Southwest Florida Fishing Reports

November and December saw some fantastic fishing with some nice tarpon, snook and redfish being caught. We took  a few photos but they need to be below 2.0 mega pixels to fit into this program. I am working on this at the moment. Sorry !!

We were catching tarpon up until Christmas because of the warmer temperatures. We even caught a grand slam (Tarpon, Snook, Redfish) three days ago on January 5th of this new year. As the colder weather approaches the Redfishing should continue to be strong and the big snook will start to move into the backcountry. Check out my ad in the Fly Fishing Saltwater Magazine and an article that was written on my business in the December issue of  Coastal Angler Magazine for Broward County. I will try and keep the web-site more current for all those angler up north locked inside who need a fix during these cold months.

Something to look forward to during the coldest months of the new year!!

15lb Black Drum

We hooked a 100lb tarpon and caught a few snook and this 15lb Black drum on a jig by Ian who is 9 years old. Great Job  Ian!!!

Redfish on Fly

redfish on fly

Anyone for Doubles

October has really started off well with some cooler weather and tarpon seemly everywhere. Unfortunately my fly fishing anglers during the annual Redsnook tournament only  got points for three snook and three redfish for each day.  My anglers were Chris Ivey from Fort Lauderdale and Sara Zundel from Naples, Florida.  The last day was our best day with five nice snook and two redfish and some great chances to fill the card on redfish  during the last part of the incoming tide but as luck would have it we came up a little short.  However, Sara still managed to gain top honors in the youth division beating out all three of the other divisions to win on fly. Great Job Sara!!!! That included the Bait,Spin/Plug, and Fly divisions combined for this award. We all had a great time considering the tough tides and look forward to next years tournament.  Thanks to Hells Bay Boatworks for sponsoring us with shirts and hats as well as paying the entry fee. The proceeds for this tournament went to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida to fund a research project studying fish populations in the mangroves.  This project was to be headed up by my good friend Jeffrey R. Schmid Ph.D. Here are a few of the photos taken during the two days of fishing.

What a fantastic month in the Everglades. Baby tarpon were all over the creeks and bigger tarpon  were suprising us in the shallows. Snook were all over the outside islands and redfishing was hot and cold.  Every morning we had the grand slam (tarpon,snook and redfish) on our minds and most days we got it done. No photos because my camera is being fixed.  Thanks to everyone who fished with me this month!!

The Mayor of Port Mansfield

I have been  fishing along the South Texas Coast over the last couple of weeks and enjoying some fantastic Redfish and speckled trout  fishing.  Port Mansfield is a little Texas town along the famous King Ranch with whitetail deer and Rio Grand turkey walking around downtown.  I think the mayor of Mansfield eats corn and oats!!

Evening feeding

28" redfish

We targeted tailing redfish and plenty of big trout on these grassflats  on poppers and slider early in the morning and then as the wind kicked up we used topwater plugs and spoons to really clean-up.

25" Speckled trout

The wind really can get moving in this part of Texas but certain flats can be untouched by the wind. Padre Island and all the spoil island seem to raise the wind above the water level. The grass on the surface of the water during lower tides also helps.  I grew up along this coastline before guiding the Everglades  and during August -October I am going to guide the Texas Coast. These are the best months to be in Texas fishing. The 25-30″ redfish are schooling up for the migration out the pass into the gulf and trout are everywhere. So come on down and eat some great mexican food and do some fishing. I will be fishing Rockport-Port Mansfield. Lodging is great from Rockport to Port Mansfield. I will try and get some links for places to stay but if you have any questions now just call or e-mail me. 

Average speckled trout

Average redfish on the flats 25"

Average 18-22" trout on the flats

More to come as I explore  some old stopping grounds!!

Just got the new motor for next season and I am ready to start fishing. The bigger 40hp yamaha will push us with two big anglers at a comfortable speed. The winter time haunts will be in our range optimizing fishing time instead of running time. I had to raise the platform three inches to fit everything but this motor was way over due.  Come on down and try it out.  I took it out yesterday and caught two tarpon on fly solo. This motor is soooooooo quiet.  Thanks to the everyone that made this possible.

Chris Emblidge had the foredeck for a day and what a memorable day it was. The weather was nice and the water was full of bait in every size. Tarpon were present but were just making passes at the lures we used. We caught our snook early on jigs and then sight fished a few redfish later in the day. We did see 15 or so redfish in the shadows but only managed one nice 25″ redfish and had two others eat the gold spoon but no solid hookups. That happens when you see the eat and pull the rod before the fish actually get the lure or fly in its month.

snook on jig

It has been hot but the fishing has been good mostly in the early morning hours. Leaving the dock at 5:45am and returning around 2:00pm or so. Depending on the weather and the fishing. We had a few days in July that Bob Maucher of Coastal Angler Magazine had and the weather stayed overcast for most of the day. The fishing was fantastic with lots of snook and redfish being sight fished in the shallows. Even on Bob’s crazy worm!! He also got a few on top-water as well as letting me in on the action.  

The Author's fish from the poling platform

31" snook

Bob's redfish on a bass worm?

Tom and his son had two days of braking off a tarpon each day and catching a few nice snook. Both tarpon were laid up and the eats were epic but the explosions after the initial take proved to be to dramatic.  The last day was overcast and the tarpon fishing was good with rolling and laid up shots all morning until noon. When a thunderstorm sent us to the dock early.

James Overturf paid me a visit and we had some great fishing over the three days we fished. We saw tarpon each day and caught snook but on the last day we really nailed it. We ended up with a 20-30Lb tarpon and a 100+pounder to the boat with photos by 8:30am. We then went after snook and caught a few before heading in after a great day. 

David Philps paid me a visit and we had two great days on the water. The first day we had another monster 32″ redfish to the boat and landed a few nice snook. We had some shots at tarpon early but the full moon really slowed them down. We did catch a bunch of snook early on the last day and just before heading in for the day caught two 30″ snook on fly. Wow what a great time.  

Frances from Hollywood Florida fished with me this past week and had shots at over 40 snook early and a 150LB tarpon in get this 2 Feet of water. The afternoon was great as well with a few snook being caught and then Frances let me fish for 30 minutes. I hooked a big snook and broke him off in the roots. Then I hooked a nice baby tarpon in the 20LB range on the 7 wt and had a few jumps before I gave the rod to Frances to enjoy. What a day!! Lets do that again soon.

I still have a few days in the last week in June and the first week of July and would love to fill them soon. These should be some great days for a grand slam on fly or plug.  Shot me an e-mail and the photos of all these trips will be coming soon. Thanks again guys.

Well, I don’t think I have seen so may tarpon and snook during the last two weeks of May in awhile. John Manuel and Lee Sprikles had a few days with me and what a great time we had. We jumped three tarpon each day put never got one to the boat.  The hook would pop out on the eat or they would jump off. We did manage a few nice snook each day and of course had some really big snook shots. One setup was a 34″plus snook with its tail out of the water under the mangrove roots. The fish would not eat. 

It was good to see my good friend Brian Peck and his brother Glenn make it down for a day and what a day it was. We broke off three snook and had shots at four snook over 34″. One big snook ate the fly but the fly pulled out.  We ended up with a few snook but the big ones broke us off or the hook   popped out of their big bucket mouths. I really look forward to fishing Brian and Glenn Peck very soon. Thanks to all the others that made  the trip this month.