Mid August Fish Sampler in Back Waters of Naples

The mid summer doldrums are upon us with temperatures in the low to mid 90's daily along with less rain than in recent weeks to cool things off.  This is typically my slowest month for business and I take advantage of the slow down to get the boats and gear in shape for the upcoming busy season.

I have been running a few trips and enjoying some decent action with snook, redfish and baby tarpon. There have also been quite a few goliath grouper, snapper and small barracuda in the mix to add to the variety.

Snook fishing has slowed a little in recent weeks with the fish more scattered having finished their spawning activities. Warm water has also contributed to making them a bit sluggish.  The best activity is early in the day before the sun heats up.

Baby tarpon are all over the back country both along mangrove shorelines and around deeper creek mouths.
The average size we have been catching has been between 12 and 25 lbs. The small tarpon will take a variety of baits both live and artifical.

   Redfish are still biting on the higher tide stages.  Live sardines as well as cut bait such as lady fish chunks are taking most of the fish now.  1/4 ounce jigs rigged with Gulp shrimp in natural colors are also a local favorite and take plenty of redfish.

There is still time to take advantage of my summer shark fishing special through September.  I am offering a significant discount on 4 hour specialty trips.  We catch plenty of large bull, lemon and blacktip sharks in the shallow backwaters.  Please contact me to schedule one of these popular trips.

- Capt. Todd Geroy

Mid-Summer Acton with Snook, Redfish, Tarpon and Sharks in Naples Back Waters

We had  better weather last week than the previous with things drying up a little and managing to get out fishing daily as well as a couple evening trips.  Fishing action held up with redfish and snook still strong as well as juvenile tarpon and plenty of sharks bringing smiles to my anglers.

Capt. Ben Geroy and Nick Hamilton with a double on some nice July redfish released last week!

Last weekend, I fished a local charity tournament benefiting the University of Florida Construction School.  This was my third time fishing the TR Rushing Construction Co. team out of four years that the tournament has existed.  We have come in the top three every year and added another second place finish this year.  We released redfish to 26 inches along with snook to 27 inches to come in just four inches from first place.  It was a great, fun event with strong competition followed by a wonderful party hosted by Hamilton Harbor Yacht club.  We are looking forward to next year already!

The rest of the week brought great catches of redfish, snook, sharks and tarpon ranging in from 15 to 30 lb. class.  Great fun on light tackle.  I have seen an increase in the juvenile tarpon during the last week with the influence of fresh water run off flushing through the back country.  These events usually push plenty of fish out of the inland creeks and concentrate them along the shorelines in the back bays.  The small tarpon take artificial lures and flies very well as well as live baits.


- Capt. Todd Geroy

Redfishing Heating Up in Naples Backwaters

July 17, 2013
Fishing remains strong despite some very heavy periods of rain throughout South Florida.  With the rains, the waters have cooled a bit making the fish especially feisty and feeding more through the day than previous weeks.

Redfish have made a sudden appearance showing up in good numbers through out the back bays.  Live baits such as shiners and shrimp are taking plenty as well as soft plastic jigs and Gulp shrimp.  Natural colors such as “root beer”, “new penny” and “molting” do well in the stained water.


 John Schnurbush with a nice multi-spotted redfish before release with Capt. Todd Geroy

Taylor Schnurbush caught a surprise last week with a nice back country permit

Snook are still very reliable with plenty of fish schooled up in the passes, but also scattered through the backwaters.  This time of year, we usually start to find some very large post-spawn fish in the deeper runs and channels of the back country.

Sharks are ever present and are making easy targets for those who want to pick a fight with a big fish.  Lemons and bulls are running from 5 to 8 feet long.  All are being caught in the shallow, calm bays.

- Capt. Todd Geroy

Summer Big Snook Action in Naples Backwaters

Summer is in full swing now as water temperatures have really heated up and the afternoon rains have begun to be a daily event.  The trick to summer fishing in SW Florida is to plan your fishing in the morning and evening hours avoiding the mid-day heat.

I have seen afternoon water temperatures reaching 93 degrees in the bay recently.  That makes the fish a bit sluggish until the later evening hours.  Some anglers have been taking advantage of the sunset trips with good results.  However, it has been a bit of a gamble with the lightening producing afternoon thunderstorms getting in the way.

Ben and I have had some great catches in the last week or so with many large snook still making happy memories for our anglers.  Shark fishing has been as easy as it gets with mainly bull and lemons sharks ranging from 5 foot scrappers to 8 1/2 foot bruisers.  They are providing great action for those who want to catch a big fish and get a work out at the same time!

Redfish have also been showing up in many of the spot we are concentrating on snook.  Although they are not schooled up, they are very nice fish running in the 24 to 30 inch range when we find them.

The following are photos of some of the snook released in the last week with Capt. Ben and I. …

Ron Petuch with a 16 lb. snook caught with Capt. Todd Geroy on a recent evening trip

Ron Petnuch with another large snook caught and released last week with Capt. Todd Geroy

Pete Seitz with a nice snook released with Capt. Ben Geroy

Audra McDermott with a big snook released on June 27 with Capt. Ben Geroy

 Matt Geroy with a bruiser snook caught and released with his brother Capt. Ben Geroy

July promises to be a great month to get on the water and catch some trophy sized fish in the backwaters!

- Capt. Todd Geroy

Best Snook Bite of the Year is Right Now!

June 17, 2013


Wow!  Fishing really turned on last week as the waters cleared from the stormy conditions we experienced the previous week.

The snook fishing has been especially strong with some of the largest fish of the year being caught and released.  We also found some large redfish in the mix running up to 30 inches or more.
Although I did not fish for them,  I did see plenty of tarpon in the area.  They were throughout the inshore bays and appeared to be ranging from 20 lb. juveniles to large fish over 100 lbs.  It is not too late to get out and take a shot at these great fish.

Last Wednesday, Capt. Ben and I took a morning off and headed out together for a rare day of fishing together.  We easily loaded the boat with live sardines and headed inland to search for the big snook that we knew were lurking in some of our favorite spots.  The fish did not disappoint us!  In four hours of fishing, we released over 35 snook with four of the fish measuring out at the mid 30 inch mark and one caught by Ben measuring 42 inches and weighing in at 25 lbs!

Most all of the snook including the largest ones were caught while sight fishing in less than two feet of water.  We also released seatrout, goliath grouper and redfish to 30 inches.  Here are some photos from our morning…

Capt. Ben Geroy with a nice June snook

Ben Geroy with a hefty 30 inch redfish before release

Another big snook for Ben

Capt. Todd Geroy enjoyed a hard battle with this bruiser snook

Capt. Ben Geroy with a 25 lb. snook released 6/12/2013

Another trip out last week was with Ryan and Kevin Petnuch.  These youngsters now in their teens have been fishing with me for many years as they started coming on the boat with their dad when they were as young as four.

At their request, we started the day with some action fishing. The boys released quite a few nice snook along with a big redfish and numerous fighting jack crevalle.  Late in the morning we moved on to do battle with a couple of large sharks and then ended the trip at another snook spot where they hooked into a couple of large fish which managed to throw the hooks.

All in all  it was a great morning with all kinds of great action and some real nice fish released.

Ryan Petnuch with a bruiser 31 inch redfish

- Capt. Todd Geroy

Summer Action is Great in Naples Backwaters

Summer is officially here and we have enjoyed some fine fishing so far.  Snook are staging near the passes for the spawning season, tarpon are providing some big action along wtih an abundance of sharks and redfish continue to please anglers.

Tarpon are being found both in the back bays as well as off the beaches. We are fishing them with a variety of live and cut bait.  The fish are running anywhere from 75 lbs. and up.  A recent trip with Matthew McCall and father Tony produced a 90 lber caught in only 3 ft. of water.  The fish was caught using a mullet for bait.  The duo also did battle with some hefty blacktip, bull and lemon sharks to 175 lbs.  A highlight was a large blacktip shark that put up a long battle before measuring out at over 6 ft. boat side.  It was one of the larger blacktips that I have seen.

Snook fishing this time of year is about as good as it gets.  Big numbers of fish are schooling in the area passes and go on a feeding frenzy particularly on the outgoing tide.  We are also hitting plenty of snook along the outside beaches.  Sight fishing when the water is calm and clear in open space is always a fun alternative to fishing the cover of mangroves where we spend much of our time.
I fished several trips last week with Bryant and Sandi Garner whom I have fished for many years as they make an annual treck for some May fishing in Naples.  Through the week, they boated numerous snook, redfish and some giant jack crevalle.  Friday mornings trip produced a beautiful 35 inch, 14 lber for Bryant.

Sandi Garner with one of her many snook released last week.

Bryant Garner with a nice 35 inch snook released with Capt. Todd Geroy on 5/24/2013

Capt. Ben has has the same results on recent trips.  Saturday, Ben guided the Milos party to some great action with the snook, redfish and big sharks.

Frank Milos with a nice snook released with Capt. Ben Geroy on 5/25/2013

A hefty bull shark comes along side for release with Capt. Ben on 5/25/2013

Let’s get out there for some big action right now!
- Capt. Todd Geroy

Some Good Fishing Despite Rough Weather

The saying is that “March roars in like a lion” has held true this year!  The last two weeks have brought some relentless weather systems to Southwest Florida.  With one cold front after another bringing cool temperatures and many days of strong northerly winds, water temperatures dropped into the 60 degree range making fish a bit lethargic.  It has been rare to have a day where we have taken the jackets off.  Despite that, Capt. Ben and I have had a full schedule and have been working hard to keep clients on the fish.  Some days have been just plain tough to get the bites with less than favorable conditions, some days have turned out some fine catches.

Sea trout have been cooperating in some of the deep channels way inside.  I fishes last Friday afternoon with Dave Dougherty and Jim Chisholm.  The guys caught at least 30 trout in one spot using Gulp shrimp on jig heads.  The fish all ranged from 16 to 19 inches.  all but a couple for dinner were released.

Redfishing has remained a bit spotty, but we managed fish in the 23 to 25 inch range on several trips.  Live shrimp presented along flooded mangroves at high tide produced a few fish.  I expect redfishing to improve as soon as warmer, more consistent weather patterns settle in.  Here are some pictures of a few anglers and their redfish from the last week…

Joe McGurrin released this nice red on one of the coldest mornings of the year!

Barrett Gilbert and daughter Mary Harbin with another red on a cool afternoon last week

Tim Gill wih a nice back country redfish 3/14/13

Sheepshead are schooled up heavily in the passes right now and feeding well on pieces of shrimp fished near the bottom. Many of the fish are running in the 3 to 4 pound range.  They provide plenty of action on some of the cooler days and are great table fish.  Along with them are some nice black drum and a few redfish.

On Friday 3/15, Capt. Ben had a busy morning catching a variety of species including this large black drum released by George Bariso...

Geroge Bariso with a large drum released with Capt. Ben Geroy. 3/15/13

We are expecting a warmer week ahead.  If this forecast holds true, we should see the return of snook action and maybe some tarpon starting to move into the area.  We are ready for spring to settle in and the fishing action to really explode.


- Capt. Todd Geroy