Charlotte Harbor Fishing Charters & Guides

Charlotte Harbor Fishing Charters

Just before the Peace River empties into Gasparilla Sound Charlotte Harbor, it sweeps past the Charlotte Harbor community. Being just a few miles north of Ft. Myers and the Cape Coral area makes this community a great place to stay to visit this part of South Florida. It is a bit over two hours from the Central Florida theme parks at Orlando and just under two hours to Tampa Bay. Because of its location, Charlotte Harbor fishing charters offer a Florida fishing trifecta that is often hard to find so easily elsewhere in the Sunshine State. • Freshwater fishing in the Peace River • Brackish water and inshore fishing in the sound • Offshore fishing in the Gulf of Mexico

Charlotte Harbor Freshwater Fishing

Up the Peace River the freshwater is home to bass, catfish and many panfish species. Inshore and freshwater bass boats can easily navigate the tree-lined banks of the Peace for many miles upriver. Largemouth bass, the world's most popular freshwater gamefish, are obligingly easy to catch. Top artificial lures are big spinnerbaits and plastic worms. Shad, sometimes called shiners or roaches, are the top live bait. Late in the evening in spring and summer, topwater baits like buzz baits, popping lures and jerk baits provide explosive action. Downsize the offerings for panfish. Again, spinnerbaits are a top producer. For catching a mess of bream for the table, nothing beats poles and a can of worms or crickets. Smart anglers will grunt worms for bait instead of buying them. When the bream are bedding in the spring, catching a limit is easy. Catfish bite best at night and prefer loud-smelling bait. Chicken liver is a top bait for many, but anglers in the know use cut bait. Mullets have a gizzard, which is an excellent choice since it stays on the hook and gives off a scent that draws in Mr. Whiskers.

Charlotte Harbor Brackish Fishing

Where the waters start to mix and they cannot be truly called fresh or salt, the fish also start mixing. The same hole is just as likely to hold flounder as bream, redfish and snook as bass. In these places, throwing a shrimp imitation with or without a popping cork is a great way to cover a lot of water and catch fish. Live bait like shad, menhaden, bull, and glass minnows will draw strikes when nothing else will. Flip your offering around the trees and the roots that extend into the river. Look for holes, deeper spots, where fish will congregate at low tide. Snook, pronounced like hook, are harder to catch on a slack tide, especially when they are in channels. Snook also hit hardbody lures that are the same as you throw for largemouth. Reds lineup on points on the island and curves near the mouth of the river and feed when they are hungry, no matter the tide. You can often find reds tailing in the shallows. When you see the bronze backs and tails sticking out of the water, you know they are feeding. This part of the river and out into the sound are also home to monster tarpon. Big tarpon like equally big lures and bait. Hand-sized pinfish, full-size blue crabs and eating-size mullet all make ideal live baits. Tarpon are also a bucket-list fish for many fly fishermen. Tarpon like shrimp, crab and big streamer patterns. Getting a big tarpon to take a fly is pretty easy compared to getting one to the boat. Setting the hook is the first issue. Tarpon have hard mouths so a hookset happens in the corner. On large tarpon, 50 pounds and up, keeping the line intact is the next challenge. When the fish jumps, point your rod at the fish. If you don't, the tarpon will likely snap the leader. You need an 11-weight or 12-weight rod and a reel with 200 to 300 yards of backing.

Charlotte Harbor Offshore Fishing

Out in the deep water, you'll find grouper, snapper, amberjack, hogfish, barracuda, mahi mahi, mackerel and others. Offshore fish are roughly grouped into two categories. The pelagics stay near the surface and move a lot. Mackerel, tuna and mahi mahi are best found by trolling and looking for surface activity. Once a school is located, offshore bucktails cast into the school grab their attention. Trolling is also effective on grouper and amberjack, if you drag lures past a reef or shipwreck. Once you get over a suitable spot that holds fish, you can try your hand at jigging. This fishing takes a lot of work because that jig is moving fast. Dropping live and cut bait right down the reef is a time-tested way to catch fish. That is also easier on the arms, at least until a monster goliath grouper takes the hook.

Book A Charlotte Harbor Fishing Charter

Ready to fish? Charlotte Harbor fishing charters are ready to put you on the fish. FishAnywhere connects you with the captains who connect you with the fish. Let's fish.