Fishing with Capt. George Tunison | Red snapper are a good catch and a great dinner
Another chance to bring home some fine red snapper for dinner if the weekend weather cooperates. Predicted showers and light winds may keep smaller boats close to home or maybe competing in the tarpon parade at Boca Grande. Best weather advice; when in doubt, wait it out. East coast anglers must do their red snapper fishing this month within 3 miles of the beach staying in state waters due to federal waters being closed to recreational fishing.
Catching your own may be the best way to make sure you’re actually eating the most mislabeled (faked) fish on the planet with studies showing that your expensive restaurant portion of red snapper has up to an 87% chance of being a lesser quality fish such as the aquarium, pond and restaurant fish, tilapia.
Red and other snapper species can be caught day or night but many swear by night trips especially during full moon phases. Try a night trip to catch some quality specimens as they often rest during the day shift but go on the hunt after dark with dead baits on the bottom putting off scent a good option in the dark depths. Cigar minnows, squid, sardines, ballyhoo, everyone has their favorites. Two fish per person. 16″ TL in both state and federal waters.
Weekend showers if not severe or accompanied by our famous SW Florida lightning could really turn on the inshore backwater bite. There’s not a lot of water movement in the morning with the afternoon offering much better water or fishy conditions. Maybe start the day by changing out that fuel/water separating filter you’ve been putting off before it clogs up and separates you from land. A 15 minute at home job costing less than 20 bucks that can save hundreds of dollars plus weeks sometimes months, waiting for an appointment to rescue your Ethanol/water sludge clogged, expensive engine and a save you and your crew from very bad experience at sea. Like sinking? No, much worse. Like having your brand new bride and her visiting mid-west family sweating, sunburned, seasick and now stranded and near mutiny 15 miles off Sanibel, all shaking their heads, whispering and grumbling to each other, “I bet he didn’t change the filter, what an idiot” “I know, and she married him” “I’ve never ever been in a boat before but even I, know to change the filter” Don’t be that poor captain.
Bull and Turtle Bays, Two Pines to Burnt Store Marina, the West Wall along with shallows off the Intracostal throughout Pine Island Sound all offering a great variety of snook, redfish, trout, tarpon and sharks of all sizes waiting for eager skinny water anglers.
For some real one-on-one-angling-without-a-boat excitement, wade out to the Burnt Store Bar from the NW access parking point at Charlotte Harbor State Park near NW 40th Lane which will allow you to then walk up on the bar in very shallow water and cast to sharks of all sizes patrolling the outside edge of the bar while casting to snook, trout, tailing reds and surprise cobia on the outside and inside although a shark, tide trapped on the inside, is also a possibility. A good clue is a knee high dorsal fin between you and the shoreline. If you’ve now had a change in plans and don’t want to wade out to the bar imitating a large lure then quietly probe the early morning shoreline and shallow inside flat with long casting top water plugs on incoming tides also provides a shot at some quality wade/walking fishing.
Boca Grande tarpon fishing too hectic for you? Then relax and try Captiva Pass and possibly put a major snook on your hook as by-catch. The St James City area is still holding fish, the Sanibel Causeway and all along the coast up to Boca and points north with Boca Grande by far still tarpon central.
Capt. George Tunison is a Cape Coral resident fishing guide. You can contact him at captgeorget4@yahoo.com or (239) 440-1621.