Mackeever Keys News Today

As fisherfolk are wont to say this time of year, "Tis the season." That would be the season for sheepshead, tripletail, and sharks. "Oh my!"

You name it. Snook, redfish, trout, pompano, king mackerel, cobia, snappers, bass, crappie and more are biting inshore, offshore and in fresh waters all over Southwest Florida. Even the weather has been good.

Fishing has been good, if not too windy, in local salt and fresh waters. But Florida's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has issued executive orders closing two of Southwest Florida's most popular and closely regulated species.

It's no fault of the fish that Southwest Florida fishing activity always is slow in September.

The weather and fish have been very cooperative for anglers taking advantage of the September weekends in addition to the fall red snapper season, the reopening of gray triggerfish and gag grouper, plus lots of other tasty bottom fish and pelagics.

Hurricane Idalia dealt a blow (get it?) to Southwest Florida fishing efforts this week. But the outlook for a new fall season, beginning Friday, is remarkably bright.

Fishing's pretty good around Southwest Florida in waters salt and fresh. And as this week's ON VACAY segment attests, it's been great for local folk branching out from the Florida Keys to Venice, Louisiana.

Building on a 55-year conservation legacy, the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation announced its most recent land acquisition of the MacKeever Keys. “Wit