Backcountry Light Tackle Fishing


This is my most popular trip as it offers a variety of options and opportunities. You can spend some time learning how to work and present artificial baits or just relax with live bait under a cork. This is a backcountry trip that keeps us in and around the many mangrove shorelines and adjacent grass flats of places like Turtle bay, Pine Island or Gasparilla Sound, Matlacha, or at the northern end of the harbor between Punta Gorda and Pirate Harbor. We will be fishing in around two feet of water doing some false casting as well as getting in some sight fishing opportunities.

Depending on the conditions, we could drift, use the trolling motor, or even the push pole looking for fish and then Power Pole down to get the right shots. We will use lightweight  medium power fast action rods and matching spinning reels for a true light tackle experience. We could throw top water or suspending plugs, soft plastic shrimp or jerkbaits, and of course live bait. Trip lengths can be  four, six, or eight hours. Tidal movement is a key element to fishing these inshore flats as the bite is always best when water is moving. The longer trips will generally allow us to fish an additional tide.