Springtime Fishing in the Everglades
By: Captain Skip Nielsen
It’s almost springtime in the Florida Keys and Everglades! With these 80-degree temps, we’re catching a variety of fish with bait we’ve caught using our Fitec Cast Net. When casting for pilchards along Florida’s shorelines, a quality shrimp net with fine tape mesh ensures you capture your bait before the school scatters.
On our way out, we caught some live pilchards with our 8′ 1/4′ Fitec Ultra Spreader cast net and used them to catch Spanish mackerel and mangroves snapper. Soon after, we spotted pelicans diving on mullet, so we broke out the 10′ 3/4″ Fitec Ultra Spreader net and, after two throws, we had plenty of fresh mullet for our outing. There are plenty of snook and redfish being caught now as well. On warmer days, live bait caught with a cast net is the bait of choice. In the tight mangrove channels and shallow flats of the Everglades, a 7 foot cast net is light and compact enough to throw accurately in spots where larger nets become unmanageable.
I have been using Fitec’s Ultra Spreader nets for a long time and always keep a mullet and a pilchard net on my boat. Lately, I’ve been cast-netting mullet for both live and dead bait. Mullet nets run thick in the Everglades every spring, and purpose-built mullet nets designed for speed and tight coverage give you the best shot at capturing them before they sound. On yesterday’s outing, numerous spinner sharks and blacktips were caught and released, along with two 12-14-foot sawfish. We also jumped off a large tarpon. With spring-like temps, they will soon be flooding the waters off Florida bay and the adjacent gulf. We also caught a photo of this large spinner shark! Having the right cast nets for fishing stowed in the boat before heading into the Everglades ensures you’re never left without the gear to gather fresh live bait on the water.
Choosing the right bait is only half the equation — you also need reliable casting nets for fishing that can handle repeated throws across a full day on the water.
About Captain Skip:
Captain Skip Nielsen is a fishing guide for Nielsen Charters in Islamorada, Florida. Captain Skip has been guiding since the early 70’s and can be reached at skipcyd@gmail.com.
