By: Dan Carns
We are now two years, plus a few months since hurricane Ian wreaked havoc not just on Southwest Florida, but specifically on Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island and sadly Pine Island, destroying beautiful Matlacha. Although the hurricane severely altered the environment in the Matlacha Aquatic Preserve, Mother nature is making repairs to itself just as progress is slowly bringing man-made Matlacha back. I think all the sand that washed away from Sanibel Island literally swept up through the lower Matlacha Pass and deposited itself in upper Matlacha Pass toward Charlotte Harbor. Gone are many of the deep-water holes that everyone depended on for finding holed up fish during low tide. Now, there are new deep-water troughs and channels in front of excessively battered mangrove Islands. The southern facing trees have not recovered yet, and the islands have beach fronts, and the northern sides have huge sand deposits. One of the results of all that aggressive water action is that there are shell hash troughs all around the little islands with mud deposits about ten to fifteen feet from shore. With an average depth of three to six feet, the fish appear to be using this transition zone to hunt and forage.
The fish have adapted to this new environment and due to less fishing pressure, conservation efforts and mother nature not delivering stunningly cold winter temperatures, the trout, snook and redfish count seem to be very high!
Recently, after a several cold fronts, I spent a couple of days re-connecting with old fishing buddies in Matlacha. We set out from the free kayak launch in the Matlacha Community Park with high hopes, but I was not prepared for the amazing number of fish we found. Both days we headed north towards Silver Key. We also launched at low tide on the first day so I could get a handle on what the low water conditions would reveal about the changes. We found so much sand in some places that we had to get out and drag across sandbars to reach some usually reliable spots. The snook were everywhere but due to the low water and bright midday conditions, the fish were spooky and only resulted in about a dozen snook. Trout are everywhere in about six to eight feet of water and that bodes well for the winter bite.
Day two featured a high tide launch with dropping tides and the redfish were on fire! Snook and slot reds responded well to grey paddle tails paired with 1/4 oz. Jig heads worked slow and low in the mud/shell transition. Also, shrimp on a cork produced some action but shrimp on a circle hook with a small weight, rigged Texas style, dragged through the same locations, produced the most fish. Make your plans to discover or re-discover the Matlacha Aquatic Preserve!
It’s A Wild World-Get Out There!
@paddlinandfishin
Dan Carns