Fall is certainly here in Southwest Florida. We just finished up a fantastic month of fishing in October. The fall migration of Cobia is in full swing for coastal an inshore anglers. This week we landed 5 cobia from 15lbs โ 3olbs, while loosing one fish that may have been much larger.
The large schools of ballyhoo and pilchards staged up are holding good concentrations of tarpon and the odd ball cobia. There is a good chance to get into some fish further south late in the season. This week local angler Zach wanted to go on his first kayak Tarpon trip. We loaded up the Hobie Pro Angler kayaks and began running the circuit looking for some hungry poons.
Our first location had several fish, but they had a bad case of lockjaw. After a couple hours waiting for the feeding snap to happen, which it never did, we headed to another consistent location. Luckily for Zack, he was able to hook up on a nice 90lb Tarpon on his first cast! What an exciting fight and opportunity to land and photograph the fish. It was a night to remember! Few realize how lucky we are living in Southwest Florida, where the true tarpon enthusiasts can consistently target adult fish 9 months a year.
Of course, there are plenty of other species for anglers to target during the cool winter months. Redfish have been good to excellent and will continue to improve until the brutal cold fronts of late January arrive. As the rains have subsided, light tackle sight fishing opportunities will become the norm. Make sure to drop down your tackle and leaders to the lightest possible necessary to land those pumpkin reds.
He has a been a fishing guide and outdoor professional working the waters of Florida and Alaska over his career. He now permanently resides in Cape Coral offering anglers exciting opportunities to target trophy gamefish around Southwest Florida on a custom Pathfinder Hybrid Bay Boat. Ross Media.
