Charlotte Harbor Fishing Reports (December 2025)

Brandon Douberly
Bartow, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Late fall is an epic time to fish our waters, the snook are fully back in the inshore waters and hungry after all the work they put in during their spawning season. You will frequently find long, skinny female snook looking to get their figure back after giving birth to...

Brandon Douberly Bartow, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Late fall is an epic time to fish our waters, the snook are fully back in the inshore waters and hungry after all the work they put in during their spawning season. You will frequently find long, skinny female snook looking to get their figure back after giving birth to the next generation of snook. We have been catching our bigger snook on large greenbacks we refer to as turbos, these bigger baits are irresistible to those bigger slot and overslot snook. Beef up your leader because you will need it with some of these monsters, I typically step it up to 40 lb Fluorocarbon which is less susceptible to abrasion when those fish shoot under structure. Redfish are still schooling up towards the tail end of their spawn, mostly the mid to upper slot fish are what we have found around the mangrove islands, oyster beds and docks. Pinfish are hard to pass up but they will certainly eat greenbacks as well. Trout over grass flats and edges of bars and channels have been pretty good, just lacking in size at times. We have been targeting those trout with gulp shrimp under a popping cork. They absolutely love those baits but just about anything will work. At times when the wind is blowing it is best to use a bait you can slow retrieve like a shrimp immitation bait. We are starting to head into a change in season, cold fronts are pushing through and soon we will see a change in bait, tide heights and target species. As we begin seeing lower winter tides we will switch to shrimp and focus more on sheepshead as they make their way into our inshore waters to spawn.

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James Gibson
Sarasota, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Fall is her. Both inshore and nearshore fishing seems to be pretty dang good post hurricane. Fall is her. Both inshore and nearshore fishing seems to be pretty dang good post hurricane.

James Gibson Sarasota, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Fall is her. Both inshore and nearshore fishing seems to be pretty dang good post hurricane.

Fall is her. Both inshore and nearshore fishing seems to be pretty dang good post hurricane.

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James Gibson
Sarasota, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Fall is her. Both inshore and nearshore fishing seems to be pretty dang good post hurricane.

James Gibson Sarasota, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Fall is her. Both inshore and nearshore fishing seems to be pretty dang good post hurricane.

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Matt Fueyo with Reel Tight Fishing Charters
Sarasota, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

The inshore nearshore bite has been awesome. One spot shopping for snook redfish cobia tunas sharks. Everything!! Light tackle fishing at its finest. Book your adventure today!

Matt Fueyo with Reel Tight Fishing Charters Sarasota, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

The inshore nearshore bite has been awesome. One spot shopping for snook redfish cobia tunas sharks. Everything!! Light tackle fishing at its finest. Book your adventure today!

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Brandon Douberly
Bartow, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Our fishing is firing off in Pine Island Sound despite our stint of hurricanes over the last several weeks. unfortunately there is damage left in their wake but it isn’t affecting our fishery and we are open and welcome anyone wanting to get out and catch a bunch of great...

Brandon Douberly Bartow, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Our fishing is firing off in Pine Island Sound despite our stint of hurricanes over the last several weeks. unfortunately there is damage left in their wake but it isn’t affecting our fishery and we are open and welcome anyone wanting to get out and catch a bunch of great fish. In between storms we have been catching great redfish that are still schooling up in large numbers as we are in the middle of their spawning season. Snook season is also in full swing for another month and a half and when we break away from the schools of reds we’ve been catching plenty of snook. The slot fish have been getting the best of a few of my groups since the season started; these fish are strong and not an easy fight especially when hooked in the mangroves or other structures. Our trout are getting into a great size range, many of the fish we are catching are in that 15-19 inch range giving my anglers plenty of meat to bring home. This fishing should get better and better in the coming months, fall is a personal favorite time of the year to target big reds, snook, trout and sometimes we get the tarpon to play along as well. Come get on the fish with us, you’ll leave with awesome memories of a great fishing experience.

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Logan Hawthorne
Cape Coral, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

No problem red bite is on fire right now

Logan Hawthorne Cape Coral, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

No problem red bite is on fire right now

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James Gibson
Sarasota, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Water temps have been dropping and the fish are loving it. The inshore fishing has been fantastic catching trout, snook, redfish and more!

James Gibson Sarasota, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Water temps have been dropping and the fish are loving it. The inshore fishing has been fantastic catching trout, snook, redfish and more!

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Brandon Douberly
Bartow, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Fall is here and despite temperatures keeping pace with the typical summer heat we are seeing fall arrive in the form of an unbelievable fish bite. The fall months in southwest Florida is known for one of the greatest red drum fishing experiences found anywhere. These redfish are schooling up...

Brandon Douberly Bartow, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Fall is here and despite temperatures keeping pace with the typical summer heat we are seeing fall arrive in the form of an unbelievable fish bite. The fall months in southwest Florida is known for one of the greatest red drum fishing experiences found anywhere. These redfish are schooling up and eating everything in sight to prepare for their spawn season. These schools are mostly upper slot to over slot fish most measuring in the 30 inch range. We are finding an abundance of slot redfish around the mangrove islands as well along with plenty of great snook action. Our trout fishing is getting great as well, they are gaining size and we are starting to see the bigger slot fish arrive over the grass flats. Fall is one of the best times to fish the waters of Pine Island, the fish are feisty, water temps will be dropping and it’s only getting better from here on out.