Off- and nearshore ledge and rock formations are loaded up with a variety of fish from red grouper, permit, mangrove and lane snapper and triggerfish, with a cobia sighting a strong possibility during the trip.

Red grouper season is open year round in Gulf waters with a limit of two per day per angler with a 20-inch minimum size limit.

This week generous friends supplied me with delicious black grouper fillets and some pompano. To many the black grouper is the best tasting grouper and pompano is always welcome at my house.

Triggerfish are open to harvest from March 1 to May 31 and, if you haven’t eaten one, you are missing out on some fine dining. In the Gulf, only one per day is the limit and that’s with a 15-inch fork length. On the Atlantic side, you’re allowed 10 per day with a 12-inch fork length.

Triggers also make interesting aquarium pets, showing amazing intelligence but are quite aggressive and territorial with many other species often requiring a display tank of their own.

Know the rules when going for mixed bag bottom fishing in the Gulf, especially for grouper. The aggregate bag limit states — all species of grouper in the Gulf are included in a 4 fish per harvester per day aggregate bag limit in any combination of grouper species.

I’ve had several reports of tarpon in the Gulf and just off the beaches as they make their way north to fill up Boca Grande Pass and travel to points beyond. If you’re new to the early season tarpon game, a good place to start is to look for boats anchored in the Gulf off Knapp’s Point (Sanibel Island) fighting some of the strongest, bright chrome tarpon of the year using a variety of bottom baits from mullet to mackerel to river catfish chunks with shad always a top bait if you know where to find it.

As the tarpon move up along the coast, chose to bottom fish or throw small pass crabs, pinfish or whitebaits in their path of travel often under small corks or floats. Desirable pass crabs are often fished with just a hook and allowed to swim naturally on the surface, especially in the passes. That’s also the time for coastal fly casters and lure fans to intercept moving schools and get in their licks as well.

Many tarpon move along the Gulf beaches while other groups take the inside route north through Pine Island Sound with early fishing good near the power lines then later in the vicinity of the fishing shacks and just to the west close by Captiva Pass, which usually is the first pass to report early season tarpon action before Boca Grande Pass fishing really heats up.

If you spot a school of moving tarpon, never chase them with the boat. Always motor out away from the pack, move far ahead and then set up to intercept them as they travel by you.

With lots of bait available and pressure down, snook and redfish are enjoying themselves and are waiting for your freshly caught whitebait, topwater plug, fly or spoon. Higher tides allow the redfish access to all the shoreline goodies hidden back and around the mangrove roots where bottom baiters will draw them out to their hooks with cut ladyfish chunks and skip casters will present soft plastics back under the sticks where wise old reds and snook feed and hide from the less talented casters that only fish the outside edges of cover.

These past weekend I stayed away from crowded boat ramps but did spend some time observing the ramp show from the (hopefully) safety of my truck. The ramp at Matlacha crowded with weekend boaters coming and going, the smallish docks filled with families and children yet not one protective mask in sight.

Close contact spreads this deadly virus. Mask up!

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