Marco Island Fishing Reports and Forecast
Naples, Marco Island, and the 10,000 Islands are home to some of Florida’s best inshore and nearshore fishing. Whether you are looking for gamefish or dinner, this area provides excellent year round opportunities. This being said our local waters are quite extensive and can be fished in many different ways. The seasons and weather also play a big roll in our fishery, and its useful to stay up to date with the current conditions to maximize your success out on the water.
I have been personally fishing these waters for 10+ years and have built friendships and connections with a long list of local captains. I will be featuring reports from Captains and myself alike on a weekly/biweekly basis. I hope you enjoy and feel free to leave a comment and I’ll see you out on the water!
Weather
latest Fishing Reports
March 11th – 2025 Marco Island Fishing Report
This past week had its challenges to say the least, most of the week had heavy wind then the weekend brought some weak step tides. Most of the action in the past week was in the backwater jigging shrimp for trout, snapper, and sheepshead. The water temp still stayed around the 71-72 degree range which is still on the colder side for spring fishing. This past week and probably the upcoming week I believe are going to be transition weeks from winter to spring, I’m looking for that water temp to hit the 74 degree mark to really kick off our spring bite. Live bait has still been tough to find, some local captains are finding it offshore early mornings before their trips but even then the say you gotta have a little luck to find them. Once the water warms up a little the live bait will push on the beach making it easier to find. And when bait is on the beach the snook and tarpon follow.
I ran out a day this past weekend but with a weak incoming step tide I knew the bite would be tough so I decided to do some scouting instead and put some miles on the skiff. After hearing some early reports of tarpon staring to show up I wanted to go see for myself. However the beach side was still murky from the wind and had a small swell coming in so that option was off the table. So I worked my way from the Marco beach all the way south to the Port of the Islands channel but couldn’t find any consistent numbers of tarpon to fish. Most likely they were not moving on the slack tide and thus not rolling or jumping in their usual migrating spots. They are still scatted and need a little luck to find a pod but these upcoming weeks are only going to get better.
This week is looking better, with some less wind (hopefully) and a full moon on Friday which means strong tides for the days around. Should be a better bite in the upcoming days.
March 3rd 2025 – Fishing Report
March 3rd, 2025
I’d say the past week was consistent, not spectacular but a solid bite. Water temp was in the 70 to 72 degree range. We had a new moon in the middle of the week and that brought some stronger tides that produced more fish. I myself only got out for a day last week, I launched the skiff out of Goodland and stayed closer only ran around 6-7 miles south. In the morning low tide I threw paddle tails on a jig and produced a solid trout bite in their usual holes in the backwater with a few snapper in the mix. After the trout bite my usual winter routine is to throw cut bait for snook and reds since live bait is hard to come by at the moment. So I caught a few ladyfish and hit a handful of spots working back towards Goodland but unfortunately came up empty. Talking to some Captains in Goodland there is a consistent trout bite and a jig and shrimp are producing snapper and sheepshead but the snook and reds were spotty with some doing good one day then nothing the next.
The weather looks good today and Tuesday with some wind coming in Wednesday and Thursday, then the tide is a step incoming for end of the week and weekend so it’s a little tougher to produce a bite. We are getting closer to spring every week which brings live bait close, big snook and tarpon off the beach, my favorite time of year to fish. With some warmer days coming the fishing is only going to get better.