Report: The heat this month has been harsh to say the least. The normal afternoon rains we usually have ever summer have not shown up yet. The weather pattern in southwest Florida has been weird to say the least. But despite that fishing has been pretty good. We have found fish in the usual summer areas following summer patterns.
Saltwater: We have been finding Cobia adjacent to flats that are close to deep water. The Cobia was caught using soft plastic minnow style baits like the Strike King Zulu and Glass Minnow. You can fish these weed-less or weight-less. We are still finding Trout above the slot range and are best caught on jig heads tipped with a soft plastic. Our clients and our guides have had the best luck using soft plastics on a 1/16th to a 1/8th ounce jig heads. Trout are responding well to these baits in mostly natural colors. Unless you have stained or murky water then go with brighter colors. The Electric Chicken color has worked well in these conditions. Start with the lightest weight jig head and then work up to a heavier one if needed - especially if you have lots of wind. Redfish bite has slowed down this month as we have not seen the numbers expected in the usual areas. But we still have seen big Redfish on the flats and backcountry, but have not had most of them responding to artificial baits. We suspect lack of rains, salinity, bad dissolved oxygen levels to be a possible culprit.
The Snook bite is very good. We are seeing them on the beaches near structure and shorelines and in deeper channels and mangrove shorelines with sandy bottoms. The Snook have been reacting great to top-water baits now as long as you are fishing moving water. The best catches falling to weightless and weed-less rigs. Of course feeding Snook a live pinfish under a float or weight-less on a circle hook has lead to favorable catches this month. Tarpon are here and biting! We are seeing many pods rolling in the canal systems and out in the channels and by the bridges. Our clients are having the time of their lives fighting these bruisers from the kayak. The Tarpon are daisy chaining along our beaches and in the passes. Best approach has be cut or live bait for these Silver Kings. But we favor soft plastics and have been able to do well with this approach and have saved time getting live bait and money.
Freshwater: If you must take a Largemouth Bass home for the table take only the 2 to 3 pound fish. Not only are they tastier and less gamey in flavor, but this practice will provide bigger and more trophy sized fish in your waters year after year. With the summer heat upon us the bigger bass are in shady cooler waters. We are finding them tight in structure and under many of the mats of vegetation that have grown this past month. Many bass anglers that love flipping and pitching are having a great time and bigger catches. As far as the Cape Coral and Fort Myers canal systems we are having wonderful success on crank baits and jigs. Sunny days or sunny times of the day use chrome colors and natural colors in clear water. Cloudy times of the day use darker colors as they hold a silhouette better. As far as plastic go we are seeing the best catches on June bug and black colored Senko's.
Kayak Charters has seen success for Largemouth Bass this month on crank baits and soft plastics and expect those patterns to work during the next month also. Next month should be a lot of the same patterns we are using now to catch Largemouth bass here in southwest Florida.
We love the strike king 3X baits for their durability and buoyancy. The Zulu and Glass Minnows are great for Snook, Reds and Tarpon. We will have more on these baits in coming reports. You can visit them at www.strikeking.com .
We have a great new product called RIBZ wear to tell you about. RIBZ are a wonderful chest type pack that allows kayakers, kayak fishermen and others to stow and store items close at hand. It hugs you rib cage and keeps the things you need the most and often at hand. Kayak Charters loves this product. We all know how convenient it is to have you most used items at the ready and not have to dig for them. We will have more on this great new product in future reports also. But for now check them out at www.ribzwear.com .
We look forward to bringing you news, tackle techniques and reports for the Cape Coral, Punta Gorda, Fort Myers, Pine Island and Matlacha areas next month. Come and book a trip with us in the mean time.
