I was invited on a tarpon trip to the Sannibel and Captiva Island area near Ft. Meyers Florida. My friend bought a condo there and a sweet 22ft Robalo to fish from. Day 1 they put the boat in for us at 7 and we were off. The dock talk was that the tarpon were around, but not so much since the storm that blew through. We looked for tarpon all morning but only saw 2 free jumping. Bummed, we decided to hit the mangrove choked shorelines for snook, jacks, trout etc.. We had no live bait, which we soon realized was really the way to catch em, whether pilcherds or shrimp. We picked away at the shores and caught some trout and a few small snook. We did pretty well with paddle tails on jighead and on walking top waters. We saw a few black tip sharks too, but they wouldn't commit. The next day found us in a different area and it was almost a repeat of day 1. All the trout you wanted to catch, some jacks, spanish mackerel and even a catfish, but alas, no tarpon. We decided to hire a local guide for day 3, my last day there. His price was very reasonable, and he was willing to use my buddy's boat. He was a great young man, hardworking and super down to earth. However, he agreed, the tarpon just were not in thick yet. He hasn't targeted them in weeks. So we went to make bait, which took alot longer than it has all year, due to the slack tide, or the bait being down too deep so they would scatter. We finally got 2 live wells filled good enough and decided to catch snook and snappers around docks and mangroves until the tide got moving. The live bait was like magic. Put it in the shade and it didn't take long. We caught fish at every stop we made. We saw a few big snook but most of ours were 18-24" or so. We caught about 25 snook and a few snappers. The biggest fish of the trip got munched by a dolphin that were always around the boat. It was 15 lbs and close to 40"! What a sight to see that dolphin screaming in, pushing white water, then surfacing with that pig. Too cool. After the bite slowed we went out front off of Sannibel beach to look for tarpon. Boy, was that water turquoise green. So beautiful. Within minutes we started seeing tarpon rolling, not everywhere, but enough to start blind casting. We had several shots at small groups that came by near the boat, but after an hour of frustration in the sweltering Florida sun we decided to call it and headed back, defeated, but satisfied. It had been a great trip despite the lack of a tarpon. Fishing next to dolphins, In turquoise colored water, or back in the mangrove jungles, it was a great experience.
Jim's boat
Catching Bait
That WTF look. Getting bait hadn't been this hard in months. It was that day.
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