By: Capt. Travis Freeman
May fishing is starting very well as usual! Unfortunately, the end of April brings a stop to catching and harvesting slot snook for the spring snook season, but with that said there’s more slot snook for us to catch and release. To all my fellow anglers the fishing is really starting to heat up down here in the Everglades/10,000 islands area. The big snook are in the backcountry and rivers this time of year and anywhere you see bait, you can bet there will be snook feeding. Any structure or overhanging trees pilings etc. 9 times out of 10 will have snook hanging around feeding as the bait comes in or out with the tides. As most of us know a lot changes as we start to get more and more rainfall coming into May, but for us this is always a good thing. The water is warming up and the fish are very active as we get into the beginning of summer season. As far as redfish, May is always a great time down here in the Everglades as the bait moves to the shoreline and nearshore of the coast. The bigger redfish we typically catch cruising the shorelines or just off of the oyster bars and the rocks feeding on white bait and crabs. Sea trout are all over the place right now as well. They can be caught mostly on the grass flats along the near shores of the gulf and in deeper open areas, also known for feeding around and or on top of oyster bars in the bays and on the outside/near shores of the gulf. Me personally, I like casting a soft paddle tail jerk bait along the mangrove shorelines or just off of the oyster bars into the deeper sloughs just off the bars or rocky points. I typically use a popping cork with live shrimp for the redfish and trout. But it is not uncommon for us to catch all 3 species and then some on the paddle tails and other lures and plugs this time of the year. Smaller juvenile Tarpon are all over the inside rivers as they move from the backcountry into the bays and passes with the changing tides. So come on down to Everglades City and let’s get you booked for your bucket list day of fishing on the water with me, Captain Travis M. Freeman.
Steady fishing, an Everglades Tradition
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