Southwest Florida Yacht Club, “The Cruisingest Yacht Club in the USA®”, is continuing its popular Local Waters Seminar in February. The seminar, developed as a service to the local boating community, discusses local water tips “beyond the charts” and our many nearby boating destinations based on SFYC member experiences and insights.
Read more “Southwest Florida Yacht Club Hosts Local Waters Seminar”
(Ft. Myers Beach to Charlotte Harbor)
The back half of January proved to be less productive than most of us like. However, Snook, Seatrout, Jack Crevalle and Mangrove Snapper were very active inshore. Recently, the larger Sheepshead have begun to show up on around docks and mangroves. Pictured here is Rex Burlison of St. Louis, Missouri holding a nice Sheepshead he caught in a St. James City canal. Not to be outdone, brother Ron Burlison of St. Peters, Missouri landed a few Mangrove Snappers, small Snook as well as the Sheepshead he is holding. Rex, Ron and a friend are pictured together here holding one of the bigger Snook Rex landed that day. Nice job guys!
Black Sea Bass have not been plentiful in Southwest Florida for several years but winter this year has brought this fish back to us! Right now if you are fishing from the beaches or off of a dock or old pier, you’re most likely to hook this rare fish by using a shrimp as bait. Sheep head are also picking up and the colder waters are bringing on a better bite at Placida or Tom Adams but be sure to get out there before we return to our usual warm weather.
(Ft. Myers Beach to Charlotte Harbor)
Christmas and the New Year Holiday brought good weather and lots of opportunities to accommodate a number of charter requests from locals and visitors alike. Fishing was ‘spotty’ during the Christmas break but still produced a number of great trips with sufficient catches of Grouper, Seatrout, Mangrove Snapper and Spanish Mackerel to satisfy most.
Read more “Captain Terry’s SW Florida Christmas Time Fishing Report”
(Ft. Myers Beach to Charlotte Harbor)
This is the time of the year when many come from the frigid areas of the north to enjoy the holidays of Christmas and the New Year. The last few charters have delivered some nice catches for my young anglers. The catches were from the southern end of Pine Island Sound all the way north to Charlotte Harbor. Due to the lower winter tides, most of the game fish were caught south of the power lines in open water, around mangrove islands with oyster clusters and dead wood. The water is clearing up around the mouth of the Caloosahatchee since the Corps of Engineers have quit sending fresh water to us from Lake O. Seatrout, Redfish, Snook, Mangrove Snapper, Spanish Mackerel and small shark made up most of the ‘bounty’.
Read more “Captain Terry’s SW Florida Holiday Fishing Report”
Cobia for Christmas!
Howard Genesr from New Jersey left with a nice cobia he caught and assisted by Capt Larry McGuire holding up the monster. We were catching grouper and snapper in about 95 ft offshore of Anna Maria Island, when we saw a big cobia swim by the boat so Howard dropped a large grunt under the boat and he connected with the catch of his life. Fishing on Show Me The Fish Charters, cell 941-720-6475. Operating out of the beautiful Bradenton Beach Marina.
Read more “Captain Larry McGuire’s Fishing Report: Cobia for Christmas!”
In my 32 years of business, this is the second time we are currently experiencing red tide in the upper harbor. We are hoping the East and/or Northeast winds will blow the red tide back up out of the harbor. Fish kills have been up through Rocky Creek and almost all the way up to the US-41 bridges. The East winds should be able to get this mess out of here so folks at Burnt Store and Pirate Harbour can stop coughing. Coughing has not been reported in any of the places where dead fish have been seen North of the Alligator Creek Reef. The assault on the upper harbor may be over for a while but continue to think good thoughts for the fish on the South end of the East side.
The Ft. Myers Boat Show proved to be another huge success with more vendors than ever. 1st Mate Vicki and I were honored when friends and clients stopped at our Fish Face Charter booth to chat and talk ‘fish’!
Read more “Captain Terry Says “Good weather is forecast for the next several days””
This holiday season, Redfish can be found in three prime locations. The first is around the southern half of the west wall south of the towers. Pirate Harbour a half mile to the north around the islands has also been a successful spot. Lastly, the sandbars at the mouth of Turtle Bay across to the Eagles cut rounds out the top three places to find Redfish this time of year.
With a number of boat shows happening this time of year, there are a good number of new boaters or, at least, new boat owners out there who might not be 100 percent certain or comfortable with everything that comes along with boat ownership. That’s natural.