The Tarpon fishing this week has been tough.  Slow tides during the day, and an evening fall has resulted in lackluster fish in the early morning.  Thus, again we turned our attention to another species for "bites".  The big snook fishing in the summer time can be some of the best fishing in the area.  Multiple bites, and still the opportunity to land quality game fish even on the "off" days of tarpon fishing.  With full moon tides on the horizon, and the tarpon spawn in progress... Next week can turn out to be a fantastic time to go fishing in South West Florida!!!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946

It's Tarpon time in South West Florida!!! Fish have poured into Boca Grande pass, and fed well on the last moon.  We will start to see fish migrating down our beach front, right off Palm Island and Manasota Key.  These schools can have numbers of 20-500 fish in crystal clear water Gulf water.  The Charlotte harbor area will have fish moving into the area from both north and south throughout the summer. There truly has never been a better time to be fishing in South West Florida!!!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946

Fishing around Palm Island and Manasota Key Florida has been fantastic this April. Unseasonal cold fronts has held our water temperature in the "goldilocks zone" for a few weeks now. Snook, Spotted Sea Trout, and Redfish are being caught on almost every half day trip, and we are starting to see some Tarpon move into our area as well. As we creep closer to the coveted 80 degree mark for water temperature, we will continue to see our fishing improve. It's a fantastic time to go fishing in South West Florida!!!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946

With cold temps in the air now, winter is really here... No fooling this time, it's for real!  So we are locked into our bay pompano fishing.  We are finding these great tasting fish, throughout the region. Tide, and sandy bottom with broken grass is important, clean water helps too. We are also finding nice trout and redfish on the flats, warming on the grass with rising temperature and water.  It really is a fantastic time to go fishing in Southwest Florida!!!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946

Finished up a busy week of charters, with the Redbone Celebrity Fishing Tournament. Which I, after 10 years of fishing the tournament, have the opportunity to chair. And, benefits cystic fibrosis research, a disease that affects children.

We had 38 inshore fishing guides, fishing clients from around the US.  Each client is his/her individual team with their assigned guide, 2 clients per boat. All boats were tasked with going out and capturing the inshore Grand Slam (Snook, Redfish,Trout, and Tarpon).  With the fall season offering great weather and fantastic fishing, the guides and clients alike enjoyed the experience and tournament format.  The catch numbers are impressive even without all boats recording their catch.  The big winner are they clients and guide teams that can complete the grand slam!  With most teams only fishing 10-12 he's over a 2 day period, catch 4 particular inshore game fish species is not an easy task. 

Congratulations to all the clients and guide teams that won a category.  And thanks to all that donated time and money for a great cause.  As always, it's a fantastic time to go fishing in SW Florida!!!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946

Fall fishing has been great so far, even with a small bout with redtide. Locally, the bays that are closest to the passes and the beach, seem to be taking a little more time to come back. But, the backcountry of Placida Sound has been producing good catch numbers, for all the marquee inshore species.  Schools of redfish can be found on almost any tides.  Snook fishing has been good when the water is moving.  And, we are finding random trout, Jacks, and mangrove snapper along the way.  It's a fun time to go fishing in South West Florida!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946

After almost 70 days off the water due to an engine failure, I was able to fish a group out of the resort yesterday. We headed south into the harbor system, and fished inside Gasparilla sound. After a long intermission and due to having some redtide in the area, we caught bait around our first stop to fish, so we didn't chance running through "dirty" water with it.  We bounced around, prospecting on the rising tide.  Started by fishing bar edges and holes, and as the tide increased and the water level rose, we transitioned to shorelines. We caught lots of jack, snook, and a few trout. We ended the day finding a nice school of overslept redfish, that we worked for about the last hour of our trip.  It's a fun time to be fishing in South West Florida!

Capt. Mike Slattery
Palm Island Fishing Charters
941-626-6946

The wind has been brutal since memorial day weekend. So, the Tarpon bite has been lackluster to say the least.  Because of that, I tend to turn my focus on another "big game" species we have available in summer time. Big snook hunting can be some of the most fun and rewarding fishing we offer. Multiple bite days, often in the double digits, with the opportunity for the anglers to land a trophy sized fish. June is the month for catching big critters, and we have them in fantastic order. It's a great time to be fishing in South West Florida.

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946
Palm Island Fishing Charters

Our Tarpon fishing is in full swing!  The entire fishery is "open" for bites.  The beaches, harbor, and passes all afford their own opportunity for catching the silver king.  This past week on the super moon, we concentrated our efforts on the beach and harbor fishery.  Our clients were awarded with shots at big schools of fish, and bites in the right conditions.  It's a fun and exciting time to go fishing in south west Florida!!!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946
www.palmislandoutfitters.com
www.charlotteharborchronicles.com

Tarpon fishing is starting off with a bang!!! The new moon tides proved to be very good on the slower portions.  Most guides fished heavily around the passes this week.  We started to see some migrating fish showing up on our beach front, and these fish are opportunistic, and not relegated to feed on tide flow.  Great opportunity to sneak in some quick bites!!!  It's a fantastic time to fish in south west Florida!!!

Capt. Mike Slattery
941-626-6946
www.palmislandoutfitters.com
www.charlotteharborchronicles.com