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Im pullin out Saturday mornin with the Hewes in tow. Has anyone fished the pass before? I have a chartered trip on Monday but I will be on my own with just my brother Saturday and Sunday. If anyone has some tips or pointers for me it would be great to here them. Im staying on Gasparilla Island, I am plannin on looking for some Snook and Reds one of the days. Thanks

I really wanna do it and almost went this past weekend. Can you try to scope me out a place to stay with the boat in the water for a decent price that is close.

Culrich, fished it a number of times and will say it's a great place to get a poon but the price for the best odds is too much bedlam for me. Never enjoyed the floatilla aspect and high-strung tensions played out each time someone tries to fight a good fish with boats totally surrounding them. If you are wanting to get into the tarpon, you won't have any problem seeing where the hotspots are based on the boat density.

The above said, you also have tarpon rolling through nearby Captiva Pass, Redfish Pass, and for that matter just off the surf on the outsides of most of the islands.

As for snook, when you see blowdowns (likely more than I fished back in the day due to Charlie's wrath a few years back) lining the shoreline definitely target them for snook. Lit docks at night make for EXTREMELY fun snook fishing if you're game to try it.

Wish I could give more exact advise, but fished Boca, Captiva, and Redfish back in my teens and mainly just fooling around versus having any serious game plans at that age.

Good luck and be sure to post a report if you have any luck!

What a mess wrote:I really wanna do it and almost went this past weekend. Can you try to scope me out a place to stay with the boat in the water for a decent price that is close.

I"ll try and keep an eye open for a place. I cant promise anything tho, Im gonna be on the prowl for some POON'S!

I had located two one was right there and $200.00 a night the other was less than 1/2 that but they said about 40 min by water to the BG pass.

I was just there two weekends ago. The pass is a madhouse. You're basically fishing blind on the bottom. I fished with guides two days and they both preferred to stay out of the pass. We fished inside the pass in the bay and on the beach just north of the pass. Basically, load up with threadfins (you can cast net or sabiki them) and have along a few small blue crabs. Spot a school of rolling fish and try to ease yourself in front of the pod. Try not to use your big motor as it seemed to make them sound. Then lob your bait out in front of the pod and hold on. Crabs seemed to work better early in the morning and threadfin better when the sun got high. We would put one bait on a freeline and the other with a bobber about 6 feet above the hook. Had pretty equal success.

Hope that helps.

culrich wrote:Im pullin out Saturday mornin with the Hewes in tow. Has anyone fished the pass before? I have a chartered trip on Monday but I will be on my own with just my brother Saturday and Sunday. If anyone has some tips or pointers for me it would be great to here them. Im staying on Gasparilla Island, I am plannin on looking for some Snook and Reds one of the days. Thanks

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Fins u got an PM..

Fished the area last month, I can't tell you about tarpon, but here's the 411 on the Snook and reds. Fish the mangroves between Gasparilla and Charlotte Harbor, its shallow, but find a small pass or point on an outgoing tide and you're golden. Also find Pilchards! They are the key to a many a snook. North of Gasparilla heading towards Englewood you will find Don Pedro Island. There is a ferry that runs across the intercoastal, turn left heading west and follow the channel markers. You'll cruise past some very nice vacation homes, it's tight, but navagable. You'll end up in a little area about 200 yards wide and 1/2 mile long, there are many undersized snook, but plenty of big reds! Then there is Stump Pass, it's probably 5 or 6 miles north of Gasparilla, fish the pass with pilchards on an outgoing tide and the Snook shall a cometh. We also found using a 1/2 oz. jig head with a 5" shad drug along the bottom of the pass produced many of healthy snook. If all else fails, try Ski Alley and the area east of it for snook hunkered down in the shade of the mangroves. Good Luck, you'll love it.