Warm Weather Keeps the Fish Biting in Southwest Florida

So far November has remained a month with mild weather, a few slight cool fronts but nothing more. With no reason for baitfish or predators to head for warmer water good fishing continues around southwest Florida.

Its Thanksgiving week and we are still fishing in shorts and t shirts, you can’t beat that!

Catch and release snook fishing continues to give us fun with the hard fighting linesides. They are always a pleasant surprise when our main target is redfish.

On some days locating redfish has been pretty easy and on others it’s taken some moving around. Sand potholes on the low water and hard bottom along mangrove shorelines over the higher tide stages have given the best results.

Season is closed on sea trout, but we are catch and releasing plenty. Large fish up to twenty-four inches are feeding over the same bottom as redfish and snook. It’s possible to catch an inshore slam (snook, redfish & trout) without moving the boat.

Now that the Thanksgiving Holiday is here and gone it’s the kick off to the crazy shopping season. I never have and never will understand how people can actually tolerate the shopping mayhem and enjoy it. What I do understand, with all crowds on the roads and shopping at the stores, it’s a great time for a peaceful day of fishing. Especially if this beautiful weather in sunny southwest Florida continues.

 

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving Holiday.

 

“Catch the Action” with Captain Bill Russell

Holiday Gift Certificate available

For charter information, please contact us at:

Phone: 239-283-7960

Website: http://www.fishpineisland.com/  

E-mail: gcl2fish@live.com

Redfish, Snook and Mackerel in Southwest Florida

Fishing in southwest Florida around Pine Island we are catching a variety of fish including snook, redfish, trout, mackerel and flounder. We are still primarily fishing with live bait including shiners (pilchards) and pinfish. We carry live shrimp with us each day but there are just too many bait stealing pinfish to think about fishing shrimp as long as the bait fish are still around. A couple more cold fronts and that will change, the pinfish and shiners will move offshore and shrimp will become the preferred bait.

Some days they are a little stubborn and other days more cooperative but we are catching redfish in northern Pine Island Sound, Matlacha Pass and the eastern side of Charlotte Harbor. Most are of a decent average size running from twenty-two to twenty-four inches, with a few larger or smaller

Snook and some really nice trout, both, catch and release only, were also mixed with the reds. The largest trout were caught with the redfish in the Sound and the better snook action came from the Harbor and Matlacha Pass.

There are plenty of Spanish mackerel in Charlotte Harbor, average size is around fourteen to eighteen inches, with a few larger, once they get chummed up they can give almost non-stop action. We are catching the mackerel on live shiners rigged on an extra long shank 2/0 stainless J hook and on Clark silver spoons. Bonnet head sharks, trout, ladyfish and a few bluefish were with the macks in water depths averaging six to nine feet.

 

The Holiday Season is fast approaching with Thanksgiving not far off. It’s a great time to get on the water with friends and family and enjoy the outdoors.

For charter information please contact us at:

Phone: 239-283-7960

Website: www.fishpineisland.com

E-mail: gcl2fish@live.com

Holiday Gift Certificates Available