Fresh Port Charlotte Fishing Reports

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

This week's fishing report is just phenomenal as last week. Charlotte Harbor has been thriving! We are catching redfish, snook, mangrove snapper, trout, and triple tails. Cobia is starting to show up and so are the schools of Spanish mackerel. The bull sharks are hanging around as well. The snook bite is everywhere, from Pine Island to Boca Grande to the mouth of both rivers. We are catching redfish on just about on every mangrove shoreline. We are getting slot sizes as well. There are schools of redfish on the coast, meaning oversize. The mangrove snapper is biting the canals of Punta Gorda. Triple tails are in the deeper water and catching them off the crab pots. While fishing for tripletail keep your eye out for cobia because they are lurking around. There has been no shortage of bait in the harbor but has been a lot of smaller bait. You may want to use a quarter mesh net. Do not worry, your bigger bait is mixed in. Bait is abundant at Jug Creek, Devil Fish and the bigger markers in the harbor. If you do not feel like getting bait, do not worry. The snook and redfish are easy to catch on artificial. I have been catching them with ease with a jerk bait. Tight Lines My Friend, Capt. Scotty Roe

Oh, my goodness, the past few days has been windy however, in the Charlotte Harbor and the Rivers we found places to hide from the wind and caught an abundance of fish. Charlotte Harbor has numerous places to hide from this wind and still go fishing. When the tide is high, redfish were in the bushes and trees and when it slowly started to go out we caught them two to three feet away from the trees. We caught several red fish between 20 to 28 inches and weighting about six to eight pounds. Is it the start of Red October?? We hope so!! While snooping, we caught several adolescent snook, which was phenomenal. These little snook swipe your bait and then you are on for a little fight. However, they are no match for “Mamma” that could be lurking for dinner. When she swipes at your bait, you better hold on, she will give you a run for your money. Just ask my wife. We caught a beautiful 30 incher, today. We also got a few trout and mangrove snapper, but they were scattered. If you catch a mangrove snapper you are still be able to bring him home for dinner. They make the best snapper sandwich. As our adventure continued to dodge the wind, we end up finding some juvenile tarpon in the back country. I could not believe it!! They would eat the chummed bait that we threw but we could not get one on the hook. Jack Crevalle, are cruising everywhere!! Hang onto your line, they take it to the limit if you let them. Your rods are bent and got a fight on your hands. One of our favorite fish to fight. They have been ranging from one pound up to seven pounds. If you want to try your day on the Harbor, please book your next adventure. Tight Lines.

Having a fantastic bite here in Charlotte Harbor, with a mixed bag of trout, snook, flounder, and snapper. Yet, big thing that is going right now is seeing a lot of redfish. It is almost that red tide has not happened, and the fishery is back. With October around the corner, we will see an abundant of redfish from Pine Island to Gasparilla Sound up to Punta Gorda. We are still getting a few Tarpon with small one in the back bay and few slobs, weighting 60-80 are being caught in the deeper waters in the Charlotte Harbor.

Where's the FISH? Well I have been in 50 feet of water and done well. I have also been in 2 ft. of water and have also done well. The trick is to go were the "red" tide isn't. Look for clear water and no mirk on top. Use live bait and cut bait to be successful.