by Capt. Matt Mitchell
I can only describe last week’s weather as outstanding. Cool mornings, warm sunny afternoons, and light wings added up to great days on the water. Calm conditions made angling options, from inshore to offshore, limitless. Throw in good tides and biting fish, and it was a stellar week to be fishing.
I spent most of my week in Pine Island Sound chasing snook, redfish, and trout. During low tide periods, we concentrated our efforts in deeper natural channels, both out on the flats and back in mangrove creeks.
Live shiners were abundant and were the bait of choice for all three species. Having lots of shiners, I was able to live chum and had the fish fired up, feeding aggressively on the surface. The variety in the mangroves was crazy. One morning, we caught over 10 species of fish from the same mangrove creek.
As the tide came up, we moved to shallower mangrove shorelines, and the snook bite was on fire. What these fish lacked in size, they made up for in sheer numbers. Although we didn’t have any large snook most days, mid-20-inch range fish were common.
Mixing it up early in the week, I had clients who wanted to target sharks.
With the water temperature still in the high 60’s, I was a little concerned if we would be able to find them. I started in a favorite spot up by Captiva Pass and, after a half hour of soaking cut baits without a bite, quickly moved on.
The next stop was a natural deep channel through a shallow flat in the northern sound. Within ten minutes, we had our first shark on and to the boat. For the next 2 hours, we never waited more than fifteen minutes between strikes on 4-5ft blacktips.
The bait of choice for these blacktips was a half-fresh ladyfish, free-lined. My shark rig consists of a heavy 7-foot rod and a 6000-series spinning reel. I spool the reels with 300 yds of 50# braid and make my own leaders with 6ft of 200# mono.
At the top of the leader, I use a heavy-duty barrel swivel, and at the business end, an 11/0 circle hook. The leader is so thick that I use crimp sleeves. Using a mono leader gets you a lot more bites than using a steel leader, and using a circle hook ensures you hook the shark in the side of the mouth. Once the sharks are boat-side, I use a long hook-out tool to remove the hook and release the sharks unharmed.
With no cold fronts forecast until Thanksgiving, the great action and weather will continue for at least another week. This is great news, as Thanksgiving week is always a busy time with clients. Consistent weather makes for consistent fishing.
Get out and enjoy what our amazing backyard has to offer.
