By Caitlyn Gatrell
As we enter into another spring season here in Southwest Florida, the sun steps out, the heat increases, and the temperatures rise. It’s the perfect time to head to the beach, take a ride out on the boat, and of course, go fishing!
Spring fishing is always a great time around the Southwest Florida coast. The species are out and about, and they are hungry! Most of the time we see them fired up, chasing bait and striking hard at the surface. It’s an excellent time to target some gamefish.
We love to hook up to snook and tarpon in the spring, where most of the excitement sprouts. Snook breed around this time, therefore they’re extra fiery and the big girls tend to make their way in our area more. Not to mention, Tarpon really start getting in their peak migration around this time. We see schools of them rolling around, with some huge girls mixed in.
We love fishing around the points, islands, mangrove lines, oyster beds, flats, and of course, the back country. The bays surrounded by mangroves are always beaming with life during the spring. We see small little critters just starting out their journey up to large fish and sharks that have definitely been around for some time.
Some days we stay out all day, but we like to plan our trips around high incoming or outgoing tides. The dawn and dusk hours are full of feeding frenzies, making an incredible sunrise or sunset trip on the water. And those sunrises and sunsets are quite remarkable during the spring!
Another great benefit of springtime is that the bait starts coming in more. We like to catch our own bait, finding them at points, pilings, islands, and even hidden around the shallow mangroves. During springtime, white bait become heavily present around the islands. So much so that you can even see fish randomly blowing up on them all around. We like to stick to the bigger bait that way it can reach the larger fish, and chumming up the area is a great idea.
Fishing down here in springtime really is a great experience. You can see all that the marine life has to offer, soak up some rays and saltwater, and just feel at peace. It’s an opportunity to grow your skills, find new species, and break some personal records! To all those enjoying spring fishing in Southwest Florida, I wish you tight lines on your upcoming adventures.