Saturday, January 26, 2013

Cooler Weather Brings Some Hot Fishing to Naples Backwaters!

January 26, 2013
This is my last fishing report for January and while this month has had some ups and downs on the fishing front, I must say that it is winding down on the strong side.  Cooler weather moved in on Tuesday evening and as the water temps have dropped gradually, the fish have gotten more concentrated in the back bays south of Naples.

Trout have been the most responsive targets.  We have managed to boat a bunch of nice ones in the 15 to 18 inch range the last few days.  We are doing quite well fishing channels with Berkley Gulp shrimp rigged on 3/8 oz. jig heads.  The most productive spots are in stronger tide flow, especially where there is a break in the current caused by a merging of two channels or a point or shallow bar creating a rip.

Pompano really have turned on as well.  They are being caught in many of the same areas as the trout.  They are averaging 14 to 16 inches.  A shrimp tipped surgical tube jig is deadly.
Redfish remain scattered with only a few fish caught during the week. Early last week,  I had a dedicated and skilled young angler out for an afternoon with his grandfather and friend.  Rich impressed us with his skills with a spinning rod as he was able to repeatedly fire live shrimp way under the mangrove cover.  The results were several redfish in the 23 to 25 inch range for Rich. While we worked hard to find them, the rewards were high.

 Rich with one of his redfish...
Young angler Rich with one of several beautiful redfish he released on an afternoon half day trip.  1/21/2013


With the cooler water, the sheepshead are also making an appearance.  Some of them have been running to about 4 pounds and provide great table fare as well as being strong fighters.

I am looking forward to another busy week and some great winter fishing!


-Capt. Todd Geroy

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Great Winter Fishing in the Backwaters of Naples Florida!

Another busy week as we round the corner to the end of January.  Last week was a productive week overall on both boats with myself and Capt. Ben having success on a number of species and the action picking up from the previous week or so.
We both had good success with redfish on several of the trips.  Most were caught at high tide and took live shrimp either free lined under the mangroves or with a small split shot attached.  Most were keeper size, ranging up to 24 inches.
Trout fishing was pretty good  for me, I managed limits on a couple trips while fishing outgoing tides in channels near shallow flats.  Live shrimp were the bait of choice.  Typically, we have good success this time of year with jigs, but the trout have been a bit picky, only taking the shrimp.  In the same areas, we enjoyed some fast action with bluefish to 5 lbs. and some large spanish mackerel to 5 lbs.  Also a good number of pompano and even juvenile permit.
Large spanish mackerel were just  one of over 15 different species caught last week with Capt. Todd Geroy
Large spanish mackerel were just one of over 15 different species caught last week with Capt. Todd Geroy
These small permit put up a great fight on light tackle...
These small permit put up a great fight on light tackle…
Friday, a cool front had come through bringing a drastic change to the temperature overnight.  I headed out with Bob and Scott and hit the deeper creeks to avoid the chilly wind.  We sat in two spots for several hours and had continuous action with large black drum, snook, redfish, sheepshead, snapper and flounder.  As the morning progressed, the lack of sunshine and cold wind had gotten to us and we returned to the dock an hour early to clean fish and thaw out.  Finally the sun broke through as I returned on the afternoon trip and again found a mixed bag of drum, sheepshead, flounder, some nice sea trout and a couple of permit.
Black drum are scrappy fighters and provide great aciton on a chilly day.  Not bad on the plate either.
Black drum are scrappy fighters and provide great aciton on a chilly day. Not bad on the plate either.
Another busy week ahead of me and I am looking forward to some great winter fishing in the backwaters!

Capt. Todd Geroy