Fishingcast: Conditions for Southwest Florida, May 22-28

Looks like a consistently hot and muggy week ahead. There will be high humidity almost all the time, including evenings with temperatures into the 90s consistently.

Rain and squally thunderstorms all week with the prevalent period on a two hour window either side of noon. The water temperature will be high eighties to mid-90s depending on your locale. The water clarity quality will be dependent on whether you’re working the shallower backwaters of moving to the clearer waters deeper offshore.

More:On the Hook: Catch and release (well almost)

The water temperatures will hover between 84 and 90 depending on time of the day and location. Tides will have an early morning outgoing and a bit stronger incoming starting late morning into nightfall.

MARCO ISLAND

In the backwaters look for good to very good action especially in the ICW cuts and creases up to Rookery Bay and west from there into the Keewaydin waters.

Snapper will be the dominant catch with a good representation of pompano in the waters, in moving tides associated with the water flow in Hurricane Pass.

More:Gardening: Add some perennials in with your summer annuals

You should have lots of company here also from snapper on the bottom and Spanish mackerel up top. Live shrimp and tipped jigs are your readily available and baits near at hand. Secondary locations with good action will be the nearshore reefs that have action by gulls and pelicans working the bait schools from just off the beach out about 8-10 miles on either tide after the insertion of some block chum to heighten the interest level. Deep you have a showcase of pelagics just arriving from the Keys.  Major reefs and wrecks will be the hideouts for kingfish, sharks, and cuda all working huge schools of primarily mackerel with smaller bluefish in the mix.

NAPLES

Lots of varied action now in the multi-level Naples and it’s environments. Key locales spring from the attractants associated with Gordon Pass. The key cut from the Gulf inshore constantly produces good open key pelagic action of species exploring the bait laden cuts and key location and multitudes of bait in massive groups that draw both you and the pelagic chasers.

Then a move down the ICW from the channel cut to Rookery Bay will open a world well frequented this time of year by redfish in schools posting huge schools of these robust and highly active predators; working right alongside the schools of ravenous snook.

Anglers here also have easy access down the Keewaydin waterway to work the rich catches available in the Hurricane Pass environs. Nearshore you have access to excellent mid-range reefs naturally rich in all types of pelagic and well as bottom feeding.

BONITA, SANIBEL, ESTERO

This area combined area is a legend. Consists of three to four uniquely different fishing environments and hold almost every occupying piscatorial creature that the Gulf and associated waters hold.

You can work legendary coastal flats and cuts that probably outdo most other similar habitats on the Southwest Florida domain.

Snook are a legend here and so much so that there are guides that only snook fish. Then you can duck back into Estero Bay and explore the cuts and bars/reefs that tout the greatest redfish habitat around. Leaving the Estero area, you get to explore the area around Carlos Point which is legend as a seasonal habitat for tarpon that put on a legendary show all year as the tarpon make their legendary trek for spawn late summer into the NW Gulf.

And you have another “world of fishing” all through the classic backwaters surrounding the Sanibel environment with legendary snook, redfish and a trout action.

Capt. Bill Walsh owns a charter fishing business and holds a U.S. Coast Guard license. Send comments to dawnpatrolmarco@cs.com.