It is that time of year where just about everything is going on in Charlotte Harbor! Boca Grande Pass is full of tarpon and there are many scattered throughout the harbor. Seen some exceptionally large Cobia being caught. Large schools of Spanish mackerel are also flying around the open water of the harbor. I, myself, the past few weeks have spent a lot of time in the backwaters of Pine Island, Gasparilla sound and the upper Charlotte Harbor; have been getting a mixed bag of redfish, snook, and plenty of jacks. I forgot to add, some large trout around 20 inches long. It has not seemed to matter where I fished; the fishing has been good if you are not fishing right now; you are missing out.

I cannot believe that it is spring in Charlotte Harbor when it’s acting more like summertime. We have it all going on and it’s wonderful! Getting plenty of large trout and are snook bite is great! Redfish still scattered out, but some schools are showing up and if you are lucky to get on them, you are going to have a blast. Mangrove snapper is plentiful and Spanish mackerel are showing up in schools. Jacks are going crazy pretty much anywhere you fish they are lurking. For those who want some tarpon, they are here! Guys have been getting them from the pass and between the two rivers! It’s going to be a great year on those tarpons. In addition, we are still getting a few Tripletail, however, they are hit or miss but worth looking for.

Great few days on the water this past week, I had spent one of these days fishing in Bull and Turtle Bay area. There is no shortage of fish to be caught. Several upper slot reds with a good snook. There were plenty of smaller size jacks and ladyfish as well. A lot of action in this area, there were plenty of small sharks cruising the flats in that area which were cool to see. I had spent another day in upper Charlotte Harbor, and it is still having a good bite. It is a mixed bag a few reds, a few snooks, and mangrove snapper. Spanish Mackerel are starting to show up. The jacks are going crazy, they are in the five to seven-pound range! This is drag screaming stuff. This awesome in Charlotte Harbor with no shortage of whitebait to be caught. Tight lines Captain Scotty!

Great times on the water the past three days with old friends and clients. We caught it all; Spanish Mackerel, snapper, very large sea trout, lot of snook and Tripletail. We had one slow morning when the tide didn’t move until the afternoon, but otherwise, Charlotte Harbor is having a great bite! My Tripletail is a secret, but they are from the upper harbor to the coast. There is no shortage of large sea trout. The snook is biting well while staging for their summer spawn. Mangrove snapper is starting to show up in Charlotte Harbor for the same reasons. Redfish have been spotty in the upper harbor but on the coast, they are wrecking them. We are having one heck of a comeback since are red tide issues a couple of years ago. I forgot to add, we saw some Tarpon and Cobia. They are showing up in Charlotte Harbor; my client hooked up with a Cobia yesterday, but unfortunately, it spits the hook. The Harbor is starting to light up with a multitude of fishes. Tight lines, Captain Scotty

Could not believe it, the bait is still in Charlotte Harbor. Had to work for it. There was a mixture of greenbacks and sardines. Make sure that you use a smaller mesh, quarter-inch cast net, otherwise, you will get Christmas Tree of bait. There is plenty of fish in the Harbor and up the Peace River. In the canals will be able to catch small snooks, mangrove snapper, and small redfish. My client caught a whopper of fourteen-inch mangrove snapper, which is barely heard of in the canals. In the backcountry, there were several smaller and slot size redfish that were spotted and a client caught many from sixteen-inch to twenty-two inches. The client got broken off on numerous occasions, by bigger redfish. Snook was smacking everywhere when chum was thrown out. Several snooks were caught in between twenty to twenty-six inches. If you go up the Peace River, you have about an hour to fish before the bait starts to die. The river water, salt salinity is low, due to all the rains. Artificial is the way to fish upriver. The snook still rammed the artificial bait like it would with live bait. Had several snooks smack the line and take off to just spit the hook.

The past week on the Charlotte Harbor has been absolutely unreal, despite the cooler temperatures. The fish has been biting like crazy. Every client on the boat had bent rods. With this fish or that fish. Bait still has been easy to get in the north end of the harbor, still able to get all you need to go. Have been fishing the upper Peace River. We caught several snooks. After counting to twenty we stopped. We caught several short snook, however there were some thirty plus in the mixture. While catching snook there were schools of snapper, that showed up for the eating frenzying of the free food. We caught several keepers. Client could have gone home with dinner, however they decided to throw them back for another day. We caught several jacks, here in there, while fishing for the snooks. You should have seen the gars that were in the River, there were ranging any from six inches to three-four feet. The Peace River was loaded with them. We caught several sheep heads. Tight Lines Capt. Scotty Roe