By: Capt. Dave Stephens
It’s the last month of the year, let’s hope we can close this one out and start 2025 brand new. The last couple months have been absolutely crazy here in Southwest Florida, as Mother Nature has thrown her best at us. Growing up here has taught me to be very resilient, and know better days are coming.
As we move into the winter months the rains that have stained our waters will begin to clear. The fish that you were not sure was in your favorite holes will be visible. It will not be long until this year will be a memory, a memory that will be replaced by memories of catching fish and spending enjoyable days on the water.
Signs of those days have already been showing their selves. On some of our recent charters we have been able to get clients personal best to the boat. Probably one of our local game fish that I would consider our least resilient, has proven to be very resilient which is the trout. On a recent charter, we were catching some nice reds on a bar and all of a sudden, the sea trout wanted to show up. We sat on this spot and caught trout up to 26”, it started out with your typical 16-18” fish then slowly kept increasing in size! The one thing that seemed to be the difference maker was tossing nice big pin fish at them. I guess sometimes big fish do want big bait. As we move into winter, I feel the bigger fish will continue to feed very heavily trying to get a little fat on them. Don’t be afraid to toss a bigger bait out, as you never know what might happen. As the water begins to cool down, the snook bite will begin to slow, but we have plenty of other game fish willing to play, big trout and plenty of reds will be around.
If you would like to experience some of Southwest Florida’s finest fishing, call us or send us an email. All of our charters are private and booked just for you!