Naples & Marco Island Late Summer Fishing Report

The Naples and Marco island area just had hurricane Adalia pass right off our gulf beaches . With these approaching hurricanes, the pressure drops & the inshore fishing really heats up. Prior to the passing hurricane our Snook bite was red hot . I was targeting these fish along the beaches in less than a foot of water sight fishing them in the gin clear water.  I was seeing groups of anywhere from a half a dozen to 30+ in a school and let me tell you they were hungry. 

A well placed cast close to the school would ensure that you had multiple fish chasing your bait.  My standard summertime rig is 3ft of 30lb (fluorocarbon) attached to one 1/0 J hook .  This rig is nothing fancy but it’s easy set up is perfect for our shallow water conditions. There was also some bigger jacks schooling up in the 3 to 5 feet of water, just lollygagging on the surface. When I see this during the summertime, I like the trolling motor right up close to them and have everybody simultaneously cast directly into the school.   It’s not uncommon to have four on at one time & that can get a little crazy but allot of fun to watch ;)

The gulf got pretty stirred up with the hurricane, pushing sone big waves inshore , but should be back to the  clearwater by next week and the fishing will follow suit .   Looking forward to getting back to it this weekend !!!!  See ya on the water!!!!!

Capt. Tim Daugherty
www.fishthesalt.com
(239) 280-8138