Tarpon
Beginning in April, tarpon begin their migration up the coast out of the keys and work their way towards Boca Grande Pass. At that time, I’ll start looking for some early arrivals in Pine Island Sound in hopes of finding them laid up in the sand holes off Demere Key on the eastern side of the sound. This is a good bet if the water temperature hits 75 degrees. In May, I head toward the beach and like staking out off Murdock Point just off Cayo Costa on the southern edge of Boca Grande Pass. Here, throughout the day, it’s not unusual to get shots at strings of fish moving north. This migration should go on through June.
More importantly, the upper harbor at its confluence with the Peace River outside Punta Gorda is proving to be a great fishery for small tarpon. From April to November fish from five to thirty pounds can be seen rolling from the U.S. 41 Bridge to the perimeter canals of Punta Gorda and west past Colony Point towards Ponce Park. To the west, Larger fish from 50 to 80 pounds can be found in the harbors’ deeper holes.
From Summer calms to Fall fronts
For sure, it appears the breeze has started to pick up and the air and water temperature has definitely been cooler first thing in the morning. We've gone from slick calm humid mornings to beautiful cool mornings dealing with a bit of chop. As of today, we're...
Charlotte Harbor fishing report
Exploring two different habitats. As I've been using my summer offseason to do some exploring around the bays and sounds that make our fishery so special its been interesting comparing the distinct differences between the upper harbor and Pine Island Sound. Both areas...
Charlotte Harbor fishing report
Over the past week, I've been exploring the east side of the upper harbor between Alligator Creek and Pirate Harbor. We have been going through a rainy period as the winds have switched around from the west and are bringing lots of tropical moisture in from the Gulf....