August 1st is the beginning of the Discovery channel’s “Shark Week”, and although we usually don’t target them I thought it would be an appropriate time to catch (and carefully release) one with my charter customers today. We landed 3, one of which was a 150 pound Bull Shark.

What you may not realize is it’s not uncommon to see a 4 or 5 foot Shark cruise past while Everglades fishing in just a few feet of water. They’re neither shy or intimidated by my boat, quite frankly they could care less about our being here. Venturing in from deeper water the Sharks are looking for distressed or wounded fish that would make an easy meal.

Last year it was won by another long time friend, Mike Gallops, making it the 4th straight year the TOC has been won by a Naples, FL angler. Both Collins and Gallops live and go fishing here in Naples and spend a lot of time fishing the same areas of Everglades National Park that I take my customers to.

Congratulations to Robert for winning the IGFA TOC, and hats off to two great local Everglades fishermen!

We continued with our game plan and stopped at an old submerged mangrove tree in about 3 ft of water. More times than not, for whatever reason, it usually holds some nice size TripleTail. After a few cast and no luck with live bait we switch to a Rootbeer Riptide Jig that attracted the attention of a Triple Tail (see photo).

Remember, to get the most out of your Everglades fishing charters during the summer months, book them for the early morning. That’s when the fish are actively feeding, and you’ll also beat the afternoon heat.

On the falling tide today the Snook were averaging in the 28 to 34 inch range, along with a mix of slot-sized Redfish. After the tide started back in we moved out to the grass flats, and still using the Pilchards, caught some decent sized trout.

This week the weather in Everglades City has been perfect… Hot and very little wind so we’ve also been able to run offshore about 2 miles to the inshore wrecks to target Permit. We landed one that tipped the scales at 27 lbs using a live blue crab for bait.

During the Summer months the best fishing action will be had earlier in the day. So give me a call and lets join the fish for breakfast!

Thanks for checking out my Fishing The Everglades website.
Captain Glenn

Everglades Snook on Fly

Today had fly fishing on the schedule, and the weather in Everglades National Park was cooperating, no wind and crystal clear water. I figured we’d take advantage of the glassy smooth conditions and head just offshore to look for permit. As I idled up to a wreck that is notorious for holding Permit I saw a curved dorsal fin flash, confirming  we had found a school. Unfortunately, they would follow the fly but wouldn’t commit to eating. After a couple of well placed casts didn’t close the deal we switched up to Tripletail and were quickly rewarded with a decent 8 pounder that ate a brown clouser minnow fly. As the day progressed we targeted Snook in the shallows. I tied on a white deceiver pattern, and ended up hooking  4 Snook that went to 24 inches. Just as I moved the boat a little farther down the shoreline over white sand bottom I saw a bruiser cruising in about 10 inches of water! A well placed cast brought on a feisty fight that ended up with this Snook posing for a photo he didn’t plan on when he headed out this morning

With Father’s Day approaching I’ll be offering a limited number of discount coupons for everglades fishing charters. Best thing is to sign up (over on the right) so you’ll receive that information when it is published.

We had to wait until later in the afternoon when the tide started falling to get into the Snook action. I setup on a small creek south of Lostmans that emptied in the Gulf. As the tide started draining the action started, and the more it flowed the more the Snook were feeding, catching several nice Snook up to 8 lbs.

The weather has been perfect for fishing in The Everglades. Be sure to give me a call well in advance to reserve your fishing charters!

Tight lines!
Capt Glenn

When the tide switched, so did we and our next spot was and oyster bar were the tide was falling. We quickly scored with a nice 7 lbs Redfish, then a mix of Mangrove Snapper and Redfish.

We finished off the day by heading out to the “grass flats” to catch  a few trout for dinner. Fishing the grass flats is a relaxing way to have fun while drifting in about 3-4 ft of water with steady fishing action. We scored with several nice trout that we in the 3-5 lb range .

With May finally here the Everglades fishing is good and should even get better.

Moving on to our next spot we got into some pretty decent Snook fishing, where we caught and released 3 Snook to up to 9 lbs.

We finished the day by switching over to live bait and continued to score with some great Snook and Redfish action.

Everglades Tarpon Fishing

Each year April is when the Everglades fishing really starts to heat up. It’s typically when the large Tarpon arrive, and so it begins! Live baits and calm winds, combined with water temperatures moving up into the 80’s really gets the fish in The Everglades turned on. Tarpon can average 60 to 150lbs are roaming the bays and creeks, looking to rest and feed on their annual migration. Also, the Snook fishing really kicks in as well as they move out from the deep shallow bays of the backcountry to the mangrove islands that blanket the edge of The Gulf. Snook this time of year can average anywhere from 5-25 lbs, and will put up a fight to be remembered. In addition, fishing for Redfish this month will continue to hold steady as we catch them in the same locations as Tarpon and Snook.

Redfish with Riptide Jig

The weather in The Everglades is really starting to warm up, holding the promise of active fish and great fishing. Such was the case today when we pointed my Maverick towards the outside points in the vicinity of  The Chatham River to fish the incoming tide for Trout and Redfish. The first spot, a shallow grass flat with deep cuts on the edge, yielded several slot sized Trout and Pompano. As of late, Riptide jigs tipped with shrimp and bounced slowly on the bottom seem to be working the best for all species, which makes it easy to rig for the day. Later, as the day progressed and the tide started to fall we switched to fishing around oyster bars with live shrimp under a  popping cork, which brought Redfish up to 10 pounds. Call and reserve your Everglades Fishing charters while prime dates are still available.