Boca Grande and Charlotte Harbor

Capt. Van Hubbard
October 7, 2003
Boca Grande - Saltwater Fishing Report

Snook and red fishing are great; go fishing soon.

10-7-03

Pinch me, no don’t pinch me let me keep on dreaming. Fishing is so good most days it seems almost to good to be true. We have had some slow times but many days that we actually got tied of catching fish. Quality fish; snook, reds and fun fish too. This is the transition time of the year. Know one can do more than guess exactly how long it lasts. The good news is it hot fishing and cooler days.

Friday morning we had one nice 29 inch snook and several reds for dinner and a bunch of smaller ones to play with. We shared old memories of the good old days in Boca Grande Pass when I meet Steve Doss. We actually jumped over 70 tarpon between dark and 3 AM, one nite. Four of us were worn out. That was the nite after the first Miller’s tarpon tourney that there were no tarpon hooked or caught. When the fish came back it was unbelievable. Every drift you had one or two bites. It was great to reminis the era of traditional tarpon fishing at Boca Grade.

Our afternoon trip was with the Twyford ,boys from the West Palm Beach Fishing Club. Tom, Tommy Jr. and Eric were in town for the clubs annual rendezvous. We got off to a hot start with small snook, reds and jacks but our tide went slack and shut that bite down. We played and waited out the dry spell. It was a slow tide day and the change took forever. The boys were very patient, Dad has helped them learn fish do not bite all the time. We finally got a flow of current and the fishing picked back up. We got a good rally of small snook plus some jacks on both plugs and live minnows. Then we tried a pinfish and it got down to some nice reds. Everyone got a big red or snook. We had a mess for the guys to take back for the fish fry and lots of photos. Tom promised to get them to me soon. 35 mm is great but much slower than digital.

Saturday we went to the Tampa Boat Show to see all the new gear and visit with the crew there. Merry Beth entered one of the Photos she took on a recent trip with the Redman family of Englewood, Florida. The “little snooker” Katie and a whopper snook she could barely hold up by herself. It got Merry Beth the Runner up slot and a shopping spree at the show.

Sunday Brad Rutherford, of Budget Auto Parts in Auburndale, and friend Grant went out for a short trip to cast net a few mullet for Brad’s, Dad’s dinner. The darn snook bite so well we fished to long to catch any mullet. They had to settle for fresh snook for dinner. It was beautiful and fun. We laughed half of the time.

Tuesday Ray Markham stopped by for a couple hours of plug casting. I stacked the deck, and took a few minnows for chum. We caught some nice snook and one perfect red; plus some smaller ones. We got lots of photos and he promised to send them soon. I’ll post them ASAP. We got hot bites on MirrOLure Catch 2000s and Top Dogs and never put a minnow on our hooks.

This is as good as it gets so get a date and get into the action. Let’s Go Fishin’ soon. Captain Van Hubbard. 941-697-6944

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