[snookchaser]

Got in a couple of days in Florida last weekend. Just wanted to thank you Harry for the tip on Captain Bob Marvin. I was more than a little concerned given the fish kill two weeks before because of the freezing cold. It was pretty sad to see the tarpon and snook that were caught in the weather before they could get to the ocean. Bob was able to get us to a couple of his "glory holes" where we got into some trout and ladyfish....even got into a ladyfish blitz with some larger fish than I have seen in the area. We worked hard with the flyrod for the snook but finally found them in the backcountry early in the afternoon and had a blast. He taught a buddy of mine to fly fish and he caught 5 snook himself on a flyrod. Thanks for the recco Harry...Bob was great to be with. Appreciate it.

 

[sparse grey]

Sounds as though you had a good trip. Where were you?

 

[snookchaser]

Put in outside of marco island and fished the rookery and then towards 10,000 islands....really good day considering the fish kill before we got there. Others had it a lot tougher.

 

[dixie noormiss]

Glad you enjoyed it, SC.. Bob is a hoot, and one hell of a guide. Did you see any evidence of fish kill around Marco? Did Bob mention it?

 

[Narragansett]

Got in a couple of days in Florida last weekend. Just wanted to thank you Harry for the tip on Captain Bob Marvin. I was more than a little concerned given the fish kill two weeks before because of the freezing cold. It was pretty sad to see the tarpon and snook that were caught in the weather before they could get to the ocean. Bob was able to get us to a couple of his "glory holes" where we got into some trout and ladyfish....even got into a ladyfish blitz with some larger fish than I have seen in the area. We worked hard with the flyrod for the snook but finally found them in the backcountry early in the afternoon and had a blast. He taught a buddy of mine to fly fish and he caught 5 snook himself on a flyrod. Thanks for the recco Harry...Bob was great to be with. Appreciate it.

This sounds strange. How much does the water temp have to drop to kill the fish, and for how long ?

 

[dixie noormiss]

Pete, it is a strange occurrence. My understanding is these tropical fish are very cold succeptible, and when alow tide occurs and mud flats are exposed to cold air, the following high tide brings fish back in with it, and they suffer shock when the water cools rapidly over the bottom. There isn't alot of deeper water in the backcountry that they can escape to in order to avoid plummeting temps. The lucky ones make it out to the gulf/ocean but ones stuck inland suffer. I could be way wrong, dunno..

 

[Flyguy784]

Pete, it is a strange occurrence. My understanding is these tropical fish are very cold succeptible, and when alow tide occurs and mud flats are exposed to cold air, the following high tide brings fish back in with it, and they suffer shock when the water cools rapidly over the bottom. There isn't alot of deeper water in the backcountry that they can escape to in order to avoid plummeting temps. The lucky ones make it out to the gulf/ocean but ones stuck inland suffer. I could be way wrong, dunno..

That's about it Harry. No deep water to sink into. The fish up here are much more tolerant of rapid water temp shifts.

 

[snookchaser]

We saw a lot of evidence of fish kill. Mostly snook with a few tarpon here and there. Snook begin to get in trouble when the temp drops below 60 degrees. Depending upon who you listen to some say it will take two years to get the stock back fully to where it was. Bob was not that pessimistic. It was pretty evident though how hard hit it was. It took about two weeks for some of the bait to even come back in according to Bob. Still a great day on the water. I am going back down in two weeks and will see how much better it is recovering.

 

[BassonaFly]

Florida Cold Kills Result in Fisheries Changes