Capt. George Tunison

Here in Cape Coral anglers are faced with really tough choices when planning a trip this weekend. Maybe start with a 100-pound summer tarpon? Since tarpon are just about everywhere, from the deep holes in Charlotte Harbor, Pine Island Sound, along the coast to miles offshore with Boca Grande Pass still the most reliable spot, an all-night or early morning trip has a good chance for success.

Lots of fish are being jumped by anglers throwing soft plastics, with the reliable DOA Baitbuster part of several reports. Others get fish in the air using pins and squirrelfish live on the hook. Depending on where you’re fishing, never discount dead baits on the bottom to put not only tarpon but jumbo snook on your hook. If catfish eat your baits, turn them into circle hooked tarpon snacks, especially when river fishing. If sharks eat your baits, enjoy the fight.

The last tarpon spots to explore are all the area bridges at night as well as any lit docks which the fish share with big, night-prowling snook.

Poor thing, you say you’ve caught enough tarpon already this year and you don’t feel up to a 100-pound class tug-of-war in this outdoor oven? Obviously an overstuffed Boca bull shark or bay boat-sized hammerhead is way too much exertion.

How about a breezy early morning beach walk, tossing that white bucktail down the surf line as you go? After all, the main body of local snook are beachside with lots of smaller snook cousins working the mangrove shorelines inshore. What’s that? Too many bugs to walk the beaches? I can definitely understand that, too.

Another alternative would be to fish that close-in structure out to 25 miles. Lots of reports of good mangrove and yellowtail snapper fishing, as well as boats running into Spanish mackerel and quite a few schools of feeding bonita. Spanish mackerel are great game fish on ultralight to light tackle spin equipment and fly rods, but to me light tackle bonito fishing is even better sport that will test your reel’s drag system causing most anglers to involuntarily smile. Give me a semi-calm day, schools of bonito busting the surface close around the boat, and my old 8-weight fly rod deeply bent and dangerously deep into the reels backing line, and I’m a happy angler. If you’ve never experienced catching these 5 to 15-pound beautiful bullets on light tackle, you’ve been missing out on some great angling fun.

Now that you found out your guests from the Midwest all got deathly seasick on last year’s Florida vacation, chasing anything outside of the passes is definitely out. Not a problem as our typical fall inshore “Red October” redfish rodeo has been replaced by “Red End of August” as redfish have already started early schooling activity from the passes through Pine Island Sound, Matlacha and Burnt Store Bar, all the way up to Pirate Harbor. Time your early-morning trip with an incoming tide to have a shot at tailing reds in the shallows. Throw spoons and top waters along the edges using long casts as the water comes up to the bushes then finally skip soft plastics back and under into shady cool spots during flood tides.

A 5 to 9-weight fly rod will all catch reds but an 8-weight rod is a good all-round choice when chasing tailing reds. Strong enough to fight reasonable winds, make long casts and control fish, an 8 is hard to beat.

Finally, try seatrout early on the flats then go deeper as the sun rises. Trophy gator trout hunters cast large top-water plugs in the predawn hours without making noise in or with the boat which sends danger signals to too wise, trophy sized Southwest Florida gator trout, which can be spookier than a Keys’ chrome bonefish.

Tough job to have so many choices here in angling paradise!

Capt. George Tunison is a Cape Coral resident fishing guide. You can contact him at 239-282-9434 or via email at captgeorget3@aol.com.