We have four back to back charters this weekend. Memorial Day weekend is one of the busiest tarpon fishing times here in Charlotte Harbor / Boca Grande. The boat ramps are full by 7am and the prime fishing spots fill up shortly thereafter.  The good news is the tarpon have returned to the beaches and we’re getting fly fishing and light tackle shots at several fish each trip out. We’ll be working the tarpon from Captiva to Gasparilla each day. Reports and photos to follow.

Memorial Day weekend is the start of striped bass fishing on the Kennebec River. With a bit of work you can find the first Kennebec striped bass. They show up in the River at the same time as they do on the flats and in the marshes of southern Maine. Tip; work the edges of mud flats with light tackle jigs and fly fish for them with a sinking fly line. The sun warms the water over the dark colored mud attracting bait. The stripers will be there too. Now don't catch them all before I gat back to Maine on the 14th!

Thanks to my good friend Jerry Jamison for this selfy.

We’ve been doing weekly Kennebec Estuary fishing reports for the Orvis website for over 5 years. You’ll find; water conditions, hot flies, tactics that are working, an outlook for the coming week and tips on how to increase your catch. There are Orvis Fishing Reports from all across the country and international destinations at: www.orvis.com/fishingreports . This is a great resource for planning your next fishing trip. Past Reports can be viewed in our Maine Fishing Reports section. We also do the Orvis Fishing Report for our winter haunt: Charlotte Harbor, Pine Island Sound and Ding Darling Refuge.

I serve as the ASMFC Striped Bass Advisory Panel Vice Chair and thought it important to post this.

The ASMFC Striped Bass Management Board is drafting an addendum to address potential overfishing. The addendum will be voted on at the August meeting. If approved, public scoping meetings will take place along the entire Atlantic coast this fall. The Striped Bass Technical Committee has recommended reducing mortality to avoid reaching the overfishing threshold. Striped bass mortality has been steadily increasing and the young of the year index (spawning in Chesapeake Bay) has been below average for several years resulting in an overall reduction in striped bass abundance. It is extremely important for striped bass anglers all along the coast to urge their State fisheries agencies to put this important addendum out for public comment. The fishing public deserves the opportunity to express their views on this valuable public resource FMI> ASMFC press release: http://www.asmfc.org/uploads/file/53766f04pr15StripedBassDraftAddIVupdate.pdf

Charlotte Harbor Fishing Conditions: A strong cold front settled in on Wednesday of last week with strong N & NW winds which killed the tarpon fishing. There was a small bite on Wednesday before the winds picked up. The Boca Grande Kids Classic Tarpon Tournament was cancelled on Saturday due to rough conditions and the adult tourney landed 22 fish on Thursday and ZERO on Friday… The schools of tarpon moved offshore and even if they hadn’t the beaches were so rough and churned up we couldn’t fish. The wind is still blowing 20+NE today (Sunday) but the tarpon are already moving back to the beach with the wind shift.

Other Species Fished for This Week: Snook and Redfish

Fly Fishing Technics: We staked out on the shoals until the conditions made it impossible to fish. Then we worked areas in the sound for laid up tarpon. When the wind came on even stronger late in the week we went snook fishing.
Tarpon Fishing Tip of the Week: Fishing the shoals on high wind and swells can be challenging. The Tarpon run deep and are hard to spot until they are almost under the boat. Switching to a sink tip or even a shooting head line and a weighted fly will allow for quick casts and a fast sink.

Tarpon Fishing Tip of the Week: Fishing the shoals on high wind and swells can be challenging. The Tarpon run deep and are hard to spot until they are almost under the boat. Switching to a sink tip or even a shooting head line and a weighted fly will allow for quick casts and a fast sink.

Charlotte Harbor Fishing Outlook: Moderate NE winds will persist until mid-week this will allow for pretty good beach fishing conditions though the passes will be choppy. The tarpon have returned and the bite is back on.