Fishing is HOT in southwest Florida

Summer in southwest Florida means hot temperatures and plenty of rain and often thunderstorms. If you don’t mind working around the weather the fishing is often pretty good and competition from other boats is scarce.

Redfish have become more consistent as summer progresses; most are legal size averaging twenty to twenty five inches with a few over size fish going over thirty. Floating a silver dollar size pinfish or pilchard under a cork or soaking a ballyhoo tube on bottom has been our best baits. These redfish are tight under the mangroves on the higher stages of the tide, it’s important to keep the bait as tight to the mangroves as possible. By the end of the month schools of large reds should begin bunching up on the flats for their fall run.

I’ve pretty much left snook alone this summer, it’s been hard but with the numbers down its better to let them go through their summer spawn without harassing them. The ones we have caught are while targeting redfish off oyster bars or shorelines, like the one pictured below that was safely released after a quick snap shot.

Surprisingly there are some big summer trout over the grassflats. There not thick and undersize fish are mixed in, but we have caught trout up to twenty-four inches. We are finding the larger trout in areas of open water where sand bars separate deeper water from three to five foot deep grassflats. Schools of bait fish are concentrated in these areas and trout, along with Spanish mackerel, ladyfish and small sharks are working the bait schools. Also, don’t be surprised if a tarpon joins the party, we have hooked tarpon from seventy to ninety pounds on about every other trip on live pilchards.

Use the weather to your advantage and fishing can be good during the hot month of August. Our inshore water temperature can change quickly, give us three or four days with bright sunny skies and the inshore waters quickly get hot and the bite can slow. A couple rainy days with limited sunshine and the water will drop several degrees, this can trigger very good fishing.

For charter information, please contact us at:
“Catch the Action” with Captain Bill Russell
Phone: 239-283-7960
Website: www.fishpineisland.com/
E-mail: gcl2fish@live.com/