Strong winds and a big cold front made for some tricky fishing last week in Southwest Florida.  The pre-front bite was solid as expected with Snook being the most aggressive along the river in Fort Myers and Cape Coral.  

The best bite after the front had to be the sheep head.  Decent size fish were hungry along Sanibel and Captiva Islands.  The trout is another cold-weather species that provided our clients with a great bite along the flats of Pine Island Sound. 

The forecast for next week looks promising with warm weather and low winds. Look for the Snook and Redfish bite to really fire up!

Capt. Jay Rod
Cape Coral, Fort Myers and Sanibel Fishing Charters
www.saltynativecharters.com
(239) 707-3756

We took full advantage of this weeks warming trend with some of the warmest water temperatures we’ve experienced in months! The big snook along the river in Fort Myers began to bite pretty consistently with the rising temps.  And while they are still under the protection of the red time moratorium, they still make for an amazing fight! 

By far, the warming trend has had the greatest affect on the Redfish. Pine Island sound has seen the biggest and best increase in the Redfish bite along the shores of Sanibel Island and Captiva.  Matlacha has also seen some steady increase in the big reds with crabs and lady fish being the bait of choice on the flats in the late morning and early afternoon.

Capt. Jay Rod
Cape Coral, Fort Myers and Sanibel Fishing Charters
www.saltynativecharters.com
(239) 707-3756

Strong winds and freezing cold temperatures kept us at the dock to start the week.  Luckily, it didn’t take long for the winds to lay down and temps to warm up creating a great inshore bite!

The water quality along Fort Myers, Sanibel and Captiva are finally getting better.  This is great news all around!  Warmer, cleaner water means sight casting to Redfish and Snook on bright, sunny days.  Redfish were not picky this week eating shrimp, pinfish and pilchards alike.  The smaller snook were equally as aggressive all along the Caloosahatchee River, Matlacha Pass and Pine Island Sound.  The bigger, upper slot/over slot fish were a bit more finicky and only wanted the choice white bait and perfect presentation.  

Forecast for the next couple of week looks great with warming temps and calm days.  This should really fire up the inshore bite and bring up those water temps that have been hovering in the low 60’s for weeks.  Hopefully this trend continues into March.  

Still some days left in March and April to target our amazing inshore fisheries before all eyes turn to Tarpon in May. 

Capt. Jay Rod
Cape Coral, Fort Myers and Sanibel Fishing Charters
www.saltynativecharters.com
(239) 707-3756

We took full advantage of the warming trend this past week with great action inshore and on the nearshore structures. The Snook bite remains strong along the passes and deeper cuts around Sanibel and Captiva Islands.  Live greenbacks and shrimp have really done the trick with the strong incoming tides. 

The Redfish seemed to really enjoy the warming water temps and were very active in the late morning and early afternoon hours on the flats in Matlacha and Pine Island.  

The Caloosahatchee River along Cape Coral and Fort Myers continues to hold big hungry Trout and Snook but, with the cleaner waters, bait presentation is key. Especially for the notoriously finicky upper slot Linesiders! 

Some strong winds and cold temps in the near future may slow the bite down just a bit but the warming trend after should produce another round of steady action. March has proven to be the start of a great inshore bite so be sure to book your adventure today!!!

Capt. Jay Rod
Cape Coral, Fort Myers and Sanibel Fishing Charters
www.saltynativecharters.com
(239) 707-3756