September Fishing Report
Hello fellow anglers, September in S.W. Florida it is totally summer. Things are hot the water the temperature and the fishing. Looking at the inshore possibilities you got your snook , and reds. The snook are close to transitioning back to there regular environment from the spawn this season. The big schools of breeder reds will start to show up close to the passes where there is plenty of food to prepare them to head back offshore to spawn. They show up at the passes, as they work there way into the bays and coastal inshore areas where there is plenty of pin fish and green backs. This is the time of year you will start to find the big schools of reds. The shrimp comes into the bays usually around Thanksgiving then that be comes the food of choice. The snook will start hanging around the docks and bridge pilings to ambush their pray. If it is to hot for you to fish during the daylight hours this is a great time of year to do some night fishing. Yes the snook like to hang around the bumpers in the main channel of the rivers and creeks. The shadows from the lights on the bridges give them a place to ambush there pray. This is when I would check the sulunar tables. I use tides4fishing to find the peak feeding times for the fish, they use these moon phases to hunt deer and other big game animals too. Say if you wanted to fish the bridges along the ICW look for that area Venice, Placida , or Sanibel bridges for the tides and solurnar tables. These will help you choose a time to target snook in the night hours. This too is when the tarpon tend to migrate up river in search of food. These are usually the resident tarpon that do not migrate with the masses. They will feed in the deeper holes in the rivers and harbor where the baits mingle. Depending on the weather hurricanes and or afternoon thunderstorms as to how much fresh water comes into the area, Venice it is not much of a problem, Charlotte Harbor can be tricky with two rivers dumping into it. Yes the Myakka River from the South Venice area and from the East and North the Peace River both dump into the upper Harbor. And Down south to the south end of Pine Island you have the Caloosahatchee River. If you live here you know how bad it can get with the nutrients that get washed into these areas create red tide blooms. And you know the rest of the story. Hay how about offshore yea this month would be a great time to do some night time snapper fishing. Any close reef artificial or natural that holds snapper will be a great place. Do your self some research to make a chum slick. This will bring the snapper to the surface so you may use light tackle and that makes it so much fun. So these are some things to look forward to this month. So if you would like to learn some of these types of fishing you can call Capt. Bart Marx 941-979-6517 or e-mail me at captbart@alphaomegacharters.com I have added a new boat to the fleet a 25ft. Parker or I could come on your boat for a training session. I also have gift certificates for a gift on some ones birthday or a Christmas gift for those that are coming from up north to visit in the winter. And always remember singing drags and tight lines make me smile. <*(((((>{
October Fishing Report
Hello fellow anglers,
Christmas is coming soon, can you believe it? Here in S.W. Florida we call October, Red October. Yes this is the time of year that the redfish or red drum school up and are on a mission to feed up. Feed up for the journey out into the Gulf. This is where the big schools of reds go to spawn. So they are feeding on the pinfish that are allover from Englewood to Sanibel in our area. They also feed on the shrimp and green backs and what ever meal may swim in there feeding zone. They can be found up in the Harbor along the Punta Gorda/Cape Coral side of the Harbor. From Ponce DeLeon Park to Matlacha Bridge and from the Cape Haze point to the El Jobean bridge along the edges wherever there is food. As you search for the schools of reds you will also find snook and trout mixed in. There can be schools along the ICW too from Placida to St. James. When you find one of these packs of reds they are like wild hogs rooting around the Mangrove roots looking for food. A few years back I was stalking one of these schools for two days on the third day I brought all kinds of fishing gear. I started by filling my boat with all the baits I could keep alive around a thousand. The tackle I brought was a nine weight flyrod, a twenty pound spinning rod setup. And a ton of those live baits and I was ready. Went down the ICW and spotted the school and eased up on the edge of it and started chumming hard I had reds all around the boat. Then I started to put one out on the spinning rod, I had about three foot of line out and dropped it beside the boat yes it got bit and the fight was on it was in the thirty inch range( yes this is a fish story OKAY) I said to myself that was no fun just drop it in and you get one really. So I still kept chumming and there we six other boats there and all the fish we around my boat I had the chum. We were close enough that they asked if the could come over closer they were low on bait. I said sure no problem , this is where I put my spinning rod away and got out my nine weight fly rod. I was looking through my collection of flies and found a small spoon that looked like a small greenback , I tied it on and kept chumming. The other boats we close at this time and we could talk to each other very easily. I was casting into the huge groups of reds but they would not take my fly. I found a few over to the side and cast to them and they started fighting over it I hooked a nice one. I started getting it closer to the boat and looked around there was seven people hooked at the same time. There were three boats with people and I was alone on my boat. Yes seven reds and I was the only on with a fly rod it was a blast. That red measured twenty eight inches he was a battle to get to the boat. So yes I released it and started casting again and hooked the second one in fifteen minutes. This one was a hard fighter I lost my grip on the reel and got my knuckles wacked it was lots of fun. And that was my best day with reds on the fly, Any how lets get back to some offshore stuff. This month there could be the first bit of King Mackerel to start migrating south. The red grouper in seventy feet of water with lanes and mangroves snapper in the same depths. You could go out to eighty to one hundred feet and chum up some yellow tails too. Check when the full moon is and try some of that night snapper fishing. If you would like to come along with Capt. Bart Marx call 941-979-6517 or e-mail me captbart@alphaomegacharters.com Also I do go on other peoples boats to help them with the learning curve to fishing our area. And I have gift certificates for Christmas gifts or birthdays or just to give a loved one a fishing trip. So always remember singing drags and tight lines make me smile. <*(((((>{
Christmas is coming soon, can you believe it? Here in S.W. Florida we call October, Red October. Yes this is the time of year that the redfish or red drum school up and are on a mission to feed up. Feed up for the journey out into the Gulf. This is where the big schools of reds go to spawn. So they are feeding on the pinfish that are allover from Englewood to Sanibel in our area. They also feed on the shrimp and green backs and what ever meal may swim in there feeding zone. They can be found up in the Harbor along the Punta Gorda/Cape Coral side of the Harbor. From Ponce DeLeon Park to Matlacha Bridge and from the Cape Haze point to the El Jobean bridge along the edges wherever there is food. As you search for the schools of reds you will also find snook and trout mixed in. There can be schools along the ICW too from Placida to St. James. When you find one of these packs of reds they are like wild hogs rooting around the Mangrove roots looking for food. A few years back I was stalking one of these schools for two days on the third day I brought all kinds of fishing gear. I started by filling my boat with all the baits I could keep alive around a thousand. The tackle I brought was a nine weight flyrod, a twenty pound spinning rod setup. And a ton of those live baits and I was ready. Went down the ICW and spotted the school and eased up on the edge of it and started chumming hard I had reds all around the boat. Then I started to put one out on the spinning rod, I had about three foot of line out and dropped it beside the boat yes it got bit and the fight was on it was in the thirty inch range( yes this is a fish story OKAY) I said to myself that was no fun just drop it in and you get one really. So I still kept chumming and there we six other boats there and all the fish we around my boat I had the chum. We were close enough that they asked if the could come over closer they were low on bait. I said sure no problem , this is where I put my spinning rod away and got out my nine weight fly rod. I was looking through my collection of flies and found a small spoon that looked like a small greenback , I tied it on and kept chumming. The other boats we close at this time and we could talk to each other very easily. I was casting into the huge groups of reds but they would not take my fly. I found a few over to the side and cast to them and they started fighting over it I hooked a nice one. I started getting it closer to the boat and looked around there was seven people hooked at the same time. There were three boats with people and I was alone on my boat. Yes seven reds and I was the only on with a fly rod it was a blast. That red measured twenty eight inches he was a battle to get to the boat. So yes I released it and started casting again and hooked the second one in fifteen minutes. This one was a hard fighter I lost my grip on the reel and got my knuckles wacked it was lots of fun. And that was my best day with reds on the fly, Any how lets get back to some offshore stuff. This month there could be the first bit of King Mackerel to start migrating south. The red grouper in seventy feet of water with lanes and mangroves snapper in the same depths. You could go out to eighty to one hundred feet and chum up some yellow tails too. Check when the full moon is and try some of that night snapper fishing. If you would like to come along with Capt. Bart Marx call 941-979-6517 or e-mail me captbart@alphaomegacharters.com Also I do go on other peoples boats to help them with the learning curve to fishing our area. And I have gift certificates for Christmas gifts or birthdays or just to give a loved one a fishing trip. So always remember singing drags and tight lines make me smile. <*(((((>{