Capt. Greg Hood

Sanibel Island and Keys Fishing

Captain Greg Hood — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 16:51:00 GMT

Sanibel Island Fishing

Thank God the water temperatures are getting back to normal.

I went down to the keys with clients to get into some better fishing last week.

The water was to cold for them also. We did see some tarpon, and permit with no hook-ups. On the last day we did get into some great fishing. I landed my 1^st African Pompano!

The fishing here around Sanibel has picked up nice.

Clients this week are catching Trout, Snook. Redfish, Mackerel, Pompano, and Sharks.

I have some openings in April, only 3 days left for May’s Tarpon run.

See ya on the water.

Captain Greg Hood

239 822 5698

www.tarpoons.com

Tarpoons.com Fishing Boat

Captain Greg Hood — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:52:00 GMT

Tarpoons.com Fishing Boat

Normally I write a fishing report. This time I would like to share with you a story about my boat.

I had a 18’ Sterling made by American Marine Sports in Groveland Fl.

My charter business grew and I needed a larger vessel. I really liked my Sterling so I upgraded to a 22’ Sterling. I bought the new vessel in November of 2008. What a great decision.

Since that time I’ve run 174 trips with clients. I have 315 hours on the engine. I also spend time on the water with my family or scouting for fish.

Today I was cleaning the boat after a trip and it dawned on me what great shape the boat is still in.

I can tell you that I’m still very happy with my decision of buying this boat.

No cracks or chips. The paint is holding up just fine. All the electronics work great.

In short there are no problems with this boat and I’m just as happy as the day I bought it!

I took some pictures today for you to see for yourself.

See ya on the water

Captain Greg Hood

239 822 5698

www.tarpoons.com

Sanibel Fishing Charters

Captain Greg Hood — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 07:51:00 GMT

Sanibel Island Fishing Charters

Charter Fishing around Sanibel and Captiva Island this next week will be another challenge.

The coldest weather for me ever, is on my door step.

21 degrees with the wind chill. We did manage to catch some nice fish this last week. The bite was slow with cold water temperatures.

Spotted Seatrout are in season now. Anglers can keep 4 in this area, and one of the trout can measure over 20” all the rest must fit the slot 15 to 20.

Many of my clients say the flesh is to soft and when they cooked the trout they didn’t care for it. Let me explain the proper way of handling this species. First of all when you decide to keep a trout, it should be placed in a bath of saltwater and ice. This keeps your fish firm, and it will remain this way at the filet table also. The saltwater is important because if you just throw it on the ice, it gets bruised and flops around too much. The saltwater and ice together keeps the meat in great shape.

Next I find there is two ways to prepare this trout for dinner.

The 1^st is an egg wash and deep frying. My favorite!

The second is baking the fish in aluminum foil with vegetables, garlic butter, and lemon.

I will be focused on spotted seatrout, pompano, and grouper with the coldest days in the forecast. I will also be sleeping in. The best time to fish will be in the afternoons in my opinion.

See ya on the water!

Captain Greg Hood

239 822 5698

www.tarpoons.com

Sanibel Island Fishing Charters

Captain Greg Hood — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:07:00 GMT

Sanibel Island Fishing Charters

As a full time guide around Sanibel Island. I find myself in some bad weather conditions. As Winter approaches, not every day here on Sanibel, or Ft. Myers is going to be that perfect day my clients dream of.

Over the years I have found Winter and Spring can bring windy conditions.

Last year I upgraded my boat from 18 feet to 22 feet. The larger vessel has made poor weather conditions much easier to handle.

One other thing I have done, is to not cancel a trip do to the weather. Although, there are times when I can move days around, and give my clients the best fishing days possible.

Now I’m not saying that I’ll take you out in weather so bad that its life threatening!

There are times though when the water is rough. Actually many times in the year 2009.

So with that said. What’s a guide to do?

Well, I have found that when you can’t find bait. The wind is blowing hard. The temperatures are very cold. Snook won’t eat and your about to call it quits.

I can rely on Shrimp!

No, not even shrimp. The shrimp boats can’t get out either.

POMPANO!!

Pompano will move into deeper sand holes to wait out the storm.

The trick is catching them without bait!

I’m not the greatest at it, but me and a few of my guide friends are definitely getting better at it. I can also tell you they are a blast to catch.

They are strong, and make long runs.

Pompano are also delicious to eat. I like to bake them in parchment paper with julian vegetables and garlic butter!

I have a few more tricks up my sleeve, that we can discuss later.

See ya on the water!

Captain Greg Hood

Sanibel Island Fishing

Captain Greg Hood — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Sanibel Island Fishing.

Wind and fog with cooler temperatures has made Sanibel fishing a challenge. I like a challenge.

I like the change in seasons. This time of year is always a nice change from the hot temperatures we endure in the summer and fall.

Many of my days now are focused on the tides and wind direction to set up long drifts. Water levels are lower and I find Snook, Redfish, and Trout, staged near sand pockets and oyster bars.

Bait starts to be scarce, and I like artificials anyway. I think finger mullet is on the menu for most every type of fish at this time, so I like to use something that resembles a finger mullet.

Most of my trips at this time of year are clients coming from somewhere cold. They want to get away from ice and snow. I don’t blame them.

One thing I do remind people is that this is winter time for us too.

So maybe the fishing isn’t the greatest on one given day, but it’s still fun to get out here and try to stick some nice fish.

Catching a mess of trout can still be a lot of fun, heck catching a mess of ladyfish can still be a lot of fun. I just like setting the hook on something!

Especially if it jumps, shakes its head and pulls back.

This weeks catch is usually attached. If not go to

www.tarpoons.com

There are 2 photo slide shows on the home page. The 2^nd is most recent.

See ya on the water!

Captain Greg Hood

239 822 5698

Tarpoons.com

Sanibel Fishing

Captain Greg Hood — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:32:00 GMT

Sanibel Island Fishing.

Perfect weather for fishing around Sanibel Island.

The New Moon in November, and great weather conditions, have the Snook, Redfish, and Trout feeding.

This is that time of year when you can go out fishing and its not too hot, and not too cold.

Low tides have the redfish looking for crabs in our beautiful grass flats.

Strong incoming water is the key to get these fish tailing and moving around the flats for food.

As the water gets higher and following the tide up on the flats, marble bottoms with sunshine are great spots for Snook, and Trout, waiting in ambush for their next meal.

Sandbars near the passes hold all kinds of bait.

Bluefish and Mackerel are on the attack all around these pods of bait.

Reports from offshore say the fishing is great also.

Happy Thanksgiving and See Ya on the water!

Captain Greg Hood

www.tarpoons.com

Tarpon Fishing in May at Sanibel

Captain Greg Hood — Mon, 18 May 2009 18:24:00 GMT

Tarpon fishing around Sanibel the month of May is great!

Every year I have a trip where clients come for the first time and have the time of their lives.

This year they are Scott and Sally Lundgren and their friend Tim Bradley from PA.

They stayed at the Tarpon Lodge and fished with me 2 days.

I picked them up at 6:45 am both days after getting bait in the dark.

We drifted some white bait watching POONS roll all around with no hook ups and I decided that we should anchor on a flat near a ledge and pot holes where I normally see POONS roll.

We weren’t there very long before Scott jumped one. Always remember this one thing when Tarpon fishing, hand it the rod and don’t pull back!

Just let the fish run and jump. So on to fish # 2. After that lesson Tim got hooked up and then it’s Tarpon chaos! The fish this week have been big green monsters coming off the beach.

This second fish started peeling drag and I knew were going to be spooled if I didn’t grab the anchor and turn the key to chase it down.

I’m barking orders like a drill sargent, reel in the lines!, get the anchor!, how much line is left on the spool?! tighten that drag!, sit down!, get some line back!, bow to it when it jumps!.

This is TARPON CHAOS, baby!!

After a 37 minute battle we finally get the 150 lb’r to the boat for pictures.

Tim is now singing a country song that he went 37 mins on a Tarpon named POONMANCHOO!! I taught him the words.

We anchor up again and after a little bit Sally watches a big rod go down that has a catfish tail soaking in the bottom of a trench.

Whoom! Out comes this beast of a POON who shakes her head and spit’s the bait. I’ve seen a lot of Tarpon and this fish was over 200 lbs.

The middle of the day comes and with it, yet another big Tarpon!

This giant takes off and we are in Tarpon chaos again and everyone knows the drill. This fish is strong and jumps and runs for an hour, then the handle on the rod breaks and Scott looks at me and says, “ Now What? “.

I had another reel on board just like it so Tim and I went to work on getting the broken one off and replacing it with another. Meanwhile the giant is running away with the line and a storm is coming right at us. We get the handle replaced and now we have to deal with a bad storm and the wind is blowing, things are looking ugly, but the fish is almost whipped so we stick it out, boat the beast get the photos and run in the rain to Cabbage Key for safety, WOW!!

Day 2

Same program as Day 1 only Sally got a little to much sun so she slept in at the Tarpon Lodge.

Scott and Tim are ready for Tarpon chaos and so am I. We anchor up to drift some white baits and soak another catfish tail. We didn’t have to wait, the 5th fish eats a white bait and we’re off to the races. Tim puts the heat on the fish and we boat a 125 lb’r in 25 mins.

The 6th fish comes the same way only its Scott’s turn. He boats another 150 lb’r in 40 mins.

The 7th fish picks up a catfish tail. She is a BIG GIRL!! Tim’s got the rod and the fish starts heading for the Gulf of Mexico! She jumped and ran us around for 1 hour and 30 mins. The pictures are awesome. We boat this fish and lay anchor 1 more time.

The day is hot and were talking about the 2 days going 5 for 7 with the POONS. It’s all near the end when Scott’s rod goes off again!

#8 - Another Tarpon.

This fish is about 100 lbs. We boat it and get the photos and decide to head in before the rain to the Tarpon Lodge.

I enjoy watching others experience these beautiful silver kings.

We now call this group of Tarpon fishing anglers the Dream Team!

6 for 8 Tarpon fishing is a great time!

See ya on the water.

Captain Greg Hood

239 822 5698

Sanibel Island, Ft. Myers, Fishing tips

Captain Greg Hood — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:53:00 GMT

Fishing forecast for the Sanibel, Ft. Myers, Pine Island Sound region.

Predictable cold fronts for the next few weeks is the normal weather pattern.

Bait will be hard to find in most cases.

This is that time of year to head into the local tackle shop and pick up artificial bait.

I choose 3 different kinds, one on top of the water, one in the middle of the water, and one on the bottom.

My top water choice is no secret. Zara spook jr.

I prefer 2 colors, bone, and white with a red head. Most tackle shops also sell an item called tournament trailer. This is a treble hook with feathers tied to it.

Take some type of cement and paint the threads around the base were the feathers are tied on, and it will last longer. I also try to make sure and purchase a quality hook.

The next choice is a Mirrolure 27MR any color. This is a suspending twitch bait.

This bait works great for potholes and higher water with no weeds.

The last choice is weedless soft plastic or jig.

I like chartreuse for the weedless soft plastic. The last 2 years I changed my jig choice to a Strike King 3/8 oz white head, and the same body color, called Strike King redfish magic.

The trick to fishing this time of year, is tide movement, water temperature, and wind speed. I prefer going out on the low tide. January and February can produce the lowest tides of the year. The sand bars and oyster bars are all exposed.

The water is clear and cooler making it difficult to sneak up on any fish.

I usually will power to the area I’ve chosen to fish, turn off my engine, and use my trolling motor with the wind at my back to get closer to the target. I will also make sure no live wells are running and then turn off the trolling motor and use my push pole the rest of the way, make sure your hatches don’t squeak! Sand paper on the edges of the lid will take care of that.

With the wind at your back, make long casts, using 15# line and light leader.

If your fishing before the front, more than likely there will be a chop on the water.

This is a good time to work the middle of the water column.

After the front passes I normally wait 2 days for things to calm down and the fish to get acclimated to the new temperature.

Then I bring out the top water plug and go to work. There is nothing like those big hits on top water! Snook, Redfish, and big Seatrout will all be moving up onto a grass flat to find some food. Working 2 to 3 feet of water is great, but if your tide is low enough look for the redfish tailing. The redfish are normally spooky so its always a good idea to get out and walk. This is when that weedless soft plastic comes in. I walk quietly when the fishes head is down, and then cast past the fish and bring the bait to its face.

One last thing to remember! The mouth of a redfish is low and under its face.

Many times the fish will produce a push of water as it raises its head to eat the bait.

At this point sometimes the fish will miss as it struggles to eat the bait. I have found if you reel the bait away quickly just a couple feet and then stop and twitch it, the redfish will chase it and forward momentum helps the redfish get its mouth up for a better bite.

O.K. one more thing to remember the water is cold and the fish are lethargic.

Try not to work the bait so fast “ It’s all about the feather”.

See ya on the water.

Captain Greg Hood

www.tarpoons.com

239 822 5698