Marco Island, Ft. Myers & Boca Grande

Busy Fishin ! So far the month of September has been busy. In fact, all of the fall month are known for action filled days. The months of September, October and November are the months where baitfish along with all the fish that feed on them move down the coast headed for the warm waters of the keys. Tarpon: Are on the move along the beaches from Boca Grande to Flamingo. Just this week I talked to Captains Bo Johnson, Robby Daffin and Fred Lieb. All were finding tarpon in different locations. Bo was beach fishing along the barrier islands of Pine Island Sound. Robby was plug fishing in the rivers south of Chokoluskee and Fred was fishing in the upper part of Charlotte Harbor. All three reported good numbers of tarpon. Most were over 100-pounds. I didn't get a chance to get in on the action because I was targeting snook and redfish. Snook: are moving toward the inside and staging on the points of the upper 10,000 Islands. I also found large numbers of snook moving into the creeks of the east side of Charlotte Harbor. Most of the snook have been below the 26-inch minimum. Live sardines, pinfish and soft plastic jerk baits have done the best. Redfish: Charlotte Harbor has been the best spot for my trips on redfish. We have been having good success throwing gold spoons and jerk baits early in the moring for slot sized reds and then changing to pinfish under the mangroves later in the day. I have also been picking up a few reds per day out of Marco Island. We have been catching most of them on small shiners. Flounder are very good out of Marco Island. This is not a species that we usually catch. Fish sardines on a fish finder rig over sandy bottom just inside the passes and you should have good success. We caught them this time last year also. Snapper and jack crevelle are all over the upper 10,000 Islands. Fish with sardines, shrimp or small pinfish and you'll catch plenty. Try rising tides around points with good current. Large numbers of bluefish, jacks and spanish mackerel are moving into our area. I found these species on most of the nearshore wrecks this week. We caught them on flies, and bait. Again, all the action that you want. The forecast for next month is excellent. October is probably our best fishing month. Tarpon, kingfish, bonito, sharks and tripletail will be the new targets. Don't forget that some of the best snook and redfishing of the year is in October also! Good Luck! Capt. Scott Hughes Blackwater Charters 941-575-2389