Morning hours are the best for fishing

D e s p i t e t h e d a i l y h e a t , many mornings brought just enough of a gulf breeze for comfortable fishing before the midday sun took over

The mangrove snapper bite w a s g o o d i n s h o r e , i n a n d around the gulf passes, and nearshore waters in the Gulf of Mexico Inshore, snapper to 14 inches, with keepers averaging 10-12 inches were gathered under overhangs on mangrove shorelines, under docks, piers and bridges, or around oyster bars and channel edges

T o p b a i t s i n c l u d e d l i v e shrimp, live or cut pilchards or sardines, and small pinfish

Bill Russell

On the Water

Snapper fishing around the gulf passes was best the last hour of a tide, through the slack and into the first hour of the change

In gulf waters, mangrove snapper up to 17 inches came from public artificial reefs and ledges in 25 to 50-foot depths For the best shot at the bigger snapper, anchor on the up-current side of the structure and put out a chum block Another option if you are cast netting your own bait, is catch a bunch extra, put them in a cooler and create a chum line by cutting them up With the vast amounts of small baitfish around, it’s been pretty easy to catch enough for chum without much effort Many of the reefs see a lot of anglers and the larger snapper are difficult to fool A long fluorocarbon leader, often 6 feet or more of 1220 pound test helps to fool the bigger fish

Boats trekking further west into gulf waters hooked into red grouper up to 30 inches fishing over hard and live bottom in depths from 80-140 feet. Snapper, including mangrove, lane and vermilion, hit the fish box as well Further west from 150200 feet and deeper, American red snapper limits were boxed dropping various baits including live, cut and butterfly jigs

Summer is a great time to take advantage of the numerous small sharks across the inshore waters Averaging 2-4 feet, they are a blast on light tackle, especially for kids Look for them over grass flats from 4-8 feet Live pinfish, pilchards or a c h u n k o f c u t ladyfish or mullet w i l l g e t t h e i r a t t e n t i o n w h e n d r i f t i n g o r anchored up A foot or so of light wire attached to a circle hook will keep them on the line. A large percentage of the sharks are blacktips that often get very acrobatic once hooked Seatrout numbers were good although a good percentage are running under the 15-inch minimum size They were caught on grass bottom from 3-7 feet deep in Pine Island Sound south of Captiva Pass on either side of the channel, off of R e d - L i g h t S h o a l s i n t h e southern sound, and north of Patricio Island If the grass isn’t too bad, sub-surface twitch baits and DOA paddle tails worked well as did small live bait fish and shrimp Seatrout and small sharks were commonly hooked from the same areas

C a t c h - a n d - r e l e a s e s n o o k f i s h i n g remains steady along the coast Fish averaging 22-26 inches are working the surf just a few feet from the beach of Sanibel, Captiva and Cayo Costa Islands Larger fish were in the surf as well, but the little guys far outnumbered them and were more aggressive On the bayside of the barrier islands and around the passes, larger snook and redfish were hooked along mangrove shorelines and oyster bars on high water and under docks on the falling tides

With the absence of daily afternoon thunderstorms, inshore waters get really hot over the afternoon hours, especially with an outgoing or falling tide The best time to fish is over the cooler morning hours Once afternoon storms return, fishing can be good after they have cleared and cooled it down for late afternoon and early evening

Stay up to date with fishing regulations by visiting www.myfwc.com. Also, upload the Fish Rules app on your phone It has current regulations with pictures to help identify fish

If you have a fishing report or for charter information, contact Gulf Coast Guide Service at 239-410-8576 (call or text); on the web at www fishpine island com; or via email at gcl2fish@ live com Have a safe week and good fishin’

As a lifetime resident of Matlacha and Pine Island, Capt Bill Russell has spent his life fishing and learning the waters around Pine Island and Southwest Florida, and as a professional fishing guide for the past 23 years

Summer snapper fishing

Adam Rogowski caught this nice mutton snapper well within sight of land in the Gulf of Mexico. He was bottom fishing live baits over reefs with Capt. Tanner Peer óHighEfficiencySystems óDuctCleani ng

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