Tarpon fishing in Charlotte Harbor

In Charlotte Harbor, tarpon peak April–July and are around March–November, spawning in June, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. April: Fish filling the harbor flats and the beaches from Gasparilla to Sanibel; the Pass starts to load late in the month.

1. JanuaryNot here
2. FebruaryNot here
3. MarchArrivingFirst fish rolling in Charlotte Harbor mid-month as the water warms past 74°F.
4. AprilPeakFish filling the harbor flats and the beaches from Gasparilla to Sanibel; the Pass starts to load late in the month.
5. MayPeakBoca Grande Pass in full swing — thousands of fish in 40–80 ft of water. Live crabs or pinfish drifted deep through the Pass; the beaches from Gasparilla to Captiva on the morning calm.
6. JuneSpawningSpawn month. Fish stack in Boca Grande Pass ahead of running offshore to spawn; the hill tides — the hard outgoing on the days around the full and new moons — flush 'Pass crabs' out of the harbor and the fish gorge on them. Tagging found the spawning grounds offshore of this coast (kept secret on purpose). Check MyFWC for Pass gear rules.
7. JulyPeakStill good in the Pass and on the beaches through mid-July, then the fish thin out after the last spawn moon.
8. AugustAroundResident fish in the harbor, the Peace and Myakka river mouths and the Caloosahatchee on the bait.
9. SeptemberAroundFall fish chasing threadfins and mullet in the harbor and off the passes.
10. OctoberAroundStill in the harbor and the Pass on the bait — tarpon use the Pass area into late fall.
11. NovemberLeavingThe last stragglers; a hard front ends it.
12. DecemberNot here

Boca Grande Pass and the mangrove sounds behind it — Charlotte Harbor, Pine Island Sound, Matlacha, the Caloosahatchee, Estero Bay — miles of mangrove shoreline, oyster bars, sand holes in the grass, and long barrier-island beaches from Gasparilla to Sanibel.

Fish Scouter charts 30 beach / surf, 17 pass / inlet, 3 bridge spots in the Charlotte Harbor & the Islands map area — the kinds tarpon hold on.

• Blue crabsWhole and small for permit and tarpon; halved or quartered on the bottom for black drum, redfish and cobia.
• Threadfin herring (greenbacks)Nose-hooked on a circle hook and free-lined, or slow-trolled. Fragile — handle them wet and fast.
• Pilchards (whitebait)Free-lined or under a cork, hooked through the nose on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook. The one bait that catches everything inshore.
• Finger mulletLip-hooked on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook and free-lined, or on a fish-finder rig in the surf. Cut mullet on the bottom for redfish and drum.
• PinfishHooked through the back ahead of the dorsal on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook; the small ones free-lined, the big ones on a fish-finder rig.

• Leader50–60 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook5/0–8/0
• Jig head1–1 1/4 oz
• Braid40–65 lb

Feeds in 74–90°F water, best at 78–86°F.

All about tarpon · Charlotte Harbor & the Islands, the whole year