Ft. Myers Fishing Report

Tarpon fishing report for Fort Myers to Boca Grande

Tarpon fishing report for Fort Myers to Boca Grande
Capt. Scott Hughes
July 31, 2010
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

We are still seeing some decent tarpon action in Southwest Florida. There were still good numbers of spawning schools from Boca Grande north to Sarasota on the full moon. We caught good numbers on crabs and threads along the beaches up to a few miles offshore. Small schools and singles are scattered all along the beaches from Sanibel to Boca Grande Pass. Charlotte Hrabor and Pine Island Sound have resident fish up to 100 poundes along with a host of trash fish and bait stealers.

All in all, July 2010 was one of the best that I can remember. This year it was as good if not better than June and June was pretty darn good.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

The tarpon fishing should remain good for those who are persistent and stay on the migration. Miss a few days and your back to square one.

Redfish fishing is getting better. The fish are starting to school up. Snapper are moving in also.

Target Species:

Tarpon

Tarpon report for Ft Myers to Boca Grande (no oil here)

Good tarpon fishing for Ft Myers to Boca Grande (no oil here)
Capt. Scott Hughes
June 21, 2010
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

There are still a lot of tarpon in southwest Florida. We are fishing for them along the beaches and in the passes. Sight fishing with live crabs and threadfin herring has produced the best results. Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound has had there moments when the tarpon have pushed in to feed but for the most part the fish are on the outside.

I haven't done any flats fishing since April but i hear that the snook fishing is pretty good also. Live shiners have been the key to catching good numbers.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

Tarpon fishing should continue to be good for those who say on the fish as they migrate and finish their spawning. There is plenty of bait in the area and that should hold the larger tarpon for quite a while this season.

Target Species:

Tarpon, Snook

Fort Myers to Boca Grande Tarpon Fishing Report

Fort Myers to Boca Grande Tarpon fishing report
Capt. Scott Hughes
June 2, 2010
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

So far 2010 has been a great tarpon season. There are still a lot of tarpon migrating into the area and I have been seeing huge schools of tarpon migrating offshore to spawn. The tarpon fishing in Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound is still good. The beaches both north and south of Boca Grande are holding fish also. Crabs and threadfin herring have been the best baits.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

Due to the cold winter and spring the tarpon migration is running late this year. We could see spawning schools though mid July this year.

Target Species:

Tarpon

Fort Myers Tarpon fishing report

We have a lot of tarpon in the area right now and I am catching them daily.

Marco Island to Charlotte Harbor fishing report

10,000 Islands to Charlotte Harbor fishing report
Capt. Scott Hughes
April 25, 2010
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

I've been splitting my time between the 10,000 Islands and Charlotte Harbor for the past month. The tarpon migration is about a month behind schedule this year and I'm having to go into the 10,000 islands to get on the good concentrations of migratory tarpon schools. The area is very wind dependent and if the wind is wrong the fishing can be tough. I am also seeing a lot of triple tail and permit when the weather is nice. I've been catching permit from 25-40 pounds and triple tail from 3-15 pounds. Most of the tarpon are 80-150 pounds.

When the winds are not right for the 10,000 Islands, I've been comming back to Charlotte Harbor and fishing for snook, redfish and speckled trout. The fishing is heating up for snook which is a pleasant suprise considering that we had a epic snook kill this past winter. Fishing for redfish is good with schools on the outside bars and scatters singles along the islands. I haven't been targeting speckled trout much but when I do its been great. 20 inch trout are common and fish in the 23-26 inch range are caught daily. From what I've seen there aren't enough tarpon the Charlotte Harbor area yet to target on a daily basis. That why I focusing on the waters south for my tarpon charters.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

Tarpon are in the area and will get better as it get closer to June. From what I'm seeing it will be a little while before the mass of fish will show up in Charlotte Harbor.

Snook fishing better than i expected so it should get better from here on out. The redfish fishing will be ok for a while but it will drop off some as the water gets hotter. The same for the speckled trout. There are sill plenty of mackerel and sharks around.

Target Species:

Tarpon, Permit, Triple tail, Snook and Redfish

Fort Myers Florida Fishing report

Redfish, Trout a Tarpon or two
Capt. Scott Hughes
March 26, 2010
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

This week produced some of the best redfish action that i've seen in quite a while. The water is starting to warm up and the redfish are schooled up and hungry. There aren't amny baitfish around yet, so when you get a lure or a shrimp in the face of a redfish, it will eat. There are two choices for redfish fishing right now. You can fish schools or singles. The schools are much more pressured and I haven't been doing much with the schools. I've been targeting singles and flats that have scattered redfish. The singles are taking a variety of lures and of course live shrimp.

Trout fishing is good also with lots of small fish schooling on the outside of the bars. The bigger slot sized trout are way up on the flats as shallow as they can get. I've been catching a bunch of good keepers while i'm targeting redfish. I'm also catching a few flounder while redfishing as well.

I saw a couple of tarpon this week. I had a 100 pounder try to take a trout that we had on the line and I saw another "free jump". I also have a friend who caught a 90-pounder on fly today. He had three shots a tarpon this morning and caught one of them. Its the first one that i've heard of being caught on the flats this year.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

Redfish action is hot and i don't see it getting any worse any time soon. The trout fishing should continue to be excellent and the snook fishing will get better although I'm not sure how good its going to be this year. There aren't enough tarpon showing for me to target them yet but I expect to start catching some within a week or two.

Target Species:

Redfish, Trout

Fort Myers, Charlotte Harbor and Boca Grande fishing report

We're still catching redfish and trout. No snook or tarpon yet.
Capt. Scott Hughes
March 17, 2010
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

The weather has sucked so far this month. Its been cold and windy and feels more like January rather than mid March. The fishing hasn't been as bad as the weather. We're catching winter species like redfish, speckled trout and sheepshead but the usual players like snook, mackerel and tarpon are absent.

Redfish: Fishing for redfish has been pretty good most of the time even when the weather has been bad. I've been doing the best when the winds are out of the south or west. The west winds pushes up the water on the flats and the south winds warm up the water on the flats. Northwest winds have been difficult fishing lately. I've been able to get on some decent speckled trout bite on a northwest but that about it.

Speckled trout: The fishing for specks has been good with good numbers of keepers moving out toward the passes. I'm also catching a handful of very large "gator" trout while targeting redfish.

Sheepshead: Sheepshead fishing is still going strong out in the passes and there are scatered groups of fish on the flats. I haven't targeted sheepshead in a week or so but I'm catching some big ones each day.

Snook: I haven't caught a snook yet this month. I saw about a half dozen yesterday. That the first ones that i've seen alive on the flats this year.

Tarpon: No migratory tarpon have shown up yet. In fact we are even seeing any bait migrations yet. If we start to get some bait, I'll be able to target some resident tarpon that stay here all year.

Mackerel: There are no mackerel here yet as far as I know. There were some spanish mackerel off Marco Island a month ago but they have moved out due to drop in the water temps down there.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

When the bait schools show up and the weather warms up will be able to target more of the normal spring species. Right now I still using shrimp and artificial lures. The same as i do all winter. I ready to due something different.

Target Species:

Redfish, Speckled Trout

Fort Myers, Boca Grande, Marco Island and Charlotte Harbor fishing report

Is it sping yet?
Capt. Scott Hughes
March 7, 2010
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

They tell me its March, but it sure doesn't feel like it. The fishing has been more like what we get in January rather than March. Water temps are in the upper 50's and winds have been gusting to over 20 mph almost daily. I haven't been able to get out most of them time because my customers are used to catching a bunch of fish and I'm long past thinking that I'm good enough to beat a strong cold front. On days that I've been able to get a trip in, we've had decent catches of sheephead, trout and smaller sized redfish. All of the fish have been caught while fishing with fresh shrimp on a jig. From what I've seen, all of the areas have been about the same. Pine Island Sound, Matlacha, Charlotte Harbor and Marco Island are all holding keeper sheepshead, good sized trout and small redfish. I've only seen a few snook around. There are a some spanish mackerel starting to show up off Marco so spring shouldn't be far behind.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

The weather forecasters are calling for a warm up this week. If the winds are light, I'm going to start trying to target some of the larger sized redfish that have been showing up. If not the trout and sheepshead will suffice.

Target Species:

Trout, Sheepshead, Redfish

Fort Myers and Marco Island backcountry fishing report

Capt. Scott Hughes
February 22, 2010
Marco Island - Saltwater Fishing Report

Last week I started running a few trips out of Marco island and the 10,000 Islands. Every spring I like to run my fishing charters out of Marco Island which in about an hour south of Charlotte Harbor because the bait migrations start in the 10,000 Island in early March and doesn't gt to Charlotte Harbor until late March or early April.

Trout: The water is still to cold for any baitfish schools. We worked the back bays from Everglades City to Goodland and caught good numbers of speckled trout and ladyfish. The trout were mostly over 18 inches and were very healthy and fat. We also ran into a few pompano and sheepshead.

We also worked a number of flats near Marco Island and caught loads of speckled trout, ladyfish, mackerel and sheepshead, shrimp rigged on jigheads caught most of the fish.

Pine Island and Charlotte fishing is a lot like Marco Island except that the trout a running a little smaller and there are more smaller redfish around. We are catching quite a few small to medium sized redfish in the creeks of Charlotte Harbor. Shrimp is the only bait that is catching any fish right now.

Marco Island Fishing Forecast:

The water temperatures should come up quite a bit within the next few weeks and when it does the baitfish will show up and the big gamefish will be right with them. Big jacks, sharks, mackerel, tarpon, snook and redfish will be players in March.

Fort Myers fishing report for January 2010

Despite epic fish kill, fishing is still good,
Capt. Scott Hughes
January 17, 2010
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

The extreme cold weather that we had last week killed a epic number of snook in Florida. I counted over 1000 dead snook for the FWC and most of them were "breeder" snook over 28 inches. I have heard reports from all over including lake Okeechobee and the Everglades. One good thing that has come from this is that almost all of the invasive oscar's have been killed out of the Everglades. These tropical fish have displaced bluegill and shell cracker from many of the water ways in the very southern end of the state. Despite the fish kills, the snook should rebound rather quickly because many of the snook winter in the deep rivers and creeks and most of the snook that I saw dead were from islands near the coast.

Other fish like speckled trout and redfish were un affected by the cold and have been chewing since the warm up. I ran three charters last week and we had good days on all of them. The speckled trout bite was excellent with most of the fish being legal 15 inchers or better. Redfish fishing was good also with double digit catches each day that i targeted them. I also goat lucky enough to have my firt tarpon landed of the 2010 season. A nice 90-pounder hit a 1/2 jig with a TTF trout tail and after an hour battle we leader it and took a quick pic. Most of the trout and all of the redfish hit live shrimp bumped along the bottom. I don't see why the fishing for either of these species should drop off since it won't get to cold for them. Worse case for this spring is that if the snook fishing is off we'll have to fish more for kings and sharks nearshore and redfish and trout inshore.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

Excpect trout and redfishing to be good the rest of the winter and well into spring. Hooking and landing a tarpon last week gives me hope that they will run eaarly and strong this year.

Target Species:

redfish, speckled trout

More Fishing Reports

Marco Island and Fort Myers fishing report

Marco Island and Fort Myers fishing report
Capt. Scott Hughes
December 31, 2009
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

Fished Charlotte Harbor today. Landed 70-80 speckled trout up to 23 inches, 4 redfish up to 30 inches a few sheepshead, snapper, bluefish and ladyfish. All fish were caught with shrimp and jig and Mirrolure MR 17's.

Started out of Marco Island yesterday. Water temps in the mid 50's. Worked various areas south toward Everglades City. Landed several keeper redfish, speckled trout, sheephead a bunch of ladyfish and a small snook. All fish were caught with shrimp and jig.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

With cold weather moving in, look for the fish to move to deer water. Speckled trout are now in season so now is a good time to go out and get a nice mess of fish for the frying pan.

Target Species:

Specks, reds, snook and sheephead

December Fishing Report for Boca Grande to Fort Myers

Fishing report for Boca Grande to Fort Myers
Capt. Scott Hughes
December 14, 2009
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

Week tides and a 20 knot wind slowed the flats fishing this past week. But the ingredants are still there for excellent fishing. The tides are going to be better this week and with highs in the mid-80's the fishing should get HOT!

Speckled trout: Trout fishing was good last week but not as good as it has been. Lower slot sized trout were in the shallow pot holes from Boca Grande to Pine Island but I couldn't find those 20-27 inch "gator" trout that I like to target. The tides were high most of the week and i believe that alot of fish were scattered over the grass beds.

Redfish: We didn't catch a lot of redfish last week but we saw alot. I saw plenty of "tailing" redfish feeding on the grass beds but with high winds and groups of 3-4 anglers on every trip we weren't set up well for sight fishing. We gave it our best shots but didn't get any hook-ups. The lower tides this week should move the reds in the depressions and this will allow us to blind cast for them or soak bait.

Grouper: There are still pleny of grouper nearshore and in the bay. Live bait, cut bait and shrimp with catch them.

Snook: Most of the snook have migrated into the rivers and canals. Live sardines have doing good for the guys that have going up there. I don't fish docks and canals but I do fish natural habitat in the rivers. I'll hitting some of those spots as it gets colder.

Sheephead: I haven't been fishing for them but the sheephead are moving in. I'm seeing quite a few near the passes and on docsks.

Bluefish, Jacks and Pompano: There has been alot of action from these species near the passes. Boca Grande, Captiva and Redfish Passes very active on thr rising tides. Look for the birds. You'll also find tons of ladyfish mixed with the Blues and jacks.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

The fishing has been better on the full and new moon tides. The lower water has helped concentrate the fish. A little cooler weather won't hurt. The fish are a little confused with all the mid eighties highs.

Target Species:

Speckled trout, redfish, snook, grouper, bluefish

Winter Fishing Report for Southwest Florida and Fort Myers

Winter flats fishing report
Capt. Scott Hughes
December 3, 2009
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

We are now getting a regular dose of weak cold fronts. These fronts haven't been cold but it has dropped the water temps into the mid 60's which is fairly cold for most of the tropical species that I target most of the year. The fishing is still good for the colder water species like speckled trout, grouper and redfish.

Speckled Trout: The trout fishing in Southwest Florida is as good as I've seen it in many years. The lack of redtide the last few years has allowed for the spawn to reach maturity and right now we are seeing an explosion of keeper sized trout. I'm finding good numbers of trout in the deep and shallow water in Pine Island Sound and all along the bars of Charlotte Harbor and Matlacha. I've been using a variety of soft plastics rigged weedless and on jigheads.

Remember, trout fishing is catch and release until January 1st.

Grouper: Inshore grouper fishing is excellent right now. Any structure offshore or inshore is holding some gag grouper. The size of the structure will determine the size of the fish. Live sardines and pinfish have been the best baits.

Redfish: I am catching some nice sized redfish but its not exactly on fire. There has been some "tailers" on the shallow flats on low tide and there are a few groups that are holding way in the backcountry but there are not nearly as many redfish in our area as there should be.

Mackerel: There are plenty of spanish mackerel and bluefish near the passes. So keeping rods bent is not a problem. Look for birds and dolphins. They will be near the fish. Throw spoons and jigs or fish live sardines.

Snook: Snook are not a cold water fish but the fishing has been good on the warmer days and when I've been able to find larger live sardines. There has also been some good fishing for them in the rivers and canals. Trolling plugs and live baits are the best baits.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

As its gets colder the trout fishing will get even better. The grouper should be good most of the winter but the larger fish will start to get fished out in the popular areas. Sheephead fishing really start to pick-up this month and the flounder will get better. Hopefully some better redfish action will come with the colder weather.

Target Species:

Speckled Trout, Grouper, Redfish, mackerel, snook

Fishing report for Ft Myers, Snook, Redfish, Trout and Tarpon

Southwest Florida fishing report for Charlotte Harbor
Capt. Scott Hughes
November 10, 2009
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

Right now we have a hurricane passing about 300 miles to the west of us and the winds are gusting 30-35 mph. I actually ran a charter yesterday. We hid between the island of Pine Island Sound and had a pretty good day considering the conditions. We caught some good sized snook and few redfish and some trout. We the winds subside I expect the fishing to be as good as it was before the storm.

Snook: Snook fishing has been excellent with fish moving off the coastline into the backcountry. Look for the fish to stage off sand bars and near ambush points of Charlotte Harbor and the rivers.We have been doing best with live sardines which are also called "white bait".

Redfish: The reds aren't schools up like they were last moth but there are enough around to catch a few. We have been mostly catching them as a bycatach while we are snook fishing.

Trout: Fishing for speckled trout is good but the season is closed for the next two months.

Grouper: We have lots of gag and some red grouper inshore right now. Most of the fish are runing a few pounds but I've caught grouper up to 10 pounds on almost every trip the past few weeks.

Snapper: Mangrove snapper has been decent. I am having to target them more ow that trout season is closed to harvest.

Tarpon: Yes, there are still some very large tarpon around. I've hooked 10 in the past weeks that were all over 100 pounds and most of the them were approaching 150 pounds. If the winds lay dwon and water doesn't get to cold we should be able to catch a few more before they leave for the winter.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

Snook and tarpon will be heading up the rivers and the trout, and grouper fishing will stay good. Refish and snapper should stay fairly consistent thoughout most of the winter.

Target Species:

snook, redfish, tarpon, grouper, snapper, speckled trout

Fort Myers to Boca Grande and Charlotte Harbor fishing report

Fort Myers to Boca Grande and Charlotte Harbor fishing
Capt. Scott Hughes
October 6, 2009
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

Fall is my favorite time of year to fish for a number of reasons. First of all, the water is much less crowded than the spring or summer. Secondly, all species are in season and all species are usually biting. During the late summer and early fall the inshore fish in Southwest Florida start feeding heavely on baitfish so they they can put on weight for the winter. We also get the migtations of pelegic fish that are migrating south for the winter. When conditions are right the fishing is out of control with bent rods and drags screaming all day.

Tarpon: Tarpon are not usually a main target for fall fishing but when we have a very warm fall like we have had so far this year the fishing can be just as good as spring and summer. I have hooked at least one tarpon on almost every charter for the months of September and so far this October. I have been finding them migrating with batifish schools just off the beaches from Engelwood to Sanibel. There are also a few tarpon roaming the depths of Charlotte Harbor. Look for bird activity and very large splashes or look for them slow rolling if the water is calm.

Snook: Snook fishing has been ok but not as good as i would have expected. They are pretty scattered out from the beaches all the way up to the rivers. Live sardines has produced the most for me lately.

Redfish: Redfish are schooling on the bars and flats from Sanibel to Punta Gorda. Most of these redfish are over the slot and must be released. The key is to locate the school and not of spook it by making noise. If you can do that they will eat almost anything that you put in front of them.

Trout: Trout are moving back onto the flats and we have catching them around the bait schools with suspending twitch baits. Live bait and soft plactics will work also.

Snapper: Snapper are startin to move offshore but there are still plenty on the grass flats and in the passes.

Grouper: I don't target grouper offshore but when they are inshore I will target them. The inshore wrecks and rocks are holding nice sized gag grouper and some keepers are being caught.

false albacore: Bonita or false albacore tuna are migrating down the coast and are providing for some excellent catch and release fishing with light tackle and flies.

king mackerel: are running in Boca Grande pass and offshore.

spanish mackerel and bluefish: They are everywhere and are almost a being a pain because they cut off my lures while we're trying for other species.

Sharks: Sharks are eating all of the above including the tarpon and each other.

Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:

The fishing should be excellent for the rest of the fall. We have excellent water quality this year due to more rainfall and the fishing will probably remain the same until we startin seeing some major cold fronts.

Target Species:

tarpon, snook, redfish, bonita, trout, sharks, kings, snapper