Matlacha and the surrounding Pine Island Sound area are fishing well this winter, with classic January patterns setting up around creeks, oyster bars, and deeper holes on the flats. Overall conditions Cooler temps and occasional cold fronts have pushed fish into winter spots, especially on low tides and windy days. Anglers are finding action from Matlacha Pass down through Pine Island Sound, with sheepshead, redfish, snook, and seatrout leading the way. What’s biting now • Sheepshead: Numbers are building around creeks, docks, pilings, oyster bars, and in the Gulf passes, with shrimp on light jig heads or knocker rigs the go‑to bait. • Redfish: Fish up to the upper‑slot range are coming off low‑tide potholes, then sliding onto grass flats and mangrove shorelines with the incoming water; they’re eating shrimp, cut bait, spoons, and flies. • Snook: Smaller snook are holding in deeper creeks and sheltered bays, with more consistent action on live bait along mangroves and Cape Coral/Fort Myers shorelines when temperatures stabilize. • Seatrout: Trout have been spottier than usual, but better catches are coming from bar edges and deeper grass in western Pine Island Sound and around Bokeelia while drifting shrimp or soft plastics. • Bonus species: Ladyfish, jacks, Spanish mackerel, bonnethead sharks, snapper, and black drum are mixing in over the same flats and channel edges, especially where current pushes bait. Best areas to try • Matlacha Pass: Work deep creeks and channels on cold, windy days for sheepshead, drum, snapper, and smaller snook using shrimp on the bottom. • Pine Island Sound: Target oyster bars and bar edges for sheepshead, trout, redfish, and mackerel; drifting and fan‑casting plastics or shrimp has produced steady bites. • Bokeelia and west side of Pine Island: Deeper grass and potholes are holding trout, ladyfish, and jacks, with occasional reds sliding through with the tide. • Cape Coral / Fort Myers shorelines: On good weather days with higher water, snook and redfish are feeding along mangroves and points, especially when you can fish late‑morning or afternoon high tides. Tactics and bait • Live bait: Shrimp is the workhorse right now, catching sheepshead, trout, reds, drum, snook, and bonnetheads when fished on a jig head or light knocker rig near structure. • Artificial lures: Shad‑tail plastics, spoons, and small jigs are effective when drifting bars and grass flats for trout, mackerel, ladyfish, and jacks. • Fly fishing: Sight‑fishing reds around sand holes and grass edges is productive on clear, sunny days with properly presented shrimp patterns or small baitfish flies. • Presentation tips: Focus on slower retrieves and smaller profiles during cold snaps, then speed up and cover more water as the sun warms the flats and tides rise. Planning your next trip Aim to fish low incoming tides for redfish in potholes moving onto the flats, and higher stages for snook and trout along mangroves and shorelines. On the coldest, windiest days, slide into protected creeks and deeper channels around Matlacha Pass to bend rods on sheepshead, drum, and mixed winter species until conditions improve.

Everything was biting today after lunch: redfish, black drum, Jack Cavelle spotted sea trout, and grouper.

Fished with jig and shrimp around structure.