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Fish Tales: Snook in the way-back sloughs and baby tarpon elsewhere

By CATHY COTTRILL (Contact)

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Capt. Ron Kowaly’s crews found fair numbers of snook in the way-back sloughs and lagoons off Estero Bay this week.

Whitebait was the hot ticket when you could safely acquire it in the rough surface. Other offerings scored, with surface plugs and soft plastics taking a share. They had to cover lots of real estate with artificials to stay in the game, though.

Other action included baby tarpon in the Imperial River, Estero Bay and Hendry Creek. Fly guys scored, but it was tough in the wind. They jumped several smallish fish on whitebait, soft plastics and shallow-running plugs. The poons were a bycatch of snook and jack hunts.

Larger poons were roving around the central drifts of Estero Bay. This week we’ll try fishing some catfish tails and threadfins in the bay. Long cast outfits dressed with upscale plugs might be a hot ticket, amending the dead stick and float rig patterns on the open bay? We’ll see!

Fishbuster Charters’ Cap. Dave Hanson faced rough weather a week ago Monday, when seas were predicted at 2 to 3 feet offshore but fishing even close-in at the reefs was much rougher than that, especially as the winds increased mid-morning.

Hanson fished with Carl and Susan Baker and daughter Anna. They caught a few keeper snapper and sheepshead and released lots of smaller snapper, sheepshead, triggerfish and grouper. They also released lots of blue runners and were broken off twice by a couple of king mackerel.

The next day, Hanson fished 40 feet out of New Pass with Dick Timbers; John, Chris and Dan King; and Shane Gannon. They caught keeper lane snapper, whitebone porgies and Spanish mackerel. They released a 7-pound crevalle jack, along with gag and red grouper shorts and triggerfish.

Wednesday, Hanson fished an inshore trip with Leeds Hutchinson, son John and grandsons Tommy and Brandon. Fishing in the New Pass area of Estero Bay with live shrimp, they caught a 20-inch redfish, two snook to 20 inches, two sheepshead to 15 inches and a 2∏ pound jack. They released all but the redfish.