Marco Island Fishing Report- April 15, 2016

April 19, 2016 - Posted by Steve Dall April 15-17: A Hint of Summer…. Weather & Tides… Get your fishing in on Friday this weekend and then again Saturday morning, as a forecasted front is scheduled to arrive in the afternoon on Saturday, bringing some rain with it. Expect the region’s typical SSE 10-15 mph winds on Friday, making way to more of an easterly blow as the front moves through and then the NNE stronger winds on Sunday that are oh-so-common with post front conditions. If you stay out on Saturday, be mindful of the horizon as our pre-summer weather patterns can be pretty predictable if you watch the clouds build into thunderheads. Use your better judgement and have the boat at the marina prior to any signs of lightning. Tides will be at their peak throughout the region by mid to late morning with a stronger falling tide in the afternoons. A hint of red tide showed up earlier in the week to the north of our region in Lee County and very heavy farther north in Pinellas County, so keep an eye on FWC’s red tide report and the local news to keep tabs on that if it floats south. Inshore…. Clean to moderately clean water remains the ticket….find such water and your chances of tackling with any number of indigenous finned creatures of our inshore fishery will increase significantly. Snook continue to be provide fairly good action on 3-4” pilchards and select artificial baits. With rising water temps, your typical shady, current-rich areas while mixing in some mangrove-lined points and pockets with deep water access are great starting points for your fair share of copper pennies and linesiders. Rookery Bay and the entire Marco Island region continue to have good action on smaller sized snook, with an occasional drag screamer. If you have the flexibility to fish late, put some time in casting the dock lights at night as good numbers of snook are starting to “silhouette” in the lights throughout the northern part of the region as north as Port Royal. Tarpon fishing continues to be leaving anglers with more head scratching than celebratory high-fives in recent weeks due to a thin to near absent migration throughout the region. The lack of fish can be attributed in part to the previous week’s dialog regarding water clarity and at this point, the tarpon have become more of a surprise bi-catch for anglers as opposed to dedicating the precious time to specifically targeting them. Reports of nearshore anglers seeing smaller, isolated pods of rollers just a few hundred yards off the color change have been reported, but again, they are tough to pattern as they are there one day and gone the next. Smaller groups of fish are certainly in the deeper clear passes and their adjacent wide bodied bays, especially south in the region, but just not in the numbers we are accustomed to in April. Look for a shortened window of migratory fish in the weeks to come as the water continues to slowly clear and don’t discredit running offshore to find them. As water temperatures continue to rise to summer-like temps, fueled by darker than normal water and mid to high 80 degree temps, the shark fishing continues to be stellar. Simply chunk some mullet and ladyfish in your favorite pass and you should hook up quite quickly. In addition, the nearshore reefs are becoming quite littered with the big finned predators, so tightening a line shouldn’t be an issue with a bull, lemon, blacktip, smaller sharpnose or a bonus hammerhead or spinner. Offshore…. Those pursuing their bounty offshore this week are continuing to find mild seas early with heightened rollers in the afternoon, so you’ll have plenty of time to fill the box this weekend. ¬¬¬¬¬The grouper and snapper bite continues to be solid, yet not stellar for those dropping in the 40-60 foot range. Hitch a ride with a buddy who has some fuel capacity and explore a bit farther on some of the less pressured reefs and honeycombed bottom sitting in 85-110 feet and you’ll be happy you made the run. Fish are being caught on a slew of baits with squid and frozen threadfin herring getting top billing due to ease of access. The Kingfish bite in the northern part of the area is doing quite well, with folks lazily trolling spoons and big crankbaits while they chomp on their favorite Publix sub. A few early sightings of Permit have been reported on select towers and those reefs that have a higher relief, so make sure you grab a few live crabs at your favorite bait shop just in case. Cobia are still being caught with some regularity, with a few brown monsters in the fold and be sure to be on the lookout for that free-floating tripletail. Many of the bigger tripletail will not be relating to crab trap buoys or floating debris, but simply gingerly floating in open water. Tip of the Week…. Polarized sunglasses can be confusing when selecting lens colors and styles, but I think people all too often forget the most important aspect of a good pair of polarized sunglasses…..the fit! Do they fit your face? Do they slide down with just a little bit of sweat? Do they block out peripheral light? It won’t matter how they look unless they fit well, so choose a quality pair that fits, then select your lense color(s). General rule of thumb is amber colored lenses in low light conditions and grey lenses in bright conditions. Last, I see so many people wipe their glasses with their shirt or a towel after they get some salt water spray on them. Remember that salt is abrasive, so if you rub your glasses when they just a little bit of salt on them, you run the risk of scratching the lenses fairly easily. The best thing to do to clean them is run some fresh water over them, whether from the hose or a bottle of water if on the boat, then wipe them clean with a microfiber towel. Until next week, tight lines and screamin’ drags…. Captain Steve Dall www.poseidonschoice.com