Frequently Asked Questions
How can I contact you? I can be reached at (239) 825-8791 or if you prefer email my email address is chuckjenks82@gmail.com
Where will you pick us up at and what time? I will establish a pick up location that best suits your party. I’m centrally located in Charlotte Harbor and have pick up locations in the Boca Grande area to the north and Pine Island/Fort Myers area to the south. The time of departure depends on the tides for that particular day unless you have a set time you need to finish by.
How many can you accomodate? I can fish three angles for either tarpon fishing trip or backcountry trips. Two is the perfect number though. I will allow 4 people on the boat but only 3 lines will be fished at any giving time, four lines is too difficult too manage. If you decide to bring 4 people there will be a $75 surcharge for the fourth person.
Do you offer multi boat/corporate charters Yes, I work closely with qualified guides and can accomodate any size group. All multiple boat charters require a 50% deposit.
What if there is bad weather? Weather plays a huge role in making or breaking a trip. If I have to cancel your trip due to non safe weather conditions then I will re-book you at your next earliest convenience if possible. Usually this decision will be made the night before your trip. If you can not re-book due to your schedual or if I can not re-book you due to my schedual than your deposit will be fully refunded.
Do we need a license? No, my license covers all anglers on the boat.
Do we need to book in advance? Yes, I recommend booking at least 2 weeks in advance for backcountry fishing charters. Please book your tarpon fishing charters as soon as possible as dates fill up fast. Most of my regular clients who I have fished over the last 10 years book their Boca Grande Tarpon Fishing Charter soon after the first of the year if not sooner. In other words April through August is a busy time for me, if you want to insure your date please call as soon as possible.
What type of fishing charters do you offer? I offer tarpon fishing charters in Boca Grande and Charlotte Harbor. Also, I offer flats fishing charters for redfish, snook and trout.
What are the best months for tarpon fishing? Tarpon fishing is very good from April through October. My favorite months to fish for tarpon are September and October. There is very little boat traffic and the fish are post spawn, meening that food is now the number one thing on their minds.
Do you fish Boca Grande and Charlotte Harbor year round? Yes, I live in Charlotte Harbor. I fish Boca Grande and Charlotte Harbor year round. I have lived here and fished here my entire life. There are MANY guides advertising Boca Grande Tarpon Charters that do not live within 100 miles of Boca Grande, many of these guides come down to Boca Grande for a few weeks during May and June and are gone by July. Many of these guides claim to have fished Boca Grande for 10, 15 or even 20 years. Well that may be true but it is 10, 15 or 20 years at 5 or 6 weeks at a time. If I was going to book a charter in the Florida Keys I would not hire a fishing guide from Miami to take me.
We have seen the Boca Grande Tarpon Tournaments on t.v., will we fish that way on our charter? The type of tarpon fishing you see during those tournaments is called jig fishing. When you fish with me we will not fish with jigs. All of my tarpon charters are fished with live bait, you will actually be casting to rolling fish. If you want to jig fish around 100 other boats then I will not be able to accommodate you. Jig fishing is just not my cup of tea. Google “Boca Grande Pass Jig Fishing” and you can formulate your own opinions. If you insist on “jig” fishing in Boca Grande Pass then I will not be able to accommodate you. The state of Florida is actually in the process of banning the Boca Grande Pass “jig”, in my opinion this is a step in the right direction to help preserve the Boca Grande/Charlotte Harbor tarpon fishery.
The one type of tarpon “fishing” I do not offer to my clients is “jig” fishing inside Boca Grande Pass. Most of my returing clients as well as potential clients that are familiar with tarpon fishing in or around Boca Grande are very familiar with what the term “jig” fishing means in relation to Boca Grande. It has become clear to me that new anglers to the area may not know exactley what I’m trying to describe when I just say I will not or do not “Jig” fish. Boca Grande Pass “jig” fishing is a method that a lot of novice fishing guides use, not only is it very annoying to do it is very disruptive and very harmful to the Boca Grande Tarpon fishery. Basically, the fishing “guide” will CHASE down a school of tarpon with his outboard, throw his boat in reverse and have his clients drop 6 ounce pieces of lead with the hook attatched to the top of the lead below the school of tarpon. The tarpon will swim into the line and become snagged. This type of tarpon “fishing” is the exact opposite thing that a angler would want to do in order to catch a tarpon, if of course the angler wanted to catch their tarpon inside the mouth. I encourage you to please click on the links below to see why I do not “jig” fish for tarpon and why I think it is a bad thing for our fishery. You can make the judgement call if you want to fish this way or not for tarpon, if you do that is fine, you just won’t fish that way with me.
Charter Details
Boca Grande Tarpon Fishing– Boca Grande Tarpon Fishing Charters are 6, 10, or 12 hrs. Please call or email me for rates.
Boca Grande Backcountry and Flats Fishing Charters– Boca Grande Flats Fishing Charters are 4, 6, and 8 hour trips.
What are your rates? Please call or email for current rates. My tarpon fishing rates may vary from year to year depending on the price of fuel as well as the price of tarpon crabs.
How many anglers can fish? The perfect number of anglers for a tarpon trip is 2, although 3 anglers is not bad. I allow 4 anglers on the boat but only 3 anglers can fish at any giving time. Four Lines is just too difficult to manage.
2022 Rates
My rates for the 2022 tarpon season are below. I provide everything that your group needs except food and drinks. 6 hour tarpon charters are limited in May and June, if you want to book a 6 hour trip in May or June please know that those trips are on a very tight time schedule. Six hour tarpon charters those month will run from 6am-noon or 1pm-7pm, I do not have any flexibility with 6 hour charters to adjust the time or to add more time to your charter. The only way to ensure that you will be on the boat for the best bite for any particular day is to book the entire day. Tarpon are very unpredictable, the bite varies from day to day and hour to hour. My rates are for up to 3 anglers, there is a $100 charge to add a fourth angler:
6 hours- $1000
8 hours- $1200
10 hours- $1400
12 hours- $1600
Tarpon Guarantee
Although I do not have a tarpon guarantee due to the fact that it is impossible to guarantee anyone that they will actully LAND a tarpon there are a few guides in my area that do have some sort of guarantee. Please keep in mind that there is NOT a fishing guide that offers a guarantee that you will actually CATCH a tarpon. All the guarantees that I have found from my direct competition in regards to tarpon charters are simply that an angler is guaranteed to “JUMP” or “HOOK” a tarpon. All of the guarantees I have found are for 12 hour full day charters only for May and June. I will MATCH any guarantee that you find on the internet for tarpon fishing in Charlotte Harbor or Boca Grande. Simply send me a link to the other guides policy or guarantee and I will match it. I will go one step further and MATCH any guarantee you find for Charlotte Harbor or Boca Grande tarpon fishing for any time frame, not just May and June. The reason I do not offer a guarantee is that in my opinion a tarpon guarantee is nothing more than a cheap marketing ploy that provides the potential client a false sense of hope that they will LAND a tarpon or not have to pay for their trip.