Life in the fast lane is the way I think of fishing in April. Both for the fish and the fisherman. Just about every fish in our seas wakes up after some dormant time in the cooler waters of winter and the old saying of “little fish eats big fish” is definitely in play. If you are a small fish you … [Read more...]

The Master Slam - The Peace River Slam I would speculate that there are few places in the world that have as big a variety of saltwater gamefish within a short boat ride as Charlotte Harbor. As an angler I always feel I am in the middle of a learning curve on our local waters with no end to the … [Read more...]

A Red Grouper Primer The summer months are prime time for red grouper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. When water temperatures reach the upper 80’s red grouper appear in massive numbers. Many years ago I did not realize there were so many grouper in our waters. Like many others I focused on … [Read more...]

Just a week ago I rode through Boca Grande Pass and only seen a handful of boats on the last of an outgoing tide. This is typically the best tide to catch tarpon and the tarpon boats were gone. For me, this was the signal of great fishing ahead for tarpon…..that’s right tarpon. And for that fact, … [Read more...]

Shark Boy and The Lucky Net By Capt. Chuck Eichner Plucking two fat blue claw crabs from my crab traps was the best bait I could come up with on short notice. Grandsons Jonah and Gavin Adler arrived in Florida just two hours prior and Jonah (age 5) told me he wanted to go shark fishing … [Read more...]

Understanding The Food Chain on Charlotte Harbor To understand Charlotte Harbor you have to look closely at the food chain. Most of us understand that migratory baitfish and shrimp are a big part of the fish’s diet. But if you look closer it is far more complicated. One way that I continue to … [Read more...]

Fishing in November requires a bit of knowledge of the Pacific Ocean temperatures. Sounds crazy but the weather forecast at present is for a La Nina pattern suggesting a mild dry winter in the south (and cold & wet to our north). Any way you want to look at it, November will have plenty of wind … [Read more...]

In the world of aquatic resources dramatic actions often follow unforeseen events as was the case with the snook moratorium.  In January of 2010 Charlotte Harbor and neighboring waters lost a large percentage of their snook population.  I seen it first-hand as did other anglers.  The reaction of the … [Read more...]

Rare are the days I feel comfortable going offshore in the winter but upon awakening one recent morning the weather man had called it right.  Light winds less than 10 knots and with that I called and woke a friend at 6:30am and asked if he wanted to go fishing.  The next hour was a rush to prepare … [Read more...]

Thrashing and slashing kingfish, huge schools of Spanish mackeral, packs of hungry snook, big schools of redfish and easy to catch speckled trout cloud my mind this month.  My angling style is generally about action.  I am not a purist except on the day I go fishing.  If I choose to go after … [Read more...]