Tarpon Bay Fishing Reports (December 2025)

Perry Bedell with On a Mission Fishing Charters
Naples, Florida
Reported: 4 days ago

November wrapped up on a high note, capped off by a busy holiday week and some incredible catches for our clients. As we transition toward winter and the water continues to cool, our offshore fishery shifts into an entirely different gear. This time of year, you truly never know what...

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Perry Bedell with On a Mission Fishing Charters Naples, Florida Reported: 4 days ago

November wrapped up on a high note, capped off by a busy holiday week and some incredible catches for our clients. As we transition toward winter and the water continues to cool, our offshore fishery shifts into an entirely different gear. This time of year, you truly never know what you might run into offshore—and that unpredictability is part of the fun. Just this week, we ran across a school of massive Blackfin Tuna surprisingly close to land. Encounters like these are exactly the kind of bonus opportunities winter can bring. Along with the occasional surprises, all of our reliable staples have been showing nicely too. Cobia schools have been consistent from the nearshore wrecks out to the offshore structures, and they’ll remain one of our primary targets throughout the winter season. With the cooler temperatures, big Amberjacks are also pushing in closer. These fish provide an absolute blast on rod and reel—we'll chum them up and throw artificials or flies right at them on the surface. Winter also brings some of the best bottom fishing of the entire year, and it’s prime time for serious meat runs. Grouper and Snapper will continue to be major players offshore through the coming months. On the inshore side, we’re right on the edge of switching fully into our winter pattern, transitioning from live pilchards to shrimp and jigs once the backcountry water temps reach that key threshold. Live bait is still producing well with Snook, Redfish, and plenty of Jack Crevalles. As things cool a bit more, shrimp fishing will light up with Trout, Sheepshead, Pompano, Redfish,

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Dan Muench
Fort Myers, Florida
Reported: 4 months ago

Out today with two teens. Hot. Water temp said 89 degrees! Redfish bite is still good! And some tarpon are still in the area!

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Dan Muench Fort Myers, Florida Reported: 4 months ago

Out today with two teens. Hot. Water temp said 89 degrees! Redfish bite is still good! And some tarpon are still in the area!

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James Goodman
Fort Myers, Florida
Reported: 4 months ago

Been an incredible bite for big snook fishing 6 inch live threadfin herring on 30 lb leader with a 4/0 circle hook. Pitching the mangroves on a strong tide.

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James Goodman Fort Myers, Florida Reported: 4 months ago

Been an incredible bite for big snook fishing 6 inch live threadfin herring on 30 lb leader with a 4/0 circle hook. Pitching the mangroves on a strong tide.

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Perry Bedell with On a Mission Fishing Charters
Naples, Florida
Reported: 5 months ago

Summer time protocol is underway in Naples, FL. Hot temps, scattered thunderstorms and hungry fish will be the trend for the coming months. June fishing has been phenomenal so far and is one of our favorite months of the year for a reason. Permit fishing has been epic with large...

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Perry Bedell with On a Mission Fishing Charters Naples, Florida Reported: 5 months ago

Summer time protocol is underway in Naples, FL. Hot temps, scattered thunderstorms and hungry fish will be the trend for the coming months. June fishing has been phenomenal so far and is one of our favorite months of the year for a reason. Permit fishing has been epic with large aggressive schools of fish being a common occurrence. They tend to move around more this time of the year but once you get on them it's go time. There have been a few Cobia around offshore as well and are always a welcome guest while we are out Permit fishing. In terms of inshore fishing Snook has been the star of the show. The Snook bite has been incredible with activity out of them wherever we choose to fish them. Whether it be in the backcountry, the pass, the beach or even nearshore wrecks. The Tarpon migration is still underway as well with good numbers of fish swimming the beach. This is bucket list trophy fish time of the year and the On a Mission team is out there grinding in the heat making it happen on a daily basis.

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Perry Bedell with On a Mission Fishing Charters
Naples, Florida
Reported: 6 months ago

Kicking off the month of May exactly how it should start with sight fishing big Permit and Tarpon. This is the best time of the year to target these bucket list game fish and this is primetime to catch both of them in the same day. We have strong numbers...

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Perry Bedell with On a Mission Fishing Charters Naples, Florida Reported: 6 months ago

Kicking off the month of May exactly how it should start with sight fishing big Permit and Tarpon. This is the best time of the year to target these bucket list game fish and this is primetime to catch both of them in the same day. We have strong numbers of Tarpon migrating our beaches and there are massive schools of Permit offshore. These two fish will be our main emphasis over the next couple of months but that doesn't mean there aren't other options as well. There have still been some straggler Cobia hanging out offshore which has been nice while we look for Permit. Most of the wrecks offshore are also littered with Amberjacks which are fun to tease and throw artificial baits at. These are also great fly targets for any avid fly fishermen. Closeby there are great numbers of Snook inshore and nearshore. They're gearing up for their annual spawn and will be very hungry as we progress into summer. Our water clarity has been about as good as it gets which makes for some awesome sight fishing on all of the previous listed species. This is the peak time of the year for sport fishing in our area! We are looking forward to many great trips with all of our clients. Reach out to any of us with any questions you may have. Happy fishing!

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Perry Bedell with On a Mission Fishing Charters
Naples, Florida
Reported: 8 months ago

Hot, sunny and south wind. The days we wait all year for are here. Inshore or Offshore this is the best time of the year for sport fishing. The bait bite in the backcountry has been stellar with all the species cooperating nicely. Snook, Redfish and juvenile Tarpon have been...

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Perry Bedell with On a Mission Fishing Charters Naples, Florida Reported: 8 months ago

Hot, sunny and south wind. The days we wait all year for are here. Inshore or Offshore this is the best time of the year for sport fishing. The bait bite in the backcountry has been stellar with all the species cooperating nicely. Snook, Redfish and juvenile Tarpon have been steady. Just awaiting the big strings of migrating Tarpon to show up out front. Will be any day now. Things have been epic offshore with massive schools of Permit, swarms of Amberjacks and plenty of barracudas to pull on. Were sight fishing all of these species and catching a lot of Amberjacks on the fly which has been a lot of fun. There’s also some enormous Mangroves chewing for anyone who wants some fish to eat in between the sport fishing craziness. We will be serving up bucket list Permit and Tarpon trips all Spring and Summer. We’re filling numerous trips daily for April and May. Please reach out to any of our Captains with any questions you may have. Looking forward to an epic Spring with you all!

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Perry Bedell with On a Mission Fishing Charters
Naples, Florida
Reported: 8 months ago

The March rush is here and we're fishing hard every day. We're on our transition into spring and good things are happening both inshore and offshore. Water temps have been on the rise which has led to increased activity with numerous different species. The bite with live pilchards has been...

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Perry Bedell with On a Mission Fishing Charters Naples, Florida Reported: 8 months ago

The March rush is here and we're fishing hard every day. We're on our transition into spring and good things are happening both inshore and offshore. Water temps have been on the rise which has led to increased activity with numerous different species. The bite with live pilchards has been picking up nicely in the backcountry. Snook, Redfish and jacks have been steady on all of our trips back there. There have some still been some winter time fish hanging around on the cooler mornings which have been nice for those seeking a meal. Sheepshead fishing has been very solid in the mornings with some Trout mixed in which have led to some great meals. Our offshore fishery is right on track and everything is showing up like clockwork. Big schools of Permit have been showing up and they've been complying nicely. We also will typically get a few shots at some Cobia while we're Permit fishing. There are also massive schools of Baracudas around as well which are always fun and have been eating artificals nicely. Further offshore there is a great snapper bite with other good action on the wrecks. Amber jacks, Jack crevalles, Cobia, Sharks, Baracudas, and Goliaths have been very steady. Our fishery will only get better from here on out as we progress further into spring. Our March calendars are basically almost full with a couple halfdays available here and there. April is beginning to fill up nicely as well. Spring yields some of the best charters of the whole year! Don't miss your opportunity to experience it.

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Jon Fetter
Fort Myers, Florida
Reported: 9 months ago

The fishing has started to heat up down here like the temperature. There has been some really good redfish action lately although most have been on the smaller size. Shrimp tipped jig heads thrown up around the mangroves and oyster bars has been the go to method for them. The...

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Jon Fetter Fort Myers, Florida Reported: 9 months ago

The fishing has started to heat up down here like the temperature. There has been some really good redfish action lately although most have been on the smaller size. Shrimp tipped jig heads thrown up around the mangroves and oyster bars has been the go to method for them. The spotted sea trout bite had been great as of late. Shrimp under popping corks seems to be the bait of choice. Anglers have been picking up plenty of ladyfish and snapper as by catches. If you want to bend rods and make memories it has been a great time to do so.

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