Naples Florida fishing charter guide service

Spent most of last week out around US41 targeting Tarpon. We had 3 amazing days of Tarpon fishing, with over 20 hooked, including a couple in the 50lb class. A couple of hits on flies, but most action came on a swimbait. How many of these fish were landed? Try NONE! Quite frustrating, but still an amazing experience jumping some big Tarpon from the shoreline in small canals! I went solo out to the beach this morning for 3 hours to see whats going on there. Water was flat and clear, tides were just marginal, and the action was fair. 3 Snook landed and a couple of Jacks that were barely noticeable, mixed into a huge school of rays. Great fun on a 5 weight! I used my standard small, synthetic minnow pattern. The fishing will improve with a bigger tide swing. Tons of bait along the beach...glass minnows and greenies.   RIGHT NOW is a great time for a large Tarpon from shore!  A unique experience for sure!  Fishing early in the day is still comfortable and very productive, so lets go!!!

Thursday the 7th started off slow.  Low, stagnant water is a problem in many of the canals (cmon rain!).  With that said, there are fish to be had if you know where to look.  After a couple of decent Snook in the morning, we went to a Tarpon spot and chucked the swimbait for awhile.  To make a long story short, in 2 hours 11 Tarpon from 10-50lbs were either hooked or missed, NONE stayed on longer than 3 seconds.  It seemed like alot of the fish were merely slapping at the bait, while some actually did eat it.  On top of that, there were a few follows from some monster Snook in the 20lb class but they just wouldnt commit.   I couldnt believe it!!  I went back the next day to evoke some revenge!!  Well, most of the Tarpon had moved on.  I had one follow, and one come up and snap at the bait as well as another big 10+lb Snook that did the same.  That died off, so I decided to salvage things with a couple of nice Largemouth.  Ive never seen that many trophy class fish lost or missed in a 2 day period!  Argh, frustrating!!!  It's been VERY hot out there, make sure you are wearing plenty of sunscreen, or better yet, just cover up every inch of skin you can!  A BUFF brand facemask is a great thing to have if you want to protect your face from the intense sun and damaging water reflection!

I was in the San Francisco area for a friends' wedding, so when I had time I snuck up to Pyramid Lake, NV for my annual spring trip.  The fishing was PHENOMENAL with around 80 trout landed in 3 days.  Average was around 20" with my largest around 5-6lbs.  While the temps were warm, the wind was blowing, especially the last day where winds were 25-40+ the entire time!  Thankfully only short casts with my 5 weight were needed!

 Spent a half day on the Tamiami Canals looking for Tarpon.   We found a few Tarpon rolling, but couldnt get any to commit.  One did chase the plug all the way in though which made the heart thump!   Lots of Snook and Jacks around and we got into a few.  Too bad we werent targeting them it would have been a much more productive day!!   All in all a fun day exploring once again.  I am always finding new spots out here.

Conditions as of late have been typical of Florida in the springtime...WINDY!!  We just experienced what will likely be our last cold front until later this year, as hot and muggy weather is building back in thru the extended forecast.  The beaches have been blown out for weeks now, which really stinks because the Snook ARE there.  Look for the weather to improve as summer approaches and the east winds takeover.  We have been hooking a few small Tarpon, Snook, and Jacks out along US 41 lately.

With the water temp around 70 degrees, I decided to go down to the beach for the first time this year and see what was happening.  Nice conditions....a moderate wind out of the east, warm, and very clear/calm water.  What I found was quite a bit of bait, and a few Snook.  Spotted probably 10 Snook, and was able to get 3 to grab...problem was none of them found the hook!  Missed all 3 of them.  It's only going to improve!!!!