Fort Myers Fishing Report

What's Hot In The Florida Fishing Scene Now

nospam@example.com (Capt Andy Boyette) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 12:30:54 -0700

Boca Grande to Fort Myers Florida Fishing Summer Outlook

The April-July tarpon fishing season was awesome. Tarpon should stay here in good numbers through out the summer. The snook fishing reports have been better. The redfish are starting to school up and will continue through the summer and in to the fall. Mangrove snapper will move on to the flats, along with some decent grouper in the passes. Late Summer fishing in the Boca Grande and Fort Myers area should continue to be on par, with some spectacular late tarpon fishing leading the way.

Tarpon Fishing
GOT TARPON! The spawning season for tarpon may be over, but the summer season is just starting, from Charlotte Harbor to Fort Myers Florida, the summer tarpon fishing will be at its best. I always have my best tarpon fishing days in the summer, look for tarpon in Charlotte Harbor, Pine Island Sound and on the beaches, all the way to Fort Myers and throughout Southwest Florida. The fact that we have had no oil in our area and with oil north of here it is affecting the migration of tarpon and sending them back in the area, the next couple of months will BE AWESOME

Snook Fishing
Snook fishing despite the cold weather affects from earlier this year is very good and August-October should continue. Snook feed well during the spawn and the catch and release action has been really good with plenty of large Snook. These fish stage in areas close to the passes and are excited to see a live wells full of bait. The night time snook fishing around the lighted docks in Punta Gorda, Ft. Myers, Boca Grande Gasparilla to Sanibel and Captiva will have fantastic snook action and the night time temps are more fishing friendly to the anglers. Snook are still catch and release through September 1st as we wait to see if the State will reopen the harvest.

Redfish Fishing
Redfish fishing will heat up as late summer and early fall approach. The redfish will start to school up as they begin their annual spawn. Beginning in August and lasting well into October. Look for redfish to be on the outside of the bars where larger fish are maturing and venturing off into deeper water. Pinfish and sardines are key to success along with cut bait. Chumming well know areas on rising tides well activate these schools into a feeding frenzy where non stop action can be experienced. A tale-tale sign of this spawning occurrence is the shorter days leading into early fall.

Mangrove Snapper and Grouper
The near shore fishing action should pick up especially for mangrove snapper and grouper. Mangrove snapper will be found on the flats and in the passes. Fishing the Boca Grande and Captiva passes will no doubt reward the angler with a limit for the table. Light tackle and fluorocarbon leader is a must. The gag grouper in the keeper range will also be available and will require bigger tackle than the snapper.
Boca Grande to Fort Myers Florida Fishing Summer Outlook

The April-July tarpon fishing season was awesome. Tarpon should stay here in good numbers through out the summer. The snook fishing reports have been better. The redfish are starting to school up and will continue through the summer and in to the fall. Mangrove snapper will move on to the flats, along with some decent grouper in the passes. Late Summer fishing in the Boca Grande and Fort Myers area should continue to be on par, with some spectacular late tarpon fishing leading the way.

Tarpon Fishing
GOT TARPON! The spawning season for tarpon may be over, but the summer season is just starting, from Charlotte Harbor to Fort Myers Florida, the summer tarpon fishing will be at its best. I always have my best tarpon fishing days in the summer, look for tarpon in Charlotte Harbor, Pine Island Sound and on the beaches, all the way to Fort Myers and throughout Southwest Florida. The fact that we have had no oil in our area and with oil north of here it is affecting the migration of tarpon and sending them back in the area, the next couple of months will BE AWESOME

Snook Fishing
Snook fishing despite the cold weather affects from earlier this year is very good and August-October should continue. Snook feed well during the spawn and the catch and release action has been really good with plenty of large Snook. These fish stage in areas close to the passes and are excited to see a live wells full of bait. The night time snook fishing around the lighted docks in Punta Gorda, Ft. Myers, Boca Grande Gasparilla to Sanibel and Captiva will have fantastic snook action and the night time temps are more fishing friendly to the anglers. Snook are still catch and release through September 1st as we wait to see if the State will reopen the harvest.

Redfish Fishing
Redfish fishing will heat up as late summer and early fall approach. The redfish will start to school up as they begin their annual spawn. Beginning in August and lasting well into October. Look for redfish to be on the outside of the bars where larger fish are maturing and venturing off into deeper water. Pinfish and sardines are key to success along with cut bait. Chumming well know areas on rising tides well activate these schools into a feeding frenzy where non stop action can be experienced. A tale-tale sign of this spawning occurrence is the shorter days leading into early fall.

Mangrove Snapper and Grouper
The near shore fishing action should pick up especially for mangrove snapper and grouper. Mangrove snapper will be found on the flats and in the passes. Fishing the Boca Grande and Captiva passes will no doubt reward the angler with a limit for the table. Light tackle and fluorocarbon leader is a must. The gag grouper in the keeper range will also be available and will require bigger tackle than the snapper.

Fishing Is On Fire In Fort Myers

nospam@example.com (Capt Andy Boyette) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 12:27:00 -0700

The fishing has been awesome the last few days, the weather has finally became normal. I have been catching a lot of trout and redfish with most of the trout being 5-6 lbs including one that was over 30 inches. Redfish have been mixed sizes with most being cookie cutter 20-21 inch, but are making some fun nonstop action. I am still fishing mainly artificial and have not caught white bait however it is available.

The latter par of this week was spent early morning fishing on the low tides, for Lady Fish, small Sea Trout, and Spanish Mackerel. We fished open water deep flats near the passes in Pine Island sound with 1/4ounce jigs and plastics, for near non stop every cast action. Incoming tides I switched to some shallow water flats and caught redfish and large Gator Trout as they transitioned back on to the flats. Attacking troughs and potholes with hard suspending twitch baits and weed less jerk baits. I left the fishing biting each day, quick shot of a nice Trout caught, Thanks Bart it was good to see you again.

King Mackerel are migrating North, albeit a few weeks late, it falls in line with some great weather. There are Blue runners, my kingfish bait of choice, just offshore and can be caught using sabki rigs. Free lined with a skirt, over hard bottom, in the 50 foot depth range is a sure bet.

I still have a few openings left for tarpon fishing, it is limited and you should call for availability. I have 4 days left in May and June has about 10 openings. I suspect I will be catching tarpon any day now and also have a few openings in April. When tarpon fishing in April I typically can mix the trip up with some other action if requested.

Capt Andy Boyette
1-888-880-0006

Fort Myers Fishing Redfish And Tarpon

nospam@example.com (Capt Andy Boyette) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 02:51:00 -0700

The weather in Florida has been like a roller coaster with every kind of twist you could imagine. The fishing has been good on some days and not so good on others depends on which way the wind is coming from and anything with North in it is not good for me. Trout and redfish have been the main stays on my boat and on days that with light winds we put up good numbers on trout with some mixed in redfish. On the days prior to the never ending cold fronts with Southwest winds and higher tides I put up good numbers of redfish. And as earlier stated days with North winds I have struggled. The bait fish began to show up a few weeks ago but with low water temps I am still fishing mostly lures and jigs. This coming week I while begin looking for some early schooling tarpon, most of April for me is spent tarpon fishing but weather is and will always remain the deciding factor. The drought that has been plaguing Florida for the last few years seems to be diminishing, and we have been receiving quite a bit of rain. This is good news for the tarpon fishing as I suspect the crabs and harbor shrimp should begin to return to normal.

Mackerel began showing in the harbor as well as off the beach and the King Mackerel are being caught just south of here so hopefully this is a good indication that spring is finally here. The rest of this week should see temps in the lower 80s so a return to normal patterns is immerge. Tarpon should be close behind and I will being fishing for them this week. I still have some availability for the season but it is limited, this year season should be a good one.

A couple of redfish caught on a recent trip, the 2 reds together scored just over 15 lbs with one being 26 3/4 inch 8lb.

Tarpon Fishing Charters Update

nospam@example.com (Capt Andy Boyette) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:07:46 -0700

I have been booking tarpon fishing charters at a steady pace and expect my book will be filled soon.
As of today's Date Below is My Slot Availability. I have been booking at near 100% for the last 7-8 years for April-July so give me call to get in on the action.
I have 10 slots open in April
I have 9 slots open in May
I have 12 slots open in June

Go Fish Charters Certainly Isn't The Cheapest
Tarpon Fishing Charter Service You Can Hire.
It's true. There are many websites and guides on the internet where people you've never met (and never will) compete to be the cheapest. It's an obsession actually, with one guide outdoing the other to offer his service cheaper or for even a dollar less than anyone else. I don't do that, and here's why.

To be the cheapest, you have to offer the cheapest service. This might seem obvious, but think about it for a second. We all need to make some profit on every charter. If we didn't, we wouldn't be doing this. Instead, I focus on offering a higher quality charter, to the my anglers for a fair price.

I am real company. I pay rent, commercial insurance, taxes, and a million other things that come along with being legitimate. I have a number of specialized pieces of equipment that can be used do any kind of fishing in our area whether its offshore, near shore, flats, tarpon, snook, redfish, permit, shark, etc. I fish all of Southwest Florida from Englewood Beach to Marco Island; If I need to adjust your charter for success, not only can I, I will. Without these expenses, other guides can be cheaper..

Take a look through the photos section of my website, there is also a more extensive collection located at this link Photos you will see countless photos of large giant tarpon. The first thing you will notice is the same guy in every photo, that would be me holding tarpon for my clients. What you won't find is stock photos of tarpon from a professional photographer, or photos of tarpon on a another boat. I have made my living as a guide for over 10 years, I work had to ensure my clients success. And I am backing up with A No Tarpon No Pay Guarantee.

The Original No Fish-No Pay Guaranteed !!!
Capt Andy Boyette And Go Fish Charters have been a guiding clients for over 10 years, I make my living full time as a fishing guide 100%. I want to make sure you do not get fooled and hire some one who is making extra money to pay for their hobby. So before you make a mistake and hire a part time fishing guide call me and I will guarantee you a trip catching fish.

No Tarpon-No Pay Tarpon Guarantee !!!
Book My 10 hour tarpon charter and if you don't jump a tarpon the trip is free! Guaranteed! No questions asked!

My web site GoFishCharters.com

TARPON FISHING DAILY APRIL-JULY
Planning a trip for a Boca Grande tarpon fishing charter! I do two tarpon fishing trips daily May-July. These months are highly sought after, and tarpon trips book up early. Tarpon fishing has gained in popularity over the past several years, as anglers see tarpon fishing shows on TV like the Professional Tarpon Tournament Series, PTTS, and Tarpon Of Boca Grande. With such national coverage of the Boca Grande tarpon fishing phenomenon more anglers are planning their entire Florida fishing trips around Boca Grande tarpon season. I offer two 6-hour Tarpon fishing charters per day, one in the morning and one in the early afternoon. I fish the entire tarpon season every day, every year, along side some of the best guides in the business, guides like my self that can produce consistently and put their clients on tarpon day in and day out. So before you make a decision on a tarpon guide do some homework. I want to make sure you catch the tarpon of a lifetime whether or not its with me.

Capt Andy Boyette
1-888-880-0006

Winter and Early Spring Fishing

nospam@example.com (Capt Andy Boyette) — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:05:00 -0700

On my most recent trip redfish where not schooled up but where scattered throughout the pot holes and grass flats, mostly singles. We managed to catch a few, long distance casting to pot holes, rounded out the day trout fishing. The trout fishing was at times little action, but we managed to put numbers up well over a 100, to the boat; with a limit of keepers easily attained for my clients.

I will be adjusting the spring season slightly to target some less talked about species of fish including tripletail, pompano, kingfish and a few others. All of which are excellent eating and attainable targets, with sportfish qualities. I have fished for these species throughout my life as a lifelong resident of the area, so snook fishing closure should only serve to bring more variety and enjoyment to my charters. I look forward to sharing the experience and excitement of fishing for a wider variety of Florida fish species with you this spring.

Tarpon Fishing Information
Everyone by now, knows that I am offering a 10 hour tarpon trip. I wanted to clarify a few things about the 6 hour trip, and the 10 hour trip since a lot of my clients have asked me numerous questions.

Most Importantly I will still be offering a 6 hour trip for those who only wish to fish for 6 hours.

The 6 hour tarpon trip will remain unchanged and it is your choice, a 6 hour morning session and/or a 6 hour early afternoon session.

The 10 hour trips is just as it sounds 10 hours. Below I will summarize as best I can, keep in mind if you book me for the 10 hour trip the day is devoted solely to you, not like when I have either a morning or afternoon trip to worry about. On a 10 hour split day trip, we fish part of the trip in the morning, take a break and come back out to fish the remainder of the trip. Typically split 6 hours and 4 hours. If we tarpon fish only I let the fish and/or the client decide if or when there is a break (we fish the best time). Also a client who has a 10 hour trip booked can request to fish for other species, which is not possible on a 6 hour tarpon trip since economics forces me to fish an afternoon trip. So basically on the 10 hour trip the day is yours and we can break it up however as the day and fishing dictates. We also don't have to split the day up at all if there is a hot bite we will in all likelihood fish through.

Also if my schedule permits you can request to fish additional hours at $100.00 per hour. This will specifically come into play on a 10 hour trip as well as the afternoon 6 hour session. Last season (2009)saw some really good late fishing into the early evening, and I will be prepared with lighting and all necessary equipment to stay in to the early evening.

Spring Flats Fishing Information
I also want to touch on the effects of the cold winter weather we had in here Florida. You may be aware that the
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission issued an executive order on the harvest of snook, tarpon, and bonefish thru April. This was due to the potential damage that may have been done, due to the cold temperatures, and any affects it has had statewide on these subtropical fish.

Anglers may still catch and release any and all of these fish during the closure.
What this means is that you may still fish for any of these species but no one can harvest which means keep any of these species.

As a side note in recent history very few, mostly to use tarpon for bait, have been keeping tarpon , and in my 11 year career, thousands of tarpon have been caught and released on my charters, and I have never allowed or would allow one to be kept, so the tarpon fishing will never be affected on my trips.

To touch on the snook fishing in the early spring, I have kept very limited numbers of snook in the past. Most of my clients that where looking to take home something to eat, understood the importance of the snook, and always focused on other species like trout and redfish for the table. So I would like to add that this will have limited affect on my charters, we will continue to fish as normal for snook, redfish, and trout with the only change being all snook caught go back to ensure a healthy stock for next

Capt Andy Boyette

Updated Snook Fishing Report

nospam@example.com (Capt Andy Boyette) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 07:03:00 -0700

Update
While what I saw on Monday the 11th was devastating at first, I have spent time checking around the entire area since the freeze and found cause to relax a little bit.

I spent a full day on 1/14/2010 riding the entire area, and found numerous schools of snook alive and well in marina basins, deep water canals,and throughout the harbor, as well as cruising the shoreline in and around Boca Grande Pass as well as Captiva Pass. I also looked throughout Charlotte Harbor, including the mouth of both the Peace and Myakka Rivers and could find no other areas as hard hit. Hardest hit areas are mainly in those with shallow canals, bays, and waterways where snook where caught off guard with no time to migrate.

FWC from St. Petersburg report from Jan 13th 2010, approximately 13,000 out of 493,000 snook died on the east coast of the state, and that 48,000 out of a total 1.13 million snook died on the Gulf side of the state. It seems like a lot, but in a lot of places we found snook congregating in large amounts. They seem to have moved into the harbor and deep-water areas. We saw some floating upside-down on the bottom, but when we bumped them they would turn around and swim. So some may come back. The larger numbers of snook were dying in more northern regions.

I was on the water yesterday 1/15/2009 and encountered numerous redfish migrating back onto the flats. These redfish where not schooled up but where scattered throughout the pot holes and grass flats, mostly singles. Unable to attain a bite after an hour of working the area for redfish, I rounded out the day trout fishing. The trout fishing was at times interrupted by the cloud cover that kept passing, but we managed to put numbers up, well over a 100, to the boat; with a limit of keepers easily attained for my clients.

Capt Andy Boyette
1-888-880-0006

Snook Fishing Hard Hit

nospam@example.com (Capt Andy Boyette) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 07:00:00 -0700

With unprecedented continuous cold weather well below normal, and 2 nights of hard freeze, I have had to cancel all the trips I had scheduled over the past 10 days. Hope fully this weather event will clear out the middle of this week.
Today myself and friend Capt Scott Huges went on the water today. Our intent was to count any dead snook that we saw neither of us where prepared for what we saw. We targeted the north end of Pine Island and encountered hundreds of thousands of dead mullet most where 12 inches and under, they literally carpeted the bottom. We made are way into the 3 canals and counted over 1000 dead snook in less than a 1/4 mile of waterway, with 90% in the slot to overslot size (10-well over 25lbs). If there was any bright side to the snook kill we did not see any juvenile snook that were dead, unfortunately we only looked at a very small area. I have already gotten reports from numerous other guides with similar reports. This is no doubt a big set back to the snook fishery. You can see a video of the damage in the video section of my website http://gofishcharters.com/fishing_videos.htm

The trout fishing should remain unchanged since trout can tolerate the cold weather, same with the hardy redfish both of which have a range that extends well north of Southwest Florida. As of last night the Gulf water temperature was 50 and I would not doubt that it dropped a bit more with the coldest air last being last night. Tonight's weather, while still cold for Florida, will hopefully stay out of the 30s and give a slight reprieve.

Tarpon fishing is around the corner (April-July) and I have been booking clients for sometime now. This year, I am in addition to the 6 hour tide charter, offering a 10 hour split day charter. On the 10 hour charter, the day is devoted solely to you, we fish part of the trip in the morning, take a break and come back out to fish the remainder of the trip. Typically split 6 hours and 4 hours. If we tarpon fish only I let the fish and/or the client decide if or when there is a break (we fish the best time). Also a client who has a 10 hour trip booked can request to fish for other species, which is not possible on a 6 hour trip since economics forces me to fish an afternoon trip. So basically the day is yours and we can break it up however as the day and fishing dictates. The response to the 10 hour tarpon charter has made me very excited about it. I would interject that this means less openings on my schedule so booking early will become more critical if you are planning to fish with me.

Capt Andy Boyette
1-888-880-0006

Charlotte Harbor Boca Grande And Ft Myers Fishing

nospam@example.com (Capt Andy Boyette) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 07:51:00 -0700

Early November continued to be a good month for snook fishing with slot fish mixed in with short and over slot snook, with live bait continuing to be plentiful live bait chumming was meet with fair success. The red fishing is all but non existent with very limited numbers of redfish to be found. Trout fishing has been great with 60-100 fish days not unusual. Tarpon were scarcely available early in the month, and with two major cold fronts past and one lingering, I can say that most if not all giant tarpon will be hard to come by until spring.

I have been booking a few new clients for tarpon season 2010. I expect with the amount of inquiries that after the holidays everyone will be getting their plans together since the majority of trips are booked over the next 6-8 weeks. Also in the my newsletter I made everyone aware of a new custom charter that is available for the upcoming tarpon season, if you did not see it I will be sending out another shortly. Newsletters are sent about 7-8 times per year to keep everyone up to date with the fishing in the area.

I hope everyone had a Great Thanksgiving as did I it was spent in the Mountains of North Carolina with my lovely Tammy and son Trevor at our camp. I would also like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Capt Andy Boyette
1-888-880-0006
www.gofishcharters.com
www.tarponcharters.com

Fall Fishing Boca Grande And Charlotte Harbor

nospam@example.com (Capt Andy Boyette) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:50:00 -0700

Snook fishing has continued to be the best I have seen in the last 10 years. Most of the usual hangouts have been filled up with all size ranges including slot and over slot size snook. Live bait chumming has been easy with an abundance of perfect size bait through out Charlotte Harbor. Red fishing as been scattered at best and when you happened to find a school of reds it takes a short amount of time before every passing boat stops. Seems the new method of fishing in Florida is the bent rod method, see a bent rod stop and fish. I guess I am crazy I believe in the old tried and true method put in you home work and scout an area to locate fish and respect what others on the water are doing. driving up to a anchored boat on a bar that is fishing scares the fish away and not only takes away any chance of success it ruins it for the person that was already their.

Boca Grande and the pass seen some great snapper action as all summer for those looking for a good dinner. There was also some fast action on Bonita schools for anyone looking to bend a rod. The tarpon where also available when you but their pattern together and timed your trip correctly. Along with some nice early kingfish action in the 30-40lb range Boca Grande Pass as usual gave its best in Early October.

The unusual early arrival of cold weather in the area should push the king fish further south and the grouper closer in. The redfish should continue to school up for the next few weeks and trout fish should begin to improve. Snook fishing should also continue as they are migrating back to winter hang outs. The winter tides should begin empting some flats that have been fished all summer and make them less accessible to the average boater. This year I have added a extremely shallow running skiff to my business and I am looking forward to fishing the winter negative tides. A rigged a 21.5′ Texas Shallow Spot with a 150 four stroke engine for quite reliability and a tall tower for sight, and have increased my flats fishing ability 10 fold.

The new boat allows ample room for a max of 4 anglers and can access some of the shallowest water you have ever fished in. This will be a plus as the water temps drop and fish seek out shallow flats to warm up in the winter. If you would like to see some fishing grounds that you have never seen call me and get on my book for some exciting shallow water winter fishing.

Capt Andy Boyette
1-888-880-0006
www.gofishcharters.com
www.tarponcharters.com

Tarpon Fishing Still On

nospam@example.com (Capt Andy Boyette) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 09:49:00 -0700

Well it as been sometime since I wrote a fishing report. If you look back over the years I have reported you will notice that my reports drop off in the summer. Reason because I am busy catching tarpon.

For the past 6-7years I have been booked solid for the peak season April, May, June, July. By this time of the year I begin to slow down and get some down time. I am still fishing and yes tarpon is still on the menu. I have had several days this week with as many as 6 tarpon over 150lbs tarpon. The Season Is Not Over. The flip side to that is you can get burned by the weather or just the fact the fish will not cooperate. This season has and continues to be the most difficult season of my 10+ year guiding career. With so many issues to deal with in the tarpon game, from the largest Shark population I have ever seen to, the dreaded beach renourishment on Boca Grande, that as about 70% washed away, causing a silt water quality problem, compounded by the never ending winds. My season was filled with really great days to some just plain old bad days, with almost no day to day consistency. Plenty of tarpon to catch all season just no rhyme or reason why one day was good and one day was bad. But hey, tarpon are prehistoric so if you put it into there perspective and the amount of time they have swam the ocean, maybe the last 10 years of my career was not normal and this year is the norm. Who knows but I will never quit chasing them I love it to much.

I will be continuing to fish for tarpon as long as they are available, but am beginning to migrate back on to the flats where the redfish schools are beginning to show up. Also the snook fishing was the best this year I seen in a long time and should continue. I have openings in August if you want to catch a tarpon call me cause no matter what any body else says they are still available. I have also been booking some snook trips for September when the season opens as well as some fall kingfish trips in October, but I have plenty of openings.

Capt Andy Boyette
1-888-880-0006
www.gofishcharters.com
www.tarponcharters.com

Tarpon fishing In Full Swing

nospam@example.com (Capt Andy Boyette) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 06:47:00 -0700

Tarpon Fishing has been on now for about the past 3 weeks in the Boca Grande area. Although the weather has been less than cooperative to say the least. I have fished further up Charlotte Harbor over the past few weeks than at any time in my career. With several days spent about 15 miles up river. The technique has been to locate free jumping tarpon and set up long drifts in the area. Typically finding the bait pods and birds and putting that together with a free jumper would result in a couple of bites per day. Believe me when I tell you it takes a lot of mental fortitude to fish all day for 1 or 2 bites. There has been a big school of tarpon numbering about 5000 that have been moving in and out of the pass. A combination of factors including bull sharks, gin clear water, low water temps and untypical weather, have contributed to these tarpon not holding long in the Boca Grande Pass. However like magic these fish will get in there and stay and that could happen any day including tomorrow.

I have a couple of openings left in May and a Couple left in June so if you want to go tarpon fishing call me, and I will give you the short list of available dates.

Snook fishing this spring from Fort Myers, Pine Island, and into Charlotte Harbor was off the charts. This was the best fishing I have seen in at least 7 years. I had several days that felt like I was in a time warp and fishing back in the 80’s. There was one day particularly where I spent a good 2 hours with a couple of clients who stayed doubled up on snook. We caught 12 fish over 10 pounds and another 20 or so inside the slot, with not one undersized fish. The best thing about that day was fishing a spot I had never fished in my life because of all the boats in the area and the late start I got with my clients. Moral to the story sometimes you should take the blinders off and take a look around instead of just running straight to your favorite fishing spot. These snook where obviously migrating to the passes and we chanced up on them in a pot on an island.

Look for me to be tarpon fishing only for the next 3-4 months, and for everyone who is interested tarpon fishing continues well into the summer months when the tarpon move back into the harbor and feed until the first hint of winter. Some of the best tarpon fishing of the year is July-September

Capt Andy Boyette
1-888-880-0006
www.gofishcharters.com
www.tarponcharters.com

March Fishing Tarpon Snook Red Fish And Trout

nospam@example.com (Capt Andy Boyette) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 05:10:00 -0700

Spring may have finally arrived. With the weather patten improving daily the fishing has steadily improved the only variable was the cold mornings scattered throughout March that made fishing conditions tough. These mornings made for some seriously tough fishing and on some of my trips we sat on several schools of red fish with lock jaw. On the other end of the spectrum was the nearly 90 degree days where I experienced red fish catches up to 6 lbs with the majority being cookie cutter 22 inch red fish. These red fish where hungry and scattered all in the Pine Island Sound area. Mixed in where some very nice trout and my clients caught numerous trout over the 5lb mark.

The bait population is beginning to show up and can be caught in various places bring a 1/4 inch mesh net since it is on the small side and gilling will occur. But with the bait the snook fishing has been turning on and great action can be had for those who spend the time it takes to net bait.

Tarpon fishing is already beginning I personally seen free jumpers in the lower Pine Island Sound and Ft Myers Area. The major tarpon season runs April-July and these dates are beginning to fill up. The economic turn down in the area is more like a correction in the market place as far as rentals are concerned. This is a windfall for visitors who are finding the rental market more in line with reality, with rentals at 1/2 or in some cases a 1/3 of the cost than in the previous 3-4 years. This has been a plus to my booking with most of my clients delighted that they are no longer having to overpay for a place to stay.

My rates have remained the same for the past 6 years and I credit that to good management and my continued search for unconventional ways to cut my cost and pass these savings on to my clients in the form of no rate hikes, even when the cost of fuel surged to over $4. Last week I added a second boat to my business a light shallow running skiff capable of carrying the same four passengers I carry on my bigger boat. The Shallow Sport with a 150hp four stoke is 2 feet shorter and 100hp less than the Ranger Boat. I should once again be able to save fuel dollars and be able to maintain. As a promise to all of my annual clients who fish with me every year and to those looking for a guide, I will continue to search to for ways to keep my cost at minimum and balance that out with a fair cost of a fishing charter to insure the future of my success as I celebrate my 11th year as a fishing guide.

I have some dates still available in April as well as May and June, however I have a lot of days that are unavailable so give me call and lets go catch some Tarpon, I expect another great season.

Capt Andy Boyette
Tarpon Fishing
1-888-880-0006

Redfish Schooled Up Tarpon Fishing Around The Corner

nospam@example.com (Capt Andy Boyette) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 04:43:00 -0700

With the cold fronts that past over the past week and low temps the coldest they have been in recent years, I took a cold run around the flats and back-country waters yesterday. Fortunately the water temps have been low enough from previous cold weather as far back as November our snook population was prepared and unaffected. I looked at several schools of red fish with the smallest about 20 fish to one school with over a 100 fish. Once the water temps come up a few degrees this has the potential for some great red fishing action. The trout bite as been fair but the fish are in shallower water than you might expect. Hard baits are working good when the fish are feeding while jig and plastic combinations worked slow on the bottom will produce when the bite slows.

There should be an abundance of bait as spring approaches with the grass flats in the area in the best shape I have seen in several years. The east side of Charlotte Harbor has grass in areas that lost 80-100% 4 years ago to the hurricanes. The hard hit mangroves are also beginning to show new life. This should in turn help filter the water and further improving the overall quality.

Tarpon season is shaping up nicely with about 50% of my book filled already. With the nearly 15 hours of day light in the summer I manage to do 2 tarpon fishing trips a day so I still have about 50 openings so it is not to late. Last season saw numerous tarpon caught and released over 200lbs and I directly attribute this to the catch and release practice as well as a few years of no red tide to kill the baitfish these tarpon are here to eat. I expect to have another large tarpon run, and eventually with the tarpon tournaments in Boca Grande Pass, and the fish being weighed, that there will be a record tarpon caught out of this area.

Deciding On A Fishing Guide. For those of you who have recently contacted me and are considering my services and comparing, please do you homework. I started, and have operated, Go Fish Charters over 10 years ago. If you hire me, I can produce all the necessary documents to run a legal charter business by request, and You Can Be Assured That You Are Hiring A Full Time Professional Guide Who Has Years Of Experience Successfully Guiding Clients.

Grouper Fishing Offshore

nospam@example.com (Capt Andy Boyette) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:27:38 -0700

With the new fishing regulations coming into effect for grouper, I decided to take a quick fun trip offshore over the holidays. I accompanied Dr Dan Moenning and his father and father-in-law in search of dinner. we traveled west for over 12 miles before we ever found bait a stark contrast to my last offshore trip when bait was thick as molasses. After a few stops we had a couple of dozen squirrel fish and about a dozen hand size blue runners. On the first grouper hole we managed 1nice keeper red grouper, we moved to another and picked some under size gag grouper. On the third and final stop of the day 2 more short gag's and 3 nice keeper red grouper. We also caught around 15 nice lane snapper up to about 2 pounds.

On a side note to any on out there with some old TD numbers they have held on to, Dan had acquired a new program to convert TD numbers , having tried this on a number of occasions, without success, we reluctantly fished some spots we converted with the new program. This new program converted our numbers dead on the money. At the moment the program is unavailable to the public, but will be coming as an update to certain manufactures GPS systems in the first part of 2009. I will report the names after the release, so anyone looking for it will know how to get it.

Also tarpon season is around the corner I have been booking trips already, but have a lot of availability. Give me a call to discuss any dates the end of May is already pretty jammed up. But the beginning of May and June is mostly open.

Hope Every One Had A Great Christmas And Looking Forward to A Prosperous New Year

Capt Andy Boyette
1-888-880-0006

Amberjack Fishing Boca Grande

nospam@example.com (Capt Andy Boyette) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:44:00 -0700

Every year at this time, after spending some great fishing days inside the backcountry flats and tarpon filled holes of Charlotte Harbor, I take a annual trek offshore. With a break in charter action and the right weather conditions Capt Scot Hughes and myself took a break and headed offshore in search of the annual kingfish action. With light winds and warm air temps and water temps in the low 70s we headed about 12 miles west of Boca Grande to an undisclosed wreck. With no bait in sight in the harbor we figured we could sabiki some bait offshore and slow troll it near the wreck and pickup some Kingfish. About halfway we found a nice pod of threadfins about the size of two football fields and proceeded to fill the live well. Once on the wreck we immediately marked plenty of suspend fish on the color machine and deployed some frisky baits behind the boat. First fish to the boat was a small king about 7 lbs. Not exactly the kingfish we where hoping for but kingfish none the less. Next couple of drifts bring the same size king fish, when suddenly another hookup looks to be much bigger fish. Not running like a kingfish, after about a 20-minute, fight and some imaginative guesses about what could be on the end of the line, we boat a 25lb Amberjack Really great action on the light tackle we where using with multiple fish landed over the next hour, the largest about 40lbs.

Kingfish should hold in the area for another few weeks and the Amberjack we encountered will stay on these near shore wrecks until the warm weather returns in the spring. The grouper bite has been fair close to shore along with the snapper and like the amberjack should stay close as long as the weather stays cool.

Inshore fishing will be in a transition until water temps stabilize. With the bait supply drying up your favorite plastic and jig combination should bring plenty of trout action. Big redfish should start showing in the potholes where chumming with cut bait like ladyfish will pay off. Snook fishing in the canals and in the rivers should be good. After cold mornings warming afternoons will be the best time to be on the water.

A short video of our amberjack action can be seen at AmberJack Fishing Video

Capt Andy Boyette
1-888-880-0006