# MARCO Island



## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

We are going to Marco at the end of the month for a family trip too. Marco is a pain when it comes to boats. You can't store a trailer/boat any where on the island other then the marina, its an island rule, not even in a hotel parking lot. The marina wanted I believe $150 just to park it there outside for the long weekend last time we went. We ended up storing the trailer off the island at a mini storage for $90/week instead. I wouldn't do that again.

This time we rented a house with a dock and garage big enough for the trailer. So no issues. The resorts/hotels there are way over priced. We have a 4 bed 3 bath house with a pool and a direct access canal, it was just under $200/night.


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## formerWAflyfisher (Sep 5, 2008)

Try Goodland for storage. Walkers or Calusa island in Goodland. I would always be careful leaving stuff out but Marco is pretty quite I really don’t think you have worry about your motor or gas tank. Honestly in Marco I be willing to bet if you left a dollar on the side walk it would be there the next day, it’s about as quite as it gets. Although the whole area is expensive. I live in Naples and I’m in the area weekly. There’s party boats in Naples at Tin City no idea of the price. 

I would def bring the Microskiff the fishing has been good and the amount of water is mind boggling.


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## Backcountry 16 (Mar 15, 2016)

If you bring your skiff there are many places to fish there is a ramp on the left before you hit Marco or you can go a little further south on 41 to port of the isles marina that will put you in the middle of the 10,000 islands. Make sure you have a gps as it's called 10,000 islanfs for a reason I even get turned around down thrrt every now and then and I have been fishing it since the 90's without a gps though I like getting lost down there.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

There is plenty of snook on the beaches and also the passes this time of year and towards the end of the month will be the full moon, which makes for good pass fishing for both snook, trout and mangrove snapper from shore. All this you can do on foot and can be a very good option to just keep the boat at home, if it causes you too much trouble. Best time to fish those is from 1st light to about an hour or so after sunrise (a 2 hr window) and also in the evenings from about an hour before sunset till dark (another 2hr window). That will give you some fishing time for yourself and then spend the rest of the day with the fam on the beach and such (winning family points ). There is also a local pier under the bridge that you go across from the mainland to Marco, that can be good night fishing. The key to fishing that pier is waiting for the moon to be up and fishing the higher sides of the incoming and/or the outgoing tides. With all of this DIY fishing on foot, basic soft plastic, bucktail jigs, some light colored soft plastic jerk baits with or w/o keel weights and a few hard baits is about all you will need and not need to worry about live bait. If live bait is your thing, bring a small cast net and a bucket with a live well pump and all the bait you'll need will be right there on the beach or pass where you'll be fishing. Make sure you use 30lb flurorcarbon leader for the snook.

For the most part, Marco is a very safe place and mostly retirees and snowbirds during the winter. So the summer is some local retirees and tourist. So it's very safe and I wouldn't worry about your boat or OB. Lake City has more crime! 

If you bring the boat, you can put in at several ramps in Goodland and fish the area just north of Goodland, including the outer islands to Cape Romano. You can also check out the Dome Homes out in the water with the fam when you are down there, if the winds and weather are good. If the winds pick up, you can head inside the outside and fish the lee sides of each island, or, fish on the inside of Marco. But be careful of the tides south and inside of Goodland and the north side of the 10k and shallow flats, cause on a low tide, you can get stranded on a low tide. I recommend having a good GPS map system and when running, keep to the channels. 

Snook, trout and reds are out and around those barrier islands and back on the inside passes around Marco. There can also be some great dock light fishing there at night around the residential canals, coming in from the back side of the island.

Ted Haas


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## Monty (Jan 10, 2018)

Backwater said:


> There is plenty of snook on the beaches and also the passes this time of year and towards the end of the month will be the full moon, which makes for good pass fishing for both snook, trout and mangrove snapper from shore. All this you can do on foot and can be a very good option to just keep the boat at home, if it causes you too much trouble. Best time to fish those is from 1st light to about an hour or so after sunrise (a 2 hr window) and also in the evenings from about an hour before sunset till dark (another 2hr window). That will give you some fishing time for yourself and then spend the rest of the day with the fam on the beach and such (winning family points ). There is also a local pier under the bridge that you go across from the mainland to Marco, that can be good night fishing. The key to fishing that pier is waiting for the moon to be up and fishing the higher sides of the incoming and/or the outgoing tides. With all of this DIY fishing on foot, basic soft plastic, bucktail jigs, some light colored soft plastic jerk baits with or w/o keel weights and a few hard baits is about all you will need and not need to worry about live bait. If live bait is your thing, bring a small cast net and a bucket with a live well pump and all the bait you'll need will be right there on the beach or pass where you'll be fishing. Make sure you use 30lb flurorcarbon leader for the snook.
> 
> For the most part, Marco is a very safe place and mostly retirees and snowbirds during the winter. So the summer is some local retirees and tourist. So it's very safe and I wouldn't worry about your boat or OB. Lake City has more crime!
> 
> ...


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## Monty (Jan 10, 2018)

Great info -- thank you all. Yes -- Tin City, that is where the party boat is located.


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