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More Fishing and Boating

• Farmworkers’ children get chance to tackle new skill -- fishing
• Romp in Swamp pays dividends
• On the Hook: Let them go!

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Our tropical rainy season has arrived and will stay with us through the summer. It should trigger extra action in our inland, passes and outer shoreline waters.

The increased rainfall will produce a large amount of water in the Everglades that in turn will flow out into the Ten Thousand Islands flushing critters that include shrimp, crabs and minnows into the passes and outer shoreline attracting several other species of fish.

The down side will be the increase of fresh water as the tide switches into the falling tide mode. Anglers fishing the inland waters might be wise to fish through the high incoming tide then work their way out into the passes and outer shoreline.

Our nearshore waters will continue to offer anglers some patches of bait with several species including Spanish mackerel, bluerunner, jack, ladyfish, tarpon and shark.

This action should be better at or near the nearshore wrecks and fish havens. Anglers fishing early in the morning, daybreak for two hours, or late afternoon, two hours before sundown, just might find the bait and species listed above at the passes and outer shoreline.

June is also a great month for walking the beach working lures, tipped jigs and live bait for snook and tarpon. I get questions about which tipped jigs and live bait to use for snook and tarpon. I get questions about which is best, if early morning or late afternoon. There is not much difference with the exception you are more likely to have the tropical rain storms during a window of the early afternoon to sundown.

Captain Bill Jones gives another positive update on tarpon fishing. He writes in part, “the tarpon are very active and on the average, good size.”

The good news is we should see this great tarpon action continue through June.

We all love to catch a big fish but size sometimes does not matter. Such was the case when junior angler, 5 year old Timmy Trenker, and his father, were visiting his grandmother Andrea Battaglia of Marco Island.

Andrea and Timmy spent some time fishing from Andrea’s dock and Timmy caught a nice lane snapper. Andrea told Timmy about the whys and hows of releasing fish. He was very excited about the catch but really wanted to let the fish live and proudly released it with the help of grandma.

Good job Timmy! Please let me know when you catch and release another fish.

Our offshore fishing continues to offer anglers some nice action with grouper, snapper, shark and the new kid on the block permit. Permits are being found at the nearshore fish havens, wrecks, towers and locations with hard bottom with some profile. Live crabs will be the most used for permit followed by tipped jigs.

June is looking very good on all fishing fronts. Be sure to check the Florida Rules and Regulations for our area. You can obtain them at the local marinas and tackle shops or at the tax collector’s office.

Some of you are planning to leave for the rest of the summer or taking vacations, some short, others extended ones. With that in mind be sure to get anything that could be blown away off your boat if a hurricane hits our area while you are gone.

Boat tops, gas cans, empty cooler and anything else you can find. You owe that to your neighbors as flying objects from the boat might hit their home. Your motors should be serviced and pickled by someone that knows what to do so it will be ready to go when you return.

Polly dock ropes for the boat are better than nylon as they do not stretch and break as much as nylon. There are several other tips out there that might save you time and trouble later so call your dock person and do the drill with them.

Last but not least I have found a picture of a junior angler that I have been looking for a long time. As many of you know I have brought his name up in other articles. It is Joe Miele who caught a 54 pound redfish from the Naples Pier in 1975. I was the local weigh master for the Miami Met Fishing Tournament. The Met covered several Florida counties and the Bahamas. Marco River Marina was one of the weigh stations.

Joe called me and I invited him to bring the fish in to be weighed and entered into the unlimited line class of the Met and it won and still holds the record. He also has the fish mounted. Joe was 13 at the time. I think his family moved from Naples and I have not found him since.

Have a great week!

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Red Stier is a bi-weekly contributor to the Marco Island Eagle. Questions or comments may be directed to redstier@aol.com or 172 Trinidad St., Naples, FL 34113.