Naples Florida Fishing

Archive for January, 2010

Three hardy anglers from Boston and I braved the FL cold (to us, not them) and ventured out in search of anything that was willing to play. Our first stop was Gordon’s Pass, where we found the water to be too dirty an cold, so we moved about a mile inside to find warmer/cleaner protected fishing spots. Our first spot yielded Sheepshead and a few that slipped off the hook. We moved on to jigging for Trout, then decided to go back to fishing for Sheepshead.

This past week has seen some of the coldest weather ever in southwest Florida. I managed to fish three trips during the period and all of those were in the Naples bay area. The fish and the fisherman had to warm up a bit before things started to happen . We were using live shrimp on the bottom which actually produced good Sheephead action on all three trips. Small grouper, snapper and jacks were taking the baits very well considering the water temps were registering in the low 50’s on my Lowrance. The fish were deep in the holes at low tide but when the water came up we switched to artificial lures. We tried pot belly 1/8oz. white jigs then ended up with tube jigs. Working the lures very slowly we could see some trout and ladyfish following and not taking for a while until the afternoon when we actually began to do quite well. The biggest surprise of the week was the 8 to 9 Snook we caught on two of the trips once the water warmed a little. I was fishing more towards Marco Island in the Johnson Bay to Rookery Bay areas in the back bays and holes at low tide . When the water was high, I found myself working the hurricane pass area as well as along some Intercoastal waterway spots. No fly fishing this week. I think as the weather warms fly fishing will be a better bet especially for sight fishing .

I specialize in backcountry light tackle sport fishing. Whether you spin cast or fly fish, the Naples area offers fishing opportunities all year round. The areas I fish includes Naples, Marco Island, and the 10,000 Islands for Tarpon, Snook, Redfish, along with many other species.I look forward to fishing with you soon! Captain Pat Gould

Florida Sportsman Magazine

Captain Pat was recently featured in Florida Sportsman Magazine’s, Keys to Keewaydin feature article… Sam Hudson, a writer for Florida Sportsman magazine spent two days fishing in Naples with Capt Pat Gould. In this articel Pat covers many of the “tips and tricks” to successfully fish the Naples and Marco Island area.

Don’t miss this opportunity to get an insider’s look at fishing in southwest Florida.