Fishing with Capt. George Tunison | Inshore fishing activity heating up
There was lots of inshore activity this past week despite the winds with trout, blue and ladyfish, redfish, smaller snook, pompano and sheepshead. Whiting, pompano, jacks, ladyfish and redfish were eating around most pass areas with pompano liking the Burnt Store Bar along with undersized, but fun on lite trout rods, surprise cobia. Assorted redfish and undersized snook were under the bushes along the BSB as well as on the opposite side of Charlotte Harbor in Bull and Turtle bays. These two areas have been, and continue to be, very productive for the last three months.
Cape canal fishing is picking up with reports of snook, jacks, sheepshead and the kind that drives anglers crazy, rolling juvenile tarpon. During windy cold fronts Cape canals obviously provide shelter from the north winds as well as good fishing if you’re willing to put in the time to find some fishy territory with docks an obvious place to look although they are not the whole story. Slowly scouting with today’s amazing advanced electronics is the ticket to discovering winter canal hotspots housing sheepshead, jacks, drum and at times trout. A bonus for the dedicated trophy hunter is some of the largest snook in Southwest Florida, if you have the time and patience to get one to eat your live ladyfish or inhale one lying on bottom.
With Cape docks an obvious winter target, please be respectful of others’ property. Hooking lawn chairs, ropes, flower pots and, heaven forbid, pets by accident or bouncing lead jigs off shiny new expensive gel-coat is a sure way to confrontation, making all anglers look bad in the eyes of the property owner. Learning how to accurately side arm skip cast is the key when fishing winter docks with soft plastics and also helps avoid hitting expensive items parked on them. Some dock owners are unreasonable and overly protective no matter how carefully you’re fishing. Others have had bad experiences in the past with anglers damaging property or creating a noise nuisance. No matter the situation, if the owner feels uncomfortable or simply asks you to leave, do the angling community a favor, don’t argue and politely move on. There’s plenty of other docks to fish, all winter long.
Trolling plugs is an often overlooked Cape canal tactic that can put a true whopper in the boat. Running a shallow diving plug along seawalls and dock edges with a deeper diver off the other side probing the middle depths is a one-two punch that works year-round in our canals. Experiment with lure sizes, colors and boat speed.
With wind keeping most from venturing out too far, be safe and hit the nearshore numbers, which continue to be productive for a variety of snappers, sheepies, cobia and other bottom fare.
For those old salts looking for a change of pace, it’s largemouth bass spawning time in Florida. World famous bass factory Lake Okeechobee is calling your name. Trailer over or simply hire a guide for the day instead of wasting time and money trying to find fish on this huge body of water, especially if you’re a first-time visitor.
If you choose lures over fishing the ever popular and productive live golden shiners, then try top waters like poppers and weedless rubber frogs around cover, points, pads and bulrush and hydrilla openings in the early morning to bag a whopper bass.
As the morning progresses, a standard spinnerbait or chatter bait will draw fish. Okeechobee expert Roland Martin likes 60-pound braided line and gold Colorado blades and chartreuse and white skirts on his spinner baits, plus a variety of soft plastic trailers on his chatterbaits.
As the sun gets up, flipping, pitching and swimming jigs is the hot technique when sight fishing bedding bass or getting down into cover like hydrilla.
Round out your lure selection with soft plastic creature baits to toss around nests provoking a reaction strike.
Happy last-minute Christmas shopping!
Capt. George Tunison is a Cape Coral resident fishing guide. You can contact him at 239-579-0461 or via email at captgeorget3@aol.com.