Marco Island, Ft. Myers & Boca Grande

Tarpon, Cobia......Gar? Well, I could sum up this week’s report like this. The tarpon are still here. The key word is “here”. The bite slowed this week for most of the anglers that I talked to. The couple of days that I got out we landed at least one tarpon in the 80-100 pound range. We located schools of tarpon on both days but the strikes were few and far between. We hooked up with large Bomber Long A shallow diver plugs, and live thread herring. Other action of note was cobia action while we were looking for tarpon. I have been seeing cobia in the 8-15 pound range cruising behind garfish. That’s right alligator gar. We have been fishing in Charlotte Harbor and the fresh water has pushed quite a few gar into the harbor and the cobia seem to like to follow them like they do rays off the beach. These cobia are hungry and will hit a number of live baits including pinfish and thread herring. Don’t be surprised if you catch a couple blind drifting for the tarpon. The redfish should be starting to form large schools in Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound. I haven’t fished for them myself, but I have heard that some good schools are in the northern sound and the west wall. In other news, I have been working on a new boat that I plan on running next year in addition to my 21 ft Maverick flats boat. That’s why I haven’t done any wading for redfish lately. I’m spending most of my free time rigging a 1977 23 ft SeaCraft tower boat. This will give me more range for running offshore trips and increasing my capacity to include more anglers on my tarpon trips. I will build a new page on my website when the boat is completed. Good Luck! Capt. Scott Hughes Blackwater Charters 863-946-9171