Naples to Flamingo
Includes Naples, Marco Island, Everglades City and Chokoloskee

Oct. 17-20

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Tarpon and Snook Highlight Fishing

The fishing was good in all areas this past week, including offshore. The waters were stained from all of the rain, but the fish didn’t seem to mind. Bait was plentiful, the tides strong under the full moon, and all of the traditional October predators were hungry.

Schools of tarpon in the 50- to 100-pound range continued to roam the beaches. Last week, the most fish seemed to be south of Everglades City, but this week, the tarpon moved right into the Naples area. Schools of 100 fish or even more were reported along Keewaydin Island. Unfortunately, there was a full moon this week, and tarpon tend to feed at night during the full moon, so hook-ups were not as easy as sightings, especially for those using flies or artificials. Nevertheless, live or cut baits did produce some impressive catches.

Snook and redfish were plentiful in all areas. The snook were mostly smaller fish, but 20- to 30-fish days were common. The redfish varied. A few guides said that they could only find undersized fish, while others caught nothing but oversized reds, but I am sure somebody nailed a few in the slot.

This week should produce more of the same. The tides will get a little weaker, the water a bit cleaner, and the tarpon, redfish and snook will continue to feed. Offshore, snapper and mackerel are the easiest targets. Red grouper can be caught well offshore, and for the specialists, there are cobia and permit over the more secluded wrecks.

By Capt. John Preeg | Captjohnpreeg@aol.com

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