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| SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FISHING REPORTS - ARCHIVED |
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Happy New Year to all who read these reports. I feel very blessed to be able to fish with each of you and look forward to a great year of fishing experiences.
A cold front has come through and the mercury is on the decline. Water temps will be going below 70 so a winter pattern should finally set up. This will be a good thing as the fish will find there way into deeper holes and troughs. Sunny afternoons will be excellent for finding snook sunning themselves on dark bottom flats. Plus the water tends to really get clear allowing for nice sight fishing.
Recently, we have been catching redfish and small snook on flies. EPs and gurglers have been working the best. There was some bait in the area and they would produce decent catches as well. Jacks and ladyfish are turning on. Trout season has opened and several clients have booked trips in January and February to catch a limit of trout.
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| November 12, 2007 |
Cooler weather has finally arrived in Southwest Florida. This season we had a late summer and now the water is beginning to hover around 70 degrees. Unfortunately, the drop came about quickly which can put the fish into a confused state. Should they stay on the outside or should they retreat to the backcountry? Being on the water each day helps us stay on top of their movements.
The cooler mornings have given way to warm afternoons and light north breezes. It is not critical to get up at the crack of dawn anymore to get on the water. Tides are always the most important variable and several recent trips did not get started until later in the day.
Bruce Golden’s party caught plenty of trout and small snook last week. We fished with soft plastic jigs rigged on Don’s jigheads. Working the grass flats during the higher tides produced all the trout we could ask for. The snook came on sun baked points later in the day.
The fly fishing has been tricky lately with tons of dirty water around. There is a large number of fish in the super skinny water but the tides dictate when and where they are.
The tides will continue to get lower during the next few months so poling the shallows will be a daily event. Come get a piece of the winter action.
Ken Chambers |
| September 10th, 2007 |
| The fishing has been solid late this summer. The temperatures have not cooled off at all but the weather has been fishable. We are working around the midday heat. Leaving before the sun rises and fishing the evening hours are the norm rather than the exception.
We are just coming off some full moon tides which were very strong. During the next few weeks, the morning low tides will begin to be lower than during the middle of the summer. With the usual fall cooler temperatures, the sight fishing should be good throughout the day.
Carlos Dumois had a couple of excellent days recently. He emailed me months ago from Guadalajara, Mexico. He is an avid bass fisherman who enjoys targeting snook and tarpon. Carlos never had caught a large snook or landed a tarpon. Well, he was able to land snook up to 35 inches on topwater lures. Early one morning, Carlos fell into a tarpon free for all. Countless poons from 10-40 lbs. blasted a skitterwalk plug. Storms chased us from that spot but after the rains left, we ran back and he caught his first tarpon, a 20 lb. fish.
September and October are excellent months for snook and redfish. The water should cool down slightly and the fish feed strongly before the winter cold fronts. Tarpon should continue to roll in the creeks and rivers with all the fresh water still rolling out of the Everglades from the rainy season. Grand slams are definitely possible.
Tight lines |
| Sept 10, 2007 |
The fishing has been solid late this summer. The temperatures have not cooled off at all but the weather has been fishable. We are working around the midday heat. Leaving before the sun rises and fishing the evening hours are the norm rather than the exception.
We are just coming off some full moon tides which were very strong. During the next few weeks, the morning low tides will begin to be lower than during the middle of the summer. With the usual fall cooler temperatures, the sight fishing should be good throughout the day.
Carlos Dumois had a couple of excellent days recently. He emailed me months ago from Guadalajara, Mexico. He is an avid bass fisherman who enjoys targeting snook and tarpon. Carlos never had caught a large snook or landed a tarpon. Well, he was able to land snook up to 35 inches on topwater lures. Early one morning, Carlos fell into a tarpon free for all. Countless poons from 10-40 lbs. blasted a skitterwalk plug. Storms chased us from that spot but after the rains left, we ran back and he caught his first tarpon, a 20 lb. fish.
September and October are excellent months for snook and redfish. The water should cool down slightly and the fish feed strongly before the winter cold fronts. Tarpon should continue to roll in the creeks and rivers with all the fresh water still rolling out of the Everglades from the rainy season. Grand slams are definitely possible.
Tight lines |
April 24th, 2007 |
It seems as though the winds are flipping a coin each morning trying to decide which direction to blow from. Constant changes in weather have made the fish difficult to pattern. Fortunately, the water has stayed above 72 degrees in spite of weekly cold fronts.
Snook and redfish have been consistent targets in Everglades National Park. North of the park, the water is quite muddy and the fishing is up and down. Gurgler flies have been producing during the first hours of the morning. After the sun comes up, rootbeer schminnows and dark EP flies have been getting clobbered.
The tarpon have been around but this year it seems the conditions have not been conducive to them laying up well. There are a few fish to cast to each day but the season has been weak at best. Hopefully, with May around the corner, the winds will lay down and the calm, humid mornings will revisit us. |
February 27, 2007 |
The fishing has been heating up as the weather has turned from bitter cold and windy days to cool mornings with warm, sunny afternoons. The recent warm up had snook and redfish foraging around in the skinny water looking for a meal. Well placed flies and dark colored jerkbaits were the key baits.
A recent trip to Chokoloskee last Monday had Lunker Sauce creator Steve Cobb land snook up to 36 inches on baby bass colored jerkbaits rigged with a weighted Mustad keeper hook. We probably saw over 300 fish that day. Also during the week, the snook and redfish really started to pounce on our flies during mid day low tides.
This week’s tides are not great early on but hopefully as we approach the full moon next weekend the increase in current will trigger some aggressive fish.
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| January 3rd, 2007 |
Unbelievably, I actually am hoping for some cooler weather. The mercury has reached into the 80s each day the past week and the water has warmed up to 75 degrees. This super warm weather seems to confuse the fish. Should they be aggressive and feed all day or do they conserve energy for an impending cold winter.
The fishing for snook and redfish has been up and down. During the full moon low tides this week, we are catching them in shallow troughs with bucktail jigs and Gulp shrimp with 1/16 oz. jig head. Fly anglers have had nice sight fishing opportunities all week.
Live shrimp have produced some slob sheepshead, black drum, and lots of rat redfish. Countless ladyfish, jacks, and mackerel are feeding on glass minnows throughout the 10,000 Islands. |
| November 7, 2006 |
The calendar says the year is winding down but the fishing has continued to be productive throughout the fall. Snook and redfish are still being caught in good numbers. Redfish catches have been strong with slightly cooler water temperatures really sparking a good bite. Snook are feeding as they begin to make their way back into the backcountry before winter.
Jacks, mackerel, ladyfish, pompano, and trout are being caught in abundance on the incoming tides. Jigs and sinking flies are taking the lion’s share of these. This is not considered prime time fishing in the area but it can be a favorite time for sight fishing. The water is cooling but not too cold for the gamefish. The colder nights help kill the algae in the water which helps it clear up for better visibility. Fly fisherman can really have some productive days right now if the weather cooperates. Light winds and sunny days are the key.
Fishing is tons of fun in the late fall and early winter with plenty of action to be had. Many of the fish are not huge but a tight line is really what it is all about anyway. Give me a call and let’s go fishing. |
| October 5, 2006 |
The fishing has been fantastic lately with daily catches of snook, redfish, and tarpon. Catching all three in a day constitutes and grand slam and we have had a few of those in the recent weeks.
Snook and redfish are actively feeding in the passes on all the baitfish that have swept in with the tides. The water temperature has dropped just a touch and it has triggered an aggressive bite that has provided action all hours of the day. Live baits and shallow running lures are the top baits for these fish. They are setting up around heavy current and staging in eddies where they can ambush prey that is caught in the tidal flow.
Tarpon have been taking flies on calm mornings in deeper troughs. We have been finding small schools of fish rolling in 5-10 feet of water. Floating lines and a small, dark streamer fly are producing strikes.
There has been a slight hint of red tide in the area the last couple of days. A few dead fish can be seen on the surface but the fish seem to be feeding right through it. Most likely, these fish are dying to the north of Marco and coming down with the tides and winds. Hopefully it will not present a problem. |
| March 20th, 2005 |
The weather is getting hot but the fishing is lagging behind. As is usually the case in March, the bite is on one day and off the next. I have been throwing flies for snook and big jacks. White or gray clouser minnows have taken most of these fish. I have found them along the edges of shorelines and oyster bars in about 2 feet of water. Occasionally a big fish will be lurking under the trees but most of these snook are in the 18-24 inch range.
The water temps have settled in the low 70s. Tarpon are beginning to show themselves in the upper 10,000 Islands. I have hooked a few fish on artificials but they have been avoiding the fly like it is the plague. Only matters of time before we find some fish that are ready to eat. Looks like the spring is shaping up. |
| February 20th, 2005 |
We came out of the coldest temperatures of the week with our rods bent over double with trout, ladyfish, and pompano hammering jigs on the grass flats. As the sun warms the water, the fish really turn on and have been hitting root beer and smoke colored RipTide Realistic Shrimp. I have been rigging these with the Riptide 1/8 jig head.
Snook and redfish are finding their way onto dark, muddy bottoms to warm up. The colder water has the local waters very clear and sight fishing has been terrific. Catching these wily fish requires stealthy movements and sniper accuracy. Bob Snowball and his pal Frank caught some porky redfish last Wednesday on the early part of the incoming tide. They pitched the root beer jigs just past and in front of the cruising reds. A couple of twitches as the fish approached and then a cloud of mud as they drilled the baits and took off. Rob Jessup tossed a small brown deceiver to some redfish Thursday and hooked up on his 8 weight. Most of the fish we are casting to are in the slot or just over. The snook are lurking around as the sun rises but we have not gotten any to eat the last couple of days. This weekend should push the water temps back to the mid to high 60s so I would expect the linesiders to get much more active.
I will keep a keen eye on the water temperature over the next week. If it gets near 70 degrees then you can bet I will take a few looks for laid up tarpon in the back bays. |
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Tangle with hard fighting redfish in the shallow bays of the 10,000 Islands. As they feed on small crabs and minnows, they become easy targets for a well placed fly or lure.
Welcome, to my website. I am Ken Chambers and I grew up fishing in Southwest Florida. As a full time guide and tournament angler, I probably spend as much time on a boat as I do off of it
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