Marco Island Fishing Report

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Fishing Report - Fall / Winter 2007

Well as most of you know I returned to Florida a little early this year to check out some fall fishing. It was hard to leave the great upland/waterfowl hunting this fall in Montana but rumors of great fall fishing for all species in the south made me very curious.

My lad Brooke definitely has disagreed with me about this choice of leaving Montana early, retrieving ducks and geese seemed liked a better choice but in the end I won the battle.

The fishing in October has been very good, a combination of offshore waters cooling and in shore waters warming causes our friends Snook, Redfish, Jacks and even Tarpon to seek warmer shelter.

The Snook and Redfish seem to be fairly congested when found and are not as spread out like spring time conditions. Baby Tarpon have been readily available in the 5-15lb range and on warmer days they have been smashing suspended or floating flies.

Larger Tarpon have been very weather dependent and with coming cold spells it’s hard to tell just how long they will stay. The water temperature has recently dipped below 75 degrees and winds from hurricane Noel that passed up the Eastern Atlantic have combined to make conditions tougher in the past weeks for Giant Tarpon.

The bait fish are plentiful and seem to far exceed spring time numbers, making fish explode along shorelines and are often heard feeding well down the shoreline before seen. So all in all fall fishing gets an A+ in my book and it’s well worth fishing this time of year.

I hope all of you are having a great fall and look forward to hearing from you soon.

If you haven’t contacted me about spring tarpon days please do so soon because space is already starting to get limited.

Fishing Report
Mar-Apr-May 2007

Tarpon season has been filled with some great and memorable moments. But the main story has been weather and I am starting to think that Montana has followed me down here for the spring. I appreciate all of the clients who have come this year and endured some very challenging windy, wet, cold weather.

The weather this season has made Tarpon fishing marginal at best pushing them off shore and making them travel North faster. The wind has also made it very difficult for laid up fish because they don’t seem to want to lay up as high in the chop. Long time guide Capt. Bob Polson of Sugarloaf Key Florida said that it is the worst weather he has seen in all of his years guiding in the Keys. When the wind blows under 20mph and the temperature gets above 80 degrees the fishing has been fabulous and anglers have landed some great fish.

Night fishing with Jason Lozano a sales rep for Scott, Scientific Angler, Ross Reels and Patagonia yielded some huge fish. One Tarpon took the fly, leader, Fly line, backing and well left us standing there with a Nautilus reel and a Scott rod with real stupid looks on our faces. Reports are in that the fish was spotted off the coast of Cuba still swimming south, I hope he gets to where he’s going soon. Jason also landed some great Snook and a nice South Western Florida Redfish.

Speaking of great fishing Mike Agee returned to fish with a client and friend Cory Funk from South Lake Tahoe Ca. We spent all day fishing beaches for Snook and then caught a great low tide in the evening and smashed the Snook and Redfish. Total we estimated that we landed between 40 and 50 Snook and Redfish on fly that day, it was truly awesome, Great work guys!

Also to see some truly amazing video of a Laid up Tarpon eating a fly go to my website www.marcoislandflyfishing.com and click on the link below the picture of the Tarpon jumping. WARNING!!! There is some offensive language in this video, so if you get offended easily don’t watch it or turn off the volume on your computer. The video was shot on one of the very few calm days that we had in April and the angler Mike Kane made a beautiful cast. The fish weighed more than one hundred pounds and was truly one of the best Tarpon eats I have seen to this day, it was just luck to capture it on film.

I hope you enjoy the video and pictures and anyone that is willing to come on fairly short notice I have openings in the last two weeks of June.

Most of you I will see in Montana some I won’t. If you fished with me this year that week will remain you’re week and if you need to change you’re week please let me know well ahead of time so that I can switch you with someone if they are willing. Hope all is well and look forward to hearing from you soon.

January was filled with some great fishing and some very tough fishing depending upon the weather. Cold (for Florida) and windy weather caused the fish to move in and out of the Back Country in a less predictable manner. Feast or famine, certain days large Snook such as the 37” reel screaming one that my dad landed are eagerly feeding and pounce on a well presented fly, and each fishy looking cove, flat or bay seems to hold fish that are eager to eat a fly.

Red Fish have certainly been moving in the shallows since the weather turn, and cold weather has been excellent for these selective shallow water fish. Super low tides have even produced tailing fish which are rare in this area.

When the tides are bad, fishing in shallow channels has produced various species of fish including Goliath Grouper, Gag Grouper, Mangrove Snapper, Lady Fish, Sea Trout and Jacks. This is not my favorite way to fish, but sometimes it’s nice to relax and catch a few fish when conditions aren’t great. Sink tip lines and Jigs on spinning rods do the trick when searching for various species in cold water, again I’m not an expert in this area but this can be really fun for the novice angler.

Monty Henderson and I were polling along when we ran into a Snook just below the surface of the water sunning himself, he was eager to feed and a great cast landed a respectable Snook that gave a great fight. I think the smile on Monty’s face says it all and I look forward to our next excursion for Tarpon.

Before you come, please practice casting, Please practice casting, Please practice casting. Most do, because they have spare time to practice throwing a line, but it would help in many ways if folks would be comfortable with a fly or spin rod before they come. If you have any questions about casting clinics or a clinic near you, please tell me so that I can help you. Coming to this area without practicing usually results in little or no fish caught FLY or SPIN……so please practice.

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December fishing has been very good, with unseasonably warm weather the Backcountry and off shore fishing has been HOT! Mike Agee from Montana Trout Syndicate Outfitting visited and had shots at some pretty nice Snook. We also had a great day fishing for Triple Tail, Spanish Mackerel, Lady Fish.

While fishing for Triple Tail on a beautifull calm day in the Gulf of Mexico we heard a great big crash on the surface. We ran out to investigate and found a school of 100-200 Black Drum mulling on the surface. Mike grabbed a seven weight and on his first cast hooked into a 30lb Black Drum which we landed. These fish are very hard to catch on a fly because they feed mainly apon scent. Great job Mike!

With a few days left in Mike's trip capt. Justin and Loren Rea from Sugarloaf Key FL, came up to test the Snook and Reds in the backoutry. We caught a few keeper Snook and Justin had a few shots at Giant Snook, two fish in particular that I wont forget. Snook are very hard to guess as too just how large they are in the water but these fish seemed to me to be 15lbs or greater. But as with all large fish these were very smart Snook and proved to be very hard to catch. capt. Justin had some great shots at adult Tarpon that were laid up on the surface but the colder water temperature gave them a case of lock jaw. All in all it was a great time and we caught lots of great fish and had shots at some amazing Tarpon.

Off shore fishing has been great for a large variety of fish including Kingfish, Gag Grouper, Snapper, Yellow Tail, and a host of other toothy critters that inhabit the deeper waters of our area. I went out with a good friend and captian of the UNREEL charters, capt. Joe has an immaculate 32ft off shore boat that is perfect for both Fly and Spin fishing. ]

I have always wanted to catch a Kingfish on a fly and it didnt take long before my 8 inch fly was engulfed by a King. They are termendous fighters and scream line out off the reel, I caught 5 or 6 on fly the biggest being about 15lbs. A great time was had by all and we truly caught fish untill we were all tired of reeling.

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