Gulf of Mexico
Anglers who like to fish deep water and who are willing to make long runs 50 or more miles offshore to reach water depths approaching 150 feet will be pumped up for the opening of the seasons for gag and for red snapper. Visit MyFWC.com for official opening dates.
For those of us who aren’t excited about fishing that far offshore there is typically steady fishing to be found in water less than 100 feet deep. Fishing on hard bottom in 60 to 100 feet of water will produce a mixed bag of bottom fish, including red grouper, lane snapper, mangrove snapper, porgys, and other reef fish.
Wrecks, artificial reefs and other high-profile structures usually hold mangrove snapper, Goliath grouper, barracuda and permit, and shark fishing is usually productive just a few miles offshore.
Charlotte Harbor
June is tarpon time in SW Florida. The action at Boca Grande Pass is world-famous and attracts almost as many anglers as fish!
It's less well-known that tarpon can be caught in many other parts of Charlotte Harbor, including locations many miles inland from Boca Grande.
But tarpon are never the only game in town! Shark fishing in Charlotte Harbor is often at peak this month and anglers will typically see a mix of blacktip, Atlantic sharpnose, blacknose, bonnethead, bull, and hammerhead.
Catch-and-release fishing for snook and redfish is usually good along bars and mangrove shorelines on moving tides. The harbor also typically holds good numbers of Spanish mackerel. Trout fishing is likely to remain steady, and targeting mangrove snapper should be a reliable way to put filets in the skillet.
