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

With winter cold fronts on the weekly basis, we fisherman in South West Florida are in the depths of winter... Honestly, with all joking aside, it's cold in Florida.  So, that gives us guides a chance to fix some gear, do maintenance on the boats and trailers, and get geared up for the upcoming spring season.  Our clients should be doing the same... This is the time of year we start booking our Tarpon fishing slots for the Spring-Summer season. So, if you have ever wanted to make your Tarpon fishing dreams a reality, now is the time to contact your most favorite guide, and ink in your day! Tarpon season is on the horizon, and that fishing friends, is the most exciting time to fish South West Florida!

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

The rain in the month of August has started to cool the inshore water temperature.  That has triggered the snook to start transitioning from their summer spawning groups of 100+ fish, to start breaking up and moving into fall haunts, for a influx of bait and cooler water temps, as the days begin to get shorter.  We are already starting to see schools of redfish gathering on our grass flats inshore. On some of these big water summer tides, you can find reds gathering in big groups under some mangrove shorelines, lots of "chumming" will get them to come out. For a late summer and early fall bite, it's a fun time to be fishing in South West Florida!

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

Fishing trips around the holidays have been filled with a good variety of food fish.  Nearshore, the triple tail fishing has been nothing short of epic.  Most trips are yielding multiple keepers with only a few hours of "searching".  Inshore, our water temperature has dropped close to the 70* mark, and pompano have moved into the deeper channels around the bay.  Drifting and throwing jigs, is the most effective way to target these fast moving, fantastic eating fish.  As always, it's a fun time of year, to be fishing in South West Florida!

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

Happy Thanksgiving fishing folks!!!  Our crew of captains, have a packed week of charters for our holiday here on Palm Island.  Last week I had the chance to take a great client out for a few days of Backcountry fishing, throwing artificial lures.  We caught redfish, snook, trout, and jacks.  The cooler water temperature had staged the fish around Creek mouths, and with the falling tide, we concentrated our efforts on the deeper shorelines.  With beautiful weather here in the forecast for SWFL, we anticipate a fun upcoming week of fishing.

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

October is one of the best months to fish in Palm Island and Boca Grande Florida. With calm winds and fair weather temperatures, the entire fishery is open for play. Inshore, snook are feeding to fatten up for winter, redfish are grouping up in large schools for their spawn, and trout are feeding over the deep grasses in the harbor. Nearshore, Bonita, mackerel, Cobia, and kingfish have taken up residents on our reefs throughout the area. Tarpon are still roaming the harbor in anticipation of the first few cold fronts of the year, which will move them up the areas river systems. With beautiful weather, clean clear water, and plenty of fishing opportunities, there has never been a better time to go fishing in South West Florida!!!

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

Summer time in South West Florida means hot temperatures and hot bites.  Snook fishing is strong in the entire area.  From the outside of the back country, to the beaches, and passes, fish of all sizes are being caught on both the incoming and falling tides.  Inshore, our Mangrove snapper fishing is in full swing.  Fishing heavy cover on moving water is the key.  With the right tide, it's not uncommon to limit out, on a full boat limit with in an hour or so.  It's a great time to catch some offshore fish, inside, and a fun time to be fishing in South West Florida!!!

Capt. Mike Slattery
Palm Island & Boca Grande Fishing Charters

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

Tarpon fishing in Boca Grande and Palm Island Florida over the last weekend on the beach, was nothing short of fantastic. Multiple groups of tarpon, with 50-100 fish per group. The key was to get out early, and be waiting for the fish to move once the early tide started to roll in. We fished a 10 hour day on Saturday and a 14 hour day on Sunday, between the two days we got more than 20 bites and put 16 fish in the air. There is still "silver" in these "hills"!!!  It's a fun and fantastic time to be fishing in South West Florida!!!

Capt. Mike Slattery
Palm Island & Boca Grande Fishing Charters

With some South Westerly wind and a low pressure system moving into the area this week, we focused our attention to the inshore fishing. Snook are the typical "go to" fish inside in the summer time heat. Fishing deep shorelines and edges around the areas passes have yielded good numbers and quality size.  We are looking forward to getting back to Tarpon fishing this weekend, with projected winds due to turn East. It's a fantastic time to be fishing in Boca Grande and Palm Island Florida!!!

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