Summer fishing here in Southwest Florida has tapered offer a little. The massive number of tarpon that brought so much excitement during May and June have filtered into smaller groups of fish ion the 50lb – 110lb class. Night fishing during the summer offers a welcome break from the scorching sun and humidity. Afternoon storms are starting earlier each day, which means night fishing is generally flat calm and cool. It’s also common to view dramatic offshore lightning storms at a safe distance, while fishing at night, adding to the beauty and experience of fishing in Southwest Florida.
Snook fishing has gotten better the further into summer we go. Fish size is still generally upper slot to over slot fish, with some decent numbers happening on the right night. Most of these fish are eating large Hogy Lures HDUV Swim Baits bounced along the bottom with the current. Make sure to gear up with stout tackle. These big fish can be quite challenging to remove from their barnacle encrusted sanctuaries.
Angler, Clay McCord has been watching and waiting for his chance to come down from Nashville to try his hand at catching a tarpon with Hogy Lures. After getting onto the water, Clay hooked into his first fish within 30 minutes, lost that one and proceeded to hook and land this very feisty tarpon on top water rigged 10inch Original Hogy Eel.
This weeks fishing highlight was a night outing with Hobie Regional Pro Benton Parrot from Alabama. We set our hopes on catching his first tarpon. We were successful in hooking and landing his first, a modest 50lb class fish. Unfortunately, the fish didn’t care to participate in a photo op and was released before I could snap a pic. Benton did land a quality IN SEASON gag grouper that measured out to 30.5″. Gag grouper are a common by catch, but they never tend to bite when they are in season. This fish was a welcome surprise to the dinner table. An upper slot snook was also taken by bouncing Hogy’s along a large rock pile.
With the recent change in fishing conditions, we’ll need to begin traveling north and south again in search of larger concentrations of tarpon. The hunt for EXTREME fishing excitement continues….
Until next time, tight lines!
– Capt. Ross
