Marco Island, Ft. Myers & Boca Grande

Capt. Scott Hughes
October 10, 2002
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

Feeding Frenzy! Tarpon, Sharks, Jacks and more!

For those of you who follow my reports, I have been predicting an explosion of fish activity this fall. To put it bluntly, it's here. We are experiencing some of the best tarpon fishing of the year as they make their fall migration. Big jack crevelle up to 17 pounds, sharks and mackerel are moving in the same areas. Snook fishing is still very good if you can pull yourself away from the big game action off the beaches.

This week has produced more tarpon per trip than any week all year. We are averaging around six tarpon per trip. The cool thing is that we have only been targeting tarpon for a few hours each day. For example, Tuesday the tides were to low for good snook fishing so we went looking for tarpon about 10 am. To make a long story short we landed 7 tarpon out of 9 hook ups before 1 pm. The tarpon are ranging from 40 to 80 pounds. It shouldn't be shocking because last year 7 of my top 10 tarpon fishing trips came during the fall migration. Your best bet is to get on the outside and look for birds. They will be following baitfish that ladyfish and mackerel are pushing to the surface. The tarpon, sharks and jacks will be feeding on the macks and ladies.

The other type of fishing that I have been doing on a regular basis is backcountry snook fishing south of Marco Island. The report is much the same as last week. Lots of undersized snook in the 22 to 25 inch range. We are averaging just over a dozen snook on falling tides and in the middle teens on rising tide days if we don't change plans and go look for tarpon. Jacks in the 5 pound range are plentiful along with the snook and a few trout. Redfish have been scarce for me though I have heard reports otherwise.

The forecast for the tarpon is uncertain. We have a tropical storm comming our way and that could mess thing up. As long as the winds stay calm the tarpon fishing should remain good. snook fishing should remain strong at least through early December.

Good Luck!

Capt. Scott Hughes

Blackwater Charters

941-628-4247 cell

863-946-9171 home

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