Fishing Report - Tampa Bay to Sarasota, Florida. Saltwater flats and backcountry fishing guide Capt. Matt Ercoli.

With the weather warming and the wind laying down tarpon are starting to roll into the bay area. It’s my favorite time of year. I look forward everyday to the challenge that awaits me and my fisherman; stalking, hooking, battling and releasing a silver king. The king of all sport fish, even arguably as exciting as the blue marlin, there are few things one can do in the world that could be any more memorable of an accomplishment as doing battle with the magnificent fish. Land them or not it’s an unforgettable experience. To me as the captain of the trip there is nothing like that feeling I get the moment after I am done catching the fresh bait for the day and I climb up into my tower and jump the boat onto plane. Like an osprey sitting on his perch cutting though the cool morning air with the sun just cracking the horizon waiting with anticipation to sight its first school of fish. Then baiting the hookups and moving in for the morning’s first approach on a large school of rolling fish. I love it.

The tarpon are here in the bay; we fished them a few days around the bridge and had some half dozen hookups per day, landing a pair of 100 pounders one day. Not bad for early season fish. The large schools which we sight fish have not moved in yet, but I am expecting them any day. They are the fish I do the classic sight fishing for, which is my favorite. With 6 to 12 hookups a day on fish are very average days. The best days consist of hooking more than 20. This weekend I plan to put the 6 horse power trolling motors on the boat as I do every last week in April as I transition into my tarpon hunting mode . That will be life pretty much till the end of July, but believe me I not complaining, I love it. Last season my boat went a hundred percent on tarpon; let’s see if we can do it again.

What else do we have going on around here? Well the best way to put it is everything. Pretty much you can name it and if it lives in these parts its biting good right now. On the flats the snook fishing has been very consistent; our largest this past week was 34 inches. The redfish have been good for me every day. I have a few spots that have been producing real nice consistent keeper’s everyday in the 24 to 27 inch class, with a few up to 32 inches. The great bonus this spring has been the trout, finally our trout fishing is coming back to what it used to be. We’ve had lots of nice fish from 16 to 22 inches and larger trophies. It’s just really nice to see the numbers of nice size fish back. I think our trout fishing, although has come a long way in the last 3 years, is going to get much better.

Offshore the fishing is equally as hot. The kings are out there in force from the beaches all the way to 20 miles out with lots of numbers and lots of nice size fish in the 20 to 30 pound class. The Spanish are mixed in thick as well. The snapper and grouper are biting as well along with some giant 30 pound permit out there. Though I haven’t targeted them myself I hear reports of nice Amber jack 20miles out. If you want a giant goliath grouper in the 300 pound plus no problem as well. Right now we are in that offshore scenario where if you are in the right place you can catch everything without pulling the anchor. It’s red hot out there.

Well I hope you have enjoyed my report. I want to take a moment to say thanks to all my loyal customs through this slack economy. The stock market is up again today despite the swine flu, maybe things are turning around. I hear a lot more optimism than I was hearing 6 months ago and it seems the economy topic comes up almost every day in my boat.

Matt, I tell you what...On a day when every boat in Tampa was on the beach spooking fish, we were still able to create quite a crowd of enthralled weekend warriors with the leaps of an illusive silver king! This was our second trip with Captain Matt and just as he put us onto some of the best snook holes in the Bay, our hunt was successful in finding our target fish once again. The tarpon were more leader shy than they were at the beginning of the summer but with Matt's pin point accuracy and knowledge, we were still able to get our bites out there! I have been a saltwater fisherman for 19 years and every time I go out with Matt, I am able to learn something new that improves my overall fishing performance, and increases my love for the sport. This was the first acceptable full-size tarpon I have ever landed and just three days following our trip, I landed my second good tarpon, a 70 pounder, over on my coast! Matt, your professionalism and character have shown to be top notch. We will continue to be strictly your clients, just as the many other true saltwater anglers that use your service. Here are pictures of the great fish that we landed and a picture of the one that I caught by the residual good luck that everyone gets when they step foot out on your Sheaffer. Thanks again for the memories, our summer was great and I hope your video of the jumps turned out well!

Matt, both Mike and I were once again blown away with the fish you got us into! In the five or six years I have been coming up to fish with you we have never had a bad day! The offshore fishing this year for the kingfish was incredible and the day on snook was just about the best day fishing I have ever had (I won't even guess at how many we had on)! You can plan on us being back next year, and for that matter, every year! I have had the good luck to fish all over the world, and your area is at the top of my list for great saltwater fishing! Thanks and tight lines until next time.
Sincerely, Steve Brugger

Matt, Hope all is well and the bite is still on! Just wanted to thank you again for a great time on the water. We had a blast! Also, wanted to see if you'd mind forwarding on the pic's your father took at your dock (FYI: trip was on May 2nd, caught several large kingfish). Anyway, Caroline, her father (especially), and I are all anxious to see if we made this month's fishing report. We'll keep checking, but we realize that your much busier fishing than advertising this time of year. Take care and we're hoping to plan another trip soon. I've already given your info to a friend that'll be in the Tampa area next month.

WOW!!! What a trip I had with Captain Matt!!! I went fishing with Captain Matt to catch a tarpon. Not only did I catch a tarpon but a wide variety of fish from grouper to snook. Captain Matt is very experienced at what he does and when I go back to sunny Florida I will fish with him again!!!! Captain Matt, Thanks for filling a dream with the tarpon I caught!!!

Just wanted to thank you for the WORLD CLASS fishing trip you guided my son Justin and I to on April 30, 2002! I have fished all over America including guiding and tournament fishing at senior levels and have never found a more professional guide. Your equipment, boat, bait, and knowledge are all SUPERIOR. After many "flats" trips in the Tampa Bay Area with other guides you are now my permanent yearly choice!

This was the 1st time I was able to bring my son along and contacted you in advance with one request, "keep my son hooked up and don't worry about size". I cannot describe the trill of watching Justin land 76 Snook. And we had size to go with the numbers. And as you described in your 5/6 fishing report we only fished one rod at a time. As soon as we cast the 2nd rod( usually before) we were hooked up on the 1st rod and I just reeled in the 2nd rod to watch Justin have the time of his life. I do want to differ a bit from your report stating we could have caught 100 fish. I honestly believe if we would have fished both rods hard we would have caught 200.

I am very grateful for your efforts. I have personally guided for bass, crappie and stripers and know what it takes to keep equipment in first class shape. I was especially impressed with the quality of your bait(Greenbacks) and the amount you had to chum and fish with. I am already looking forward to fishing with you next year and please feel free to post this if you wish and if any one needs a reference please do not hesitate to have them contact me.