Capt. Travis Freeman
July fishing starting with a bang! Alright fellow anglers the fishing is really starting to heat up down here in the Everglades/10,000 Islands area. The big snook are making their way back out to the gulf from the rivers and backcountry, as they head offshore to spawn and lay their eggs. They love the beaches 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 a lot of rainfall, especially after such a dry spring season, but for us this is always a good thing. The water is warming up and the fish are very active as we get into summer. As far as redfish, July is always a great time down here in the Glades 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. Seatrout 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 paddletail 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 paddletails and other lures and plugs this time of the year. Another fish that I have been catching and having a ball with because it’s July, are tarpon; mostly juvenile tarpon between 20-50 pounds. Tarpon are all over the inside rivers as they move from the backcountry into the bays and passes. Yesterday I had a client catch 20 tarpon using mostly top water lures and plugs, all within an hour and 15 minutes. Non-stop action for a solid hour until he finally said okay the tarpon have worn me out, it’s time to go hit the snook and redfish holes. He really just wanted a break, but it was a blast and he really enjoyed it, as did I. So come on down to Everglades City and let’s get you booked for a super fun day of fishing on the water with myself, Captain Travis Freeman.
Steady fishing, an Everglades Tradition
239-285-2971
Facebook: @steadyfishing
