Pine Island Sound, FL
Apr 1st 2024
If you enjoy flying kites as a hobby then the month of April has been quite the thrill for you with the El Niño pattern and the high winds we are experiencing here in Southwest Florida. It’s been tough to find a day where the weather is just right but despite the chop and wind, we are still having a great spring on the water. Snook are abundant and we’ve been finding slotfish in a lot of areas (that’s our fish between 28 and 33 inches). Mostly focusing on Mangrove islands with good moving water and overhangs where those snooks can hide out to ambush bait is the ticket. Trout have been across the flats and ledges off grass flats around some of the channels. Our bigger over-slot gator trout are still hanging around closer to mangroves in a lot of cases but also tight to oyster bars and abundant grass flats. We’ve had a lot of fun with some great-size redfish as well, those reds we were catching back in December that all were around 17 inches are now grown to low 20’s and they’ve got a little more fight in them. Bars and islands with good moving water and structure are where you’ll find redfish and it never hurts to have some cut bait on hand for these fish, they can’t resist it. White bait is getting better and better every day and the struggle to fill the bait well is getting easier in the mornings with fewer net throws. It is imperative to catch plenty of bait in the mornings to have enough to chum with throughout the day. It helps to see where your target fish are when they feed on some of that chum thrown into the spot. It’s been a great spring thus far and will only get better with the exit of El Niño and calmer days.
1 Grey Snapper
1 Snook
1 Sea Trout
1 Redfish
