Florida last week

[big guy]

Fishing was very good. Spotted seatrout are on fire and make a great ceviche. We also caught grouper, snook, redfish, bonnethead sharks, flounder, ladyfish and pinfish. Even a puffer took a bait. Live shrimp under a popping cork was the set-up for the week. Weather didn;t allow us to try reef fishing in the gulf, so we fished in the Intracoastal Waterway, Boca Grande Pass, and the bays and canals in the Lemon Bay/Engelwood/Cape Haze area. We had a blast.

Jan - March are the worst months to fish down there, but it was still good.
April to the end of June is the best, as is Sept to end of December.
July and August can be great too, but the heat, humidity and daily torential downpours will make your life misrable. Been there, done that, never again.
There are a lot of house rentals in the area, as well as boat rentals if anyone is interested. Try, Tarpon Realty, Or Bob Melvin Realty

 

[karpfarmer]

Glad to hear you had some good fishing. Got me dreaming of sun and boating and especially open water fishing!8D

 

[beernut]

Glad you had a great time Big Guy. I had the opportunity to fish Boca Grande Pass for Gag, and the docks near the pass for snook and snapper. Got into a really nice Cobia in the Pass, but lost it. I also fished the backwaters of Charlotte Harbour for snook, reds, trout, flounder, and Jacks. Its such and awesome fishery down there......you really have to get out and try it if you never have!!!

 

[big guy]

Yes Beernut, it sure is a great place to fish. Charlotte Harbour is HUGE, and there are even artificial reefs put in there to hold and keep fish all year round. The docks that you speak of are good, very good. We tried the old phosphourous dock pilings, with limited success, as the winds were crazy that day. Still, we managed some nice grouper though. June to August is Tarpon time, and you will be hard pressed to find a better place in the world for Tarpon than Boca Grande Pass. But, there are even more sharks than tarpon though, so beware. It is very common the see Hammerheads up to twenty feet, attacking the Tarpon that you are fighting. NOT a good place to swim.
The next pass to the north is Gasparilla Pass, also great.
The next pass after that to the north is Stump Pass, which is being dredged as we speak, with completion said to be the end of March. This was, and will be again a great place to fish, without the crowds of Boca Grande.
You know why we live here in the frozen north? I say it was our ancestors. When they got off the boat, and looked around, they turned right, instead of left. lol
Both Charlotte and Lee counties have websites and post some really great info for the area.