Florida Fishing Charters

Late winter low water levels make for productive fishing around the oyster beds. March is a great time to fish Charlotte Harbor's backwater. Caught this 23" redfish on a 1/4 oz jig head dressed with a root beer split tail. Finished the day up with a few spotted sea trout.

Lefty Krey has said on many occations that if he could only have one fly it would be --- yep, you got it, a Clouser Minnow in chartreus. Trout, spanish, ladyfish, jacks, small snook and even redfish eat this fly. Don't forget to use a wire trace on the toothy guys...

There are many whitebait flies available in synthetics and natural fiber. Always have a bunch of different ones with you. This particular one has an epoxy head that gets it down in the water. Whitebait patterns work on about any fish you'll find in Charlotte Harbor or the Gulf beaches.

Whistler an oldie but goodie - Not sure if this pattern is as old as the cockroach but its been around as long as I have been fly fishing. Great for reds, tarpon and snook.

Synthetic fiber baitfish fly - These are available at most fly shops. Make sure they are tied on 2X or 3X hooks. You don't need HD hooks for reds and snook but if you come across a back country tarpon you'll be able to keep connected to her beyond the first jump.

36" Cobia caught in lower Charlotte Harbor on light tackle. Too rough on the beach of Boca Grande for tarpon this morning. That’s the great thing about This piece of SW Florida’s coat; the Sounds and backcountry fishing is there if the beaches fail you.

Tarpon, Tarpon everywhere on the Beaches of Boca Grande. Fussy eaters today, but fun non-stop action all this week. .

Our last sunrise over Boca Grande for the 2013 Spring Tarpon Season... Hitting the road at way too early tomorrow morning for the 1,700 mile trek to Maine. Be in Bath on Monday night. One day to unpack. Fishing the Mighty Kennebec on Wed, Thurs, and Friday for early season striped bass. Good bye Silver Kings, Thank you for blessing and humbling us yet again... We'll be back in September to enjoy Charlotte Harbor's fall action. I am truly a lucky man to have two wonderful places to "work".

Preventative maintenance day and a break from the tarpon, snook, redfish and seatrout of Charlotte Harbor... New trailer bearings, new trailer tires, Galvanizing touch up, rebuild of spare wheel hub and yes, Fred Bogue, spin fishing reel teardown and lube, (all of them). Even had time to sort out what fly fishing gear stays in Florida and what comes to Maine. Long day but I'd rather do preventative maintenance that "repairs". I’m good to go until September now. Striped bass are in the Kennebec, Tarpon are returning to the beaches of Boca Grande. Great time to be alive just need to be in two places at once.

Monday and Tuesday we fished light tackle and fly along the beaches off Gasparilla and Cayo Costa in overcast and showers. The tarpon were spread out in pods both there and in the passes of lower Charlotte Harbor. As tropical storm Andrea approached Wednesday the winds and seas picked up making sight fishing all but impossible. The tarpon left the Harbor moving offshore to hunker down. The backcountry fishing suffered too as snook, redfish and trout laid up to ride things out. Thursday morning the dry tongue of the storm was sitting right over Charlotte Harbor. Launching in Punta Gorda at sunrise we caught a bucket load of silver trout (whiting) on structure before the wind and rain started. We were safely off the water by mid-morning. Thursday afternoon two twisters touched down in Charlotte County and wind gusts close to 50mph blew through Punta Gorda and Boca Grande. Friday was a bust because of the 2+” of rain and 3-5 foot seas that Andrea left behind. Saturday morning there were no tarpon to be found within in 3 miles of the coast… Sadly my long-time clients and dear friends Fred and Sara Bogue flew in on Tuesday afternoon to fish three days for tarpon. We still had a great time together by adjusting our plans and catching fish other than the elusive silver king. That’s fishing… Great memories are commonly made from things other than big fish – like sharing the Gulf’s first tropical storm of 2013.

Just cleared a tornado warning here on Charlotte Harbor. No touchdowns, just downpours and 30mph wind. Guess we made the correct call launching in Punta Gorda for sea trout and getting off the water earlier this morning.

This morning on the beaches of Gasparilla and Boca Grande with Bill Stevens and his bride Jan. Estimated 70-80 pound tarpon on a spin fishing rod. Two jumps and off. Truth be told - the hook up, first run and jumps are what it's all about for me... Though a boat side picture would have been nice. Slow day with only 3 jumped and one landed amongst the boats in our area.

The tarpon are settling down from the unrelenting pressure from Memorial Day weekend Boca Grande anglers. The fish in shallow water of Gasparilla Pass were still edgy on Tuesday but the pods that were in 15+ feet were much more at ease. Some of the tarpon have moved offshore to spawn as they typically do following the full moon this time of year. On their return, the fishing should be even better than it is currently; I love this time of year here in Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound. There are schools of Spanish and False Albacore (Little Tunny) a half a mile or so off the beaches. There are some snook in the toughs making for fun sight casting. As for the back country; with water temps in the mid 80’s, redfish and snook are back in the shade or in deep holes as the day heats up so go early and be patient. Spotted Seatrout are holding on the deeper grass flats. There are still some Spanish and Ladyfish around too. I’m rounding third and heading for home in my 2013 Florida guiding season. I do have a few open days before heading to Maine on June 14th so give me a call and we’ll go catch’em!

 With less than three weeks left here in Charlotte Harbor I have been landlocked all this week doing the last big project of our home renovation. It's killing me to do drywall work while the tarpon and snook play along the beaches of Boca Grande and Cayo Costa... It's a good thing that Barb has returned to Maine during this part of the project which is a complete redo of the garage. Picture the entire contents of a garage including a washer and dryer, water heater, tools and even two bicycles piled up in our living room. To say nothing about the DUST! OMG... By Memorial Day's end the project will be done and I'll be fishing Pine Island Sound. Yesssss!

05-18-13 Tarpon On and Gone Just That Quick... Brad Osborn Jumped an 80 pounder this morning off the beach at Boca Grande on spin fishing gear and a live crab. Unfortunately she cut the leader with her gill plate.

High pressure and westerly winds last week made inshore fishing a bit challenging. The beach had swells and white caps making chasing tarpon impossible. Mid-day high tides put the redfish way up into the mangroves. Monday and Tuesday the back country was shell shocked from the Flatsmasters redfish tournament. With all that, we still had some great days on the water. Thanks to some small snook, flounder, Spanish mackerel and the ever happy sea trout…  The coming week should provide lighter winds, warming water and great tides. Tarpon fishing should be very good both along the Gasparilla beaches and in Pine Island Sound. The huge snook that are laid up on light bottom of Bull and Turtle Bays should be more aggressive as the high pressure moves off. The redfish will settle down and move back on the oyster beds and out of the mangrove roots. This is the beginning of late spring Prime Time in Charlotte Harbor and Boca Grande! I have openings in my schedule so give me a call and we’ll go get em! Nothing recharges the batteries like a relaxing fun day on Beautiful Charlotte Harbor. All skill levels welcome.

Low pressure to the north has caused westerly winds and 3'-4' swells on the Boca Grande beaches since Friday. Looks like the weather pattern will finally change tomorrow night and things will settle down. Here's a teaser of things to come! Frustrating to know the tarpon are out there just waiting for us... Lots of snook have moved to Gasparilla also. It's spawning time for them too. That's ok, there's always fish to catch in the backcountry of Pine Island sound! Headed there in an hour or so with fellow Maine Guide Bill Stevens and his wife Janice.

I contacted Scott McEnaney at Orvis this week with a request. It took some doing but he hooked me up with a pre-release Helios2,  11wt rod! I'll have it later this coming week. Watch out Boca Grande tarpon... Thank you very much Scott. If this rod is as nice as the 10wt that I have (I fully expect it to be!) it will be a deadly tarpon stick. Check back for my review of it in the coming days... They will be available next month for purchase. The tarpon are here in the passes of Pine Island Sound and Boca Grande in good numbers and more are showing up daily. I have a few openings later in the month - Call me for available dates.

Sunday afternoon the fuel pump on the Yukon crapped out while we were picking up take-out at the Nav-a-gator. Take-out became eat-in at that point... Some the regulars suggested we have the Yukon towed to a garage 5 miles from our place so we called AAA. Then we bummed a ride home from Barb's sister and fiancé. Two days later we're back up and running. Other than an unexpected charge to the credit card it actually worked out very well. Veteran's Auto Repair treated us great just like my buddy Merle Ambrose would have in Maine. Barb got some down time to recover from a spill on her bike (she's fine, even peddled a mile home after it happened.) and took care of a bit of business she'd been putting off. We met some nice folks at Nav-a-Gators. And I got some painting done in the house. The Tarpon, Snook and Redfish will be there this coming week. Life is good!

Only been on the water of Charlotte Harbor a few times in the past two weeks... Been enjoying some vacation time with Barb. She heads back to Maine the end of the week and I'm already missing her...  The fishing is excellent right now. Snook are cruising in 4-6 feet of water in Pine Island Sound and the Beaches of Gasparilla. The spotted seatrout are aggressive in Bull and Turtle Bay. Spanish are in the deeper water of Gasparilla Sound. The tarpon are showing up on the Boca Grande beaches though not to the point of steady action. Bait balls everywhere on the beaches, in the sounds and backcountry. Love this time of year in Charlotte Harbor!