Marco Island & Estero Bay Fishing Report- May 27, 2016

June 9, 2016 - Posted by Steve Dall May 27-30: Holiday Weekend Weather & Tides… The unofficial kickoff to summer starts on Friday with another Memorial Day weekend, so everyone be safe out on the water as we all know the clocks are set to “amateur hour” when the holidays and boating are combined. Tides will be high at their peak just a few hours after sunrise, making way to slow outgoing that will bottom out rather on the high side around early to mid-afternoon. Temps will be in the high 80’s most of the weekend with a good amount of rain forecasted for Saturday and a bit on Sunday. Winds are predicted to be moderate starting out from the NNE then slowly switching to the NNW throughout the extended weekend. Inshore…. The snook fishing continues to be the go to this past week with fish being caught on nearly every pattern. Fish are on the nearshore wrecks, in the backcountry, on the points and pockets of the major passes and some fish are being caught on the sandy beaches in the early morning hours before that sun gets too high. I am still sticking to my guns in saying that if there was a preferred way for me to target them, I would elect to fish for bigger breed stock females on the nearshore wrecks with a live ladyfish, big threadfin or a whole live mullet. The nocturnal bite for the linsesiders has been great on a variety of soft plastics and dark hued flies, but bring plenty of bug spray as the summer conditions are bringing the pesky critters with it. Tarpon action continues to be day to day, but the region just is having an “off” year as we reach the end of the annual migration. To our north, they are putting them in the air daily, so thoughts are that with the turbid waters of the 10k this spring, those fish simply went around Cape Romano and didn’t stay too long as they looked for the clearer waters to our north. There still are some good sized fish left in the northern part of the region, including Caxambas and the bays off of Marco Island. To the far south, area passes such as Sandfly and Indian Key continue to hold fish and the farthest southern reaches of the region have consistent fish roaming the flats as the migration of fish continue from the Keys. It just appears once they start venturing up through the 10k Islands, they venture offshore. Had a great report from an area Captain that was coming back from a trip this week some 40 miles offshore and halfway back, ran into a pod of tarpon that was easily 4 dozen fish. Something to think about on those calm days. Redfish are steady throughout the region on banks with a little more depth on them and that shouldn’t be too hard to find this weekend, with the favorable higher tides. Don’t be afraid to run and gun at this time of year, as they are hunkered down in the comforts of shade, so hitting as many shady pockets and points as you can will certainly up your chances of tangling with multiple copper pennies. Offshore…. While the weekend won’t see many changes of FWC regulations for our offshore quarry, June 1st actually marks a date that we need to keep in mind, as several notable species have open seasons and/or changes to past regulations. American Red Snapper in Gulf federal waters is June 1-June 9 for private recreational anglers (closing June 10) and June 1-July 16 (closing June 17) for federally permitted charter boats and headboats, so get them while you can until June 9th and hire a notable offshore Captain from the 10th through the 16th. The recreational harvest of greater amberjack and gray triggerfish in Gulf of Mexico state waters (which is from shore to 9 nautical miles) closes June 1st and will remain closed through July 31st and then will reopen August 1st. In federal Gulf waters, greater amberjack and gray triggerfish will also be closed June 1 through July 31. Gag grouper will finally return to the filet table as they are open for recreational harvest in most state and all federal Gulf of Mexico waters June 1st. The black grouper and gag minimum size limit will increase from 22-inches to 24-inches total length in Gulf state waters starting June 1st , to match recent changes in Gulf federal waters, so keep that in mind as you are about to box that 22 incher. The gag grouper recreational season will be June 1st through Dec. 31 in all Gulf state waters excluding Franklin, Wakulla, Taylor and Jefferson counties (which have their own season from April 1-June 30) and excluding Monroe County (Monroe County follows the Atlantic state season). Until next week, tight lines and screamin’ drags…. Captain Steve Dall www.poseidonschoice.com