Boca Grande and Charlotte Harbor

Capt. Van Hubbard
April 10, 2005
Boca Grande - Saltwater Fishing Report

Beautiful weather and good fishing have arrived.

I’ve been busy changing motors and catching fish. Sorry I have not updated this faster but fishing is great. We had so many challenges since Charlie blew thru last August I just enjoyed the better times. Details of some trips to follow. In between all the fronts we did enjoy some great action. Consistency has been lacking and fish are moving around rapidly. The winds have kept us out of the Gulf so no kings yet for us. They are out there just a question of matching the right clients and weather.

Thanks to the good folks at Ingman Marine in Port Charlotte I was able to update my trusty Yamaha outboard. The 225 four stroke was powerful but too heavy for shallow water fishing. With fuel prices climbing I took a chance and dropped down to the 150HP four stroke. It weights a hundred pounds less but I lost 75 ponies. The project is working well. 5MPH off my top end and a Mile per gallon more in fuel efficiency. This helps with the fuel prices. The 23 Dorado fishes fine in the low tide situations again. Much of our time is at slow speeds anyway so a successful upgrade to the new motor.

Snook fishing is good finally. Warmer waters have turned on some nice fish. Frequent cold snaps and high winds hurt us some days but south winds gave us our best bites. Paul Cherry released a big trophy snook way over the 34 inch maximum on March the 21st. They also had some nice trout and smaller snook.

Good Friday, Dr. Cedric Thornton of St. Petersburg, brought his brother in from Birmingham, Alabama to try some salt water fishing. I warned them snook are even more fun than bass. They might not be satisfied with big mouths after a good snook trip but they wanted to check it out and we did. The fish cooperated and we had some fine fish for them to eat and wonderful memories to share and cherish. Family time together is precious and they look forward to more time saltwater fishing together I can assure you.

Tom Cramer brought his family out to try their luck march 31st. We had some snook action early but it was slow. The boys wanted a shark so we headed down to Stump Pass. They each landed at least one nice shovelnose and some ladyfish. The day was great; Mom, Jackie and daughter even joined us to dolphin watch for a while before we tried the last spot. We got a few small snook before the oldest son hooked and landed a nice 31-inch trophy. We took photos and called it a day.

April 1 started out the month hot. The south winds turned to fish on. Ted Williams of Lakeland brought Jack and Lucky Sam to try our fishing. Baitfish were nice sized and this really helps with bigger snook. We had to work at it because the big snook were not chomping the minnows. They would just pop em and drop it if you didn’t get the hook set immediately. Sam had the touch and landed a nice 33.5-inch snook. They all had smaller snook plus a few that got away. The days catch ended up adding three nice 24 – 26.5 inch reds and 6 nice fat trout. A nice mess of fresh fish for the guys to enjoy with their families.

We got some more nice reds on the 3rd with Steve and Carolyn Moore and Steve’s sister Gloria. The fish were not easy but we got nice fish by being patient and having quality minnows.

Friday John Redman and I scouted out Pine Island Sound for a Charity event we were fishing Saturday with his Wife, Kristine. It was a lot of riding but we found some fish and got to see just how ell the new 150 was going to work in tournament conditions. Not the fastest rig not to shabby either. We ended up with a nice snook and fine trout but all our reds were slightly to short. The food and everything was great. The event was a fundraiser for scholarship funds in the name of Bobby Holloway of Pine Island.

Well I’m beat but you know what’s happing around here. PS we did see a few tarpon but it’s still early. Let’s Go Fishin’ soon Captain Van Hubbard.

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