Capt. George Tunison

Check the weather and leave early to take advantage of what’s left of red snapper season which ends on the 31st of this month. Anglers still get more chances at a good fight and a delicious meal when the season reopens for three-day weekends from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30. Kept fish must be at least 16 inches total length and only two can be harvested per angler.

Mangrove snapper must be 10 inches in state and 12 inches in federal waters to harvest and are open year round with a five-fish limit per angler. Florida state waters are defined as up to 9 miles from shore. Federal waters start there and extend 200 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico.

Remember before you drop a line on the numerous Southwest Florida local reefs, make sure to have your State Reef Survey paperwork up to date along with approved descending tools to save deeply caught reef fish destined for release. Good luck beating the Florida state record red snapper that weighed in at 46.5 pounds!

The bad boy of the snapper family is the very aggressive Cuban or cubera snapper which grows to over a hundred pounds eating whatever it wants, from other fish, crabs to lobsters, and like most snapper species, a taste delight although eating the flesh of larger specimens might bring on a case of ciguatera poisoning. Cubera grow large in Florida proven by the current 116-pound state record caught way back in 1979. If you catch one, watch your hands and fingers around those big teeth.

A generous 10-fish limit and fish must measure 12 inches total length in both state and federal waters.

If you bag a big one, the FWC states; “May possess no more than 2 over 30” per harvester or vessel per day, whichever is less. 30” or larger cubera are not included within the 10 snapper aggregate bag limit.”

It’s certainly prime time for surf snooking, which is a 24-hour sport in Southwest Florida. Can’t take the heat, then patrol the beach at night, which allows you to get in range of wise old trophies that might spot you in the sunlight and take off before you can make a cast. Keep lure selection simple with a pocketful of bucktail or soft plastic jigs and maybe hang a top-water plug or two on your straw hat.

Coastal sight casters like mid-morning sun and an east wind at their backs to make for easy sightings in gentle surf. Local mangrove shorelines on both sides of Charlotte Harbor offer small to mid-sized snook with better action closer to the ICW and Gulf side of the harbor. Bull and Turtle bays are still prime spots for inshore action.

Mixed in with the snook are good numbers of various sized redfish from rats to over-slot fish and are found in shady shorelines and docks, anything to provide a sun block, security and a degree or two of relief from the 90 degree boiling water temperatures. September is the unofficial start of good redfish schooling action leading into “Red October” or prime time for Southwest Florida reds.

Seatrout are never happy in sauna temperature waters so get out early, way before dawn, and stay quiet in the boat. Trophy class or gator trout are one of the hardest local fish to fool. For your biggest trout of the year, throw a large top-water plug using a long, limber rod and 10 to 15-pound braided line with the longest leader you can efficiently cast. Mullet schools prowling the flats can also contain a lone monster trout feeding on tidbits stirred up by the passing school and always worth a cast or two.

Many tarpon are still coastal based, with others spread out north and south along the ICW. Tarpon should start moving into Charlotte Harbor during the coming month, staying and feeding till December.

Capt. George Tunison is a Cape Coral resident fishing guide. You can contact him at 239-282-9434 or via email at captgeorget3@aol.com.