Naples Fishing Reports

Naples and Marco Fishing Report For February/March

2012-02-17T09:52:00.000-05:00

Great News so far, no cold weather to kill fish this year. The only down side, it has been a little too warm for this time of the year. Why I say this is not that we aren’t experiencing great fishing now but it might throw our whole fishing calendars off for the spring summer fish runs that everyone comes for. Well we will just have to see. This month’s fishing has been fantastic. Bait fishing has been good with lots of bait available on the outside(unusual). Trout and Redfish have been found in there spring time locations more than there winter locals. Many out on the flats and to the outside. Rather than the deep cuts and channels in the inside. Snook fishing has been excellent from North Naples down to the Everglades. Not typical fishing, they have been roaming the inside and outside Islands not just inside. Even the passes are holding fish this year. If the weather stays the same we will be Tarpon fishing and Snook Fishing like Spring before the end of February. I am seeing some Tarpon show in places they should not be yet, but we could still have a cool month and I have seen a March in the past that was cooler than normal. The one part of our fishing that is still slow is the Bass fishing in the Glades, still too much water out there and they are scattered. The peacocks are moving around in the Canals but if the water Management people do not get to work and clean some of the grass out of the canals the fishing will be poor. It is amazing what great potential we have in our canal fisheries and for lack of Management it could be all lost. My forecast for March Fishing is going to be a guess at best. If weather continues to stay warm I would expect march to fish like April and see a fishery more based toward the outside areas rather than inside fishing. I just do not know yet. I kind of hope temps stay a little cooler for the rest of February so that we have a more typical March. His will make our May/June fishing a little more normal. If we keep going on the warmer trend then we might have a tough summer fishery especially for Tarpon. Keep looking toward the outside if the water temps stay in the 70’s and expect to see the Big tarpon show up in all the bays. Bass fishing in the Glades should get much better with the water levels lowering. Bait fishing will continue strong and probably get better as we enter March. Here is a shameless plug now! Come visit Indian Pass Outfitters in the Ships Store at Naples Bay Resort just down form Bonefish Grill. We have a full complement of TFO Spinning and Fly Rods along with the new BVK series reels. You can also find them on line at www.indianpassoutfitters.com

Thanks and good fishing Roan z

FW: Snook trip

2012-02-12T08:35:00.000-05:00

From: Edward Higgins [mailto:easyedh@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2012 12:10 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Snook trip

Hi:

Had a great trip with Guide Roan Zumfelde around Marco Island.

Four hour trip 6:00PM till 10:00PM...about 15 snook & numerous lady fish.

I had a great time fishing with ED, Started off in a fog but ended up as a beautiful night. I was highly impressed at his fishing skills pulling quite a number of fish out of the docks.

Fishing in the Jungle out of My Specialty candy White

2012-01-30T18:16:00.000-05:00

Sent from my iPhone-----Original Message-----
From: Roan Zumfelde [mailto:roanz@comcast.net]
Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2012 4:25 PM
To: richard99@comcast.net
Cc: Roan
Subject:

Naples and Marco Holiday Fishing Report from Capt. Roan z.

2011-12-26T03:39:00.000-05:00

Let us start by saying I hope everyone is having a great Holiday season. The weather in Naples and Marco has been nothing short of spectacular which has made the fishing much the same. I know everyone likes a white Christmas but I am happy when we can catch Tarpon and Snook late into December. Awesome!

Fishing in December has been nothing short of phenomenal. It seems as if we have been having the best of both worlds winter species like Pompano, Trout, and Redfish creating a mixed bag with Snook and Tarpon, wow can you believe it. The only bummer has been some sporadic patches of Red Tide. It really hasn’t affected the fishing much but you can tell it is there on occasion. Let us start with the winter species. The Pompano have been excellent especially down toward Marco. The passes and the flats near the passes have been the best places. The early morning incoming tides have been bringing them in. Tipped jigs and sinking flies have been banging them along with Trout and a fair amount of Sheepshead. The Reds are scattered just about everywhere. We are sight fishing them on all the flats and they are crushing some small shrimp like patterns. Especially a new one that we came up with this year. CJ super shrimp. Available at the new store at Naples Bayfront. It doesn’t seem to matter what color, they come in four. Along with the Reds the flats from Naples to Marco are also producing nice Sheephead and some scattered Trout and even a few Snookies. The fish just seem to be lost I am sure it is due to the unseasonably warm water temps. Fisherman that are venturing into the Backcountry Creeks around Naples and Marco are finding some great Snook and even some small Tarpon are still showing themselves. Strikes for the Tarpon are at a premium but keeping the fly in front of them will get them to bite. Snook are a little finicky on the fly except under the lights which are out of sight. The Snook in the backcountry creeks are biting but like I said a little confused, they are moving around a lot because I think they are wondering where the colder water is. There are even a scattering of Reds back there along with some nice Snapper. Bass Fishing in the canals have been sporadic. Interceptor has been the best, along with the Golden Gate. Still some Peacocks hitting there. I cannot say enough about the beautiful weather we are having let us hope it continues.

Here comes the New Year, and what should we see for fishing in January for Naples and Marco. Well, this is a good question and one that will be hard as heck to answer. If the weather holds and we have mild temperatures it should be the same. I would not bet on this though. Sooner or later these fronts are going to start streaming this way and we will be into full bloom winter fishing, MAYBE. Let us hope for the best and be prepared for the worst. I think it will be a wormer than normal winter but we are still going to see some cold. If we get cold the most important thing to remember and I believe I say this every year is to just slow down and keep your offerings close to the bottom. That is where everything will be. Sinking lines for fly anglers and weighted flies, and for conventional tackle the jigs will be king. One last thing, just wanted to let you know we have opened and Indian Pass Outfitters South location. It is at Naples Bay Resort on the Gordon River in partnership with the Ships Store. We will be carrying most of the TFO Fly product line including specialty flies tied by local fly tiers. We also will have the new Spinning and Baitcasting Rods by TFO and Gary Loomis. Please come by and check it out. We are almost completely stocked with gear so come on by after the Holiday and check it out. Well I hope all are having a great Holiday and hope to see you after the 1^st of the year. Merry Christmas Roan z.

Naples and Marco Fishing Report and Redsnook Tournament

2011-10-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

Well, October is about over and the Long awaited RedSnook Tournament is over. Two days of fishing as hard as anyone can. Just want to congratulate the Tournament committee that really did a wonderful job putting on the tournament and a special thanks to all the contributors to the tournament. They raised over $100,000 Dollars this year. To all the Tournament competitors that participated congratulations and great job at all the fish everyone landed. Congrats to the Cabada team for the 41 inch Snook and the Capt. Root Team for the 28 inch Redfish. Congratulations for all the division Team winners. Capt. Bruce Jackmack, Capt. Bill Faulkner, Capt. Kevin Mihaloff. I also have a very special congratulations to my young team of anglers. Even though they finished second overall and first in Junior Division they fished their butts off for two days. The two Brothers overcame a tough first day to pull out the second place finish the second day. They did not get down they just fished harder and landed some beauties the second day. Congrats Oliver and Alex.

The fishing for the end of October is about on course for a regular year. We have some Tarpon still migrating back south, lots of bait on the inside and outside with lots of ladyfish and Mackerel showing in the passes and along the beaches. Snook are scattered a little bit of everywhere. The last couple of days my anglers have caught Snook in the Passes all the way back to the farthest creeks. Redfish have been in most of the bays and some nice tailers on the low rising tides. Check out Cannon Bay it has been red hot on the low tide. Jig fisherman are picking up a few pompano along with a trout or two. The passes have Tarpon early and late. Sound pretty good, Huh. My guides that Are running some bass trips are starting to catch them pretty good in Okeechobee and in the Interceptor Canal. The water along 75 is still a little High.

I hope everyone is ready for November. It looks like it is going to be pretty good. If we can get this Tropical stuff out of here and figure out what the Cold fronts are going to do. November is a weather related month. What I mean is good weather good fishing, bad weather bad fishing. Forecast looks for a little cooler than normal. This would suggest our winter type species should become more prevalent like Trout, Pompano, Ladyfish, Jacks, Sheepshead, and Redfish should be picking up the pace. Tarpon, Snook will be getting more difficult to target. If the cooler weather does not materialize then we should still be in a late summer pattern with lots of bait and loads of Snook and Tarpon around, only time and the weather will tell us. No Albacore coming though yet but I would expect it at any time. Bass Fishing will be good all month. This is also a pretty good month for Peacocks in the Golden Gate. Hopefully they will do some work on the Hydrilla this year. Good luck and Good Fishing.

Pictures of Hal Rosen with a nice 32inch Redfish and Large Sheepshead he caught on his new TFO MiniMagnum Fly Rod.

New Naples and Marco Island and Everglades Bass Fishng Report for October

2011-10-05T18:51:00.001-04:00

Fishing at the end of September was wonderful. Few boats and lots of fish to catch. Weather was a little moist but in between the rain drops the fishing was fabulous. I would expect continued good fishing through October and into November.

Snook, Tarpon, and Redfish should be plentiful from the passes into the deepest regions of out back country. Red fishing especially in the bays and along Oyster points nearer to the outside passes should be spectacular, We have seen much greater numbers of redfish this year since the Snook die off a year ago. I would expect to have a banner Redfish year this fall with large schools sticking around longer than they used too. Snook fishing around Naples and Marco is still awesome. Large numbers of small Snook and some larger ones thrown in for good measure. The Snook fishing to our south and North a little bit worse. Still trouble for the fish to our south and to the north. Catching Snook South of marco and through the Glades is not impossible you have to work hard for what you get. We will have to see this Fall how many fish show up in the backs of the bays in the Ten t and the Everglades. Still many of the fish down there are staying in the offshore waters. Tarpon have been in most of the passes along with the other species that move in this time of the year. Big fish on the outside and smaller fish in the backcountry creeks. Although we boated a 50 lb. fish in the back of a creek this morning. I would expect the fish to be here all this month and most likely most of next month as long as the water temps stay up.

This is the time of the year that a lot of species are moving around, You will get the fall migrations of fish like Mackerel and Ladyfish. The Cobia and Kingfish will be showing too. Sometime near the end of the month into November we will have out three week run of False Albacore. Great fighter and they will be as close as 100 to 200 yards off our beaches. Look for the large flocks of birds and mackerel and the Albies should be there.

If freshwater is your game then you need to start fishing, as the water cools the bass in the Glades canals will be hitting with reckless abandon to feed up before the temps cool down. Top waters should be the ticket. Good luck and Good fishing Roan z.

2011-08-11T17:42:00.001-04:00

Whew, hot is not the word. Fishing is great as long as you are not out in the midday heat. Night fishing for Snook has been excellent, especially around Marco and Naples. Small white flies less than an inch long have been the key. Too large and they are passing them up. One our before dark the popper bite has been excellent also. Lots of Snook in the 20 to 25 inch range along with Snapper and Jack Crevalle have been eating them up.

Morning fishing has been good also. If you are catching bait the Mangrove Snapper bite has been nothing short of excellent. We limited out in about an hour the other day. Plenty of Snook are biting along with the snapps. Most of the good fishing has been associated with the passes or rocks and docks near the passes. The inside fishing has been a little slow with the lack of rain we have been having. Rain has been moving in this week so it might turn things on again up in the creeks. I would expect the Tarpon bite to improve in the creeks with the new rain showers we are having.

The outside fishing has been nothing short of excellent. Snapper and Grouper have been great on the near shore wrecks and reefs along with some great permit fishing on all the wrecks and towers. There have been a lot of Little Tunny or False Albacore out there also. Chumming on the wrecks have been bringing them up. Fast and furious is what it has been like if you get the bait to chum with.

Bass Fishing in the Glades has been almost non existent which is the norm for this time of the year. It will get better as the water temps drop a little in the fall.

Next month should see some great fishing as well. September is one of my favorite months to fish in our area. Very little boat traffic and lots of fish traffic make for very good outings. This is usually one of the best months for little tarpon as long as we are getting rain. Small white flies or white Jerk baits that look like dying shad are the baits of choice. Good Luck and Good Fishing. Capt. Roan z.

Naples and marco Fishing Report for August and September

2011-08-11T17:41:00.001-04:00

Fishing report Naples and marco June and July Awesome fishing is Here!

2011-06-20T13:29:00.000-04:00

Fishing the first part of June in Naples and marco has been nothing short of AWESOME. Big Tarpon on the beaches and Flats, great Snook in the Passes and on the beaches, Pompano and Trout on the beaches. Tough to beat the fishing here.

June has lived up to its reputation we are catching great numbers of Snook both inside and outside. Certainly the outside has been the best. Large spawning females are cruising around everywhere. They are feeding on everything Bait, Artificial, or Fly. Last evening alone we boated close to 50 Snook on fly in under four hours mostly on poppers, what an evening. We actually quit early my anglers arms were too sore to catch another fish. Tarpon are here also. Inside the smaller fish are coming out with the new rain we have been having in the afternoons and the big ones are on the beaches on the outside. Flats near the passes are very good mostly on the incoming tide. Remember Snook is closed and looks like it will be closed through most of next year. I am happy about that. We have many Snook around Naples but there are large areas that have few fish. We are fortunate others are les fortunate with there populations. We still need to protect them, we need one more good spawning season to get back to good numbers. Redfish are available mostly being caught on live shrimp in the mangrove creeks and some on the flats to the south. Fly anglers are catching a few but targeting them a little tough unless you can find them on clear water flats adjacent to creek channels. If you want food fish Snapper and Spanish mackerel are just about everywhere. Snapper are good eaten fresh and so are mackerel. Cut all the blood lines out of the Spanish and refrigerate for 4 hours before cooking. Grilled with lemon dill or lemon basil sauce they are spectacular. The fey is to eat them the same night you catch them if you wait a couple of days they get too strong.

July looks good in the forecast. If we keep getting rain the small Tarpon fishing will be excellent and of course Snook will still be eating everything in sight. I would expect the Pompano and Permit to start hitting the beaches. Trout will be on the near shore wrecks and ledges but this time of the year they get a little wormy and very soft, not as good as they are in winter. Snapper should be just about everywhere, we have been limiting out on all our trips and that should continue. Good Luck and good Fishing Roan z.

What a greeat trip with George and John DuBois

2011-05-30T16:28:00.001-04:00

Had a great time fishing with George and John. What a great fisherman 9 year old John is and will be. Next he wants to master the Fly. The two of them caught lots of Snook a few Redfish and a BIG JACK CREVALLE. John’s first fish was a 19 lb. Crevalle and his second fish in Saltwater was a 14lb. Snook. Awesome little fisherman. Thanks for going. Roan z.

FW: Naples and Marco Fishing report May/June Great Fishing Now and in June

2011-05-16T05:16:00.001-04:00

From: Roan zumFelde [mailto:roanz@comcast.net]
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2011 5:14 AM
To: 'Jones, Cristina'; 'Captjohnpreeg@aol.com'; 'carlos@floridasportfishing.com'
Subject: Naples and marco Fishing report May/June

Sorry I have been a little lax on getting my new Fishing reports out for April, but I am back and will have them out the rest of the year. Fishing for may has been very good so far. May is fishing much like June. What I mean is I believe we are a month ahead on our fishing this year. Due to abnormal high temps the fish movement and migrations are running ahead of schedule. Tarpon have been in both inside and out for the last month. The only difficulty is that they have been moving fast and furious. I would expect that to take a turn for the rest of this month. The Tarpon should settle down and start working the flats. Look for them on the outside and in the Passes from Lostmans River to Boca Grande. In North Florida I think they will be showing up early also. I have heard reports of fish Already at Indian Pass and off St. Vincent Island.

Snook Fishing is at its normal blistering pace for this time of the year. The lights are red hot, the Passes are chocked full from Marco North to Redfish pass to our North. Heaviest concentrations around Marco, Naples, and Bonita. South of Marco still a little slow but better reports are coming in all the time. It seems that the offshore and inshore fish are starting to congregate around the River mouths south of Cape Romano. I still believe Snook Populations are in rebounding condition. They are not stable yet and still need to be protected on the West Coast. When you catch one please release carefully and try not to let the Dolphins get them if you can help it. I hope they are going to keep the season closed for one more year. We have good numbers of fish but they are not back to where we are out of trouble yet.

Redfish are scattered in and around Naples and Marco. Much better to our South and North. Good numbers being caught South of Everglades and North of Pine Island. In between a little week, especially the Ten thousand islands. This time of the year is Snook and Tarpon time anyhow and redfish catches are always incidental. Grouping Sea Trout into the mix look for them on the beaches and to the outside troughs and nearshore wrecks and reefs. Also incidental catch.

Bass fishing in the Glades is probably over for the year. Big numbers anyhow. If the water rises and cools a bit with rain storms we could have a little rebound for the rest of the month. The fish are there but the water is hot and the fish a little lethargic. Early morning and late evening your best shots.

June should be red hot fishing this year. Tarpon and Snook Fishing will be off the hook. Snook are already starting to spawn and they are showing up along beaches and passes to do there thing. Tarpon also are cruising along both inside and out. Small Tarpon that were scattered in may should be getting together with a little June Rain. Small Tarpon really got hurt last year in the Cold and again we need to be gentle with them until our numbers rise. Look to the passes and along the beaches for most of our fishing in June.

Congrats to Kyle Andrea for his first Snook, Tarpon, and Seatrout on Fly.

FW: Tommy O'D

2011-04-25T08:27:00.001-04:00

ODWay to go Tommy Nice First Tarpon and congrats on your first Snook, and
Redfish not pictured.
-----Original Message-----
From: ODTrail@aol.com [mailto:ODTrail@aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2011 7:10 PM
To: roanz@comcast.net
Subject: Tommy O'D

Mike Silverman with a nice Lady

2011-03-02T16:01:00.000-05:00

On a cold day with not much going on a few big ladyfish on a 6 weight is a lot of fun. Caught on the new BVK from TFO Fly Rods

From: 2392694426@vzwpix.com [mailto:2392694426@vzwpix.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2011 11:57 AM
To: Roanz@comcast.net
Subject:

Fishing in Naples and Marco is getting Awesome!

2011-03-02T10:49:00.000-05:00

February, What can I say, a far cry from last February weather. What a beautiful month it has been. This is why we live and fish in Naples Florida. Fishing wise has seen some ups and downs though most were up’s this month. Lower than normal tides were making it tough for the big flats boats to get to the fish, but with my tunnel boat I was able to fish areas that no one was able to even look at for hours. Big Tarpon started to show up in there usual places the bays near deep water. They have been a little tricky to feed flies to but we had a few in the air last month and believe they will be even better next month. Yesterday was the first day the little ones started rolling in earnest and we jumped two in the 20lb. range. Anyhow I am not going to make this report long too much to write about. Lets just say if you missed the Start of good fishing in February you need to get in gear in March.

March fishing this year might be the best we have seen in many years. The fish are just on fire. If you are looking for a meal the Pompano are invading the passes along with some trout and mackerel. The Snapper are starting to show on the near shore reefs and slowly making there way into the Passes. Still cannot keep Snook but man have they been hungry and getting even more hungry. I just do not know where I want to fish for them on a daily basis. I am catching fish from the beaches to the passes to the Bays to the Creeks. That doesn’t even cover the night fishing which on fly has been just, well words just cannot describe it. AWESOME!!! Anyhow, fishing this year looks to be very good. Including Bass and Peacocks in the Canals. Fishing the lakes in the glades the other day we had a slam in the first hour with a 28 inch Red and 25 inch Snook and a 12 pound Tarpon. Wow I love it. Bass fishing in the Glades has been excellent also, The canals along 75 have been producing near 100 fish days. I would expect this to continue and get better this month and into next month even better. All the fishing this month barring any late season fronts and high winds should be excellent. Go on get out and fish the time is right on all fronts. Roan z.

Great time fishing for Bass in The Everglades.

2011-02-08T17:59:00.001-05:00

Florida Fishing Weekend

This is our second year in a row that the Burchick and Betz parents have spent an extended weekend of fishing in Florida. Last year was St.

Augustine and this year was Naples. We stayed at Patti's aunt house in Fort Myers. Thank you Joe and Judy!

On Friday we fished in Big Cypress National Preserve, Everglades National Park. The shorelines of the creeks and canals included bald cypress with air-plant and Spanish moss, live oak, cabbage palm, saw palmetto, slash pine and the alien invasive Brazilian pepper.

This area of the south Florida swamplands includes expansive remote areas and the Florida Panther Wildlife Refuge, all signs that we noted along Alligator Alley (I-75), the fenced toll road from Naples to Miami, to help keep basking alligators at bay!

Needless to say that we saw many alligators up close and personal while fishing.

Our professional guide for Friday and Saturday was Captain Roan ZumFelde, a life-long resident of Naples, who specializes in salt-water fly fishing, but will also guide for the orchids of the Everglades, during the peak of their bloom times, associated with air-plants.

Roan got us on fish and Dan and I caught over thirty largemouth bass each for the morning of fishing. Does two applications of sunscreen 30 constitute SPF 60?

We used a combination of top water, cranks and plastics. Our guide suggested that the pre-spawn will convert to bedding bass by the next new moon, if weather stays warm. The day time highs all weekend were in the upper 80's and the night time lows were between 68 and 70-degrees. Sweet!

It was a birding bonanza. We saw kingfisher, brown pelican, cormorant, green heron, great blue heron, great egret, snowy egret, wood stork, white ibis, anhinga, red-shouldered hawk, bald eagle, black vulture, osprey and many a bird I could not identify. Dan saw three roseate spoonbills and waves of tree swallows would occasionally pass by.

We flushed this endangered wood stork from the banks. The largest known

I had a great time with these guys it was fun watching these big guys set the hooks on some nice Florida Bass. The birding wasn’t bad either

January and February Report for Naples and Marco Island Great fishing will continue

2011-02-02T10:31:00.001-05:00

Fishing for January has been pretty strong all things considered. We have been fortunate not to have had the cold the rest of the country have been experiencing. lets all hope that we are not in for it in February. I hope we will have an early spring and all the fish will survive this year and 2011 will be an awesome fishing year.

January fishing has been pretty typical so far, lots of little snook on fly in the back country along with a few larger fish. The last week with the warmer conditions the small Tarpon started to make an appearance. Redfish are eating flies sometime but seem to prefer a live shrimp or tipped jig. The flies that have been working the best for reds and Sheepshead have been small crab patterns and bonefish flies like Fiddler in the Grass and Brown gotchas tied on number 4's. Lots of Lady fish have been the norm both on fly and on Jigs. Along with the ladies are trout some keepers but many are undersized, Sheepshead and Whiting. All of which are taking flies if you can get to them. Sink tip lines and clouser type patterns are your best shot if not using tipped Jigs. Bass fishing in the glades and in the Golden Gate system has been good not great. Small worms and small baitfish fly patterns with weedguards have been working on them.

February looks like it is going to be a good one so far. Long range forecast shows it to be a cool one but light on freezes. Lets all hope this is true. Say a prayer. It would be nice going into spring without any fish kills especially for the peacock bass. If the weather stays the same we should have continued success for Trout and Whitting in the drop offs adjacent to the flats. Good Sheepshead fishing should actually get better and the Redfish will be happy and getting bigger maybe big enough to keep. Snook fishing will stay spotty but the night fishing around the new and full moon should be outstanding. Tarpon will start to show if the water warms into the 70's. Maybe toward the end of the month the big ones will come out to play in the Bays near the Gulf. They will feed on fly and if you do not throw a fly a lucky 13 or something like it will work on them. Bass fishing should make a break for it in the glades and really turn on. I would expect to start seeing hundred fish days on the Alley waters. The Peacocks might even turn on if the weather warms, they will be ravenous but the water needs to be in the upper 70's. I will be giving a talk about cold weather fly fishing at the BFF meeting this month at the Norris Center, believe second Monday of the Month. I will be talking fly selection and techniques to fish for coldwater fish in the channels and along the flats. Hope to see you there and give support to the BFF.

Really Cold weather for December but Still Good Fishing for Naples and Marco

2010-12-13T18:59:00.001-05:00

I hope all like fishing in the Cold. Wow what a December so far, I do not believe I have ever had my long Johns out this early ever. I sure hope we do not get anymore global warming or we will all freeze to death. The good news in all the cold is when we can get out and we find someone that wants to fish we are catching plenty of species even some warm weather species. This past week water temps have been cold but the list of species is long an distinguished. Snook, Redfish, Trout, Pompano, Permit, Sheepshead, Snapper, Flounder, Ladyfish, Jack Crevalle, Grouper, and a few others I cannot remember. Not bad for cold weather fishing.

Fly Fishing has been great on the clear flats for Redfish and Sheepshead and on the edges fro Trout, and Ladyfish. The trick on the flats small flies and long casts are getting plenty of takers. In the channels a sink tip line with bright Clousers are doing the trick. I have also come up with a new Spoon Fly that will be available soon. It works in deeper waters and catches everything that swims. I fished a couple of nights under the lights and they have been ok, still plenty of Snook but the bite is a little tough we need to warm up a little.

Bait fishing with White bait not happening. Live Shrimp the only way to go and it has been very good. Whole shrimp in the small Creeks are catching just about everything that you might want to catch. And Tipped Jigs in the channels adjacent to the flats are bringing up plenty of Pompano, Permit and Trout(Trout opens Jan.1). It looks like we are going to have one more arctic blast this week and then go into a little warming trend, we need it. Maybe this will be the last reel bad cold for a while and people will want to get out and fish. If we do not start warming soon we are going to see another fish kill and that would be awful for our resources.

Bass fishing in the Everglades has been pretty tough with all this wind and cold. We are catching them but they aren’t on fire like the should be this month. That will change around with a little warm weather though. Water levels are right we just need a little warmth.

Well this is the Christmas Fishing report so I hope all have a great holiday weather you are here in Southwest Florida or in one of the Tundra areas up to our North. It looks like it will be a splendid New Year and we will wait for a new years fishing report when we see what the weather does. Please everyone have a great Christmas and Happy New Year. Good Fishing Capt. Roan z.

October and November fishing report For naples and Marco island WHAT A MONTH!

2010-10-26T16:50:00.000-04:00

Well, October showed off again. The question I was asking my anglers was,( what would you like to catch and how would you like to catch them)? Here is the laundry list of fish we caught in October: Snook, Tarpon, Redfish, Snapper, Trout, Flounder, Grouper, Trippletail, Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish, False Albacore, Cobia, Sharks, Ok is that enough? Well throw in about 10 more species and you see what I am getting at about the great fishing we have in October. It is surprising that more people really do not take advantage of it. The other nice thing about October fishing is that it is much cooler and not so unbearably hot. Well anyhow here is how we caught them. Lets start with the False Albacore and the offshore fish. Cast master Spoons and long Shank Flies that look like silversides were the key for most of the offshore fish. Grouper and Snapper on yellow Jigs tipped with cut Squid. The last week of October the tripletail started showing up on the trap lines 2 miles out of Marco. Inshore species could be found everywhere from the Passes all the way to the farthest Back country creeks. We caught them on poppers, top water plugs, Jerk baits and Muddler Flies. It was awesome fishing. That doesn’t even include the awesome night fishing. I had more night slams this year in October than any other. Trout, Redfish, Snook and Tarpon were on the lights this month. Mostly fished on flies and the fly of choice was a Polafibre Minnow with a Tan back color. They ate them up. Even the Bass in the Everglades are starting to pick up the pace, fished Interceptor caught 30 on poppers and small shrimp flies. Small Peacocks are starting in the GGC also. I can not say anymore, I wish more people would take advantage of our October fishing. A smattering of Pics from October. Jack Allen Popper Fishing for Snook, Ken deep in the glades fishing the new TFO BVK Fly Rod, I cannot believe how light and powerful they are. If you are looking for the new rods from TFO Contact me at info@indianpassoutfitters.com Last but not least one of my favorite species on fly the False Albacore and Rich.

November is now on out doorstep and we should see cooler temps and cooler fishing. I would expect the summer species to start to slow down a little and our winter species to pick up the pace. The ladyfish, and mackerel will start moving inside along with Pompano and Trout. Snook and Tarpon will slow just a bit but still will be plentiful usually into December. Start looking a little more to the back country creeks this month, and the lights will get better. Still will have plenty in the passes until the water temps dip into the low 70’s. Redfish will start to school on all the flats from the Everglades to Pine Island Sound. We were catching extreme amounts of small ones which if they hang around should make for a good Redfish season. I have been catching most of my reds on an Rz Sparkle Shrimp or Kwan type fly. The other species that will start coming on strong is Sheepshead, they are quite the target on a fly, I like small crab type patterns like a Bonefish Bitters. Look for schools on the flats along with Redfish. Tarpon will slow a bit but I had pretty goof fishing for them all the way into December last year. If freshwater is what you want, this is the month for the GGC and the Canals across I75. Go get them they should be hitting on top early and on the bottom after about ten in the morning. Well good luck and I hope all have a great Thanksgiving this year. Roan z.

September and October fishing report

2010-09-29T17:02:00.000-04:00

September, slow month for fisherman strong month for the fish. Wow fishing was sure good, to bad so sad, few people showed up for it. Well anyhow the fisherman that went had some great Snook, Tarpon, and Redfish fishing. October is shaping up to be the same. Good news for October the anglers that are booking should get in on some of the finest fishing we have in this neck of the woods. September saw lots of redfish move in for the spawning session in the passes and some moved into the bays and oyster bars and flats throughout the area. Lots and lots of little one’s with some nice one’s thrown in. Snook are rampant in the passes and areas close to the passes. The only problem is the bait is so thick it was hard to get them to bite just one bait on a hook or one fly. Persistence paid off and we landed some nice fish. It was tough to stay calm watching 100 Snook at the time flip flop through the bait and wait for the strike. Tarpon were their also in and out of the passes and long the beaches near the passes. This is typical for this time of the year though. We also had some great Tarpon fishing for small one’s in the creeks from Naples to The Everglades seemed as if every creek had them somewhere you just had to be patient to catch them. They did not roll as much as they usually do so you had to wait sometimes 20 minutes for the right shot. Fished a fun tournament in September. Mixed bag tourney called Summer Doldrums. My anglers Oliver and Alex took home 1^st in the Junior and Mens division. They did a great job catching 10 out of the 12 species of fish(picture). Great going for the two young boys 13 and 15. I am lucky to have them as anglers they are great fisherman. Like I said fishing was great and we caught fish inshore and offshore. Bass fished a couple times in September not worth mentioning. I would expect things to pick up next month.

Fishing in October should be as good if not better then September. Tarpon are showing up in big numbers and will be feeding on flies and mullet in the passes and along the beaches. Bait will still be everywhere although it should be a little less so the fish might be more apt to take a hooked bait. Passes, beaches and bays near the passes will be holding everything in October. Night fishing will be awesome and expect to start catching slams under the lights including Snook, Redfish, Tarpon, and Trout. Accomplished this the other night in Capri, fished for 3 out of 4 hours caught so many my angler wanted to go in early and rest his arm. Wore them out in Marco River. I love this time of the year. Red Snook Tourney coming up this weekend. Conservancy puts this on with Roland Martin every year, should be lots of fun, believe there is still openings for it so try and fish for a good cause. Should be a fun tourney with some great fishing. Bass fishing in October should get better. Water temps will be decreasing along with rain which should get the bass going. Top waters early then go deep as the morning progresses. Well I hope everyone gets out and fishes. Nice to see the law enforcement out checking people. Hint though get in the boats and check them boxes. You cannot find illegal fish if you do not check for them. Good luck and good fishing. Roan z.

Night Fishing this week will be the rule with a moon full.

2010-09-22T11:09:00.000-04:00

Pic of former Miss Wyoming catching her first Snook on Fly. Lucky Girl.

Fishing in the deep Glades Creeks

2010-09-22T10:57:00.001-04:00

Took Ritchie into the deep Everglades creeks with my specialty Tunnel Scandy White and found some nice Tarpon and Snook on the fly.

August and September Fishing Report Naples and Marco

2010-09-01T09:56:00.000-04:00

Great Fishing for The last of August. Whether fishing Fly, Bait, or Plug we were catching everything inshore and offshore. Snook, Tarpon, Redfish, Kingfish, Cobia, and hordes of nice Snapper. Let us hope the summer keeps progressing and we do not have any severe storms to deal with and the fishing will continue to get stronger through September. Fish seemed to be everywhere in August as long as you went early or stayed late. Mid day fishing was tough. Everything after ten in the morning was a little hot and difficult unless you were fishing the docks or the deep Mangroves. Morning and evening popper fishing was excellent for Snook and Tarpon in the canals of Port Royal and around the docks in Marco and Capri. Of course the night fishing was off the hook. As of late the Redfish are returning and are showing in the lights as well. Last week of August has seen a large increase in Redfish catches. Two days ago fishing the pass with Jigs we landed three big fish from 30 to 35 inches shown in picture. Tough fight on the light spinning rod but my angler DzF. Did well. Offshore fishing in august was very good also. Lots and lots of snapper everywhere, actually they became a nuisance when grouper fishing. What a great nuisance. We have also been catching lots of mackerel, king and Spanish out there. Inshore bait fishing has been very good also. Bait has been small but plentiful and if you can find a few bigger ones the Snook have been tearing them up. Hint instead of the marker check the front of keywaydin and look for the larger baits. They are there you just have to look for them around the small baits.

September fishing looks like it is going to be awesome. We will have to see what is going to be happen in the storms. Redfish are right on track start looking for them in the passes and the bays close to the passes. They we also be on the outside beaches and jetties. Snook we continue to feed strong and get better if the weather cools a little. Tarpon should be plentiful and some big ones will be starting to show back up along the coast and the beaches. Bait will still be plentiful and should be getting larger. Expect offshore fishing to get stronger and fish from the north starting to return. The one great thing about September is the lack of people here so the locals have a chance to fish more. Now the bad news Snook season is still closed and will be at least through the 16^th. Personally I am glad, there is too much poaching going on anyhow and I hope the law is taking this seriously and get there buts out of bed and start catching some of these guys. I am tired of seeing it going on and no one is out there working the problem. Maybe a change of working hours might be a good idea. The poachers seem to know when the law is not on the water. The other bad news is that Bay view park boat ramp will be closing starting the 13^th of September through Dec. 31^st. Just great!! Well It will be interesting changing my departure area for a lot of my trips. Well 951 is still a great place to fish out of. I have been and will be fishing a little more out of Port of the Islands. Good Tarpon fishing this time of the year. Oh yeah Bass fishing should get better toward the end of September. Good luck and Good Fishing Roan z.

Great offshore fishing in August

2010-08-24T18:25:00.001-04:00

Nice Kingfish caught near shore to Naples.

Great August Fishing

2010-08-12T21:27:00.000-04:00

Great fishing for most of the month of July and it looks like it is continuing directly into August. Bonnie was a bust fishing resumes as normal in the Naples and Marco waters.

July fishing was very good inshore, offshore, Bait, Fly and pretty much whatever you wanted to do. Lets hope August stays the same it looks good so far. Snook fishing was very good on both bait and fly most of the month. The fish were pretty much everywhere, from the passes all the way to the back country. Great numbers of fish along with some big one’s were in or around all the passes from Cax to Wiggins. They were hitting most everything including small baitfish flies, White Bait, and Jigs. The fly fishing was better in the late afternoon and into the night for both Snook and Tarpon. Morning fishing was good but you needed to be there early, which is typical summer fishing. The nice thing about morning though, less bugs and we fished to more large floaters and Tarpon in the Back Country. One morning especially, we landed two 32 and 35 inch Snook and jumped 7 Tarpon up to 40 pounds landing one all on Rz’s Tarpon Muddler in Yellow and Grey. Bait fishing has been excellent also, fishing a Hamilton Harbor BCS Charity Tourney last week my anglers D.J. and Tom from North Ft. Myers were able to Card out with Two Snook and Two Redfish and win by a very slim margin over 2^nd place finisher Todd Geroy and third Place Mike Rucker. The Tourney was a lot of fun and a great group of guys and gals fished it. We were lucky to win, the second Redfish was the deciding factor. Red fishing in the Naples and Marco waters has been very difficult. We caught ours under the Docks along the Gordon River. The offshore fishing has been hard to beat the last month. Great Snapper fishing both inshore and offshore has been awesome. Large mangroves and if you get out far enough they are catching some Muttons and Red Snapper. Also out there are scattered Kingfish, Sailfish, Black fin Tuna, and Cobia. Oh yeah and the Spanish Macks are everywhere off the beaches. I think this has been one of the best July’s I have ever seen.

What will happen in August? It looks pretty good. I do not see anything on the horizon to change things. Bait is still plentiful and the fish do not seem to be acting in a strange manner. I would expect a little increase in temps and hopefully a slow tropical season will keep us in business. It will depend on the Rain if it is heavier than usual then it will be slower fishing if it is steady then the fishing will be good. If it is less than normal the fishing will be difficult. Low rainfall and high temps will make thing a little tough, so lets hope for nice steady afternoon rains that keep the temps down in our waters. Our fish this time of the year need that influx of freshwater it is very important to them and there young one’s. Offshore fishing should continue strong although I would expect the snapper fishing to slow a bit but other things should pick up. Small Tarpon fishing in the creeks should be good especially if we are getting steady rain. Big Tarpon will be non factor this month but should be back strong in the middle of next month. The most important thing is to get out and fish. Have Fun and please catch and release the Snook carefully.

Thanks Roan z.

Fishing Report - June Fishing in Naples Florida

2010-06-27T11:04:00.001-04:00

Great fishing to report for the Month of June in the Naples and Marco area, which should continue through July. What can I say it has been a banner June for fishing in our area. Despite the fish loss over the winter the Snook fishing has been excellent. We lost many fish but thankfully when we lost those fish we had the largest numbers than we had ever had and we are left now with less fish but still plenty to catch and release. I still believe they should keep the season on the fish closed for at least one more year. The Snook are heaviest in the passes and along the beaches, typical for this time. We are also catching them in the bays adjacent to the passes. There are a few in the backcountry creeks but not as productive as the outside. There are also quite a few big fish that we have caught on the near shore reefs. If you want to fish them you need to be early or late and get some fresh pinfish or white bait down on the bottom. Fly fishing in the evening and night time has been the right time. It has been much more productive than the morning fishing. If you go early in the morning it is very good but you have to get out before light and get off the water before 11 am. Along with the Snook on Fly we are catching a few Tarpon. The small ones are scattered in the backcountry and there are quite a few around the docks in Marco and in Naples. The big girls that are traveling the coast have been here today gone tomorrow. One day we find them and they are happy and want to play ball the next they are scattered and moving fast and furious. Some days finding them is a struggle and the next they are everywhere. Persistence pays off though. If you are serious about fishing them you have to be Johnny on the spot and be there. It is a long boring day but if you stay with it eventually you will get your shot. For bait fisherman, I am finding a live crab under a cork has been working a little better than a White bait or Thread but this is marginally better. Keep up the vigil and you will connect. Pictures this month come from some clients that fished for 7 days. We were able to catch good numbers of Snook and they were able to catch their first Peacock bass on fly there largest Largemouth Bass on fly and even their first ever Pompano and Permit on Fly. Permit and pompano fishing has been very good this past month. They had a few good opportunities for Tarpon but never connected but we did not fish for them much. They wanted some different species this year and I am happy to say they connected again.

July Fishing should get even better. With the impending rain I would expect the bugs to get worse the fisherman to lessen and the fish to fire up. Small Tarpon fishing should really pick up the pace and the Snook will stay right on track. The first spawns will be over and the Snook should stay hungry and catchable. Snapper fishing which has been very good will continue right though July. The good Trout fishing we have been having in June will most likely slow down, but we have been lucky so far it should have slowed in June but it is continuing strong. Largemouth bass the in the glades will have to be done early or late in the evening, but the peacocks should be hot for the fly all day. They like the heat if you can stand it. I suggest on and off the water early. Big Tarpon fishing is always a question in July we will just have to wait and see. I would expect with all the problems to our North the Tarpon may stay south a little more this year. The bait is here and we are even catching fish that should be to our North so I believe the fish are repositioning themselves out of troubled waters. Please everyone that is reading this. We have no oil in Southwest Florida. The news sometimes portrays the worst scenarios and scare people away from the gulf of Mexico. It is a very large area and we are fine down here. Our Fly shop in north Florida a little more of a problem. We are still open for business but they are finding Tar balls up there. Fishing is still pretty good up there but nobody there wanting to fish.

Captain Roan Z.