The good things are that Southwest Florida cold fronts come and leave quickly and that somewhere around Miami, the Keys and points much further south there are untold numbers of tarpon just starting to make plans for a return to Boca Grande Pass in 16 weeks or so. Time flies, you just don’t realize it when you’re young.

Living here in tarpon central, most old salts know that not all of the tarpon head south for winter vacations, some like the Cape/Fort Myers area and they simply stay and endure the chill the best they can. What determines which are homebodies and which become travelers or migratory, I’m not sure is known, but it’s easy to tell the difference with migrating fish a bright chrome and resident river fish typically a tannin-stained goldish hue.

Many tarpon fans will also tell you that the early spring bright chrome migrating tarpon are the strongest fish of the year.

Where do you find these resident fish? Can these fish be caught in winter? Lures, flies, live or dead baits?

Yes, they can be caught in winter. My first Southwest Florida tarpon was caught and released on a bright and chilly February afternoon on a white snook jig under the Cape Coral Bridge. Was I there to target tarpon? Nope, not at all as I was actually testing out a new boat and stopped to make a few casts hopping to catch a trout, or anything. Obviously this was dumb luck, but it happened.

Would I recommend a trip to the bridge to fish for tarpon this week? No, but I would say you’re on the right path, just too far west.

The better known winter fishery for hard core local tarpon addicts has always been far upriver around the warmer waters of the power plant and the Franklin Locks.

Traditionally, local winter tarpon hunting around the locks has been a hit or miss proposition (like all fishing) with fishing peak periods, multiple days in a row often making the difference in just watching or hoping to see rolling fish, or actually getting a bite.

What to use? A few years ago we were looking for monster winter jacks upriver around the 75 bridge when a young man in the boat close to us put a tarpon in the air with a Zebco push-button reel and a Rattletrap bass lure which ended quickly with his short spool of 80 yards or so evaporating quickly and the fish making a mighty leap and throwing the lure quite a distance.

Most lock locals will tell you live or dead baits on bottom are the best choices with a small, fin trimmed, live catfish the choice of some old pros.

Other places to find these fish are deep holes in the river as well as marinas and basins, not only in the river but in the Cape’s canal systems as well.

I stumbled across a fascinating You Tube video that is worth watching featuring golfer and world class angler Greg Norman and friends finding a mass of blacktip sharks and hooking an 80-pound class fish. Instantly, a huge hammerhead flies in, grabs the 80-pound blacktip and swims away with it like a dog with a bone. Suddenly, it drops it then turns and in one big gulp, inhales it!

At this point the shark is pulling Norman’s 41-foot boat at a steady one knot till they finally bring it to boat side after a back breaking long fight. At 14.7 feet long, it was estimated to weigh around 1,300 pounds. Definitely worth a look. Find it on You Tube under BlacktipH Fishing.

Sheepshead enjoy the chilly weather and they taste great! Gloves and electric knives make cleaning these bait stealers easier. Find them around structure like docks and bridges, and use fiddler crabs as bait or small bits of shrimp on needle-sharp thin-wire, small hooks.

Capt. George Tunison is a Cape Coral resident fishing guide. Contact him at 239-282-9434 or captgeorget3@aol.com.