With so many different species available to the Southwest Florida angler this time of year achieving a Southwest Florida inshore or offshore “slam” is always a real possibility.

Most know that a fishing slam is an angler catching a number of different species or catching various members of just one family of fishes during one day’s fishing. I always thought of slams as a way of challenging one’s fishing skills or achieving a personal goal, but there are also tournament slam competitions for fun and cash prizes as well as recognition in the record books. I had no idea that the International Game Fish Association, the official keeper of angling records, even recognized slam catches. It’s called the IGFA Grand Slam Club.

The following designations apply to IGFA Slam Clubs:

• Three species in a day = Grand Slam

• Four species in a day = Super Grand Slam

• Five species in a day = Fantasy Grand Slam

There is also a Royal Slam Club. This one honors the outstanding accomplishment of catching a collection of different game fish species within an angler’s lifetime. A “Royal Slam” is defined by an individual angler catching each of the required species within a category.

Then finally we have the big one — the IGFA Royal Slam of Royal Slams Club category. Australian angler Matt Price accomplished this feat by catching all of the Royal Slams, which consisted of 46 different species of fish, which also took him around the world to accomplish. He stated that of all the species he needed that the dogtooth tuna and Porbeagle shark where the hardest to collect requiring eight trips to three different countries to accomplish.

Not all of the IGFA recognized Royal Slams are for saltwater species. There is a category for freshwater trout and bass as well. Large and smallmouth, stripers and rock bass are but three of the eight bass species in this Royal Slam category.

A typical Southwest Florida inshore slam would be a redfish, a trout and a snook. A coastal slam could be a bonito, Spanish mackerel and a permit. Need a bigger challenge? Go for a 100-pound slam which includes a tarpon, a shark and a Goliath grouper all over a hundred pounds. Try an on-foot cichlid slam catching a peacock bass (actually a member of the cichlid family), a tilapia and Mayan from local canal.

With all the different species available to local anglers this month, challenge yourself or maybe have a friendly slam competition this coming weekend with a few other friends. Show them who the “Big Fish Boss” actually is once and for all.

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Pass-caught tarpon numbers have slowed considerably as coastal catches increased with even more fish starting to take up residence in Charlotte Harbor where they will primarily stay till a lack of baitfish or cold weather sends them heading southward once again. The harbors 20-foot holes or the top of Matlacha Pass are traditional productive spots during the coming weeks.

The hot weather has moved many offshore species even further offshore out to the 150-foot mark and beyond especially for the bigger specimens. Many Gulf anglers are waiting for September when red snapper and gag grouper season opens on the 1st of that month although the red snapper season will only be open on weekends and the gag grouper season will be open for just 15 days.

Snook fishing is like the weather, hot along the beaches and passes. Any structures behind the barrier islands as well as nearshore reefs could put a fat 40-incher on your hook.

The local nearshore permit fishery keeps getting better each year with some 30 to 40-pound beauties being caught on small crabs.

Spanish macs and super fun bonito have been showing up in random locations so let the birds guide you to the action while inshore redfish fishing keeps getting better each week.

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.