2011-3-27 fishing report by Captain Van Hubbard.

 Weather will be the controlling factor this coming week. Our fishing was good last week as Englewood Beach’s Gulf waters warmed up into the mid-seventies. Some baitfish are coming ashore and dropping into Lemon Bay and Charlotte Harbor.  Tarpon are moving thru Boca Grande Pass but winds, conditions, and clients have not match up yet to try them.  I feel we could catch one if things fell into alignment. I trolled for kings down there today but all we saw were silver kings and plenty of them. It’s early for tarpon to hold here; but you could have a good shot and both kings and silver kings in the Boca Grande Pass this April.

 I saw one nice king mackerel at the Venice Pier yesterday but no numbers here yet. One friend has been catching some down off of Ft Meyers. A few were taken on local artificial reefs but nothing dependable until the waters warm up below the surface. Baitfish schools are not visible at the surface with any frequency but should pick up after these weeks South winds. The migrations of mackerel, sharks, and all will follow the food.

 Pompano are around but not dependable. We caught a few every day recently, but they seem to be moving fast. I heard they did well off of Venice last week so fish are migrating thru here now.  The trout and Spanish make sure we have a nice mess of fish for dinner with the pompano. The macks are not as big as usual yet but improving every day. Some nice whiting have started to show up in our catches around the passes; this should pick up also.  The dredging of Stump Pass is proceeding well and will be winding it up as soon as the West winds let them finish up. I suspect the dredging has messed up the Stump Pass fish and I have not been running around as much as past years.

 Trout are still providing fun catching on most of our inside Charlotte Harbor/Lemon Bay trips. The macks and a few pompano enhance the table fish while ladyfish and small sharks add excitement. Some cobia have provide additional adventures both in and out side recently. Again just not dependable; I do keep a rod ready for the cobia sightings.

Snook are finally starting to get going. Bay waters are almost eighty in the afternoons now and fish are biting if you can get minnows. It’s hard to say if minnows will get easier but I sure hope so and soon. Shrimp are still ok but costly plus the catfish and pinfish are coming back strong.

 Redfish are around and we will start catching them better when minnows are abundant. Right now the fish are spooked by all the intense weekend tournament pressures.

 I am looking forward to better action when this winds backs off next month; like this coming weekend! We have a New Moon on the third and Full on the seventeenth. This waxing moon should light up our Venice and Englewood fishing. Don’t wait till the last minute to set up your fishing trips because you could miss out with your favorite guide; Easter is coming. Let’s Go fishin’ soon. Captain Van Hubbard <www.captvan.com>