Boca Grande to Charlotte Harbor

          Everyday has been different; winds and rain are totally different every day.  We had morning rains several days last week and beautiful evenings.  This is the time of year we usually have the evening thunderstorms.  Local waters are still very clear because we have gotten limited rain runoff so far.  The silver kings are easy to spot as they roll on calm mornings but the south and southwest winds we were dealt last week made it hard to distinguish fish from whitecaps.  Fortunately most mornings the schools were large enough to help us pick the schools out. Some times we are choosing between several schools at the same time.  Bites have been easy one minute and impossible and hour later; go figure?

          Several trips recently were father and son bonding and sharing special times on the water fishing.  I had two days this week with Dr. Rhett and his daughter, Ashley.  We had several bites and hook ups before she finally brought a big 120 pound fish to the leader.  We tried to get it to pose boatside but this tarpon was camera shy.  Serena and her daughter came up from Palm Beach to tangle with a tarpon but the fish were not hungry for us.  They enjoyed the day and are coming back soon to get that big fish and share a day together. 

          Today one on my long time client friends brought his son to catch his first tarpon.  We started out with a long boatside because the fish were not showing with the north breeze and overcast sky.  We were persistent and found a school of north bound fish.  We put our minnows out and Austin hooked up right away.  He did a super job and help on thru several jumps but it came unbuttoned after about twenty minutes.  We relocated the school and he hooked up again immediately.  After almost and hour Austin brought his trophy boatside for photos.  Merry Beth got some great shots check out the photos on my web site. http://captvan.com/ .  Austin and Bill went home with a day to be cherished for the rest of their loves and Merry Beth captured them some great photos too. As Bill just e-mailed us “food and drinks $xxx, expenses $xxx, sharing your son’s first tarpon with friends old and new priceless!”     

I expect fishing to remain good and even improve as many of the out of town visiting captain’s return home.  It’s impossible to predict a cold front stalling out just north of us for a week in June but odds are we are over due some decent weather this summer.  Tarpon should continue for at least another month.  Snook are available for catch and release. Lot’s of small but tasty snapper for table fare.  Some mackerel if want to target them; also some trout and redfish to pursue if you choose.  Sorry it was so long since my last report but I was gone fishin’.  Let’s Go Fishin’ soon. Captain Van Hubbard