A new month upon us and while winter is creeping in throughout much
of the country, SW Florida has been enjoying some marvelous fall
weather. With a slight cool down last week, our anglers have enjoyed
comfortable conditions and are catching a variety of different fish on
many trips.
We are welcoming the arrival of decent numbers of sea trout. They
are nice fish averaging 15 to 20 inches. I am finding most of them in
fairly shallow water, 2-4 feet with sparse grassy bottom. Live sardines
as well as jigs are both taking fish.
Pompano have been running outside the passes on both tides as long as
the water is moving. The most popular and effective way to catch them
is with a jig bumped along the bottom. The pompano are running from 12
to 18 inches.
Small snook continue to chew on live sardines along the mangrove
edges. They are scattered everywhere in the back bays. As well as near
the area passes. There are also snook being caught on soft plastic swim
baits and jigs. Most of the fish are on the small side 18 to 24
inches. December 1 begins the closure of snook season which reopens in
March. Snook can still be targeted, but must be released.
Redfish are scattered around. While not schooled up, anglers willing
to “hunt and peck” along the shorelines, points and oyster bars are
coming up with some very nice slot and a few over slot redfish. Live
sardines, shrimp and jigs are all productive baits.
I’m looking forward to a busy December and hoping for the nice weather to continue as winter approaches.
-Capt. Todd Geroy