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Fishbone Charters, licensed and insured, offering you unparalleled experience in fishing our back bays. We provide more quality time fishing as opposed to hours spent getting to the fishing areas.
We cater to families young and old alike as well as corporate, businesses, individuals, beginners and professionals. Everything you need in a back bay adventure is provided by Fishbone Charters. Boat, bait, equipment, and dock pickup is always coordinated and never cuts into your fishing time. And, when the day is through one of our crew cleans and packages your catch.
Please
browse our site and feel free to contact us should you have any further
questions. Below you will find some useful area information if you are
not familiar with our little piece of paradise
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Here
at Fishbone Charters we like to accommodate everyone by offering several
different types of trips.
Sight seeing is a big part of enjoying Florida. Take a leisurely ride up the Peace river where you can view "old Florida oak tree swamps, along with its native birds and wildlife, including "Alligators."
Take a step back into historical Florida, just a short trip to Bull and Turtle bays, where the commercial fisherman used the camps that still stand today. Discover the unique and interesting stories behind these houses in the bay!
We also do a tour of Christmas lights through Punta Gorda Isles and Port Charlotte. Don't miss this breathtaking yearly display and water parade! Bring your Christmas cheer!
4th of July fireworks never looked so impressive than from a prime location in the harbor. Join the festivities as you enjoy the amazing reflections off the water.
Take a tour of the island beaches! These wonderful, white sandy beaches are perfect for shelling, sunning and feeling like you're at your own private hideaway. Go by boat to Boca Grande Beach and Cayo Costa! Enjoy a delicious lunch at Cabbage Key restaurant, or at Captiva Island's hot spot.
Our most special trip for those who love to fish - one on one, captain to client instruction on how to better your chances to fish on your own. Learn how to throw a bait net; what gear to use, how to find fish and bait, what knots work best, how to land a big one and how to fillet the fish. It doesn't get any better than that!
I was asked by my web designer to give some information on myself so
it could be put on this website. I remembered seeing an article in Florida
Sportsman and thought "this was it." (It's worth reading)
Captains
Courageous,
by Frank Sargeant - September, 2001 Florida Sportsman
There was a time in Florida when nearly everyone you met either was a real estate agent, had a real estate license but wasn't using it, or was working on a real estate license. And I mean everyone. Real estate was where it was. I even found them in my bed-my own wife! Few made money, but everybody gave it a try.
These days it's captains. There's a captain under every mangrove limb. Everybody from bank presidents to plumbers either already has a captain's license and is about to quit their "real" job to guide, is guiding part time, or is working on a captain's license. Some days on Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor, there are more guides than clients. Some days there are more guides than fish.
There are several reasons for this explosion. One is that the men (and a few women) who have been at it a long time, the "real" captains, have let it slip that they have been making a pretty decent living for the last decade or so. This is mostly thanks to the rise of live sardine or pilchard fishing, which allows even the worst client who ever picked up a rod to catch fish.
Second is the "Boca
Grande factor." The breakaway jigging tactic there has been the
dot.com of fishing, allowing some guides to gross a grand a day for
almost 60 days straight. That kind of money definitely gets attention,
even from plumbers.
And then there's the Internet itself. Now, it's not how many fish you really catch, but how many you can convince people visiting your Web site you catch. So those who are slick at marketing can book trips that get past the old-timers who are not electronically savvy, and who still rely on word-of-mouth for most of their trips.
Guides used to be the best of the best. The only ones who could make a living at it were those who developed a reputation over years. An endless repertoire of locations and tricks that produced in every season was essential. Now, they seem to get their licenses out of Crackerjack boxes. Some have barely fished a year. They're one-hole Charlies, made occasionally successful mostly by live bait. But, at least, they can write off their payments on the flats boat as a business expense.
The guys who make
the best captains? In terms of knowing the water and catching
fish, they are sometimes former commercial gill-netters. And, when it
comes down to putting some fish on the hook in tough times, I'll take
a drawling, tobacco-chawing Pine Island rebel in a Trembly every time
over a guy with a master's degree in English who left the university
to find himself by fishing from his glistening skiff. To be sure, the
guides of tomorrow have to come from somewhere, and none of us are very
good at our chosen profession when we start out. I'd rather eat a plate
of mustard greens than reread some of my first magazine articles, and
I was a worse guide than I was a writer for the first couple of years.
But for those who hire guides, these days it's wise to run a little reality check. Ask them how many days they guided last year. Ask them how long they've been guiding, how long they've fished the waters you're going to fish, and if they guide full-time. And ask them what they did before they became a guide. One sentence you really don't want to hear: "I used to be a part-time real estate agent."
As a commercial fisherman, guiding was not my first choice. If asked 20 years ago if I was ever going to be a guide, I would have laughed at the thought. My love is the water, Charlotte Harbor and fishing! After the gill net ban I acquired my captains license, started tournament fishing and guide FULL TIME, but still keep tournament fishing as a hobby.
When possible, book charter 1 week in advance to hold your date.
1/2 Day . . . . . . $350.00 (up to 2 persons per boat)
Full Day . . . . . . $600.00 (up to 2 persons per boat)
$25.00 per person after 2 people
One-On-One Tutoring add $50.00 to above
Also available: Multiple boat packages for larger parties
SPECIALTY TRIP PRICES
Sight Seeing . . . full day $225.00 (up to 6 people)
Historical Florida . . . $200.00 (up to 6 people)
Christmas Lights . . . $150.00 (up to 6 people)
4th of July . . . $150.00 ( up to 6 people)
Island Beach Tour . . . $375.00 full day ( up to 4 people)
Tarpon fishing off world famous Boca Grande beaches is a fisherman's ultimate experience. Typically these fish can be found here from May through July. During the season Tarpon in the 90 to 130 pound range are landed daily, with some weighing as much as 170 pounds and up!
As sight fishing goes, it takes time and patience to land these big ones. There is nothing quite like the experience of sighting a big one, presenting your lure or bait, and observing the Tarpon taking your presentation. Generally these Tarpon are taken in 6 to 20 feet of water, but make no mistake you are in for a fight of a lifetime. The tarpons impressive strength and cunning is a challenge for even the most experienced fishermen.
During the fall months, smaller Tarpon, 10 to 40 pounds, can be found in the numerous canals and back bays of Charlotte Harbor. Do not be fooled by their size, Tarpon in this weight class fight every bit as tough as their big brothers and sisters. In fact, they have a tendency to jump and breakwater more often than the bigger ones.
The fishing flats
and backcountry of Charlotte Harbor are among the most pristine and
distinguished angling areas of Southwest Florida. Home to snook, redfish,
trout, cobia, snapper and more, its countless miles of mangrove shoreline
and grassy flats offer some of the best sport fishing anywhere.
You will not be able to resist throwing your lures and bait off the many sand and oyster bars found in and around the harbor. Areas so wild it's like taking a trip back in time.
Most of the time you will be fishing in shallow waters, stalking your prey. This is when poling is most effective. More often than not, you will be casting at a snook or red's wake observed from the poling platform.
For a true flats experience you may want to try wading. For many anglers this is the preferred method of flats fishing Charlotte Harbor.
In the backcounty you will find wildlife abundant. Right alongside you can see dolphins and manatees, white pelicans, herons, egrets and osprey. A camera is a must!
Back
Bay Fishing
With Captain
Tom Fisher
For
Reservations
Call 941-637-1450
Punta Gorda Florida
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