At 10 years old, Bart Marx was taught to catch freshwater shiners with a cane pole for his Pops, Doyt E. Scribner. It has stayed with him all his life, at first a hobby but now a 10 year successful business. Before this fishing captain career he worked construction; concrete forming, pouring and finishing, as a glazer, and cabinets. He waited 20 years before going to Sea School which provides training for people desiring to take the tests given by the U.S. Coast Guard to become a licensed charter boat operator. Today, he is the owner/operator of Alpha & Omega Charters. Capt. Bart takes people of all skill levels fishing relying on his local knowledge and experience to help his guests to catch fish. For the past 8 years he has been an instructor of the Don Ball School of Fishing at PC Middle School with classes of about 25 seventh graders. He also instructs on new-to-the-area anglers on their boats to give them a jump start on the learning curve of fishing S.W. Florida & Charlotte Harbor. He has been a Captain for Hammerhead Charters, fishing the gulf located at the Fishery at Placida, and a Offshore Capt. for the King Fisher Fleet running the Kingfisher boat into the gulf from Fishermens Village in Punta Gorda. Capt. Bart is also a scuba diver that spearfishes, where he feels that he has an advantage over some guides because he has been down there and saw how to better fish these areas. For years he had fished with friends and family in Charlotte Harbor for reds, snook, and trout. He would fish with Capt. Dan of Hammerhead Charters back in the day and the Fishin’ Franks Shark Challenge for a few seasons. Capt. Bart lives in Port Charlotte where he has a detached garage for his boats that are on trailers. He likes this because his business is all over southwest Florida so he may have guests from Venice to Ft. Myers. To accommodate his anglers he can meet them close to their location. He has friends that have a fishing shack off the coast of Pine Island so he has fished in that area for years too. He is a leader at New Day Christian Church where he has attended since 1996. He works with the children there too, to help them learn the importance of a relationship with God. He believes in the theory of give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and feed him for life. He has knowledge of the local birds and creatures in the waters of S.W. Florida like manatees, porpoise, etc. He still enjoys being on the local waters and still wakes up before the alarm on the days he has trips scheduled. Alpha & Omega Charters can have up to 6 anglers on board, and do 4, 6, or 8 hour trips to accommodate the requests of the guests. WHO Capt Bart Marx WHAT Alpha Omega Charters WHEN on request WHERE Venice to Ft. Myers HOW 941-979-6517 or captbart@alphaomegacharters.com

 

Hello fellow anglers it is summer in full swing. Offshore winds in the morning and onshore winds in the afternoon. Great to make those long runs to troll or bottom fish. If you are running out try to troll a lure like a cedar plug or some type of bullet shaped lure. This can be accomplished with fifty pound mono a few hundred yards of it. This can produce blackfin tuna, king mackerel, or some wahoo. The goal is to be as productive as possible while you have guests on the boat. Okay you let the lure out so it is beyond most of the bubbles created by the boat this could be fifty to seventy five yards or so. You need to set the drag so it doesn’t slip while you are at trolling speed, and you can pull it by hand also at this speed. When you have it set where you can sit back remember to engage the clicker so when a fish is on it will sound off, at that speed it wont take long to unspool a reel. Normally we just run one of these some times two depending on conditions. This is fishing at a high rate of speed and can be fun. When you get to your bottom spot it is time to tuck the big stuff away, and get the bottom rigs out I like thirty pound class to bottom fish to me this is light tackle fun offshore style. The lanes, mangrove, and yellowtails should be hungry out there fifty to eighty feet. Some red grouper may move a little closer to the beach now and the gags should be out in the deeper waters. And in thirty to sixty feet of water you could target hogfish they like to eat crustations like shrimp, small crabs and fiddlers. Most people think you can only harvest them by spearfishing, this is not true. These guys can be caught on hook and line it needs to be some hard bottom where you may catch trigger fish too. When I bottom fish I start with the frozen baits first get the bite started and as it slows then start with your live baits this proves to be more productive. Jets talk about some inshore fishing , the snook should be moving around during the post spawn time. They will be hungry after all the work they have just finished to keep the species stocked up. Look around the docks on the back sides of the barrier islands and along the points and overhanging mangroves. Reds may start there schooling along the ICW and where there is plenty of bait as they start to feed up for there offshore migration in the fall. Lemon Bay , Placida sound , Pine Island sound where there are spoil piles along side the channel. This can be some of the most fun that you could have fishing for reds. When you find these schools there may be other boats following them, treat them like you would like to be treated give a little space. Bring with you plenty of bait so you can chum and keep them close to your boat. Bring some other tackle like a fly rod this is a great time to battle some schooling reds they fight hard too. There will be tarpon up in the deep holes in the harbor and in the canals as most of the migrating fish are gone. Snook moving back to the areas  relative to where they live. Some trout may be along the grass flats and a pompano too. If you would like to come along with Capt, Bart Marx call 941-979-6517 or e-mail captbart@alphaomegacharters.com  And always remember singing drags and tight lines make me smile. <*((((()>{