Southwest Florida Forecast
April 05, 2024
By Capt. Greg Stamper
Capt. Greg Stamper of Snook Stamp Charters talks fishing from Sarasota to Bonita Beach, including Siesta Key, Englewood, Boca Grande, Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda, Pine Island, Cape Coral, Captiva, Sanibel and Fort Myers. Contact Info : Capt. Greg Stamper; Snook Stamp Charters, Bonita Springs; 239-313-1764; www.snookstampcharters.com Action Spotter Podcast
April 5 Report Fishing for red drum continues to be very good. (Photo by Capt. Greg Stamper) It has been an interesting week. We had Mother Nature deliver two cool fronts to Southwest Florida. Although the temperatures did not have huge swings, the wind associated with them was strong. Strong winds over shallow water stirs up the bottom, making the water muddy. The result was one or two days of tough fishing, followed up with the bite getting back to the status quo.
The redfish bite continues to be very good. On the days when the water was its worst, fishing with cutbaits or shrimp on jigs worked well. Even on the days after the high winds, redfish, trout and snook were caught. It will take a few more days of strong tides to clean up the water, then fishing should be great. The surprise this week was catching small mutton snappers in the back bays. Although these fish are small, it is very cool to see a species you do not expect to catch. A few reports of bluefish also being caught this week. Shows you never know what may show up.
The nearshore fishing for tarpon gets to a halt when the winds are blowing hard. There are tarpon off our beaches as well as in the bays, but fishing in 30-mph gusts is not fun. On the days when the winds were lower, tarpon were caught even in the muddy water. Those who have side-scan on their GPS units can find them. The next week looks like we will have some great weather and low winds, so finding the silver kings will be much easier. Reports of tarpon schooling up near the Caloosahatchee River and Sanibel causeway areas came in often. The best tarpon reports came from those fishing from Captiva and Cayo Costa.
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Offshore fishing only doubled twice this week. The boats that did get out started fishing in 130 feet of water and did well. African pompano seemed to be fired up this week and whole squid dropped on large jigs worked well. Snapper fishing was good as it has been for a while. Most of the snappers ranged from 1 to 4 pounds and were a mix of mangrove, lane and mutton. Groupers were caught when large live baits like grunts or pinfish were used in the same areas that the snapper was in.
March 29 Report Leaping tarpon. (Photo by Capt. Greg Stamper) We continue to keep getting the little tail ends of cold fronts. These fronts drop our temperatures a little, but things warm up just as quick. The main issue with these fronts is wind. Wind mucks up the shallow-water areas making sight fishing impossible. The good part is most of the week fishing was good.
The back bay fishing for tarpon, redfish, snook and trout was good all but two days. On the good days, we were able to catch grand slams of tarpon, snook, redfish and trout. Shrimp has worked best for the redfish on simple jigs. Our snook are eating pilchards and are beginning to get bigger. Trout continue to be found in roughly three feet of water anywhere there are grass flats. The tarpon can be found along our beaches on calm days. If it is rough in the Gulf, try fishing in Pine Island sound where you can get some wind block.
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Nearshore fishing will continue to be a tarpon thing for several months to come. Those who are fishing the reefs will do well on snappers, grunts, sheepshead, trout, mackerel and the occasional hogfish. Most anglers who fished the reefs use shrimp, but if you can use live white baits as well in the same areas, you may expand your species. Permit continues to be caught on the wrecks using both shrimp and crabs. Reports of large hammerheads and bull sharks moving into these same areas happened often. These big sharks follow the tarpon around but are more than willing to eat a permit.
The offshore fishing happened a few days this week. Most anglers did not go out very far. Most fished around the 40 mile out mark and caught snappers, a few porgies and small grouper. Those who trolled in the same areas had plenty of kingfish to play with, but nothing else but a few barracudas.
March 22 Report Red fishing continues to be good. It has been an interesting week of fishing. The north and east winds late in the week hurt the good tide days. Winds moving in from these directions will hold water out of the bay, making tides lower than expected. This effect of holding water out also allows for dirty water to develop in the shallows. Regardless of the challenges we did manage some decent fishing. Water temperatures did fluctuate a bit, but not enough to shut things down. Before this last cold front water temperatures steadied out in the low 70’s by midday.
Tarpon fishing continues to be a big target for many anglers. Tarpon have been active and are being caught daily. Schools of fish are now being seen along our beaches and around our passes in good numbers. An assortment of baits ranging from cut baits to live crabs have worked all week. Most of these tarpon range 80-to-120 pounds so set up your tackle appropriately. Red fishing continues to be good. We did have a few days on the northern winds where the bite did not happen until nearly the end of the high tides, but we got them. Snook, small jacks, snappers and even some bluefish became our bycatch.
Nearshore fishing for permit, cobia, kingfish and Spanish mackerel continues. The Spanish mackerel and kingfish can often be seen free jumping as they attack the schools of bait fish. The permit and cobia continue to inhabit the wrecks with higher relief and can be caught using small crabs, shrimp and artificial lures. When fishing the same wrecks and reefs sheepshead, snappers, pompano and spotted seatrout will be your bycatch.
The offshore trips have gone well this week. They had about four good days to go out far, and many anglers did just that. Lots of lane snappers, mangrove snappers, as well as porgies were caught. Those who fished out past the 130 marks did well on red grouper using squid, pinfish and sardines.
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March 15 It is tarpon time for those anglers who want to mess with 100-pounders. The big schools of threadfin herring have made their way inshore, bringing the silver kings with them. Fish have been caught in the back bays, along the beaches and in the passes practically every day. Using threadfin herrings, crabs, live mullet and cut baits have all worked. Be sure you come armed with heavy spin rods with plenty of line, as the water temperature is hovering around the mid-70s. When the water is in this temperature range the tarpon are full of piss and vinegar making for some long fights.
Fishing for red drum continues to improve. (Photo by Greg Stamper) In the shallow waters of the back bays, we continue to catch a mix of winter fish along with the resurgence of our summer targets. Sheepshead fishing continues to be good but will begin to tapper off. Black drum also are continuing to be found, especially during the outgoing tides. These black drum are looking for crab coming from the shallow flats. If you’re targeting black drum look for them near or in channels where the water is flowing off a large grassy flat. Snook are beginning to show up throughout the bay. There have been a few big snook caught, but most of them are small. Red fishing continues to get better and better. Redfish can be caught from 17 to 30 inches using shrimp, pilchards, flies and jerk baits. Most of the redfish are still a bit silver in color, meaning they just moved into the area. We also have tarpon in the back bays and they are big. The tarpon is targeting the schools of mullet that are filling in as well as ladyfish and trout.
The offshore fishing continues to be good. Our weather has allowed plenty of days to get out far without getting beaten up. Grouper fishing starts getting good in about 120 feet. Those that are fishing in 60-80 feet of water are catching their limits of lane, mangrove and grunts easily. Kingfish as well as cobia are also available and an easy way to end up with one is to always have a flat line out with live bait on it.
Capt. Greg Stamper www.snookstampcharters.com
