Happy New year fishing friends!  2019 started off with a bang in South West Florida. We had absolutely fantastic weather over the holidays, and most of our guides took advantage of the slick calm seas to fish some of our nearshore waters. Their clients were delighted with bent rods and a mixed bag of reef fish. Catches included sheepshead, snapper, grouper, black drum, and grunts, with some groups lucky enough to add a triple tail or two.  

Our backcountry fishing has been slower to rebound after the redtide.  In most of our bays dock fishing has been the game. This approach has yeilded black and red drum, sheepshead, snapper, and snook. The guids that can chase further up the creeks are finding some larger redfish and nice numbers of trout.  

It's a beautiful time of year to visit and fish South West Florida!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946
www.palmislandoutfitters.com
www.charlotteharborchronicles.com

Snook sequence from the water today with Capt. Mike Slattery. Giant snook are gathered up for a late summer spawn here in SW Florida. These fish will feed hard in the coming weeks to fatten up on protein. Call today to get your trip in the books 1-844-289-0741.

So we are playing a game of flip and flop as the weather patterns this spring have been down right goofy.  Our offshore and nearshore crew has been at the dock for what seems like 2 weeks, due to unrelenting winds.  Inshore, we have been bouncing back and forth from a spring trend to a winter trend, as the weather changes.  This week we saw water temperature dip into the upper 60's, which is cold for March.  The good news is, we have higher temperatures in the forecast for the rest of the week through Easter weekend!  With the rising temperatures, it's a great time to be fishing in South West Florida!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946
www.palmislandoutfitters.com
www.charlotteharborchronicles.com

With cooler water temps after a weekend cold front, we have turned our attention inshore to some of the cooler temperature species.  Redfish will be our focus this week. The drop in water temperature has cleared the water up considerably.  So, sight fishing the copper colored fish over the grass is our approach.  We will find these upper slot and overslot redfish cruising with the big packs of mullet on the larger flats in the bay.  Nearshore, our guides will be challenged with heavy seas and big winds to get to their marks.  This means that the inshore game is where the bite is at, over the next week or so.  With Crystal clear water, and plenty of sight fishing opportunities, it is a great time to be fishing in South West Florida!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946
www.palmislandoutfitters.com
www.charlotteharborchronicles.com

Well Fishing fans, spring has sprung earlier here in South West Florida than in years past.  And, if we don't see another cold front this year it will be just A-ok with this Fishing Guide.  That being said, our water temperatures have sky rocketed over the past week. We are starting to see good numbers of snook and redfish moving out of the creeks and onto the areas flats.  Our nearshore Fishing has been down right good.  Full bags of snapper and sheepshead have been brought in over the last week, and some artificial reefs are even holding schools of permit.  With spring in the air and the sun rays shining, it is a fantastic time to go fishing in South West Florida!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946
www.palmislandoutfitters.com
www.charlotteharborchronicles.com

With a slight change in the weather over the Thanksgiving holiday, we are changing up our game inshore.  The bait has thinned out a bit as expected with the dip in bay temps.  With this seasonal change, we bolt on our jugs and turn our attention to the deep tidal sand bottom channels in the bay.  We focus our casts along the edges of the grass finger bars and edges of the flats.  This technique affords us the ability to catch a multitude of species, even in the most undesirable conditions.  The idea is to get your bait to the bottom.  This will typically yield a variety of inshore species.  A few that are a bit more desirable are, pompano, flounder, and trout.  With catch rates typically high using this technique, it a great time to be fishing in South West Florida!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946
www.palmislandoutfitters.com
www.charlotteharborchronicles.com

We are continuing to have some excellent opportunities with monster #snook here at Palm Island Outfitters. Plan your charter today right from our website!

Capt. Mike Slattery

Tarpon Fishing is rocking after an unseasonal cold front the first week of May.  The fish will typically head offshore when the weather takes a turn for the worse.  After the season and winds calmed down the fish have settled into a depth at about 30' for the week.  They have been shy to show, so the anglers with a side scan unit or 360 degrees sonar have been the most successful in achieving bites.  We anticipate more fish moving into the area by the day from both North and South.  It's a wonderful time to be fishing in South West Florida!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946
www.palmislandoutfitters.com
www.charlotteharborchronicles.com

Nice #snook release from the mangrove shorelines! When a snook like this hits your line - just be ready to hang on! www.palmislandoutfitters.com

Well Fishing folks, it's spring time in South West Florida and summer is quickly approaching!!! That means Tarpon Fishing for us local Floridians, and our pool of Fishing guides have started the early season with a bang.  Big groups of fish are being found on the beach front before first light.  If you are first to the party, you can sneak a few bites in before the big groups get broken up.  Fish from 60-180 lbs. we're caught last week, the bite is on crabs with low light and fin fish once the sun pokes out.  Pictured is a beast of an early season fish pushing 180lbs!!! There has never been a better time to be fishing in South West Florida!!!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946
www.palmislandoutfitters.com
www.charlotteharborchronicles.com