Southwest Florida Fishing Report: Lane snapper reopened to harvest - Naples Daily News

Will Geraghty  |  Naples Daily News Correspondent

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Holiday anglers were truly graced with outstanding conditions both shallow and deep. Respectable tides, light winds/seas and blue bird skies made for a wonderful stretch of outings filled with catching success.

While most caught, others perhaps not so fortunate certainly reveled in the primo late December weather. 

Offshore anglers prospecting full-day distances have reported an excellent snapper bite over and around ledges and artificial reefs in water depths deeper than 65 feet. Water quality at that distance has cleaned up nicely, therefore those employing light tackle tactics scored mixed bag catches of the colorful species. 

Southwest Florida Fishing Report: Cold front will mix things up, but only for a while

And: Anglers moving from pompano, speckled trout to snook, redfish

By the way: City Council approves changes to fishing regulations at Naples Pier

After a short head-scratching closure, NOAA Fisheries announced a final rule for lane snapper to reopen to harvest on Dec. 23. The fishery will remain open through 2021 and into 2022. Encountered frequently when prospecting natural hard bottom areas, lane snapper is one of the region's bread and butter reef fish species.

Perfect for a fish fry or a fish taco bonanza, lane snapper is also commonly referred to as candy snapper due to their vibrant stripes, and colorful fin structure. The minimum size limit for lane snapper is 8 inches length overall.

Schools of king mackerel continue to filter in and out of the offshore grounds. While the nearshore fall/early winter king bite has been somewhat of a letdown, the hard charging toothy mackerel have been showing up behind vessels bottom fishing in water depths ranging from 55 to 90 feet. Remember, it is always paramount to keep a dedicated jig or pitch bait king mackerel rod rigged and at the ready to capitalize on a quick hook-up when one presents itself.

Closer to shore and in the shallows, mixed bag catches reign supreme for anglers casting live bait, lures and flies. Water clarity has been respectable along with decent tides for prospecting middle and back bay systems throughout the entire reporting region. 

While jigs and live shrimp are fooling seasonal cool water species over the flats and channel edges, a return of sardines to the area has fueled the appetite of gamefish within the mangrove roots and around inshore artificial structure.

Closing in the end of the fishing year has us looking forward to the catching seasons ahead and reflecting on all the rod bending action 2021 afforded us here in Southwest Florida.

Overall, the bites were solid in all the arenas along with great stretches of weather and outstanding water quality. Let's hope for the same along with continued tight lines and screaming drags in 2022.

Offshore: "The holiday weather has been fantastic and so has the catching," Capt. Kraig Dafcik said. "We have had full boats daily and our groups have been busy reeling in a variety of species."

The busy holiday stretch has Dafcik pointing the bow of his Port O Call Marina-based multi-passenger vessel the Alabama out toward natural hard bottom areas west and northwest of Gordon Pass. On the grounds and anchored up, Dafcik and crew are deploying cut herring, squid and jigs rigged on light to medium class tackle.

Taking the bait for Dafcik's crews has been a mixed bag of lane/mangrove snapper, silver grunts, porgies and a scattering of catch and release red grouper. Dafcik's targeted water depths on half-day outings has been 48 to 55 feet. 

While bailing reef fish, Dafcik has been flat lining larger chunks of herring rigged on a wire trace and scoring catches of brown sandbar sharks, bonito and king mackerel.

Naples/Estero Bay: Aboard my Port O Call Marina-based guide boat the Grand Slam, it has been a busy holiday week of family style fishing. Morning and afternoon excursions have produced a steady pick of species while employing a variety of light tackle tactics.

Casting tube jigs tipped with fresh shrimp along channel edges and around area pass features yielded catches of pompano, sheepshead and jack crevalle. Drifting deeper flats and current swept island cuts also kept the rods bent for my angling crews.

Casting soft plastic jigs and presenting live shrimp under a Cajun Thunder popping cork led to catches of speckled/silver trout and whiting along with a host of other action species.

Ten Thousand Islands: "Clear backcountry water has made for an excellent week of targeting and catching snook and redfish on fly," Goodland-based Capt. Paul Nocifora said. "After a few breezy days, the calm conditions have really helped over the busy holiday week."

Early departures have found Nocifora and his casters prospecting shallow mangrove shorelines, oyster bar areas and protected coves in search of their quarry. Presenting a sparse DT Special or a white-colored Lightbulb baitfish pattern has kept the longs rods bent with redfish, rogue jack crevalle and snook.

Nocifora reports that a recent moderation in water temperatures have some snook on the move out of the back bays and creeks and into the middle bays where they are bunched up a feeding near current swept points, oyster bars and areas of downed deadwood.

If you have a report to share email captwill@naplessportfishing.com.

Anglers, email your photos to news@naplesnews.com and we will compile your images into an online gallery that's featured each Thursday morning at www.naplesnews.com. Do not submit photos of fish caught illegally.