Boca Grande tarpon fishing report

April 14th 2015

Here is a quick update of what is and has been going on in Charlotte Harbor/Boca Grande for the last month or so. The highlight of the last 5 weeks has been the snook fishing. The snook bite has been GREAT for the last 5 or 6 weeks, bait is easy to catch and the snook have been easier. I had numerous 50+ snook half days (4 hrs) this past month. I would expect the snook fishing to be great all the way through fall. I have been fishing the Placida/ Bull bay area, normally I do most of my flats fishing in Pine Island sound but this year so far I have had no reason to venture more than 5 miles from the Placida boat ramp. I have not specifically targeted redfish much the last 4 weeks, I did have one day in March where I caught about 15 redfish over 15 pounds with some pushing 30 pounds, red fish this size are not common in our area but I have a few spots that I can consistently target these bigger fish. I have been catching a few redfish every day while snook fishing as well. If you want to catch big numbers of snook fish the deeper pot holes (sand holes) that are about 20-30 feet off the shorelines. A good way to find your own spots is to get on your trolling motor and follow a shoreline while throwing out live chum, if you see a snook pop your chum, stop and anchor up because there will be plenty more there!

Tarpon Fishing

Tarpon fishing has been good the last few weeks, I began to see some fish back in Mid March. There are plenty of tarpon around as of today and we can expect the big migration to be here very soon. I hung up my flats gear last week as I am now in full tarpon mode through October. If you are a recreational angler reading my report for a heads up I would tell you the tarpon fishing is very good right now. There are a ton of tarpon in Charlotte Harbor, Boca Grande Pass, throughout Pine Island Sound, and I have heard down at knapps point off Sanibel. I haven’t been to knapps and I do not fish there often but my buddies that do fish down there have been doing very well.  I have two days left open the last week of April, I also have maybe 7 days open in June. I have taking some reservations for September and October already. I’m finally to the point in my career where I have been able to convert enough spring time clients to fall time so I should be fairly busy this fall. Last year September and October offered the best tarpon fishing of the season, in fact that has been the case for me ever since I started tarpon fishing through October almost 10 years ago. Last year I did about 20 charters between September 15th and October 30th, my goal is to book every single one of those days this year. You will not be disappointed in the Fall tarpon fishing. July and August offer great tarpon fishing as well and very little fishing pressure, I have about half of July open and I have the last 3 weeks of August open as well. Summertime tarpon fishing is very good, it is a great way to end your summer vacation!