Capt. George Tunison

What a quick change! From hot and steamy, dead-still mornings to westerly winds and needing-a-jacket coolness means one thing for sure, it’s a great time to be on the water in Southwest Florida. We still have some late-leaving migratory tarpon hanging around to target, and even though the inshore redfish schooling peak is about over, there are still lots of reds to catch throughout Pine Island Sound, Charlotte Harbor and Matlacha Pass.

Cooling weather has snook on the move inland seeking thermal relief as well as putting on the feed bag to fatten up for a hopefully mild winter. The dip in water temperatures also turns on the seatrout bite as well as Spanish mackerel, kingfish, tripletail, bonito, jacks, pompano, ladyfish and bluefish. Some grouper, especially gag grouper, move in closer and surprise inshore anglers beating the bushes for redfish. During the late fall period I’ve caught these offshore grouper inshore, in lots of different locations in Pine Island Sound. The area around Chino Island has always been a productive spot for these fall offshore visitors.

Offshore and nearshore reefs still host grouper, red snapper, some permit, cobia and some really big snook. If you want to pull on something really huge you don’t have to search very far in this neck of the woods to find a giant of a grouper, the goliath. Mangrove snapper fishing is hot right now on nearshore GPS numbers and in the passes.

Big packs of jack crevalle are hunting the Cape’s canals eating small baitfish. The last few mornings I’ve looked out the back window to see the canal’s surface start to boil, grabbed a fly rod and (probably to the amusement of my neighbors) ran to the seawall to make a quick cast, outfitted in paisley bathrobe and slippers fishing attire. I’m sorry but, if seeing the water erupt with fleeing baitfish trying to escape the sharp teeth of the super-predators below doesn’t excite you anymore, no matter your age or how many hundreds you’ve caught in the past, it may be time to think about buying golf clubs.

If jacks could jump, they would surely be one of nature’s best “complete” gamefish. Most think of warm or hot weather when it comes to these eating machines but in actuality they are a wide ranging fish that are caught as far north as Nova Scotia. The biggest jacks I’ve ever seen in Southwest Florida hunt upriver, around the I-75 bridge area, each winter.

To those who enjoy challenging these brutes, a trip to the east coast of Florida to pursue some real Atlantic giants should be on your angling bucket list. The IGFA lists a 66-pound, 2-ounce fish as the All Tackle World Record. Bring a lunch; it’s going to be a long fight!

On the way back home from your east coast, jumbo jack trip, be sure to stop by the 10,000 Islands area. Late fall tarpon fishing can be really good for migratory fish passing through on their way south, and local guides can put you on some fantastic sight-fishing for back country, shallow water tarpon of all sizes, reds and big snook.

Offshore a bit, hunt your trophy-sized tripletail on the many crab floats. Soon big kingfish will man the offshore towers along with cobia and the fishing can be quite good, especially for the kingfish.

If you haven’t fished this area before, it definitely should be on your angling to-do list. Even with today’s amazing electronics to guide the way, I still highly recommend a local guide (plus bug spray, long pants and sleeves and lite socks) the first time around, as it’s still quite easy to get lost and even easier to eat up your hull on submerged wood and oyster bars hiding just below the surface of the stained waters. This is not a good place to get stranded!

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