Marco island...any guide advice?

[JoeBass]

Hi, we're heading to Marco island next week. Looking for advice on a good back country fishing guide. Both spin and cast. My son (17) and I have just a little experience at this kind of fishing. Any advice would be appreciated. Any other advice for this area....restaurants, beaches , etc. would also be appreciated. Thank you.

[clambelly]

ive been to Marco every year for the last 7 years, mostly around this time. don't want to be a downer, but the fishing kinda sucks down there this time of year. the first year i went we went in october and the fishing was awesome. we caught spanish mackeral, snook, and catfish. it was a blast. we went 4 months later, the following february and the fishign was a joke. lots of small fish, lady fish, trout. it was a bummer. spent 500 bucks to go with a guide for that.

as for attractions, check out the guy harvey restaurant/bar. good food and a cool atmosphere after dark. there is an awesome steakhouse right there as well, kinda pricy, but there is an outside bar right on the harbor. The Esplanade is the place.

[JoeBass]

Well, we have to try. Just wetting a line will be nice after all this cold. Thank you for the resataurant advice.

[capecodder]

Hey Joe,
I have been to Naples a number of times in Dec/Feb/March. I have hired Todd Geroy from Naples a number of times. I have been told he is the best in the area and I thought he was outstanding. Its been 3 or 4 years since I went down there.

He runs out of Naples, not too far from Marco, and runs south towards Marco intothe back country. He will position you for a cast and if you put it in the right spot you will get a hit every time, amazing. I struggled a bit with the Mangroves as you need to skip cast to get under, and I have never done that.

The weather will dictate the type of fish you can get. One year I got a very nice redfish in about 1 foot of water. One day I caught 7 or 8 species, trout, snook, red, and more. I caught a lot of fish with him.

I don't have Todd's number, but I think he is (was) in the phone book.

If you're going to go in the back country, I would go with him.

Have fun!

[capecodder]

Naples, Southwest Florida Backcountry Fishing

[piemma]

Joe:
We just came back from Marco. The fishing sucked. They have had a lot of cold weather and it has kept the fish down. We chartered with http://www.saltwatercowboycharters.com
Capt. Brant is a good guy and his guy Sean did his best to put us on fish in the back country. We did get a bunch of Jacks in the 10# range and some small snook. Overall I would rate the fishing, at this time of year due to the weather, a 5 out of 10.

[Mr. Krinkle]

Try hitting the 10,000 islands area. Chokoloskee island. It's a little early right now. Might be better off hitting the keys if you have the time and money.

[JoeBass]

Thanks for the advice and leads. I am going to try the back country fishing, hey if I could get into some 10# jacks like you Piemma, that would be great. And I'll give that guide a look. Thanks again.

[JoeBass]

Capecodder....great link....thank you.

[piemma]

You are welcome Joe. Sean is a good guide and really worked hard to put us on fish.

[joebe]

I used Mangrove Outfitters. It's a fly shop in Naples. I was there right around this time a couple years ago. Same issue with the weather, it was a little to cold for reds, had fun in the mangroves with some small snook though. The guys I dealt with at this shop seemed decent to me.