# Boca Grande 6-19 to 6-21



## skinny_water (Jun 11, 2008)

Went down to Boca Grande to do some Tarpon fishing with Bob C. from gillzshirts.com

Friday we started out with a beach run looking for some tarpon to be had. We headed out of Little Gasparilla Pass and head south. A short run down the beach before sunrise and we found 2 boats already hooked up. Went a little further south and found a pod of tarpon....all to ourselfs in glass calm conditions. We had tons of shots on the fish but they simply would not chew. Time to pick up and move. We headed into the pass and found the group of boats on the hill. We took our spot in line and the fish started moving in. The were all around the 80lb range. Tons of shots and no chews. A boat right next to us hooked up, and I got my first attempt at a jump shot. This guy was not expecting this fish. He was reeling in his white bait and the poon hit it on the surface. 










We decided it was time to move on, and move up to the flats. Top water bite was insane. I was throwing a Super Spook Jr. and was making a killing on Trout, Ladys, and Jacks. Erik was somehow able to be more selective with the Sebile Stick Shad, and only was hooking into Trout. ???










Day 2. Glass calm conditions again before sunrise. Found the Tarpon in the same spots, and again all to ourselfs. The first two pods were on a mission. The were moving out at +6kts so no use on trying to get in front of them. Then a pod of big tarpon pop up. Average size was around 120-130lbs. Tons of shots, no chews. We stayed with this pod for over an hour. 










Soon we had 5 other boats around taking there shots at the fish, and they wern't hooking up either. Time to move. We hooked up with Bob in Boca Grande Pass to look for some other more eager Tarpon. We took our spot in line with a pod of fish. The boat next to us hooked up, and it started getting crazy with boats buzzing around. This guide was working really hard....trying to keep the rod down when the fish jumped, lol.










We hooked up with Bob to look for our own pod of Tarpon. We spoted a large pod hard rolling. We all got our shots, but again, no chews. At one point they turned and swam right at Bob's boat and went under it.










After that they started to pick up speed and headed out to deeper water. It was time to move again to scout some more backwater for some of the sweet Redfish action. The water was very high, and flooded all the mangroves. He showed us some spots to try...and tried to out run us a couple of times. He's got the sweetest skiff on the block. 1982 Challenger!










Time to bust out with some lure skipping action with the Sebile Stick Shad. Hitting the gaps in the groves Erik managed to skip one back and honest 4ft back in the the mangrove line. As soon as it cleared the edge it got slammed by a nice mid slot red. We picked up and moved to the next spot and found a ton of Snook. They were hanging out anywhere there was current on the edges.










Bite slowed down when the water stopped moving, so it was time to eat lunch and wait for the water to start moving again.

We hooked back up with Bob at the house and headed back to the flats. Bob decided to show us the way around when there isn't enough water to run...lol. Classic boat, but he still runs it like he stole it.










We found that there was a foot of water missing everywhere, making most of the mangroves dry and pushing the fish onto the flat. 










Erik sight casted to this crusing fish, that killed the Sebile!










The bite slowed down and we decided to call it. Went to the beach to get some running shots of Erik's Caimen.










When we went back to the dock we found the Challenger sleeping, lol. 










Day 3. Wind picked up.....a lot! We went out of Little Gasparilla Pass to find 2-4ft waves with a heavy shop...aka not small skiff friendly. Time to head back to the flat where we put up some numbers the afternoon before. The tide was up again and the Redfish went into hide mode. We did manage to get a Snook to clear us from the skunk. Took some glam shots of the Caimen and called it a day.


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## Big_Fish (Dec 10, 2006)

Sounds like alot of fun!


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## HaMm3r (Dec 11, 2006)

That's a great re-telling of an awesome 3-day trip. Love the pictures too. [smiley=1-beer.gif] I'm jealous!


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

Nice pictures! Great report!


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## mark_gardner (Mar 18, 2009)

awesome trip dude, congrats


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## islander1225 (Jun 15, 2008)

Sweet trip guys, just curious what kind of camera was used?



Alex


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## skinny_water (Jun 11, 2008)

D60, all images shot in Raw and edited in Photoshop.


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