Marco Report

March 07, 2020 By Florida Sportsman

Recent inshore fishing reports from the Ten Thousands Islands region.

Marco Report

Florida Sportsman member: dadof3under3

My son and I fished from three to five Tuesday inside of Tigertail Beach. We each caught a snook on paddle tails, with both fish coming off scattered piles of rocks. We saw sheepshead and spanish mackerel caught by another fisherman using frozen shrimp. I was surprised to see a mackerel inside, but the cut seemed plenty deep. I suppose they followed the bait, although not much was visible.

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Great Winter Fishing

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

This has been one of the better winters I can remember. All those tiny reds we were getting last year have grown up and stuck around for us. Luckily, most of my trips the anglers are catch-and-release so these fish will be around a lot longer for us and have more babies and so on. As usual, shrimp is the most productive bait when the water is 73 or lower. I've been using jigs and shrimp for my anglers and dancing it across and over oyster bars. I haven't even been bothering catching bait. We've been catching so many fish on these tipped jigs and freelined shrimp, it's not worth the effort or time unless your on a specific big snook or a tarpon mission. Plenty of snook and black drum have been chewing the jigs as well this winter. Get out there and tear 'em up!

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Red-hot Redfishing

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

Marco Island and the Florida Everglades redfish were ON FIRE! Here's just a few of the big redfish we caught these days. The redfish and snook fishing in the Ten Thousand Islands has been great. It's been an insane bite this week!

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Stellar Snookin' in Naples

Florida Sportsman member: snookaffinity

I got out for a trip with the grandkids this morning for three hours. In that time period, we landed 40 snook and two mangrove snappers.

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Black Drum in Chokoloskee

Florida Sportsman member: FishFactsTV

Mixed in with a few small snook and decent trout, we pulled out two big drum on Sunday. The video is here:

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Everglades City Trip

Florida Sportsman member: bstark

We throw nothing but artificials, mostly topwater and then gulp shrimp on 1/8 ounce jigheads. We caught a ton of juvenile reds and snook, between 12-16 inches, which kept us entertained in between good fish. Most of our time is spent in and around Indian Key Pass and down to Pavilion. On the last two mornings, we ran into good numbers of tarpon near Indian Key. We got two to the boat, jumped another six and had several other swings and misses. For the tarpon, we threw red/white DOA baitbusters, LiveTarget mullet and menhaden swimbaits. Nothing I'd rather catch than big tarpon on artificials.

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Epic Day in the 10K

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

Finally after three hours of throwing everything in the tackle box, we decided to hook got some catfish, cut them up and drop them to the bottom. After about 20 minutes, we finally heard the line scream and boy, what a fight. The tarpon jumped over eight feet and ran like a freight train. After that bite, it slowed down quite a bit and they just didn't seem interested in biting, so we moved to try to catch some other species. Right off the bat we hooked a snook and redfish. He was insisting on going for the Grand Slam and he stayed extra to finally hook a trout. I told him I was content on a three, but he made it his mission to get all four.

Click here to see Joe Snook's full forum report.

Summertime Snook

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

Tarpon have been spotty, here for a few days and gone the next, but still my anglers managed many beautiful fish with some giants landed as well. The red tide has taken away some big snook areas I like to fish, but still been managing to find them in good numbers. The bait issue due to red tide may not be such a problem depending on how you look at it. I see it as a good thing because it forces me to fish mullet. The big girls can't resist a big mullet! Chuck it out there and wait for the thump!

Click here to see Joe Snook's full forum report.

Everglades Slam

Florida Sportsman member: LCANGLER

A buddy and I headed out last Monday out of (the Everglades Rod & Gun Club) and decided to fish some coastal shoreline. We landed numerous snook, redfish and tripletail on a topwater plug. We lost the tripletail when we were ready to land him. I managed to get a slam, landing a snook, redfish and seatrout. We had a fantastic day in the Everglades.

Click here to see LCANGLER's full forum report.

Nice Weather, Decent Bites

Florida Sportsman member: seaplusplus & snookaffinity

Snookaffinity: We saw a ton of fish. Small schools of large snook, three nurse sharks, sheepshead, spade fish, mangrove snapper, jacks and a variety of others. They just did not want to eat. My wife caught a nice 38 inch snook. We caught a total of three snook and one jack. We fish with artificial bait.

Seaplusplus: We hit Flamingo on Saturday for another great trip. Truly an incredible place. We caught a mixed bag of permit, trout, reds, snook, mangrove snapper and multiple mack attacks. We lost a ton of tackle to the mackerel, but it's a good excuse to get some new gear. We launched from the outside and ran west. The boys had a double header on redfish and they both managed their first slam as well. We left them biting once the afternoon storms kicked up.

Click here to see snookaffinity's Naples report.

Click here to see seaplusplus' Flamingo report.

10K Mixed Bags

Florida Sportsman member: Mr, Googan & snookaffinity

The snook haven't been very active in the surf just yet, but they are definitely around. The tarpon are still willing to bite a line in addition to some jacks, mangrove snappers and of course a couple catfish.

Click here to see Mr, Googan's tarpon report.

Click here to see snookaffinity's mixed bag report.

First Inshore Slam

Florida Sportsman member: SLW UroCane

My son and I went down to my brother's place at Port of the Islands. We got up at daybreak and gathered twelve dozen shrimp, sandwiches, and Gatorade, and we were off! He recorded his first inshore slam. There was tons of action including lots of trout, a few snook, and schools of big black drum. We also released bunch of snapper, jacks, ladyfish, mackeral, bonnetheads, and the obligatory catfish. We could not find any rolling tarpon, yet. Much of the greenery has still not recovered from the storm, although the fishing remains terrific.

Click here to see the 4/22 forum report.

Fishing the Everglades

Florida Sportsman member: chalmersp

The first place we stopped to fish pretty thoroughly was Alligator Bay. We ended up seeing more gators and sharks than we did fish! We kept motoring south and decided to stop once we reached the eastern end of Lostman's River. After casting for about five minutes, my friend hooks up with a stud 33" snook. Great start to the trip! A few more casts and I connect with a smaller snook. We keep trolling along the shoreline, then head out towards to mouth of the river to see what it has. We pulled up to a creek mouth right at the entrance of Lostman's, and saw FOUR sawfish within 100' of eachother! We motor back up the inside towards the Chatham River and decided to take a few more casts right around where we caught the first big snook. Boom, connected with another slot fish. But unfortunately, this one got away before we could get it in the net. We made it to the mouth of the Chatham River with about two hours of daylight to spare, so we fished around for a few minutes in hopes of finding some dinner! In no time, there was a nice 20" red in the cooler. We get to New Turkey, string up some hammocks, light a fire, and cook us some redfish for dinner!

Click here to see the 3/13-3/14 forum report.

Ten Thousand Island Fishing

Florida Sportsman member: Viking

The weather was very windy and I found few fish on the outside on the first day. The second day, and for the rest of the week, I fished the backcountry and focused on creeks, oyster bars and passes that had good current flow. Following this pattern produced a lot of fish including snook, jacks, trout and mangrove snapper. I was using a white jig the whole time with a little shrimp Pro Cure on it. This was my biggest snook of the trip a 33".

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10K Trout Bite and More

Florida Sportsman member: 1outlaw

I launched out of Goodland at 7am. We were at high tide, with a outgoing starting around 7. I headed south to fish a large flat on a outer island. Someone was already there as I arrived. We fished outside of them for a bit with no action. We moved just inside to a oyster bar that has tidal flow running into it as well as wind. The area has approx three feet of water at high tide and seven to eight feet water very close by. This spot has been holding a large concentration of trout. The area was loaded with bait and the trout didn't disappoint. The bigger fish came on a Gambler EX swimmer in copperfield, rigged on a lead head. I had bought a new rod and reel for the trout, Falcon Bucoo SR in med/light paired with a smoke 25 reel. It got broke in right when a 35" snook slammed my trout magic bait. A terrific battle ensued and I was relieved to get her in the boat for a photo op. Great day on the water....The trout bite is on in a huge way.

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Chokoloskee Report

Florida Sportsman member: lemaymiami

My first cast with a plug got attacked and a few minutes later this was the result, a 27" snook. After a few more casts with the topwater, I switched to the jig and it was game on. Every cast was a fish, mostly redfish in the same spot the snook came from. My first was about 20" and it got invited aboard for dinner, all the rest of them were that size or a bit bigger. A 1/4 oz leadhead with that Gulp tail was all it took, moved slowly across the current bumping bottom.

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Flats Fishing Calusa

Florida Sportsman member: 1outlaw

First stop was Gullivan Bay. We fished the outside flat and were rewarded with a nice redfish. When it got to low tide, I made a move not too far away. I was rewarded again, with a nice snook on my fist cast. We sat in that one spot for two hours of non-stop action. I lost count of the numbers. It was literally cast, after cast. I was fishing with a 2" MirrOdine and my wife was fishing with live shrimp. The MirrOdine out fished live bait 2-1.

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Great Late Summer Bite

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

Florida Sportsman forum member Joe Snook reports that the tarpon and snook bite has been great this past month in the 10,000 islands."Tarpon and snook have been good. I haven't really been fishing for much else other than goliaths inshore and my anglers have been getting them up to 70 pounds. Here's a few pics from July. Tear em Up!!"

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10K Snook

Florida Sportsman member: snookaffinity

We went out after the rain and before the rain for a couple of hours with the wife and my grandson. We caught 15 snook and one barracuda. Two of the snook measured 29 inches. Definitely the best day I have had in a months.

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Rare Canal Redtail Catfish

Florida Sportsman member: tarponfly49

This redtail catfish bottomed out a 50lb boga grip and taped well over our 36" ruler! This was one heck of a fight on 15lb spinning gear, but my wife landed her after a 45 minute fight!

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Everglades Camping Trip

Florida Sportsman member: southerntide

We ran south from Goodland and stopped in a spot I have been looking at for quite a while and it happened to be out of the wind, so we tried it. It was holding some beautiful upper slot fish. Throwing jigs, we covered this edge and it produced three reds, two of which were over the slot and one landed right on 27".

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10K Variety Bites

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

Super Bowl Sunday I went out to fill the bait pen and get some triple tail with a friend and I got this slob, who was almost 30 inches.

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10K Inshore Recap

Florida Sportsman member: WATERTIMEinshore

The redfish bite was on! We wound up in the double digits with nice fish, some spots producing up to five to six fish off one branch. Got them all on gulp, so bait is not a necessity. Trout bite has also been consistent and also managed to find some quality fish lurking around the deeper holes and bars.

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10k Winter Fishing Variety

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

The the cold water makes for some slower days catching our favorite species like snook, reds and tarpon, even though I have had some great trips on those species this winter. Pompano, trout, sheepshead and grouper, just to name a few, have created some very good trips, when the regular targeted species were challenging to find or bite.

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Big Flamingo Redfish

Florida Sportsman member: urbanamazon

I found some massive fish poling around Whitewater Bay this morning before the front, all on topwater plugs.

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Flamingo Snook and Struggles

Florida Sportsman member: lemaymiami

We did find some big tarpon later that day, but all of our baits also went to sharks. Moving back inside, Yuan Bing finally scored a really nice 33" snook that weighed 10lbs on the Boga before being carefully released.

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Everglades Trip: Three Days, 16 Species

Florida Sportsman member: footankleg

Day three was a slam dunk. Tides and hangouts dialed in better. We had a blast with keeper sized trout and ladyfish on topwaters in the early morning. While we lost some tackle, we also kept some macs. A couple of sharks were in the mix and gave a good test to the smoothness of our drags. Mr. snook finally showed in area where we had encountered schools of trout.

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Everglades Backcountry Fishing Trip

Florida Sportsman member: southerntide

As the sun hung a little low, we ran back inside the mouth of the Chatham area where we caught some nice snook, one nice red, and jacks. Upon reeling in a jack, we had a six foot tax collector engulf it two foot off the bow. What a sight! On the ride home we saw two other big spinner sharks come completely out of the water after mullet. Spectacular!

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Personal Best Snook Fishing

Florida Sportsman member: Oldfloridangler

Just beat my last 40" personal best Snook with a fish just shy of 43", but was she was stocked up fat as can be, weighing in at almost 26lbs. I sight fished her in less than a foot of water, and I will tell you I had no idea this fish was this big when I pitched the jig at her. 10 lb braid line, 25lb leader and an 11 minute fight later, here she is.

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10K Islands: Inshore Variety

Florida Sportsman member: snookerf150

Fished out of the port Thursday through Saturday last week for the romp in the swamp. We caught lots of fish and some quality fish we just couldn't get all three to cooperate on tournament day. We had a blast though and love staying down there even if it is only 15 minutes from the house, it is a great staycation for sure.

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10K Islands: Redfish and Snook

Florida Sportsman member: WATERTIMEinshore

Lately the fishing has been nothing short of great. We have been seeing a great push of redfish into the area and have been averaging some solid upper slot fish on just about every outing.

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Trying Something New

Florida Sportsman member: WATERTIMEinshore

I continued on seeing a lot of nice pushes along the banks most were mullet but finally saw one that looked a little bigger. Pitched him the Gulp and boom 32.5 inch red worked me good for a few minutes. Pretty much was the highlight of the morning and as usual got hot things slowed up so we called it a day.

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Chokoloskee Snookin'

Florida Sportsman member: Beamer

By this time it was around 1pm and I went to a spot where we always catch a bunch of trout on the last hour of the tide and man that was a great decision. The first bait that hit the water was a 36 inch snook!

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Personal Best

Florida Sportsman member: charlemagne

I have hooked many big snook, they just have never made it to the side of the boat, usually find a way to fray the leader or take me into the mangroves,but this one I was totally not losing! I put my rod down into the water and starting turning her as best I could, after a decent fight, I FINALLY landed a decent sized snook!

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Chokoloskee Trip

Florida Sportsman member: Fowlplay87

Day two we got some shrimp for the ladies and hit the gulf which yielded boat loads more of catfish along with some trout, snappers and a bonus pompano. We did see a few tarpon but couldn't focus in on them to try and get a bite.

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10,000 Islands Mixed Bag

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

Snook off the beaches have been just incredible and I have had some Great 30 to 40 fish days in back with some beautiful fish caught but same old story the giant mama's getting away. I guess where I find them are in too tight of places to land the big girls.

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Summertime Patterns

Florida Sportsman member: CaptrainRapps

You can count on the Redfish to take a Gulp shrimp on the last half of the incoming tide. Live shrimp under a popping cork works great for Reds too!

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Chokoloskee Report

Florida Sportsman member: Fowlplay87

Headed west and arrived at the first spot and in short order we release a small snook, followed by a keeper trout then a slot size red joins the box followed by a mangrove the hit my spook. Switched over from the topwater to a jig and added 2 more trout to the box and another snapper and around that time it was getting hot and tide was dead low.

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10,000 Islands Action

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

Fishing has been good, not great with all this crazy weather but some nice fish have been taken just about every trip along with all the usual cold water suspects sheepies, trout and silver trout.

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A Glades Adventure

Florida Sportsman member: southerntide

I wait a few minutes then turn the click on and put the rod in the holder. As soon as the rod leaves my hand a 4 foot tarpon comes flying out of the water with my mullet, ripping drag then breaks me off in about 30 seconds.

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Playing in the Backcountry

Florida Sportsman member: blewitupsir

Headed to the deep back country today to check the bite. Been fishing out front mostly so didn't really know how it was gonna be. Very solid bite, even with the huge tides we are going through.

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New Personal Best

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

This trip was extra special because I was able to be part of watching this avid and great angler catch the biggest snook of his life. The tide was a nice outgoing and the beaches were looking good with small baits around and moving water with easy access to deep water.

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Fishing Around the State

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

The sight fishing along the beaches has been incredible with keys clear water and pods of 10 plus fish passing through willing to eat small baits and particularly small flies. Tried getting permit offshore on fly one day but they were very spooky.

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Summertime Everglades

Florida Sportsman member: CaptainRapps

Redfish are roaming the outside oyster bars looking for little crustaceans on the bottom. Try throwing them a live shrimp on a 4/0 circle hook under a popping cork. Keep ringing that dinner bell by popping that cork about every 5 to 10 seconds.

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Ten Thousand Islands Spring Bite

Florida Sportsman member: Oldfloridaangler

It is the most wonderful time of the year here in south west Florida. Warmer weather, less traffic, and the arrival of migrating tarpon and snook moving into passes is just the cherry to top off this sweet bowl of summer time in Naples.

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Trout Fishing with the Kids

Florida Sportsman member: charlemagne

The first spot we stayed at for about two hours, turned into a trout fishing competition between the two. I believe final count after two hours was Anna Maria with 45 and Paul with 31 (Just trout), she kicked his butt! There was tons of bait all around us and she caught a few macks mixed in with her trout as well.

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Ten Thousand Islands Inshore Bite

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

It was snook and redfish days like they were in september and october. My anglers were catching 20 to 30 Snook a day, not huge but not tiny. The Reds were the same with only one day mostly rats, which is good to see for the years to come.

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Fall Everglades Bite

Florida Sportsman member: CaptainRapps

Stock up on D.O.A. Baitbusters and Terror Eyz and head to the backwaters to battle with the Snook as they head way back into the creeks and rivers for the winter season. In a good moving tide, fish the eddy side of the points. For some fantastic action, throw them a handful of live pilchards followed by one on a circle hook. Hang on!

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10,000 Islands Inshore

Florida Sportsman member: Oldfloridaangler

Within minutes we had reds schooling around us, over-slot bulls fighting for our jigs. We were also joined by a few skittish tarpon, that were darting in and out of view snatching the baits as they frantically evaded the frenzy. The reds openly accepted anything with a bronze or new penny color.

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Marco Island Inshore

Florida Sportsman member: snookerf150

I put in at bay view at 7am and ran out through the pass and headed north. Shut down and waited and within a few minutes there were pods of bait everywhere, one throw and I had bait for days. I fished the beach for a few minutes while I waited for his phone call, ended up with a few small snook and a couple monster jacks.

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Small Lure, Big Fish

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

I put my rod in the water to keep the fish from coming up and fraying the leader thumbed the spool a bit and within a minute I reached down and grabbed what was a 37 inch snook. It has been quite some time since I have been on the receiving end of a beautiful fish instead of spectating or instructing an angler on my boat while they're in a battle.

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Summer in the Ten Thousand Islands

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

I've been getting the reds a number of ways from topwater to a shrimp or a live pilchard. The technique all depends on the tide and times of what tide that depends on how I like to go for them. I hate sitting there with baits on the bottom but lets face it the bottom line is catching fish and thats been what's working due to high water temperature.

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Whitehorse Key Camping Trip

Florida Sportsman member: CapnAhab

Luckily it only got better from there. That evening, after we waited out the storm and ate mountain house meals in our tents, we heard a ton of mullet going crazy all over the shore around the tip of the island. We hopped out and looked around to see that they were getting chased by sharks right up on to the beach.

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Chokoloskee Backwater Bite

Florida Sportsman member: Piperhigh13

The tide was low so the bank was mostly exposed limiting the areas the snook could get me into trouble. There was however one tree limb in about six inches of water that I paid no attention to until of course the fish makes a beeline straight towards it.

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Ten Thousand Island Inshore Bite

Florida Sportsman member: blewitupsir

Trout have been plentiful, with lots of smaller fish and some slobs in the mix as well. Popping corks and live shrimp or a scented plastic will do the trick. Look around the grasses and points out front, but my bigger fish are actually coming from the back off the bars.

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Catching Dinner and a Trophy

Florida Sportsman member: rgarry

Headed further offshore and Philip redeemed himself with a large snook. Headed even further offshore and landed 3 black tips, and 18 snappers. Not getting out there for 6 months, the fishing gods were smiling on me.

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Ten Thousand Islands Mixed Bag

Florida Sportsman member: Charlemagne

We found a nice spot in the gulf where there was a slight drop off from hard bottom, around 2ft of water to 6 feet and sandy bottom. This was the surprise spot of the day, very productive as well! Since we were not able to find whitebait, we were using live shrimp on jigs, then it happened. Our drags started screaming out like crazy, at first I thought it was a big snook, but it didn't fight like one.

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Great Snook Bite

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

Crazy May cold front conditions today. I went out knowing it was not going to be an easy day but tried my best and it payed off. I've been watching people lose big snook a lot the past year so I have been bringing along two new pigsticker set ups that I have used for personal use in certain hazardous big snook fishing situations.

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Shrimp Dunking with the Wife

Florida Sportsman member: Jdstang50

I took the wife out yesterday for a couple of hours. We hit the water at 9am and searched the beach for white bait. With no luck, I ran over to the boat ramp and got some shrimp. I am not much of a shrimp dunker but it was my only choice. We found a shoreline that was hidden from the wind and began to troll our way. Her fourth cast she landed this monster red. Knowing that she was satisfied, I ran back to the lift and gave the Canyon Bay a spring cleaning. “A happy wife is a happy life”.

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Fantastic Fishing in the Ten Thousand Islands

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

Forum member Joe Snook has been on the fish lately, from snook to sharks, he's keeping the rods bent. Tight work!

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Cooler Weather Heating Up the Fishing

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

While the weather has started to cool the fishing has really heated up! All month has been great but the end of the month just got even better when my tarpon showed back up leading to numerous anglers being able to complete the highly sought after inshore grand slam [...]

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Chokoloskee Firsts

Florida Sportsman member: Charlemagne

There was what I thought was a first gag grouper, turns out it was a goliath around 20 pounds. It was handled gently and put back in the water super quickly. hey, I suck at grouper ID, but I will never make that mistake again! I caught some snook at this spot all around 18-22 inches and about 25-30 catfish as well as assorted mangrove snappers and small jacks.

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10,000 Islands Prodigy

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

I had a mother and a son duo today so, I figured it would just be a regular kid and parent trip. As were idling down the canal, the kids talkin my ear off, which I dont mind, it happens alot because people are usually excited and jacked up about their day which gets me going too. Well the youngster is 8 years old and Im chattin about fishing with this kid and what hes sayin is all just about right. Im wondering to myself wheres he pickin it up from I asked mom and she says hes self taught, Im guessing he picked it up from magazines and TV shows [...]

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Everglades Campin' and Snookin'

Florida Sportsman member: blewitupsir

Took off last Friday morning from the house at Fishermans Cove in my Duracraft with Jeff, Don and Travis were on Dons Carolina Skiff and started the long journey down to Willy Willy. Loaded up with ice, tackle and gas to get us thru Sunday night.

Got our camp set up, boats unloaded and then it was off to start the fishing marathon. Don is 72 years old and has been fishing the glades since his dad brought him here when he was 1 year old. The knowledge I get from him is unreal. We headed out and fished all over on Friday[...]

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Flounder & Trips

Florida Sportsman member: nightfly

Got to the ramp around 7:30 this morning. We picked up some shrimp and headed out to the nearshore reefs. The action was really slow at first. I had a shrimp on bottom and was throwing 1/2oz bucktails. No hits on the shrimp and was picking up a few on the jigs; mackerel,blue runners,and some small snapper. Then i started throwing a 1oz bucktail hoping for a cobia. I've caught a couple in this spot in the past this time of year. I get a hit and its not a cobia, but a hog of a flounder [...]

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Reds in the 10k

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

We got the usual jigged up fish trout, pomps and some others. Tide came in we worked our way back and got some nice reds and more trout. We each got some dink snook too, the biggest wbeing about 24 inches. I had a nice time actually catching instead of just watching. A few reds, including a 24incher and 25incher we caught and kept for dinner.

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Chokoloskee Catches

Florida Sportsman member: nightfly

So it's been three weeks since I've been fishing and I decided to bring the best fisherman I know, my daughter Audrey. There was no getting up at the crack of dawn. We didn't get on the water till after 10am. We went to my first spot, she was using live shrimp and I was throwing bucktails. All day we caught a few small ones; snappers,jacks,ladys...the usual suspects. Went to another spot and same thing, lots of small ones. I then hook into something big right away[...]

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Tripletail for the Table

Florida Sportsman member: tg.

Believe me when I say that my plans rarely come together this well. Anyway, I saw something swimming around one of the crab floats earlier this week when I was out with the wife. I just didn't have a rod or bait. So yesterday, I headed out with some live shrimp to see if he might still be there. He was 18-plus inches and my first ever.

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Fall Fishing Producing Solid Catches

Florida Sportsman member: Capt. Milk

Took a client out from Louisiana yesterday and he ended up landing his biggest snook and red in one trip. Its a privilege to get to meet some of the awesome clients chartering has offered over the years. I've been reading all of the posts and it seems like the fish are biting for everyone which is great news [...]

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Getting Ready for the Showdown

Florida Sportsman member: tailchaser16

Fished a half day Friday and all day Saturday getting ready for the Showdown. As PF mentioned reds were everywhere and a few snook came out to play as well. Watch out fish!

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Awesome Snook on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: FLA_tony

Went out this morning at day break with my fiancé. She hasn't been out on the boat since the baby was born, so this was her first trip back out. We planned to start the morning with snook. I headed to the first spot. We are fishing a nice bank, I'm on the bow throwing my fly rod and my fiancé is at the stern switching between a topwater and live shrimp, as I'm watching my gurgler on the retrieve I see this snook rise from the bottom and inhale my fly [...]

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Everglades Inshore Mixed Bag

Florida Sportsman member: blewitupsir

Took another group of guys out last weekend. These gentleman had never been fishing on a boat before and booked a trip to try something new. Left POI around 7 a.m. and headed out. With the weather conditions and threat of storms all day, inshore was going to be the place to be. Water was low with the negative low tides, so I brought us to some deeper cuts to drift until the tide turned [...]

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10K Islands Inshore Action

Florida Sportsman member: blewitupsir

Fished today with a gent from Clewiston area out of POI. I again originally wanted to head out, but its just not to be right now for my boat with the current weather patterns. So we focused all our attention inshore. Again the redfish are plentiful and very willing to please. Caught around 10 with the average size of about 22", the largest being a fat 27" fish [...]

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Solo Everglades Tarpon Trip

Florida Sportsman member: deerfly

I'm a S. Fl native from the late 50's and relocated to Hernando County in '98. I don't get to fish this region nearly enough anymore. Nowadays, if I make my way down here 2-3 times a year I consider myself lucky. Anyway, I figured I'd post my report in the TT section instead of my usual BB region. I hope you locals don't mind the intrusion [...]

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Backcountry Reds

Florida Sportsman member: nightfly

Got up this morning looked at the radar and went back to bed. Didn't get on the water till about 10:30 a.m., went to a spot that I found last year that holds a bunch of redfish in the summer. This was my first time there this summer and the reds were there too. I ended up catching five reds, two measured in at 26-inches and the others were around 23-inches [...]

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Wiggins Pass Snookin'

Florida Sportsman member: odiesfloatie

It was a beautiful (just a tad hot) morning with a light east-southeasterly hint in the air. Even though I have lived in Naples for almost 5 years now, I have never actually fished in Wiggins Pass. I have been launching at Cocohatchee Park and meeting the family at the beach and I thought this time I would take a rod and see if I could find a couple spots that I could fish in the future on the way to meeting the family out at the beach.

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10,000 Islands Topwater Action

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

We were headed out to do some fishing Saturday morning and as we idled out I decided to change plans and go to wading for a lil' R&R. I cracked a beer and headed north through the backcountry. On the way I noticed the tide was coming in strong and decided to stop real quick and see if the fish were home at an incoming spot I haven't fished in a while. First cast with the spook and was a hit and miss. I had her follow it up with a paddletail and bam! Fish on!

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Sunday Snookin'

Florida Sportsman member: SnookMagnet

Fishing with Capt. Joe Cassaro - our biggest of the day at 32 inches. Caught a few just under slot fish as well.

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Marco Island Memorial Day Trip

Florida Sportsman member: Captain Bill Curtis

We were able to take the holiday weekend off, and got the invite from Mom to join her at their great place in Marco Island. We loaded up the family, the dog, boat and way too much other stuff for a 2 day trip Sunday morning. We got to the ramp at 951 at the bright and early hour of 10 am or so and weren't surprised by the nice long line. We were surprised to see an attendant though, and things actually moved along rather quickly [...]

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Memorial Day Snook

Florida Sportsman member: nightfly

My buddy bailed on me first thig this morning so it was a solo trip. I did what I always do and stopped at island cafe in EC and grabbed some breakfast. At my first spot I picked up a trout and a mackerel. Caught a bunch of mackerel throughout the day. Ran to another spot and picked up 2 nice flounder and another trout [...]

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First Florida Slam!

Florida Sportsman member: asleepatthereel

My first Florida slam! Moved here from Texas a while back and never had the chance to fish for snook. I love how you can tell right off the bat whether it's a snook...awesome day and great memory! Caught my second slam the next day!

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Week Recap, A Good One

Florida Sportsman member: Capt. Milk

These are some of the pictures from the past couple of fishing trips we've made. The snook have been biting really strong with a couple 33'' and 35'' fish and one up to 38''. Looking forward to the following month or so of snook fishing. The redfish have still been biting strong for us as well. The bait has been for the most part very plentiful.

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Chokoloskee Fishing

Florida Sportsman member: nightfly

Got to Island Park Marina around 7:15 a.m. and we went to my first spot and it produced nothing. Then tried another spot and picked up a couple of trout and a small snook. Then I wanted to go on a recon mission for inshore gags to get ready when season opened. I've never targeted this fish, just catch a few from time to time with dumb luck. Didn't catch any today but found a few spots and picked up a couple of baby jewfish and a nice snook [...]

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Wiggins Back Bay

Florida Sportsman member: JSTickum

Headed out into Wiggins Bay today with fellow member DaveO on Yaks, had a great time in the 4 hours we were out there. The tide was going out in the morning and turned around at around 10 a.m. All fish were caught on artificials, enjoy the pics.

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Redfish, Redfish, Redfish

Florida Sportsman member: pjstevko

I've wanted to fish the E City / Chokoloskee area for some time now but have been a little reluctant because there is just so much area to get lost in so as a belated birthday and early wedding gift to myself I booked a inshore charter for my best man and I celebrate everything that has been happening. I booked the charter with Captain Andy Lee of Grassroots Guiding who is a new and upcoming guide in Southwest Florida. He's mostly a fly fishing guy but since the weather was so windy on Saturday we threw our spinning gear all day [...]

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Great Day, Despite the Winds

Florida Sportsman member: Capt. Milk

Headed out early early Saturday morning to get some bait before the winds really started kicking. Thanks to the East wind it wasn't too rough for how strong the winds were. We ended up loading up the livewells with some nice white bait and headed down south to catch some fish. Our first spot we pulled up to in Fakahatchee bay landed us with a 38'' snook and a 31'' redfish. When the action slowed down we moved out to the gulf and weren't as lucky with the big fish. We caught a few smaller reds and trout near the points around Dismal Key. We planned on fishing longer until a big storm decided to show up and force us to run home. Running in the rain for 30 straight minutes was a rough ride.

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Chokoloskee Red

Florida Sportsman member: nightfly

Went out of Chokoloskee Island Park Marina this morning and headed down the Lopez River and hit the back bays with with the fly rod and the trolling motor and caught half dozen small snook. Had a shot at a bigger one but he didn't want to play, also saw about a 6 foot shark cruising the mangrove shoreline. After a few hours I decided to head back around rabbit key pass [...]

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Estero Bay Reds

Florida Sportsman member: Indianoutlaw

Had a chance to get out with Captain Dave for a little fishing Saturday am. We had some novices on the boat that am, so we spent an hour trying to get bait, but had little success. We did have a first as Dave caught a redfish in the net while trying for whitebait! We spent all morning trying to get the guys on fish, but it was a battle with lots of poor casting and a little frustration on my part. We dropped the novices off around noon and Dave and I went fishing for real. We fished a pretty shore line close to the outside and Dave connected on our first red of the day [...]

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Marco/Goodland Redfishing

Florida Sportsman member: nightfly

Got up early and was at the boat ramp at 5 a.m., took my sister along who on the last two trips broke one of my fishing poles each time. She didn't break any this time. I wanted to fish the dock lights for some snook but had no luck seen a few but had no takers. At first light we ran to the pilings out of Big Marco Pass to net some bait. headed back inshore and caught a couple small trout, ladys, and jacks. I decided to make the run to Goodland. Its been a while since I've made the trip between the bridges [...]

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The Last Couple Weekends

Florida Sportsman member: HookedOnSnook

I haven't posted in a WHILE and barely have time to browse around here anymore, but there doesn't seem to be enough action around here so this my report from the last couple weekends. Fished 3/3 and it was howling, but found plenty of quite water in the backcountry and caught about 10 redfish of all sizes from 16"-28.5" and well as a handful of small to slot sized trout and about 20 snook. No snook bigger than 22" Though. I also got a black drum on my fly rod which was a first [...]

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Night Time Snookin' on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: nightfly

Went out yesterday late afternoon and it started out with a real slow bite with catching some ladyfish and a couple small trout. and about 9pm my buddy wanted to go home so i dropped him off at the ramp i wanted to catch some fish. by this time the tide was slack and i figured by the time it got moving the snook would start eating [...]

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Late Afternoon Trip

Florida Sportsman member: Joe Snook

Passed few days have been concentrated on boat maintenance. It was time to put the boat back in the water so i Took a friend out of poi on hi tide yesterday afternoon. Water was way warmer then ive seen it in a long time. things are really heating up. in a couple hours we managed to get some beautiful trout biggest ones being 21, 20 and 18. those were caught along the mangroves near small pods of bait fish [...]

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Two Days of Marco Action

Florida Sportsman member: Captain Bill Curtis

We got to spend a few days out of Marco Island with family over the weekend and managed to get some fishing in. We arrived at my parent's incredible new waterfront home in Marco to hear stories of the Goodland boat parade that we missed on Saturday. It sounded highly entertaining with highlights of tremendous beer bellies, hula skirts, and coconut bikinis all on the same characters [...]

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February Fishing in Chokoloskee and Everglades City

Florida Sportsman member: CaptainRapps

February is a month where we normally will see some subtle changes from January's cold fronts and wind. The cold fronts will still hit us, but are usually a little less powerful. Water temperatures will continue to hover in the low 60's. Daytime air temperatures will average 52-76 degrees [...]

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Sunny Weather Fishing

Florida Sportsman Member: Rizangler

Fished on Tuesday and Wednesday. Great weather, calm seas and sunny warm afternoons. Fished raising tide with success of the outer Islands near Indian Key. Spanish Macks all over the place. Hit Trout and Red fish on flies. Green bucktail jigs bringing the fish on using cut lady fish for my first time instead of shrimp or gulp [...]