Boca Grande

You know what is really interesting? I befriended some pigs while fishing south of Boca Grande yesterday. No, not at the bar. But out on a desert key south of Gasparilla Island. Now, these are not normal pigs, they are feral hogs, representing some 500,000 that inhabit Florida. These are beach going hogs. Real beach going hogs.

After hogging, we commenced to fishing. This snook was the trophy of the day, 26 inches, smearing Big Daddy's 24 incher caught earlier in the week. There are larger our there, 34 inches is the take. I wouldn't take one anyway, but they put on a good fight. We were using sardines caught earlier in the day by Captain Joe Sturgis in the big water, Joe will be awarded a Wapiti for his fine work, taking us out, fishing, seeing the wildlife that included Iguana's, those nice little lizards that inhabit Boca Grande. Joe tells the story of a friend of his who let a pair go back in the 80's. Now the island is infested and the wealthy are pissed off. Iguana.

No, these are not feral hogs, these are some adopted pet pigs that Widden's Outfitters rescued. They have ducks, rabbits, some really crazy roosters. Don't you love crazy roosters, el pollo loco?. I have names for these two pigs. And they coincidentally are the same names as my daughter and friend who inhabited the condo with us during the week.

Jimmy Buffet hangs at the Cabbage Key Bar on Cabbage Key, way down the inter coastal. This place was really bizarre with dollars hanging everywhere. We didn't see Jimmy but Joe Sturgis knows him and his brother in law. Jimmy made a Disney movie on Boca Grande with his brother in law, a writer.

This is the gap where the tarpon fishing takes place. People come from all over the world to fish this area. Wapiti will likely provide trips to the area, many outdoors experiences to be had in the keys surrounding the area.


Tarpon fishing starts in late April, when the shrimp start running. These fish get up over 100 lbs. Sturgis says it is the lifeblood of the fishing guide, tarpon.