Guide recommendation
designated_hitter
Posts: 837 Officer
The CEO of my company has asked me to look for a guide for Boca Grande in early May for 4 or 5 guys. Not familiar with the area as I flats fish on the east coast. Any help would be great.
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
Replies
727-919-8666
http://www.captaingregd.com
http://tarponrealestate.com/all-rentals/0192-2/
A buddy of mine is new to charter fishing this year but is a great guy and has put in 1000's of hours in the pass and surrounding areas and will bust his back side for you. His name is Captain Bobby Woodard. [email protected] He would work hard for you. He would pretty much do whatever kind of fishing you wanted, beach, pass, jig, live bait.
There are a ton of good captains down there though. Rob McCue, Dave Markett, Jeff Hagaman to name a few. All three are excellent captains in the pass.
You can also go the traditional style of fishing. The above captains will all fish live bait and jigs but the traditional boca grande captains generally drive bigger inboard boats and drift live baits. I am more familiar with the captains from the west central area that fish the pass down there than the traditional guides so I will let someone else chime in on some suggestions there. Tarponator on the forum might have some names and recommendations because I know he has chartered guys down there. The main group of traditional tarpon fisherman is the Boca Grande Fishing Guides Association. Captain Scott Hughes and Captain Andy Boyette are on this forum a lot on this topic and would be good options as well. They are not in big drift boats like some of the BGFGA nor do I even know if they are associated with the BGFGA but they could get you on the tarpon with live bait via beach, pass, harbor, etc...
Then you can go the beach route or up in the harbor. My boat is not a stealthy boat so I don't do much beach fishing so again, will let someone else give you recommendations if you want to go that route.
I would seriously consider Captain Bobby. He is a great guy and will bend over backwards to give you and your crew a great experience.
Tight Lines
I doubt that either of them would take more than 4 people. If you have 5 people then you probalby should hire a large drift boat and go with Capt. Mark Futch or Capt. Charlie Coleman.
Wouldnt forget about this guy though. Tarpon or 20lb snook, he'll put you on em...
Capt Danny Latham
http://reelfishing.com/
^^^ This is true
So is this ^^^^
Capt. Bobby Woodard
www.Captain-Bobby.com
However, and as Paul indicated, your first decision is what type of fishing you want to do. Most captains fall into one of three categories.
1) Traditional live bait captains like Futch or Coleman. Their large boats make taking five anglers possible on a single boat. They will likely take you out during a hill tide event (new/full moon) during the afternoon, or after dark.
2) Jigging boats. Like McCue/Hagaman/Markett. I'm not a fan of this style of fishing, personally, but those three are solid guides, and they often do other types of fishing outside the few hours in the morning when they jig.
3) Beach/Backbay fishermen who fish primarily live bait. Like Rhett Morris, Ed Walker, Mark Bennett or even Greg Penix (one not mentioned, but on the same level, IMO). Again, finding one that can handle your party in one boat will be a challenge. However, there is one captain whose boat is capable of handling 5 anglers. That's Phil Dugger. He uses a boat similar to the live bait boats (a 25' Morgan), but it's set up with a tower and he primarily fishes the beach. I've fished with Phil for the past 17 years, and he will absolutely put you on fish, is a very laid back and nice guy. Phil can be reached at 941-626-1084 or at http://www.podzillacharters.com .
Good luck in your decision...Mike
Thanks!