After months and months of high winds, Tarpon have kept their timetables up an gaining in numbers every day. Make your date with a Silver King now.
Fishing Reports
Sanibel & Captiva Tarpon Season Gaining steam
Very impressive numbers of fish have been in the area for some time but the late cold front shut them down for a bit. Now with water back up to 78-80 degree’s the fish are on a binge. Here is a fish caught in Redfish Pass, on Friday before weekend boat traffic stomped all over the fish.
heck of a fight released safely.
January 2020
January 2020 Fishing has started off with a bang, once the winds died down on the 14th, we were able to get out in the gulf and get away from some of the extreme low tides in the bay making many area’s inaccessible.
Having seen sargasso weeds in the bay when out still relatively fresh, I knew some offshore near blue water had a good chance of being near shore. It didn’t take long to prove that out, as Bonita and Kings had moved in as close as 5 miles in schools.
Fishing with a Wisconsin crew we caught 10 hard fighting Bonita within a few hours and left them biting. There were large schools roaming, and milling about, somewhat uncommon. Normally you will not see them or you will see the water churning as they are chop through schools of bait. Unpressured we were able to easily stay on them. I should rename the boat “One Last Cast” we sure do enough of them and more often than not, it’s productive.
One Last Cast Sunset Sanibel & Captiva Offshore
School of Happy Bonita, milling around.
3 doubles on Bonita makes it very exciting. One of our strongest fighters a member of the Tuna family.
2020 Sanibel & Captiva Fishing Reports
As we begin a new decade, I’m optimistic that we have turned a vitally important corner in the management of our waters and fishery. We are under an emergency closure on the harvest of Redfish Snook and Trout due to the severe red tide outbreak of the last 2 years.
We are hoping it will be able to be lifted by May of this year, but many are advocating for extending the closure. I lean heavily towards catch and release fishing though I enjoy fresh fish from time to time, and understand the desire to keep some fish for dinner.
Controlling massive freshwater releases from Lake Okeechobee and nutrient pollutant runoff from fertilizers and pesticides are also a major component. Sending water south and east as well where the south has been starved for water for too long in Florida Bay has finally come to fruition despite prior managers insistence it could not be done.
The amount of bait and juvenile fish and creatures of all types in the bay is very encouraging without massive water release killing the spawn every month. While man can mitigate some of the impacts, Mother Nature is the ultimate arbiter on rainfall amounts. We have been in a very wet period for some time now as El Nino has hung around but is Neutral as of now.
Seasonal Outlook for the 1st quarter of 2020
So Happy New Year and Decade!
Capt Paul
December 2019
Winter finally showed up with a vengeance in early Nov. As of this writing we are on our 3rd cold front and water temps are in the low 70’s. Mackerel, both King and Spanish are available, we had a push of Blue fish that just arrived.
Mangrove Snapper are biting
Redfish are here including some large schools of Bull Reds. Black Drum, Ladyfish, Trout and a the Pompano Run is full swing. This is a perfect time for your Sanibel Fishing Charter.
Happy Holidays & Seasons Greetings to all.
Capt Paul Primeaux
Fall Fishing is going off!
After a tumultuous Summer, finally after 2 storms, our waters are free of red tide. And right on schedule the, fall bait run is in full swing. Fishing this time of the year rivals spring, and some say is much better.
Inshore, the redfish that have been scarce all summer are finally here in numbers. Near offshore, there have been massive schools of bait fish that have large explosions in them from a mixture of Sharks, Mackerel and Tarpon just blowing up in the schools.
No finessing here, anything moving is eagerly eaten.
We have just had our second cold front, (1st real one) and the water temps were knocked down to 71.2 degrees, 10 degrees in a few days. Its warming back up fast, so call and Book your trip now!
Capt Paul.
Winter to Early Spring Pattern this week Feb 14th.
After a colder and windier than normal that saw many catches of Black Drum and Sheepshead, the fronts have finally slowed from a 5-7 day pattern to 7-11 day range. In addition they are not as intense as they were. This has lead to water warming from the low 60’s to mid 70-‘s in just over a week.
That’s fairly typical for water get back to a more normal temp, stimulating bait-fish to return and the fish to feed ahead of the spring spawn. Valentines Day is a good reference point for temp normalization in a cooler then normal winter. Note the chart below from SCCF’s Recon site shows on Jan 31, 58 Degree water! Now into the lower to mid 70’s in just 2 weeks.
The first Tarpon are being spotted as they begin to work their way down from a winter stop in the River and up from the 10,000 islands and the keys. Sharks are not far behind.
Book now for Tarpon starting in April through June. Snook Season reopens March 1st and smaller ones are starting to show up in the passes now.
Snook July 2017
Snook are hitting good.
Summer time fishing has been going off big! The Snook are going off, big and small. Red Fish are making their presences known all around. Mangrove Snapper are hitting good, Trout, all the cast of characters, sharks, Mackerel, Cobia, Permit are enjoying abundant supplies of bait fish.
Check Back for more frequent updates.
Book your trip now with Capt Paul!
Shark bite is hot and improving
After a number of false starts the water temps have finally reached 80 after getting knocked back each week for several weeks. The first big push of tarpon came in on the 18th or so. The warm water has presented a lot of opportunities for Sharks in the Bay, as heavy persistent winds block much of the access to the Gulf for much of April 21017.
First Black Tip Shark
Double Black tip Sharks
Black Tip Sharks are fun to catch especially on light tackle. They do everything you could ask of a game fish with multiple runs and jumps.
At anytime you can encounter a tarpon crashing the action. These sharks have been running 2-3 feet but the bigger 30-40 and up to 70 lb Black Tips along with the full complement of Bulls, Hammerheads and Lemons are following the tarpon.
If you have young men in your family, the allure of sharks is a powerful one. Here a few pics from recent trips.
April 2017
April so far has been an in interesting month in Pine Island Sound and Sanibel-Captiva area, with a whole range species, from Mangrove Snapper to Black Tip Sharks. King Mackeral are in the gulf when you can get out to them. Tarpon in the area and eating bottom baits.
A recent cold front knocked the water temps down from 82 to 66 degrees giving the fish a bit of lock jaw while the water slowly warms due to cooler night time temps. I had 71.5 degree water in morning and 74.5 by the time we came in on 4/12/17. Trout is working well in the morning and Sharks and Snook in the afternoons. Bait is pouring into the region, the water is clearing up again and its back to normal patterns vs combat fishing battling 25mph winds.