2011 May 13 web report

Boca Grande to Venice fishing report by Captain Van Hubbard.

 Boca Grande is loaded with tarpon right now. Fishing has been totally different every day. Last weekend schools of tarpon were off shore in thirty feet of water. Schools have been up and down the beaches from south of Boca north past Venice but they are not consistent yet. Schools of silver kings are stacked into Boca Grande Pass right now. I expect even more silver kings to drop in on this week’s Full Moon the seventeenth. For the next couple of Full Moons we will see thousands of giant tarpon in the Boca Grande Pass and along our Gulf Beaches to Venice. They are big fish and need food to maintain their strength; so they have to eat a lot!  We have enjoyed some hot tarpon action it just lacks dependability so far. They should be more consistent when our weather patterns straighten out. The cool fronts and West winds are affecting the fish and where we can fish. It can get rough and push fish off shore if it blows too hard onshore. Fair weather has been good fishing.

 We did have some hot tarpon bites a week ago on the New Moon so expect action to heat up with the stronger tides next week. I do have a couple of days open so get in on the action if you can. We also still have kingfish and barracuda. Permit are beginning to show up on the reefs. Snook are picking up inside we have some very big trophy fish for catch and release fishing. We can catch some quality snook now! Trout are still around and we had a couple of pompano on Tuesday.

 Tuesday, Rich and I set out to catch some tarpon and snook. We rode from Stump Pass to Boca Grande and then almost to Venice, tarpon were not showing! We had fun and caught some ladyfish and pompano. The tarpon and snook we not eating because the tide did not flow for hours; high pressure and opposing winds hurt us.

 Judge Jack Griffin of Tampa is well into his eighties and after our fishing trip Wednesday he shared that this was “one of the best days of his life”! Details; he got several snook including 20 and 25 pound monsters! He also got trout and kingfish. We saw Jaws; well it was a huge, black, giant hammerhead shark right next to out 23 feet boat. No one stepped closer to the edges; in fact we all slid into the center of my center console! Laura got a big snook of 22 pounds and a nice kingfish. We looked for tarpon but they eluded us today; except in Boca Grande Pass. We saw plenty of tarpon there but they played hard to get this time because of the slow tide movement and sharks. We choose not to get tangled up in the crowds. We had fun and caught some great fish.

 Friday, Dr. T and I caught a dozen snook and then went looking some trout for lunch. Our snook were from twenty to forty inches.  Since its catch and release we had fun and moved on.  We found plenty of trout even thou many were almost big enough. The dolphin were cute but finally ran us off by chasing our trout around. We did manage enough trout for lunch and some to send home for Ginger. The Stump Pass grille took great care of us and it was a wonderful morning.

 This is “prime time” and I do have some open days so make your plans and get in on the action. Our tarpon and snook fishing is a dream come true Let’s Go Fishin’ NOW! The trip of a lifetime is waiting.

Captain Van Hubbard <www.captvan.com>