Marco Island, Ft. Myers & Boca Grande

Capt. Scott Hughes
May 16, 2007
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

Come and Get'em! Tarpon, that is.

Each year I totally devote the months of May and June to tarpon fishing and this year the fishing has been great. We've had to endure some pretty harsh conditions but the fishing has been good enough to hook at least one tarpon each day with the exception of one morning earlier this week.

Tarpon are pretty much everywhere right now. Some places are getting better while other places are starting to fall off. As the tarpon get closer to the spawn of the full and new moons over the next two months they will concentrate in certain locations and and they will rest and feed in other locations on the quarter moons.

Upper Bay Tarpon: The fishing in the upper bay suffered some last week due to high winds that made the harbor choppy. Still there were some good catches during some brief calm periods. Look for the deep holes that will hold the fish during the quarter moons phases early this month.

Flats Tarpon: The flats of Pine Island Sound produced some of the best fishing this week. Cut mullet, and live thread herring was the bait that produced the most fish. There are a number of productive flats along the intercoastal waterway all the way from Charlotte Harbor to the Sanibel causeway.

Beach Tarpon: The beach tarpon was the only "bust" for the most part last week. A few pods have been here and there but the beaches have been slow for the most part. A good group of fish did move out of Boca Grande pass and and was located off Englewood and a lot of fish was jumped from that group.

Pass Tarpon: As the fish get closer to the spawn they will concentrate near the passes. Captiva, Gassprilla and of course Boca Grande have produced good catches this week. Jigging and drifting threadfin herring or crabs are the best ways to hook the pass tarpon.

Offshore tarpon: There are still some tarpon being caught along the migrations points offshore. Some good fish were located and and fed well offshore of Marco Island this week and I have been getting some decent reports from offshore of Ft Myers Beach and Sanibel Island. Most anglers target offshore tarpon by fishing and chumming with cut mackerel, ladyfish, catfish or bunker.

River Tarpon: I don't usually target tarpon in the rivers and canal systems this time of year but I know that there is some good fishing to be had in these areas. The bridges that cross upper Charlotte Harbor will hold lots of smaller that this time of year and the canals of Cape Coral and the bridges over the Caloosahatchee River will hold some good fish. The Skyway bridge over Tampa Bay is another good spot to hook a big tarpon. You can fish these tarpon a number of ways but drifting and casting live thread herring will work in all situations.

Good Luck!

Capt. Scott Hughes

Blackwater Charters

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