Chilly Temperatures Bring in the Pompano to Naples Backwaters

November 26, 2012

November is winding down this week and as is usually the case this time of year, the fishing scene is in full transition right now.  I have had a full schedule of two half day trips each day for the last week and mother nature has brought in a solid week of down right chilly weather.  With that, the fishing action has changed with some new targets showing up such as pompano, trout and bluefish.  Snook have seemed to go into temporary hibernation as water temperatures cooled down to 63 degrees in some of the back bays.  Redfish are still working the area, however we have had to really hunt for them catching mostly single fish in one spot and moving on.  Most of the reds have been in the 23 to 24 inch size range.

The pompano are throughout the back country channels adjacent to shallow flats.  Moving water is the key to success on either tide.  A favorite bait for these tasty fighters is a 1/4 to 3/8 ounce jig.  I like to tip the jig with a cleanly cut segment of fresh shrimp tail.  anchor or drift on the channel edge and make cast across current.  Keeping the tip up slightly, bump the jig up off the bottom with a sharp one foot hop, retrieving the slack as it falls back to the bottom between hops.
My favorite jig is sort of a Naples entity developed on the Naples pier a half century ago. The tail of the jig is nothing other than a short piece of surgical tubing. Chartreuse and pink are colors of choice.  These are easy to make and there are several locally made versions available in area tackle shops.  I attach a piece of 25 lb. leader directly to the line with a modified surgeons knot.

 Here is my typical rig…

The redfish action last week was hit and miss.  While most trips caught a few nice reds, we were never able to locate them in schools.  We targeted them in deeper mangrove edges as well as shallow oyster bottom and cover with live shrimp or jigs.  Moving spot to spot, when we found a fish, it was and instant strike.  The reds were all nice fish running 23 or 24 inches.  Friday morning, Barritt Gilbert and son William worked hard for some nice results catching and releasing several pompano and then moving on to releasing several nice reds.  Heres William with a 24 incher caught in heavy cover…

I have another busy week ahead, and with the weather finally on a warming trend along with strong tides, I expect it to be more productive.

- Capt. Todd Geroy

Big November Snook and Redfish

Every now and then despite everything going for you such as great weather and good tides, the fish gods just aren’t smiling.  Tough days when all is going for you is just the way fishing is sometimes.  Such has been our experience since my report a week ago.  While we had a great time on every trip with some nice fish hooked and caught, a few were lacking in the action we expect this time of year.
I ventured out into the Gulf of Mexico early in the week fishing just offshore of the beaches.  With calm conditions, we found plenty of spanish mackerel and bonito feeding voraciously under clouds of gulls and other sea birds.  They were easy targets, and we caught plenty while casting jigs into the feeding frenzies.

In the back country, the action was a bit spotty.  We did manage some nice redfish on each trip along with snook and some big jack crevalle.  Live sardines were the bait of choice.  We also took some fish with shrimp imitations on 1/4 oz. jig heads.

This morning I fished with long time clients Tom Iverson, Jay Sandza and friend Kim Shearburn and managed six slot reds averaging 25 inches while sight fishing on a very low tide.  The fish were cruising water as shallow as 6 inches.  A bait placed in the right spot in front of the them got immediately consumed.  We also caught several snook to 25 inches along the same banks.  Later in the morning after a lull in the action,  we headed to a snook spot that had been red hot a couple of weeks ago on similar tides.  Right away, Tom was hooked up to a 14 lb.snook.  After finessing it out of the mangroves on light tackle, the fish came aboard for a photo and release.  Here’s Tom with a
a great catch...
 
After that fish was released, Jay and Kim were instantly hooked up with two more big snook at the same time!  Kim’s managed to throw the hook while Jay’s stayed tight and burned into the mangroves.  Jay eased tension on the fish and we managed to pull close to shore and boat the fish.  This one weighed in at 15 lbs!  Jay with his snook catch before release…
Great November fishing action in the Naples backwaters!
- Capt. Todd Geroy

November Brings a Transition of Fish and Weather in South Florida

November 7, 2012
November started out a little rough on the fishing scene as Hurricane Sandy skirted the east coast bringing some very strong winds to Florida.  That was followed by a cool front which really slowed the action for several days.
We adjusted to the conditions for a few days, targeting redfish with to jigs and live shrimp instead of the live sardines that had been the norm.  It paid of pretty well on several trips, with some decent numbers of reds being caught.  These were all slot fish in the 22 to 24 inch range.  Last Thursday afternoon, Jay Sandza and Tom Iverson managed to boat ten nice redfish fishing the oyster laden shorelines of Rookery Bay.   The reds took Berkley Gulp shrimp on 1/4 oz. jigheads as well as live shrimp.
As the waters settled down by last weekend, the sardines showed up again in large numbers.  I fished the annual two day Redsnook tournament with Doug Poe and Jim McGuire.  Despite good bait being plentiful, we found the fishing to be off on the first day with only small snook to 25 inches and reds to 23 filling our card.  A family medical emergency forced Jim to head back to Alabama after day one.  We recruited my son Capt. Ben Geroy to fill in on day two.  Fishing turned out a little better filling the card with reds to 23 inches and a 31 inch snook caught at the last spot by Ben.  We ended up 6th in the field.  A good time to benefit the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
Fishing improved the last two days with some larger redfish to 26 inches being boated on each trip as well as some good snook action with fish ranging to 27 inches.  Joe McGurrin boated this nice 26 inch red on Monday morning…
Another cool front is moving through today as I write this and I expect the pompano and sea trout action to heat up after it’s passing.  Cooler waters usually move these fish into the backwaters in November. I have a very busy month ahead and am looking forward to some great days on the water!