02/04/2008
- 02/11/2008
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