Fishing with Capt. George Tunison | April brings the start of some great fishing in Southwest Florida
Welcome to April and the start of the best multi-species fishing that Southwest Florida has to offer. Getting tarpon reports and videos from various Pine Island Sound locations like the Captiva Shoals area and further south in the St. James vicinity. If I divulged exact locations I would be in trouble!
Big numbers of tarpon have been moving through the 10,000 Islands and Naples heading our way to join the early arrivals already here mixing with our resident fish and sharing stories of their trip.
I’ve heard some tarpon anglers say that many northern migrating tarpon by-passed Boca Grande in 2025, instead choosing to head further north to summer over in Tampa Bay. While it’s true that tarpon fishing in Tampa Bay has truly exploded in recent years with record numbers of fish recorded and caught, especially in the Egmont Key, Passage Key, and SW Pass areas, my research indicates there was no shortage of Boca tarpon in 2026. Everyone is entitled to their opinions.
To achieve your PB tarpon catch and healthy release this year, you might want to think mullet. Why? Max Domecq caught his world record 286.5-pounder using a mullet while Ms. Fredreique Jarland landed her 249-pounder in 25 minutes using mullet power. Fly rods, spin, bottom fishing, lures to bait, it’s tarpon time here in the birthplace of tarpon fishing and the home of the world’s largest tarpon club! It’s good to live in Cape Coral!
Although we’ll soon be receiving the main migrating body with tarpon for anyone willing to put in the time, I’m still saving my pennies for a tarpon dream trip to fish a pristine area bigger than our Keys and considered to be the healthiest reef in the Caribbean. The Gardens of the Queen, or Jardine’s de la Reina, is a vast marine and tightly controlled marine park featuring tarpon of all sizes, huge bonefish and amazing permit angling with miles and miles of healthy flats and beautiful coral reefs. Where? Cuba! You have to go with an outfitter and I understand only a certain number of anglers get to fish each year and I’ve also read it’s fly fishing only. Hopefully this will all change soon as these folks have suffered enough and the fishing and diving is reportedly to be fantastic.
Weather permitting, Saturday morning’s incoming tide starting with a low -0.3 at 7 a.m. becoming high by 2 p.m. (Pineland) could be a good early morning for some quiet poling in a shallow draft boat or wading, looking for tailing redfish scouring the bottom of your favorite healthy grass flat or bar. A minor cold front arrives Saturday night which could make Saturday daytime inshore angling more productive. Various wind reports indicate breezy conditions which may hamper offshore plans for some.
From near shore reef sheepshead and snapper to over a hundred feet great snapper action, grouper, sheepshead or just about any bottom fish is looking for a fight. Be a weather-wise angler. If you have doubts about the weather, wait it out and live to fish another day along with your passengers. A 25-foot bay boat keeps getting smaller and smaller as the Gulf waves and winds suddenly get bigger and bigger.
Boy Howdy, Devils horse, Crazy Shad, Wounded Spook and Tiny Torpedo are just a few of the names of some of the most underutilized big trout slayers on Southwest Florida waters. Most modern anglers think walk-the-dog lures these days when it comes to top-waters with the classic Zara Spook and more modern Rapala Skitter Walk at the top of the heap, but these old-time lures catch trout as well as reds, snook and largemouth and peacock bass. Fish them in fast 2 to 3-foot jerks for snook and schooling fish like mackerel or redfish or slow retrieves, barely turning the props in a subtle stop-and-go pattern for gator trout at dawn.
Capt. George Tunison is a Cape Coral resident fishing guide. You can contact him at (239) 579-0461 or via email at captgeorget3@aol.com.