August saw an expected slow down in Cape Coral fishing charters. This time of year everyone has wrapped up their summer Southwest Florida vacations and is getting ready for the new school year to begin.
The slow down allowed for a nice break after a busy summer season that allowed me to give the boat some TLC and even allowed me to get in a round of golf.
I was also able to get out and fish for fun and catch a few fish for myself this month as well. The fishing has been as hot as the temperature in Cape Coral.
The charters I did run were able to enjoy some great action with redfish, trout, and snapper everywhere.
We did experience a lot of early morning thunderstorms throughout the month that kept our fishing charters on the move to avoid the rain. A lot of times that helped force us to fish some different areas that all produced nice healthy redfish.
My Cape Coral fishing charters spent a lot of time targeting redfish and mangrove snapper with shrimp. We would fish around the mangroves and back bays with a lot of consistent action.
We would also venture out to the grass flats and oyster bars around Sanibel Island to target spotted sea trout, ladyfish, and jack crevalle. To target the fish on the flats the bait of choice was often a white lure, but we would also use live bait as well.
One specific Cape Coral fishing charter that I won’t soon forget was with a group of regular clients that I picked up on Captiva island.
As we left the marina, I drove the boat to a shallow flat within eyesight of the dock to show off a group of manatees in the area. As we watched the manatees wake up, I saw two tarpon roll near the boat.
I had to throw a bait at them so without hesitation I grabbed the biggest rod on the boat, put in the a bait, and made a short cast in their general area.
Less then a minute later the bobber went down and the fish went into the air. Within four minutes of leaving the dock we had a tarpon on!
After a 10 minute fight and a few amazing jumps the tarpon broke the hook and the fight was over. What an adrenaline rush and amazing way to start a half day fishing charter.
Looking forward to September the big schools of redfish should be showing up leading to an unforgettable action packed fishing experience.
The passes should also start getting good again with big snook and redfish eating everything in sight before the fall.
