Naples / Marco Island fishing report for the week of September 17, 2026. Snook season is open on the Gulf coast and the fish are cooperating at the passes, while the backcountry redfish are beginning their fall gathering in the Ten Thousand Islands. Anglers who can fish early are having the best of it.
What’s Hitting
What’s hot this week is snook. Fish are stacked at Gordon Pass, Doctors Pass, Capri Pass, and Caxambas Pass on the outgoing tide, and they are along the beaches at first light from Naples Pier to Marco Island’s south beach. Redfish are the second story, with schools forming on the outside bars and oyster edges of the Ten Thousand Islands and around Goodland. Speckled trout have returned to the grass flats in Rookery Bay and Estero Bay after a slow summer. Mangrove snapper are thick on the nearshore reefs and around the pass structure, and a few late tarpon are still rolling off the beaches.
Where to Find Them
Snook are on the pass rocks and sandbars on the falling tide, and in the surf line along Vanderbilt Beach and the Naples beaches at first light. Redfish are on the outside oyster bars and mangrove points of the Ten Thousand Islands on the higher stages of the tide, moving into the deeper creek mouths as the water falls. Trout are on the grass in 3 to 6 feet in Rookery Bay and the Marco backwaters early. Snapper are on the nearshore reefs in 20 to 40 feet and around the docks at night.
Tides & Conditions
Moderate tides this week between the moons, with the morning outgoing setting up the pass bite. Gulf water is in the mid to upper 80s and easing at night. Mornings have been calm and clear, with the sea breeze and afternoon storms arriving on schedule. Backcountry water has been slightly stained from the summer rains but fishable.
Tackle & Tactics
Snook at the passes want live pilchards, pinfish, or threadfin herring free-lined on a 4/0 circle hook with 30 to 40-pound fluorocarbon, or a white paddle tail or flair hawk jig worked in the current. On the beach, a small white paddle tail or a live pilchard sight-cast to cruising fish. For the redfish schools, a gold spoon, a weedless paddle tail, or a cut ladyfish on the edge of the school on 20-pound leader. Trout want a popping cork and a shrimp or a soft plastic over the grass.
Local Intel This Week
The Bayview Park ramp in Naples serves Gordon Pass and the beaches, the Caxambas Park ramp on Marco Island is the closest to the south passes, and the Goodland boat park and Port of the Islands ramp are the gateways to the Ten Thousand Islands. Shore anglers are doing well at Naples Pier and the Marco south beach at first light. Fish are concentrating at the passes on the outgoing tide and on the outside bars of the Ten Thousand Islands. Check current FWC regulations, slot sizes, and seasons before keeping snook, redfish, or trout.
This Week’s Tip
In the Ten Thousand Islands, let the tide tell you where to be. Fish the outside bars on the last two hours of the rising tide when the reds push up to feed, and fall back to the creek mouths as the water drops. Chasing them on the wrong tide wastes a morning.
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