Marco Island, Ft. Myers & Boca Grande

Grand Slam! Fall in the 10,000 Islands is probably the easiest place to get a grand slam which consists of catching a tarpon, snook, and redfish in one trip. You can add the trout if you want,for he ultimate grand slam. For most of last month and so far this month the possiblity of the "slam" has been present on most days. With November comes cold fronts with high winds and dropping temperatures. The fronts can put a damper on the tarpon fishing but the good thing is that this time of year the fishing gets back to normal in a couple of days. Normal for the past three weeks has been inshore slams almost every day with a couple of shots at the tarpon each day. Tarpon fishing has been more consistent with hook ups on fish in the 50-70 pound range on almost every day that the winds are light enough to get offshore. Most of the tarpon that we have been catching have been migrating a few miles offshore. Heavy chumming with live sardines have been key to getting them into casting range. Snook fishing is still fantastic. Again sardines are the bait of choice. We have been catching good numbers of snook on the flats during warm periods and in the deep channels after cold fronts. More large slot fish from 10-15 pounds are making it into my logs. We have been averaging multiple keepers each day with a few over the slot per week. I have seen the best redfish of the year for me over the past three weeks. Pine Island Sound has been prime for sight fishing with lots of tailing reds on low rising tides. Rock patches and oyster bars of the upper 10,000 Islands have been holding schools of slot sized refish at the top of the high tide. Live sardines and bucktail jigs have been producing the best. I like soft plastics for the tailers. Flies are also a favorite of mine for sight fishing reds. Other fish that have been in the daily bag of species each day have been: Hoards of jack of all sizes, door mat sized flounder, spanish mackerel, medium sized sharks, lots of ladyfish, and a few triple tail. The forecast is excellent. The best fishing will be a couple of days after a front when the winds lay down. Strong low tides will concentrate redfish in the deeper pot holes and they will feed as the water rises. Kings and bonito which are 8-10 miles offshore at the moment will move in if the winds are out of the east for a week or so. In any case, its hard not to have a ball on the water this time of year. Good Luck! Capt. Scott Hughes Blackwater Charters 863-946-9171 941-628-4247 cell