Earlier this month 1st Mate Vicki and I accompanied clients and good friends, Ron and Lucinda Defreitas on their new 36ft. Yellowfin to Key West to enjoy the 4th of July celebrations. We departed Ft. Myers on Saturday, June 1st around 8:30 am for Key West and arrived at the Oceans Edge Resort Marina on Stock Island before noon. A quick lunch, loaded the boat with bait, then back to sea to catch Dolphin before settling in at the resort. We fished over the next 3 days, which included a day trip to the Dry Tortugas to experience Ft. Jefferson and the pristine fishing that surrounded it. We returned on July 5th to Cape Coral, so that I could honor my scheduled charters here in SW Florida. Vicki and I plan to return to various locations in the ‘Keys’ throughout the summer months to enjoy the different and rewarding experiences that they have to offer. I write about it so as to encourage other boaters and anglers located in SW Florida to do the same. It is not that far away.
July and August in SW Florida are ‘hot’ months, especially this year. I suggest when the opportunity comes that anglers look to early departures and earlier returns to boat ramps or home.
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Inshore: high summer tides allow so much more opportunity for many more types and sizes of boats access to otherwise remote areas to fish for Snook, Redfish and Mangrove Snappers around docks and around Pine Island Sound mangrove islands. The ‘bite’ will be better in the morning hours as afternoon fishing in the ‘back country’ locations will be sweltering hot for the fish, just to mention the anglers! Fish quartered Blue Crab for larger Redfish, Pilchards for Snook and shrimps for Mangrove Snapper and Seatrouts.
Another option for those with the shallow running boats is to fish for Snook along the beaches using live Pilchards and Pinfish. Unfortunately, the bait fish are struggling to stay alive in the 90 plus degree water temps. That is another reason I suggested to go early when possible.
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Offshore: early morning departures is also a recommended as the sun and it’s temperature can be brutal in the gulf. Winds are usually ‘softer’ (less windy) in the early morning hours. Warm water temperatures have been, for the most part, requiring anglers to go farther and farther out to the deeper and cooler waters for the larger fish. Later in the year, as temperatures lower, this will not be as big of and issue, but it will remain so for the balance of July and into August.
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This is Captain Terry Fisher of Fish Face Charters, LLC. Check out my website at www.fishfacecharters.com. Call me direct at 239-357-6829 or email me at [email protected] to book a charter on my vessel or yours. I am available as a ‘Captain for Hire’ on your vessel by the hour for safety, navigational, instructions, including fishing techniques and locations that insure your every trip, either inshore or offshore, is productive.
by Captain Terry Fisher