SWFL Fishing Forecast for January, 2018

Warm weather seems to be what is going on in South West Florida. We have struggled through some difficult times the last few weeks, but we got past it. We dealt with a bloom of red tide that reached the northern end of the harbor. It made for some tough days of fishing. Randy Bewley has been fishing with me for many years. Well he contacted me, and informed me his daughter would be in town. He really wanted to put his girl on some Charlotte Harbor Snook! I knew it wasn’t the best time of year to focus on big snook, but I have a hard time turning down a challenge. I picked up my crew at Laishley, and headed to the black water. I don’t know if it was the fact that it was Amanda’s first day back bay fishing or what. From the first spot we knew it was going to be special. We put over 50 Snook on the boat that day, or biggest measured in at 42”. We had a day that will be remembered for a very long time. What amazed me the most was the one fish that was talked about the most, It was the Jacks! The last spot we fished the water wasn’t moving much. I still had plenty of bait, so I started dumping scoops out. That woke the big Jacks up. After a solid day of Snook fishing it only took a couple of these guys to finish off the day.

Fellow anglers I kept predicting cool weather, and I hope I’m wrong. However if I’m not we still have plenty to keep us excited. It was a rare day that I wasn’t booked but still ended up being on the water. I got to the ramp and was going to go look for some Sea Trout. A familiar face walked up, a client that I fish and became friends with. I told him what I was out to accomplish and told him to get on the boat., lets see what we can get into today. We crossed the harbor and fished some bars. It didn’t take us long to realize the artificial bite was good. We threw Mirror Lure Lil John’s on a jig head. We managed to put over thirty Trout to the boat. Most of the fish we caught was over the 15″ minimum length. Fellow anglers I know we have had some trying times on the harbor the previous few weeks, but mother nature is a beautiful thing, and will make sure that we have a great time.

If you would like to experience some of Southwest Florida’s finest fishing give me a call or send me an email. All of our trips are private and customized to fit you and your parties needs.

You can also follow me on Twitter @ backbayxtremes for daily and weekly updates.

Captain Dave Stephens * (941) 916-5769 * Back Bay Xtremes * PO Box 510746, Punta Gorda FL 33951

Flats Fishing Charters for Charlotte Harbour, Punta Gorda, Florida