Hello Anglers,

Snook is King here in Paradise! Warmer waters and plenty of bait fish had combine to create some great Snook fishing action, from the mouth of the river to the potholes on the open flats the "linesiders" has taken over. The Reds are schooling on a few flats also, some oversize Redfish can be found on the open flats while the Seatrout fishing is holding steady.

I have mostly been targeting Snook on my charters, the action has been very good with the Snook averaging around 4 to 5 lbs., the larger ones average around 10 to 12 lbs. We are connecting with one or two of the bigger ones on a good bite, but plenty of the smaller ones are willing to play. We have found some "great" action along the "forbidden zone" with plenty of hookups but also plenty of them loss to the mangrove roots. This is a "mano a mano" fight and the Snook does win the battle quiet often, but it is very exciting fishing and there are lots of fish there. We did fish on the open water any time the tides allowed and we had a couple of great days fishing bars and open water "holes". Open water fishing is a bit more "relaxing" and we do not lose as many fish.

While fishing the open water for Snook, the Reds are usually not far behind. Some days we get a combination of both while on some occasions the Reds can take over an area. I like to live bait this guys when possible, but nothing beats a "chunk" of Ladyfish on the open flat. For the "purist" a plastic jerk bait or some of the new scented baits works very well. Of course they will take a fly, and when they are "belly flashing" along the flat it can be a great sight fishing opportunity. On one of my charters we were looking for the school of Redfish, the school is probably 150 plus fish and as I was just getting up the poling platform to look for them, I saw about 50 of them in front of us almost like looking at me. Immediately we cast a couple of lines their direction and had a double hookup! After a few minutes one got off but the other one fought on, and a nice 12 lbs. was release after a few quick photos.

As I said in earlier reports the Seatrout fishing has been very good this year, I am not a big Seatrout guide but we have caught fish up to 8 lbs. which is a very large Seatrout for our area. We also has caught several fish on the 5 lbs. class, they bite very well on jigs and on fly under the right conditions and are also lots of fun for action seeking anglers.

On the Tarpon front they were starting to show well before we had a nice "blow" this caused a bit of a drop on the water temperature. There are some fish around but the numbers are not yet where they need to be for reliable action. You can sit there and you may get one, but you can also blank after a long fishing day so I will wait for better numbers before I will target them. This year is the first time in many years that I have some time still available in May, so if you are thinking Tarpon fishing drop me a line for this rare chance.