On the Water with Capt. Bill Russell | Now is a fun time to get out on the water and enjoy it

Finally, we put together a week of good weather. If you were on the water fishing, you probably noticed mullet and baitfish everywhere and a lot of them. The water is alive with activity from fish of all sizes, dolphins, manatees and birds right now. It’s a fun time to get on the water and enjoy it. Capt. Bill Russell Offshore, grouper, snapper and bottom fishing in general was steady if you made the run to 75 feet and deeper. Red grouper were boated, as well as big mangrove snapper, plus lanes and various other bottom dwellers. Near shore, schools of Spanish mackerel were reported a short distance off the beach from Sanibel north to the Captiva Pass. Fish were crushing bait schools with lots of birds present to give up their location. Sharks of various sizes and species were also in the mix. Mangrove snapper were caught bottom fishing the Gulf passes and nearshore reefs. Many in the passes are running undersize with some larger fish mixed in. Live shrimp was the best bait. A few sheep