Ft. Myers Fishing Report

Fort Myers to Boca Grande early spring fishing report 2012

nospam@example.com (Capt Scott Hughes) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 07:37:29 -0700

Fort Myers to Boca Grande early spring fishing report 2012
Capt. Scott Hughes
February 26, 2012
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

Spring has come early this year. Even when we get a cold front its not very cold. The last front only dropped the water temps down a couple of degrees. Normally after a front this time of year the bite slows down and the fish seek water water. Well thats not the case this year. I fish during the passing of a front yesterday and the speckled trout and redfish fed just like they did the day before. Even with a stiff north wind the fish were biting on the artificial lures.

Redish: Fishing for redfish has been excellent all winter but now that the tides are getting higher is really been good and we are finally starting to see some real nice 7-10 pounders on the flats. All areas in Southwest Florida are producing good redfish. The east and west walls of Charlotte Harbor are hold slot size fish and i've even heard reports of good redishing in the river mouths. Naturally The flats near Gaspiralla Sound are hold good redfish and so is Pine Island Sound. Most of my fishing has been arfifical lures but alot of guys like to put live bait on a cork. Each to his own. Both methods are productive.

Speckled Trout: Trout fishing is good for most everyone because the fish are very scattered out on the flats due to the water water tempatures. I would rather have colder water because that pushes them to more isolated pockets and makes for some great action. No need for live bait for the trout. They bite lures better than the bait most of the time.

Snook: I have not been targeting snook because most of the best snook fishing is with live sardines and I have been able to keep people happy without the use of live bait. However, I know plenty of other guides who do target snook and they are haivng a great year on snook in Charlotte Harbor. Snook up to 30 inches have been common catches with the use of live sardines.

Sharks: Again I have not been targeting sharks but I have been seeing a lot of them lately and I know a few guys that target large sharks daily. They are hooking sharks up to 200 pounds almost every day. Bulls, spinner and blacktips are the most common catches right now.

Tarpon: I have not tried to target tarpon because March is usually to early for them in Southwest Florida but the conditions are getting closer to what tarpon like. If we get a good weather window i'd expect to see some tarpon reports. It might even be from me:)

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

Expect good fishing in March for most of the above species for the next couple of months.

Target Species:

redfish, specked trout

Fort Myers to Boca Grande fishing spring fishing report 2012

nospam@example.com (Capt Scott Hughes) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:44:04 -0700

Fort Myers to Boca Grande early spring fishing report 2012
Capt. Scott Hughes
February 10, 2012
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

This year continues to be the warmest winter that I can remember. The water temps are in the 70's and the fish are acting like its already spring. Some sardines have already started moving in on the flats. I have also spotted tarpon in a number of areas but the weather has not been favorable for targeting tarpon.

Redfish fishing in Pine Island and Charlotte Harbor continues to be my main target species. The higher tides have been the best but on occasion I've caught good redfish on the lower tides. The warmer than normal water temps have really changed the paterns of the redfish for this time of year. A lot of the redfish are already in large schools. When you find the school you can catch a lot of fish but if you don't find the school then you probably won't catch any redfish.

Specked trout fishing is still good but not as good as past years. I am having a harder time location the larger 20-25 inch trout. Most of the speckled trout on the flats are lower slot or under sized fish.

Flounder fishing is almost dried up because the trout are so aggressive that a flounder doesn't have change to get the bait. I'm still catching a couple per trip but the quality is low.

Snook fishing is improving and the use of live sardines is helping anglers catch good number of snook for the fist time in a few years. Charlotte Harbor is the better area for the snook right now. All snook fishing is catch and release only on our coast.

Tarpon and sharks are starting to move into Southwest Florida. I saw a tarpon in 4 different areas on one scouting trip last week. We weather was not great for targeting tarpon and it didn't get any hook-ups but the fish were there and they were big. It won't be long if it staying this warm.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

We are supposed to have a cool down this weekend and i hope that its enough to slow down the spring migration. We don't want it to get to warm to fast. It will mess with the fishing patterns and make the fishing slower during the summer. Expect the fishing for redfish and snook to get much better as we get closer to March. Speckled trout fishing continue to be decent. they usually spawn in April but i expect it start in March this year. We should also start to see more cobia and mackerel in the comming weeks.

Target Species:

redfish, speckled trout, snook, tarpon

Fort Myers to Boca Grande fishing forecast for Feburary 2012

nospam@example.com (Capt Scott Hughes) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 06:51:16 -0700

Fort Myers to Boca Grande fishing report for late January 2012
Capt. Scott Hughes
January 28, 2012
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

The spring like weather continues and the fish are starting to think its spring as well. I actually don't like warm weather in the winter. I have been patterning redfish and speckled trout during the winter months for a long time and I have figured out how to catch them under almost any weather condition. When it is unseasonably warm during the winter months the fish start to think its spring and the fish fall out of those patterns and we have to adjust to the warmer conditions.

The fishing for redfish is still the best thing going on the flats. I spent a few days on the north side of Charlotte Harbor and we caught lots of 3-4 pound redfish using live shrimp and weedless soft plastic lures. Pine Island also is still producing good redfish action with a few 10-12 pounders mixed in with the smaller redfish.

The warm winter has probably affected to speckled trout fishing the most. I have been able to catch limits of good sized trout any time that i want but I'm having to work a little harder than normal because the fish are on the move due to the 71 degree water temps. We don't usually see 70 degree water temps until mid to late March. On the bright side, keeper trout can be found almost anywhere there is grass and clean water.

Flounder fishing has also suffered from the warmer than normal water temps. When its warm the flounder push out into the deeper water of the harbor. After a strong cold front they will seek the warmth of the shallows. I'm still catching a few per day but they are much smaller than earlier in the season.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

I expect the good fishing to continue. Larger redfish will start to show up and the speckled trout fishing will be good for a few more months. If it stays warm expect a early spring with baitfish and snook showing up in mix. Also the tarpon will probably make an early showing. But, that is not always a good thing for the season as a whole.

Target Species:

redfish, speckled trout, flounder

Fort Myers to Boca Grande fishing report for January 2012

nospam@example.com (Capt Scott Hughes) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 06:47:11 -0700

Fort Myers to Boca Grande fishing report for January 2012
Capt. Scott Hughes
January 13, 2012
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

We finally received some cold weather this winter. The mercury dipped into the high 20's for a couple of days in early January and the fish responded after a few days of hibernation. The fishing for redfish and flounder really improved with the cold snap. Redfish pushed up on the grass flats looking for food and the flounder moved into the deeper sloughs and potholes. Speckled trout fishing changed quite a bit but was still good when you could find fish. The sheephead bite has also turned on and I even went out and caught a few last week.

After the cold snap I ditched my artificial lures and fished with fresh shrimp. We caught limits of speckled trout and redfish. The flounder bite was really good also. The first warm day after the front pruduced 15 keeper sized flounder. That's a lot of flounder for our area since Southwest Florida is not known for its flounder fishing.

Last week's weather was quite a bit warmer and we had to adapt to the changing conditions. The redfish scattered out on the flats and sighting was the most productive method. The redfish were "tailing" as pushed up onto the higher flats and we cast live shrimp to them and caught a dozen with four or five of them going over 10 pounds. The speckled trout were still hiding in the rooler moss and they responded weel to a variety of soft plastic lures. A few flounder were also caught while targeting the speckled trout.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

Lookf for the same kind of fishing that we've had for the past month. Use live bait after the fronts and lures when its warmer. Redfish, speckled trout and flounder will be the main catches on the flats and sheephaed and grouper will be nearshore and in the passes.

Target Species:

redfish, speckled trout, flounder

Fort Myers to Boca Grande Christmas Fishing Report

nospam@example.com (Capt Scott Hughes) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 18:22:35 -0700

Fort Myers to Boca Grande Christmas Fishing Report
Capt. Scott Hughes
December 26, 2011
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

Its been unseasonably warm for the past month. It hasn't really hurt the fishing except for the flounder have pushed off the flats and more toward the gulf. Redfish and speckled trout fishing is still very good with double digit catches of both species common on 4 or 6hr trips. I've had excellent fishing in all areas of Charlotte Harbor. The east wall, west wall and Pine Island Sound are all producing about the same results. Low to mid slot redfish, lots of good trout and a few keeper flounder are normal catches on almost every trip. I've only been using artificial lures. Shrimp will also work but since its been so warm, the pinfish and trash fishing will steal most of the shrimp so you catch more fish on the lures.

There are also a lot of smaller spanish mackerel and huge ladyfish running near the passes and in the middle of Charlotte Harbor. This is a good bet if you have a larger boat that doesn't fish the shallow flats well.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

I expect good redfish fishing to continue from now until the end of April. Trout fishing will get better as it get colder and starting on New Year Day they will be in season and you can keep 4 per person. If it remains a warm winter expect the tarpon to show up in april again in 2012.

Target Species:

redfish, speckled trout, flounder

Winter Fishing Report for fort Myers to Boca Grande Florida

nospam@example.com (Capt Scott Hughes) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:26:07 -0700

Winter fishing report, Fort Myers to Boca Grande, Fl
Capt. Scott Hughes
November 30, 2011
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

We have had a mild fall and winter so far this year. I am mostly targeting redfish, speckled trout and flounder with artificial lure in Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound because a batch of redtide put a damper on any offshoire fishing last month. The flats fishing has been good enough so I don't see any reason to to try anything different at this point. Usually as the water temperatures drop the flats fishing get better so I'm hopeing for an excellent fishing season during the holidays.

The redfish fishing has been better than last year and they are running a little bit larger than they have been the past few seasons. I've been targeting scattered fish in 1-2 feet of water with a veriety of soft plastic lures. Live shrimp has worked well also when the tide has been high.

Catch and release speckled trout fishing has been consistent with most of the fish running 14-20 inches. they have been taking soft and hard plastic lures and live shrimp. Speckled trout are catch and release only until the first of the year. When the season opens next year anglers will be allowed 4 per person.

Flounder fishing is still good. We are catching a half dozen per trip while targeting redfish and trout.

There are also a lot of spanish mackerel, sharks running near the beaches and passes. These fish are migrating down the coast and are feeding on minnows. If your going to target these fish you need to look for the flocks of birds. Follow the birds and you'll find the fish. For the mackerel use small spoons and jigs. for the shards use ladyfish, mullet, pinfish or spanish mackerel.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

I expect to have some excellent fishing during the holidays. Redfish and trout should been a staple and will keep rods bent. There should be enough flounder, pompano and mackerel around to make a fish dinner.

Target Species:

redfish, speckled trout, flounder, spanish mackerel, sharks

Fort Myers to Boca Grande fall fishing report

nospam@example.com (Capt Scott Hughes) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:09:03 -0700

Fort Myers to Boca Grande fall fishing report
Capt. Scott Hughes
October 26, 2011
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

Redtide in the gulf from North Captiva to Engelwood during the second week of October squashed my offshore fishing this fall. I went out of Boca Grande Pass a few weeks ago found lots of dead gag and red grouper. I als found quite a few dead bull redfish. Neeless to to say the fishing wasn't very good. I didn't see any eveidence of fish kills inshore nor have I seen any since. In fact the inshore fishing has been very good the entire month of October. Redfish fishing has been lately. I'm finding them along the outside bars mostly. I haven't been trying to target schools because it takes up a lot of time. Snook and speckled trout are in the same areas. The snook are migrating up the bay and the trout are moving up on the flats. I'm also seeing more keeper flounder than usual. I'm catching at least two very nice keeper flounder per trip. Pompano are also starting to make a showing on the flats. I'm catching them while targeting the flounder and specled trout.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

Speckled trout season closes on November 1st so they will all be catch and release until the 1st of the year. The good news is that I'm catching enough flounder, pompano and redfish while i'm targeting the trout to have a nice fish dinner.

Target Species:

Redfish, Speckled Trout, Flounder, Snook

Fort Myers to Boca Grande fishing inshore and offshore fishing report

nospam@example.com (Capt Scott Hughes) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 08:42:53 -0700

Fort Myers, Pine Island and Boca Grande fishing report
Capt. Scott Hughes
October 7, 2011
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

Its been two weeks now since I've been back to work. I tore the ACL in my left knee back in July and had surgury to repair it in August. I was off the water for a little over a month. The fist week back on the water was tough fishing. I found tarpon but didn't get any to bite and found a large school of redfish but spooked them and didn't catch any. After a handfull of charters this past week and a couple of practice days I'm getting more comfortable with what's going on out on the water even though I'm not physically at 100 percent.

I went back to the areas where I saw the tarpon last week and i did get them to bite this time. I hooked 7 tarpon of the the course of three trips but didn't get any of them to the boat. I lost three that were pushing 150lbs while drifing live ladyfish and lost another 4 more over the course of the next two trips while trolling large diving crank baits. Because tarpon fishing conditions were deteriating the 2nd and 3rd trip due to approaching cold front so I had to cover much more water to find the fish. To cover the most water I chose to abandon the drift fishing and tried trolling. If it weren't for some bad luck it would have worked great. We had three nice tarpon in the 80-100 pound range jump and spit the hook and one tarpon took the plug deep and chewed through the 80lb flourocarbon leader.

I also targeted redfish and specked trout on the flats last week and even though i didn't find large schools of bull redfish i did find lots of scattered slot redfish. It looks like we should another good winter with keeper redfish in the 3-6 pound class. I also had some excellent fishing for keeper sized speckled trout. I don't usually target speckled trout until later in the winter but the trout fishing was good and with more cold fronts on the way it should get better.

I also found quite a few snook in some areas. The snook fishing is far form recovered but it seems that are a targetable amount in some areas.

Spanish mackerel and bluefish are pushing nto the bay and are offshore. I did well thowing lures for spanish mackerel in the 18-20 inch range bluefish in the 4-6 lb class.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

The wind and cold fronts will probably put and end to any consistent tarpon fishing for the rest of this season but a good day can still be had for the rest of this month if you keep your eyes open. Migrating tarpon are always looking to get an easy meal and will be following baitfish schools. Redfish, snook and specked trout fishing should be good for the next couple of months and the trout fishing will get better for the rest of the winter. Offshore fishing should stay good for another month or two with grouper, king mackerel, spanish mackerel, little tunny and cobia being the main targets.

Target Species:

redfish, specked trout, tarpon, mackerel

Fort Myers to Boca Grande fall fishing report

nospam@example.com (Capt Scott Hughes) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:22:28 -0700

Fort Myers to Boca Grande fishing report
Capt. Scott Hughes
September 27, 2011
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

I'm just now getting back to light duty fishing. Its only been 5 weeks since my ACL surgury so I'm only fishing a few days a week. The first few days was tough. It takes some time to get the feels of what's going on out on the water. The first day that I went out I found some tarpon but I couldn't get them to bite. The next day I found a large school of big redfish but I spooked them so I didn't catch any of them. All of the ingredients for good fishing is in place and when I figure it out I'll have a good report. There is a lot of baitfish around right now. There are speckled trout and redfish on the flats, mackerel, bluefish and little tunny offshore and tarpon near the passes. Hopefully next week I'll have a better catching report.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

I expect good fishing for the next few months both inshore and offshore. Look for grouper, spanish mackerel, king mackerel and little tunny offshore and redfish and speckled trout inshore.

Target Species:

tarpon and redfish

Fort Myers to Boca Grande August-September Fishing Report

nospam@example.com (Capt Scott Hughes) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 06:31:31 -0700

Fort Myers to Boca Grande August-September fishing report
Capt. Scott Hughes
September 12, 2011
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

On July 12th I tore my ACL and the medial meniscus in my left knee. I was pulling in my cast net and when i twisted to dump it in the livewell it popped. I went to the deck and when i was able to get up, the knee was locked at a 30 degree angle. July is one of the prime tarpon fishing months and I had a full load of charters until the end of August. I struggled though the trips the best that i could and on August 25th I had total ACL reconstruction and had the torn part of my meniscus removed. The recovery time for this kind of surgury is around 10 months for full recovery but i expect to be fishing with a deck hand for help by the end of September.

The summer has been tough fishing for tarpon. I was able to hook at least one tarpon on each of my trips from the middle of July until the end of August but for the most part the fishing was slow. I did have a few days the first week of August where we hooked over 10 tarpon per trip while drifting in Boca Grande Pass but most of the tarpon fishing has been using cut mullet and catfish in Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound. I was averaging around 2 tarpon per day while dead baiting.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

I should be back on the water with the help of a deck hand by the end of this month. I'm not sure that the fishing will be like since i have not been on the water for almost a month. One of the guys that will be helping me out has been out targeting tarpon several days this week and he averaging around 2 tarpon per morning. He is trolling deep diving plugs over known tarpon bottom. He is not seeing any rolling tarpon but there must be enough around because he's done this three days in a row.

Refish usually start sow up this time of year. I'll probably start targeting more redfish this fall since they are in very shallow water. It will be a lot easier on my body than running a gunning in open water.

Target Species:

Tarpon and Redfish

Ft Myers to Boca Grande Tarpon Fishing Report for Spring 2011

nospam@example.com (Capt Scott Hughes) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 20:18:01 -0700

Ft Myers to Boca Grande Tarpon Fishing Report for April
Capt. Scott Hughes
April 21, 2011
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

I started consistently catching tarpon on April 7th and its been pretty good ever since. A hard cold front hampered the fishing for a day but that was about it.

The tarpon are holding in all of the usual places. The gulf south of Sanibel, all the rives and most of the passes are holding tarpon right now.

I even had a angler hook 2 and land 1 over 100 pounds on fly last week. Both tarpon hit a 6 inch streamer. We were in over 15ft of water which made for a heck of a fight on the 12wt tackle.

When bait fishing, threadfin herring have been the best baits but pinfish and cut bunker and ladyfish chunks have been hooking fish on the flats. That's about all the info that I'm sharing at this point. Its tarpon hunting season.

Good Luck,

Capt. Scott Hughes
Blackwater Charters
941-628-4247
www.blackwatercharters.com

Fort Myers saltwater and Lake Okeechobee bass fishing report

nospam@example.com (Capt Scott Hughes) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 21:00:44 -0700

Fort Myers inshore saltwater and freshwater bass fishing report
Capt. Scott Hughes
February 9, 2011
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

I make most of my living fishing for saltwater gamefish. During the winter months most of my fishing is on the flats and creeks of Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound. This kind of fishing is a lot like bass fishing but in saltwater. I grew up less than a mile from Lake Okeechobee. The first 20 years of my life were fishing for bass on the lake. Bass fishing on Lake Okeechobee has a lot in common with the flats fishing in Pine Island Sound. Most of the productive water on the lake is less than 4 feet deep and it is once again crystal clear. Most of my bass fishing is with soft plastic baits. I throw a lot of flukes, sinko's, crawfish and plastic worms. Sometimes I'll throw a topwater or a spinner bait. For saltwater flats fishing, most of the time i use a shaky head jig with a sinko or fluke. I'll also throw a lot of unweighted flukes and creature baits when sight fishing for redfish, snook and speckled trout.

The water has wormed up quite a bit in Charlotte Harbor and fishing is excellent. It wasn't bad when the water was cold but its even better now. The larger redfish are startin to show up better and they are biting well. Smaller redfish are still everywhere and they are providing some good fun while targeting spckled trout. The trout bite is off the charts. It been one of the best winter trout seasons that I can remember. You can catch all the keeper sized fish that you want with a few trophys and bunch a under sized fish mixed in. Small flounder and all over the shallow potholes. Most of them are very big but they are keeper size if you want to mess with that small of a flounder.

I've also been doing some bass fishing over on Lake okeechobee and the fishing is as good as i've seen it in 30 years. The water quality is excellent and it was 1980 the last time that i have seen the grass beds as good as they are right now. I was 10 years old in 1980.

Lure fishing for bass is pretty easy right now. I've been doing well with a variety of solf plastics. Flukes have been the best but craws and worms are working well later in the morning. There a lot of good sized bass this year. Honest 4-5 pounder are not uncommon.

For the past several years i've been running dwon into the Everglades to do my bass fishing due to the poor water quality in Lake Okeechobee but not this year. The fishing is still very good down in the Everglades but the fishing is better on the lake. My buddy Capt. Shane Miller who runs guided bass fishing charters in the Everglades tells me that he's catching 100 bass a day. That a common number down there but the bass are usually 1-2 pounds. Okeechobee is almost putting up those kind of numbers but the grade of fish is much better.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

My main focus is going to be on the flats fishing for remainder of the winter and spring but I'll do enough bass fishing to stay on top of whats going on in case someone wants to change it up and go to Okeechobee for some bass fishing.

Target Species:

redfish, speckled trout and large mouth bass

Fort Myers to Boca Grande fishing report for Charlotte Harbor

nospam@example.com (Capt Scott Hughes) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 08:38:14 -0700

Even though the charters are slower than normal this year I have been fishing several days a week on my own so that I can stay on top of the fishing. We are already experiencing a colder than normal winter and the water temps are already in the 50's. That's colder than some years where the water never dips below 60 degrees. The cold water has pushed a lot of the fish off the flats and into the creeks and canals. Redfish, speckled trout, sheepshead , flounder and pompano are still biting in these areas. I've been using live shrimp most of the time but artificial lures are doing well during the middle of the day when the water temps peak for the day.

I'm not a fan of fishing in canals, so i usually look for depressions on the flats and feeder creeks where the water is slightly warmer. The problem is that if you fishing near any canals at all, most of the fish in the area are going to go in them since a canal is a artificial water warmer. I've found that the redfish are handling the cold water the best and are still holding on the shallow grass flats the best. Speckled trout are more scattered than they were a month ago but if you hit a school of them you can catch them on every cast. Sheepshead are holding in the passes and in the potholes on the flats. However, they are biting best in the passes. I'm catching a number of flounder each day while targeting the redfish. Most are under the slot but I've been getting a few keepers each day.

Fort Myers to Boca Grande fishing report for October 2010

nospam@example.com (Capt Scott Hughes) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 14:13:28 -0700

Fort Myers to Boca Grande fishing report for October
Capt. Scott Hughes
October 15, 2010
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

The fishing is excellent in Southwest Florida right now. Inshore, offshore or nearshore has excellent opportunities with tarpon, kingfish, redfish, sharks and grouper just to name a few.

I'm still doing quite a bit of tarpon fishing and until they leave for the winter that's going to be my main target. I've had some good days along the beaches and in Boca Grande Pass but most of my fishing has been in the bay. The key to catch tarpon consistently in the late summer and fall is to stay on a pattern and when it changes put in the time and find the new pattern. If you loose the migration this time of year its over. The tarpon have been working baitfish schools. The bait depends on where the tarpon are found. On the outside, look for threadfin schools. I did well in Boca Grande using live menhaden and in the bay the tarpon are following ladyfish.

I've also been doing some nearshore and close offshore fishing. Cobia, king mackerel, false albacore tuna, spanish mackerel, sharks and grouper have been the main catches. The cobia have been holding on large sharks and the nearshore reefs. The kings, spanish and flase albacore have been migrating and i've been locating them by following birds. The sharks follow all of the above. Live sardines and threadfin herring have been my best baits but spoons have worked pretty good also.

I haven't been doing much flats fishing but I hear that the redfish, trout and snook fishing is decent. Decent means that its not the best that we've seen but worth the time. I know that the last time that I got out on the flats the reds were schooling pretty good but I took a lot of time and skill to catch those fish.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

We may have a few more weeks or more of good tarpon fishing if the weather stays mild or they could be gone in a few days if the weather turns cold and windy. The offshore fishing should stya good for another month or more and the flats fishing for trout and redfish should stay good thoughout the winter.

Target Species:

tarpon, king mackerel, false albacore, grouper

Fort Myers, Boca Grande and Charlotte Harbor fishing reports

nospam@example.com (Capt Scott Hughes) — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 11:38:16 -0700

Fall Tarpon Migration and Schooling Redfish
Capt. Scott Hughes
September 30, 2010
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

Even though the fishing charters are pretty slow right now I've been doing quite a bit of fishing on my own to stay with the fall tarpon migration. The tarpon are following the bait schools and feed heavily to fuel their migration for the winter. Most of these tarpon are very large averaging over 100 pounds. I've been doing well with a variety of artificial lure and live baits. Live ladyfish and sardines hooking the most tarpon with spoons, jigs and soft plastic swim baits producing as well. There are a number a locations that have been holding tarpon. Look for bait schools on the beaches outside of Boca Grande Pass, Captiva Island and Fort Myers Beach. You can also run into groups of migrating tarpon in the bays also.

Redfish starting schooling a few weeks ago and this is the best time of the year to catch good numbers of "bull" redfish. These over sized reds are moving though the passes and schooling on the nearby grass flats. Any outside grass flat near the passes can hold a school of redfish this time of year. I've been mostly fishing the bars in Charlotte Harbor but Pine Island Sound and Lemon Bay are also holding good schools of redfish.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

The tarpon fishing is just about over. I'd guess that we have no more than 2-3 weeks of good tarpon fishing before its over for the winter. Fishing for bull redfish should remain strong for the rest of the fall. The large schools of redfish should be around into early November. After that its mostly singles and small groups.

Target Species:

Tarpon and Redfish