Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Forgotten Coast Tarpon


Wow, what a month July has been! For that matter, the whole summer has been pretty great thus far whether you were fishing or not. The weather has been normal for this time of year (hot, with some needed rain in the afternoons) and the fishing has been memorable for many.


It's no secret any longer that we have a sweet little tarpon fishery here along the Forgotten Coast of Florida and this season so far has been tasty! These fish begin moving into the area in appreciable numbers sometime in mid to late May (we do have some resident fish here as well) and they pretty much stick around until they feel the urge to leave, or about mid September or so, whichever comes first, and making way for the return of Redfish season. Which puts the entire month of August literally in the heat of our productive Tarpon season - and better yet, Flats guides are not booked up solid in August either. Several of our Bayfishing guides are also experienced in live bait or plug fishing for tarpon on light tackle, up to 4 anglers per. Tarpon fishing is just as addictive as billfishing and the adreneline rush can be stronger because the huge fish are launching themselves out of the water close enough to the boat to count scales. There's probably worse things to be addicted to! Bragging Rights: Our regular tarpon angler Bruce Aughtry from Greenville SC caught his personal record of a 150# tarpon on a fly rod with Capt. Chris Robinson this summer!

August Forecast: Hot weather Hot fishing! Fish swim in schools but they don't GO to school. Families with school age kids will be heading home early month after their summer vacations are done, leaving all the rest of us their fish to catch, their seats in the restaurants, and their beachfront homes to stay in. Less people = More fish! Inshore fishing trips will result in speckled trout caught on light tackle, jumping lady fish, hard fighting sharks and the tricky tripletail. Sheepshead and flounder are plentiful. (Night time flounder gigging trips ARE available by the way folks and it's a lot of fun) Offshore adventures are also readily available to do some bottom fishing for grouper & snapper and bit of trolling as well, although you may want to hire the boats with the airconditioned cabins for the ride home!

Tommy heads south to Key West again the first week of September and he still has some 3 day weekend trips open through the end of October. Everybody else will be looking forward to some cooler weather & some awesome fall redfishing. I'm placing my order for my 2009 calendar which means I'll soon be bugging everybody who fished this summer to see if they want to re-up for next year and trying my best to work in those of you who want to get some summer tarpon action in. Fall weekends are already booking up with large group trips of lucky employees and church groups.

Real Estate News - This summer has been busier than I envisioned, with several couples coming from as far as Colorado and New York and Louisiana to take a look at the area during their fishing trip, or was it to fish during their house hunting trip? No matter, It was fun meeting them, showing off our beautiful area and getting some lucky new homeowners hooked up with their new homes. New photos of Capt. Jr. & Rhonda Holland's house are now posted on our Featured Listings page at www.RobinsonRealEstateCompany.com.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Kathy Robinson
Robinson Brothers Guide Service
118 Commerce St.
Apalahcicola, FL 32320
850-653-8896
www.FloridaRedfish.com

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