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Even with a few hiccups, Everglades fishing was on fire during Thursdays negative tide.

By February 2, 2018March 2nd, 2018Fishing Reports
a fisherman with a snook caught in naples

As it is with fishing trips sometimes, the day didn’t start out on the right foot.
As is the case before every trip, I prepared everything the night before, checking the boat, gear and tackle to make sure I had everything in order. I arrived at The Port of the Islands boat ramp 45 minutes prior to the trip, making sure I had plenty of time to chill with a cup of java before my newest client showed up. However, the fishing gods had other plans.
I dipped the boat, went to start her up… click, click, click and nothing. The battery was dead as a door nail. After sitting in a state of bewilderment for a few minutes and thinking… why today? I blurted a few choice exlpetives, pulled the boat out of the water, unhooked her from my rig and began trouble shooting.
Well, it appeared that my dumb ass forgot to pull the plugs after my last trip, and with the rains we had this past weekend, my little bilge pump kept running to the point that it killed my starting battery. So, I pulled up my big girl panties and began the task of re-charging the battery from my car battery.
Now I can tell you that fishing guides never like beginning their day with things going wrong, and even though we expect it, little events like this can sometimes throw off our whole day. Well, the fishing gods must have decided that they put me through enough that morning. After finally, getting the Beavertail up and running, I proceeded to my first spot… all I can say is wow! Did my luck ever change.
We spent the next 5 hours fishing a 200 yard piece of shoreline, never having to leave because the bite was sooo good! My client, (David) caught dozens and dozens of snook, 3 redfish and around 2 dozen solid trout. These fish just kept filtering right into us as if we had some type of fish magnet attached to the hull.
By the end of the day, Dave was whooped! His expectations were far exceeded and we checked two more species off his bucket list…redfish and snook!
All in all… it was a very good day!
Geoff Crouse

Capt. Geoff is a full-time fishing guide in Naples, FL and specializes in light tackle and fly fishing adventures.