Boca Jeff's Florida Retreat- SW Florida Fishing Information!

Tarpon Without a doubt, my favorite place to fish in Florida is Boca Grande Pass. Located in Southwest Florida, Boca Grande Pass lies 90 miles south of Tampa at the mouth of Charlotte Harbor. There you will find most of Florida's popular game fish. Tarpon, Snook, Cobia, Grouper, King, Snapper, Bluefish, Redfish, and Black Drum can be found there at various times of the year. Of the more aggressive species, Barracuda, Black Tip Sharks, and occasionally Tiger Sharks and Hammerhead Sharks. The most popular fish of the pass is the tarpon. Also known as "The Silver King", tarpon pile up like logs in the pass May through July. Actually being there to see the rolling action of hundreds of tarpon is extremely exciting. Especially when the school of tarpon is averaging one hundred pounds each.

The Pass is about a half mile wide, and has several drop offs from 1 foot deep, to 73 feet. These deep holes also hide an occasional Jewfish. The bottom of the Pass is laden with rocks, concrete slabs, and coral. Dropping anchor in the Pass is not wise. However, I have been able to drop anchor on the south side of the Pass in 15 ft near a 40 ft drop off. Shark fishing in the pass is great at night. I've been most successful using mullet, or bonita, and drifting the line with a balloon. It's fantastic when you get a run and see the balloon race across the surface of the water. When it comes to Tarpon fishing, although jigs work well, it is best to use large live baits such as crabs, jumbo shrimp, squirrel fish, etc. Most guide boats use 80 pound Dacron line with a green yarn sewn in at 42 feet, and a red yarn at 60 feet. The yarns help with dropping the bait quickly to the correct depth without hitting bottom. It is important to carefully match the boats speed with the current while drifting your bait near the bottom. This allows for the bait to swim and move in a more natural fashion and will certainly get more results! A fast tide seems to be best for natural bait. For a real challenge, try using 45 pound test! The lighter line will yield more hook-ups with Tarpon, but will certainly break faster on a prime sized fish.

	The canal entrance to Burnt Store Marina (Snook and Redfish)
	The mouth of alligator creek (Snook and Redfish)
	The artificial reef one mile SW of Alligator Creek is great for snapper, cobia, and during the fall, gag grouper.
	Both Turtle Bay and Bull Bay are great for Snook, Redfish, and Trout.

There is one interesting note about the snook population of Florida I would like to point out; according to the Florida Marine Fisheries Commission, the Atlantic snook population is at 32% and declining, and the Gulf snook fell 9 points to 38% in 1996. The West Coast fisherman including myself, have noted catching plenty of small snook, but the big ones are few and far between. Although the net ban has probably helped, the fact remains that snook catch-and-release needs to be adhered to a little stronger. It takes about 9 years for a West Coast female snook to reach 34 inches, and 4 years to reach the current legal standard of 24 inches. The ever popular 27 inch snook has been cruising Gulf waters for 6 years.

I doubt this information will help your catch taste any better, but it has caused me to release the barely legal fish more than a few times. We can wipe out a plate a grilled snook in 10 minutes, and truly savor the 4 years it took to get there?! No guilt trip intended. Just enjoy what you keep, and maintain a respect for our dear snook population.

GOOD FISHING!!