Tarpon Fishing Boca Grande Florida

[Gerry Zagorski]

Just got back from a 4 day fishing trip in the Boca Grande area. It was me, brother Joe, my good buddy Mike from JJ Bittings and his newphew Mike from RI.

If you are not familiar with the Boca Grande area, it's 25 miles or so North of Fort Myers in SW Florida. The Boca Grande Pass is where Charlotte Harbor and the Gulf of Mexico meet and is known as the Tarpon Capital of the world with good reason. Every year right around this time the Tarpon stop over during their northern migration before they spawn. THOUSANDS of tarpon can be seen rolling and splashing around in the Pass... A site to be seen for sure.

We had an inshore back bay Charter on Monday and Mike jumped a nice 125 pound Tarpon. On Wednesday evening we had a more traditional Boca Grande Pass charter. Me and Joe each jumped ones that were 140 - 150 pounds and Mike had one that was about 80 ish.

On the days we didn't charter we fished for all sorts of stuff like Seatrout, Spanish Macs, Grouper with some Rays amd Blacktip Sharks mixed in.

Here is a video of brother Joe fighting his 140 pounder in Boca Grande Pass.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0hu8vkqubiurx31/2013-05-22%2019.37.18.mp4 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/0hu8vkqubiurx31/2013-05-22%2019.37.18.mp4)

[vinntastic]

Looks like an awesome trip there,very nice guys;)

[GDubya07]

That is definately on my bucket list with the Tarpon

Great jobs guys - Very awesome and envious - ;) - that thing is prehistoric and KICK AZZZZZ -

I guess you guys only catch rocks in Jersey??? - :D - Saving the best for the Tarpons

Tee Hee Gdubs

See you guys oin the Water - :cool:

[dales529]

Nice work Gerry. Beautiful Fish and Area. Glad you guys hit them.
Hey Joe, dont think Capt Dave would let you get away with the fighting chair and "broom stick" on that little fish:p

[Chico]

Way to go!! Gets kinda crowded in the Pass this time of year :) . I spend two months over the winter fishing those waters. The offshore fishing can be off the hook this time of year!!! Only drawback is that offshore is a LONG ride out!! We were catching tarpon 6 miles up the Peace River in March. Bycatch mostly as we were targeting the big redfish and trout!! Best year I can remember for tarpon in the winter.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Dubya - if Tarpon is on your bucket list then Boca Grrande is the place to get it done. When you are ready let me know and I will fill you in.... Best months are May and June and you are practically guaranteed to catch if you have a good Captain. In fact. some even give you a guarantee and if you don't catch you don't pay. There is a very particular way they fish for them in the pass so best to charter someone.

Dales - Did you notice the shirt he was wearing??? NJ RFA baby!!

Chico - I hear you on the Pass... Gets pretty crowded during the day which is why we chose to fishing in the evening. Big to do going on with the traditional guys trying to get jigging outlawed. One of the fish we jumped had jig cuts all along the side of it's body and the Captain mentioned they did a study on jig fishing and found that more then 75% of the fish were snagged instead of hooked in the mouth.

[dakota560]

Looks like a great trip Gerry. Saw you had egg sinkers on your line in the vidoe, were you jigging the tarpon or using live bait? How were the hammerheads when you were there. They have a tendency of wreaking havoc on hooked tarpon!

Dakota

[Gerry Zagorski]

Dakota - We were fishing with live bait, Crabs and Squirrel fish. Sharks were not an issue for us but the Captain said they have been pretty pesky and freaking some of the customers out. He said he had a 12 plus footer come up right along side the boat last week and stayed with them for 10 minutes as was actually looking them right in the eye. Pretty freaky:eek:

When we were back bay fishing using cut baits we have several small Black Tips take the baits and one Ray that we fought and released was easily over 100 pounds.

[shrimpman steve]

I hate you

By the way, the last time I jumped a 140 pounder I had to buy her dinner:eek: