First Tarpon for Frank was this beautiful 80 pounder from Charlotte Harbor this morning. Perfect cast with a purple toad fly got an immediate eat. Great job in the wind and deep water. #pineisland #tarpon #tarponfishing #tarpononfly #swfl
Tarpon Season 2026 has been excellent so far. My buddy Brooks finally got back out with me and landed this 50 pounder first thing this morning. The water hit the magic 85 degree mark so they were rolling like crazy for a few hours. #pineisland #flyfishing #tarpon #tarponfishing #tarpononfly
Rare sight on the flats off Pine Island yesterday. Hammerhead sharks are usually in the deeper waters chasing hooked tarpon this time of year. Stingrays are actually their favorite meal. Haven’t seen something like this in a long time #pineisland #swfl #hammerhead #shark #sharkweek
The best redfish action I’ve ever seen off Pine Island is happening right now. This was the first part of an inshore slam for my buddy Gary, who comes down from Tampa to chase our fish. The water is still much cooler than it ought to be, but it’s climbing back up to the magic 80° mark. Going back to tarpon fishing after this weekend. #pineisland #matlacha #redfish #berkleygulp #flatsfishing
Redfish started acting like redfish are supposed to act today, hungry and aggressive. We hooked a lot of them out in Pine Island Sound on artificials this morning. Great job, Mike. #pineisland #redfish #floridafishing #flatsfishing #reddrum
Snook Season 2026 has been excellent so far. Seeing and catching more slot-legal fish this year than any other. My daughter Sophie and her friend Brooke got this 30” just a mile south of Matlacha a few days ago on a white jerk shad. Water is still a little colder than it should be, but the fish are finally getting used to it. #matlacha #pineisland #swfl #snook #floridafishing
Should have seen the one that got away. The big snook finally started popping today off Matlacha. #matlacha #matlacha #pineisland #floridafishing #snook
First time on the flats for Linda produced a big overshot redfish this morning. Still seeing huge schools of them off Pine Island. #pineisland #beavertailskiffs #redfish #matlacha #floridafishing
Round two with all of the redfish off Pine Island, swimming under the boat. I’ve been guiding this part of Florida for 16 years now and I’ve never seen this many schooled up in the winter. Cannot wait to see what summer and fall look like. #pineisland #flatsfishing #flyfishing #redfish #saltwaterflyfishing
There are a ton of fish just like this one all over Matlacha and Pine Island right now. You have to work a bit to get them to eat flies, but they were totally unaffected by the recent cold. Redfish this size were almost all spawned after Hurricane Milton, and there are just as many big ones out there, also. Looking forward to a great season now that winter is finally left us. (Hopefully.) #matlacha #pineisland #swfl #flyfishing #saltwaterflyfishing
