Early March turns out to be a good time to fish for reds

March 15, 2019

Not sure if early March is considered a top-notch redfish month here in Southwest Florida, but with the large number of reds caught and released aboard my boat this past week you would think it is.Mostly juvenile fish with some, over 6-pound kicker fish mixed in keeps it interesting and rods bent. A secret bait or lure? No, just the time-tested method of tossing a piece of shrimp or ladyfish chunk under the mangroves and waiting for the scent to reach the always-alert nose of the red.Approach the shoreline quietly, which means shut down the big motor at least 75 yards away and use the ...

A promising weekend for local anglers

March 8, 2019

With the cold front passing us, this weekend looks promising. For the inshore angler that likes to fish the incoming tides but not fight weekend early morning ramp madness after a long work week, sleep in on Saturday then later catch the incoming starting at 11 a.m. High tide in Matlacha will be at 4 p.m., giving you a before dark shot at the fish that didn't bite on the incoming. There will be good water movement both days while the afternoon sun warms the water. Hopefully the fish will respond.Lots of snapper offshore and quite a few fish along the shorelines inshore where skip-casters ...

Enjoying some gifts from the Gulf

February 22, 2019

It's no secret that seatrout and most other inshore gamefish are attracted to the feeding sounds of a popping cork and then attacking the shrimp or soft plastic suspended below it.Change it up this week and substitute a top water plug for the popping cork. I like using a chrome Rebel floating popper and attaching my 12 to 24-inch leader to the rear treble main hook shaft. Use a 1/8 oz. jighead and your favorite soft plastic below the lure. If tying that gives you trouble, take off the rear treble hook and tie directly to the rear split ring or eye. Learn to lob cast this rig to reduce ...

Offering a few tricks for fly fishing

February 15, 2019

The first time I bought a new fly line, I had no idea why the end had a loop in it. Being young and inexperienced with no fly fishing mentor and before YouTube or computers to provide instruction, I simply cut it off and attached a piece of leader material to the fly line with a knot that kept ...

Searching for trout when temperatures are fluctuating

February 8, 2019

Because of on and off again warm weather, be willing to search for trout as they might not be where you found them last week. General rule of thumb: when it gets cold, move deeper back into deep creeks or even marinas. After a couple of days of solar warming, like Thursday when the weather gurus said we may break February heat records, think shallower.Snook will follow the same pattern to survive. Not nearly as cold resistant, but like schooling trout, snook will seek shelter in these deep creeks which for them can sometimes be a death sentence if the temperature keeps dropping and/or ...

Fishing when it’s cold, and paying tribute to a pioneer

February 1, 2019

This past ice cold Wednesday seemed like the ideal sheepshead day and what better local spot than the Matlacha Bridge to pursue these tasty critters. Bundling up to fight the freeze, we dropped baits into every crevice, nook and cranny of the bridge structure with no sheepshead luck, at all. Lots of juvenile snappers pecked at the baits and one sheepshead was spotted wearing a wet suit trying to stay warm, simply staring at my bait.Bridge anglers and motel guests at the foot of the bridge reported the same bad luck. Seems it was too cold for fish as well as anglers that all reported ...