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...

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

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

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.

Another busy week ahead of me and I am looking forward to some great winter fishing in the backwaters!

Capt. Todd Geroy

Ever Changing Weather Keeping Fish on the Move

I am writing this on a chilly 43 degree Sunday morning taking a well needed day off after a very busy run of trips the last couple of weeks.  We have had ever changing weather recently, with cold fronts moving through every few days.  The fishing action has fluctuated along with the weather as the fish have been on the move.  Pompano, sea trout and redfish have been the main targets.  We are using both jigs tipped with shrimp as well as live shrimp with equal success.

Wayne Fox and Tim Cabral came out just before Christmas for a morning half day.  With water temperatures hovering at 72 degrees,  I netted a load of sardines before the trip and headed to the mangroves to see if we could produce a few snook.  The snook cooperated, with Tim and Wayne releasing several nice fish each.   The star of the morning was Wayne after battling a very feisty 33 inch snook from under the bushes.  We also worked the outside passes near Marco Island with jigs and boated several pompano.  Here is Wayne wtih his big snook…
Other notable trips were Bob McClure and son Joe last Thursday morning.  The duo had a great catch of pompano and sea trout.  Most were caught on jigs tipped with shrimp.  We were fishing in the Rookery Bay area.

Dave Fruend and Nick Smirnov fished Friday afternoon and pulled a bunch of redfish out of one pocket on a mangrove shoreline in Johnson Bay with live shrimp.  A couple of them were invited home to dinner.  The redfish were running from 18 to 24 inches.  We then proceded to a channel  bordering a long flat.  It was loaded with trout.  Several were caught on jigs, but most seemed more interested in live shrimp.

We have been finding a wide variety of other species on many trips with as many as thirteen different fish being caught.  These include snook, redfish, trout, pompano, black drum, sheepshead, flounder, small permit, mangrove snapper, jack crevalle, goliath grouper, black grouper, bluefish and spanish mackerel.

- Capt. Todd Geroy

Mid - December Mixed Bag in Naples Backwaters

December 11, 2012


Southwest Florida has been experiencing some unusually warm weather so far this December.  And while we have been enjoying it, it has made the fishing a little hit and miss.  By the end of November, the waters had cooled and put the fish into a typical winter season pattern.  With the warm up, the fish seemed to have scattered more and while we have had some great trips others are finding it a little more challenging.

I have been going back and forth with both live sardines and live shrimp as well as jigs trying to find a pattern to success.  We have managed to find some nice snook to 34 inches along with some giant jack crevalle destroying the sardines.
We are still finding a few pompano in the back country channels with jigs tipped with shrimp.  There are a few trout scattered in the same areas.  Although scattered, we have been managing a few decent redfish on most outings.  They have been taking shrimp as well as live sardines.

- Capt. Todd Geroy

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!