Fishing Boca Grande

[captpete]

17 July 2000
Boca Grande Fishing Report

All of a sudden the fish woke up! That's not exactly what I mean but it seems that way sometimes. What has happened is the change in moon phase and tide has encouraged the fish to become more active. The season is slightly early according to the calendar but according to the moon it is right on time. Let me explain!

The full moon in June fell early in the month. The tarpon react to the strong moon the same as always; they begin to spawn. So with an early moon many fish left the inshore waters for the deep water to spawn. In addition, the full moon brought heavy thunder storms and lots of lightning. This inclement weather chased the fish out of the pass to deep water for protection. Tarpon do not like lightning!

So why have the fish become active? The strong full moon of July has got them feeding and moving. Snook are in the passes and on the beaches, but some have been reported on the off shore reefs. Redfish in the 30 lb. range are near some of the passes and there are schools of spawner size reds on the flats. Seatrout that I found off the beach were in the back country this week.

Cobia , Tripletail and more are showing up just about everywhere. Some tarpon have left the beaches and some have moved up the harbor. All in all, there is plenty to fish for in Boca Grande.

Late August and early September will be very good this year because of the moon and tide. Redfish have shown signs of moving up on the flat as if to school in pre-spawn manner. Some big Jack Cravalle are traveling with the reds. Paul Hammond took a large red on a fly last week while both nine year old sons, Ben and Tom, caught a 6 to 7 lb. Jack at the same time. It got a little crazy for a while!

To prove my theory of tide we went to Gasparilla Pass to try the snook at night under the lights. We had no trouble taking fish on a crystal shrimp until the tide turned. Once the water started in on the young flood, the fish absolutely stopped. So, if you plan to fish soon, watch the tide and plan your trip accordingly.

Tight Lines, Pete