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Fishing Report: Strong winds stir up Gulf waters

Wind gusts approaching tropical force have really stirred up the waters of the Gulf and adjoining bays. Perhaps you were lucky enough to have fished Thursday, Friday, or even Saturday, and enjoyed the great bite that was happening both inshore and off.

Inshore, the snook action has been really hot. Even down in the Ten Thousand Islands, where fish stocks were way down after the freeze, the snook have been showing up in reasonably good numbers. Most of the action is toward the outside islands and passes as the snook show up for the annual spawn.

Jacks, trout, and even some redfish round out the light tackle targets, while sharks and tarpon are bending the heavier gear. Speaking of trout, some of the year's largest are being caught right now. They are full of eggs, so please release as many as you can.

Tarpon have been more willing to take a bait recently than they have in previous weeks. Fish from the 50- to 60-pound range, up to giants approaching 200 pounds have been hooked by local anglers in the last week. Live threads have been the bait of choice, but a frisky mullet will do in a pinch. These fish are rolling from down in the Islands all the way to Fort Myers Beach. Hopefully when the wild winds die down, we will still have a lot of the silver kings around to chase.

Yellowtail snapper catches by the offshore boats are filling ice chests and making their way to shore for dinner. Lots of chum has been bringing the fish up behind the boats, and drifting a piece of bait back with the chum has been doing the trick. Fish have been ranging up to 20 inches, which is a nice size "flag." Of course, the red grouper bite is still on, and if you are willing to spend some time checking out sections of hard bottom, you could be rewarded with some nice-sized red grouper.

Mackerel and kings are around the bait balls offshore, as well as some jack crevelle and a variety of sharks. Permit are also haunting the offshore structure and wrecks, and given half a chance, they will eat an offered crab.

Ten Thousand Islands: Capt. Rob Walczak had a couple of great trips recently. Gary Gitchell from Michigan and his group set out with Rob for a shot or two at big tarpon, and their expectations were not only met, but exceeded.

During the charter, they jumped 12 fish in the 60- to 120-pound range, and landed (and released) three. On another trip with Hal and Steve from Tennessee, Capt. Rob targeted the inshore fish, and they ended up with one grand slam while catching snook up to 32 inches, reds in the 20- to 23-inch range, trout, and one tarpon. Walczak says that the water was OK before this big blow, and that it will take a few days for the water to settle down.

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