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The last part of October was different to say the least. I know in my history of fishing in Naples and Marco I have never experienced temperatures that cold in the month of October. I think the fish must of went into shock a couple of those days. Night fishing even though it was cold held up much better than the day fishing at the end of October. We were going strong with great fishing for Snook and Tarpon along with an occasional Redfish or two and wham we get hit with the cold. The fish shut down but they weren’t out. In fact the night time fishing really picked up and I had consecutive nights fishing with a client from Georgia that we boated at least twenty Snook a night and one night we tallied at least 40. He remarked that it was the best fishing he had ever seen in the Naples and Marco area and he fished here back in the 70’s and 80’s. The daytime fishing turned tough bait was extra hard to come by and the fishing was kind of slow, in fact still is a bit slow.

Fishing in November I hope is on an upturn. The last couple of days have been a little slow for bait fishing and fly fishing has actually been good in the sight fishing areas but the fish are tough to feed. Getting lots of casting practice though and if you get it just right they seem to take. Using smaller and darker patterns seems to help. Bait is still available at the markers and the live shrimp are getting bigger. I am starting to catch more fish on shrimp now then white bait but at four dollars a dozen white bait is still a good alternative. I would expect a slow transition this month into more of the winter patterns. Redfish, Trout, Pompano, will start taking on more of my attention and the Snook fishing will be left to my nighttime fly casters. I hope we stay warm like last year but if October is any type of a predictor I would not bet on it. November traditionally is not one of my favorite months to fish because of the transitioning fish patterns. Fish move a lot this time of the year and where you catch them one day chances are they will not be there the next. I would expect the channels in the intercoastal to heat up for Pompano and Sea trout and along the edges for Redfish.

I hesitate to write about this but I thought some people that read my article might want to know. Yesterday morning myself and the Fishing world lost a dear friend and fellow fisherman, Sam Price of Naples Florida. A master rod builder and one of the great pioneers to the fishing in Southwest Florida. He was a fixture at one of the all time greatest fishing Stores in Naples, Naples Sporting Goods. I am not going to say to much about this for the people who new him It is a tremendous loss. We will remember him always and he will always continue in my thoughts. I would like to think he is up there somewhere watching down at us fishing and laughing. Goodbye Sam Your friend Roan