The fall season has arrived... With lots of rain this month, the water temperature has started to fall. Lots of snook are starting to move and stage in close proximity to our passes, and the outer edges of the backcountry. Large schools of redfish are being found throughout the harbor and bays. Trout are being found over the deeper grasses in high flow areas. Tarpon are staging in the deeper pockets of the harbor for a late season feed before winter. For all those reasons, fall is 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

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

Fishing in South West Florida is on fire fishing followers. Inshore, redfish and snook are being caught daily by fishing guides throughout the region.  Nearshore, our spring migration of kingfish, Bonita, Cobia, and mackerel have moved into the area on our artificial reefs. The weather forecast for the next 10 days looks beautiful. If you are in the area, take advantage and get outside to do some fishing. It's a great time to be fishing in South West Florida!

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

The October fishing around Palm Island is typically some of the best of the year. Nearshore, we see a seasonal push of mackerel, Bonita, kingfish, and Cobia around our reefs and live bottom. Inshore, we still are catching snook and redfish on our areas flats and Mangrove shorelines. Tarpon are staging on mud flats and deep holes in the upper harbor system. They are fattening up on assorted baits, with the anticipation of winter's arrival. With the shorting of days, and dryer air moving into the region, fish become active and make the fall season on of my favorites, for weather and fish production. It's a great time of year to be fishing in South West Florida!

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

After a crazy week of holiday charters, our summer time fishing is still going strong. The tarpon are still hanging in the passes and on the beach for the early morning bite. Snook fishing around those same areas yielded lots of bites from juvenile fish, that kept the lines tight. Mangrove snapper have moved inside, so any structure that we fish for snook is holding good amounts of some food fish too. We have a low pressure weather system moving into the northern gulf this week. Expect some rain, but buy the weekend we should be ready to go back to fishing. It's a fun time to be fishing in Boca Grande and Palm Island Florida!!!

Capt. Mike Slattery
Palm Island and Boca Grande Fishing Charters