Southwest Florida Tarpon Fishing Report

The last spawn of 2011 occured last week during the week of the new moon. The fishing was excellent when you could find them. I found some large schools spawning a couple of days and we enjoyed some of the best fishing of the season. But for the most part July was tough fishing. The water of Charlotte Harbor is milky and sight fishing is very difficult. Most of the better days have come by using dead mullet or ladyfish. Most of the tarpon in Charlotte Harbor are smaller tarpon in the 30-50 lb class. Later in month I was able to find larger tarpon in the 100-130 lb class by looking in other areas where the water quality is better. The tarpon have been hungry when you find them. Thread Herring, crabs and pinfish are all working when the bite is on.