REPORT:
Boca Grande, Florida
April 9, 2000
Spring fishing has been moderately good this month. Snook, redfish, seatrout are the most active species. Some tarpon are showing up in the back country and in Boca Grande Pass. The snook are slowly migrating for the back country to the gulf. This means they will be staging in holes and along deeper edges until the moons move them to a new location. Snook will feed best on the out going tide and our tides drop out late in the afternoon. Fly fishers can do well with large deceivers and top water finger mullet imitations fished over the locations that have good tidal flow.
Redfish can be found in the deeper holes and edges in the morning on the rising tide. The calm wind early has been a help in locating them but stealth is required to make a good approach. I like to fish a light weight Clauser over the edges of the holes for these bruisers.
Seatrout are everywhere! If you can't catch a trout in Boca Grande now take up golf because you obviously can't fish. Yesterday, Paul Hammond's twin boys, Ben and Tom, took around fifty trout, over 100 ladyfish and a bunch of jacks, plus a redfish and a snook each. Not bad for third graders from Va.
Lyle Tyler and his friends fished with us and Capts. Brandon and Roy last week and did very well on redfish and snook on live pilchards cast around the mangroves. Curt and his son took a nice keeper and a couple of reds plus a few nice trout in Turtle Bay.
Gary and Kim Honey of Boca Grande took several redfish to 10 lbs. and snook to 41 inches in bull Bay. Kim's 41 inch snook weighed 25 lbs and was released to produce more of these fine game fish.
The next week should continue with average fishing and pick up when we approach the full moon later this month. Some more calm, warm weather will bring the tarpon in early, but if another front or two hits us it will hold them off until the first of May. There are still tarpon dates available fro anyone wanting to try for the Silver King. Just call Jill at 1-941-923-6095.
Tight Lines,
Pete