Fort Meyers, Florida area fishing

[Gunnin4fish]

What do you think is the best bang for the fish buck in the Fort Meyers FL area? I'm going down to Sanibel Island for a few days around Christmas and want to wet a line. Let me know your ideas for both salt water and fresh water fishing. I've done a Tarpon Bay charter and I'm open to all ideas.

[irvingdog]

I can't speak for the charters, and have struck out mightily for the Tarpon, but I love standing knee deep in the surf while the tide is inbound, and nearly at high tide, and flipping out a live shrimp on medium weight tackle. The cats are creepy, but the Whiting are unbelievable in the pan. Ugly, gray, suckermouth fish with little other distinction. Cook them "shore lunch" style, battered in 375 degree oil. Great eating with a squeeze of lemon.

Also, this method of fishing yields a freak-show of fish like sugar trout, lady fish, grunt, etc.... Great fun. Oh, and suck in your gut when the bikinis walk by.

Bet that doesn't happen often on Mille Lacs!

[mainbutter]

I get down to Sanibel pretty often as my grandparents spend the winters there.

As I understand the species migrations, December is a good time for pompano, king mackerel, spanish mackerel, and lady fish. All are tons of fun on light tackle, and you can surely find a guide to take you out. Prices are probably in the $600 area for a full day.

I know of no freshwater fishing on Sanibel or Captiva island, and I've never checked out the mainland.

Last time we chartered with a family friend and he took us on a reef that's out by the lighthouse and fishing pier on Sanibel, and had a great time with pompano, spanish mackerel, and ladyfish. We even caught some oddities like a couple lizardfish and even a pufferfish. Previous years we've had great spotted sea trout fishing, but last year wasn't as good as it used to be, they've gotten a little fished out and stunted IMO.

There is other good saltwater fishing to be had on charters around this time of year but I don't know much about it.

Shorefishing is another option. I like to just fish some cutbait, usually ladyfish, on a 9/0 to 12/0 hook, on a slip sinker rig with 6 feet of 100lb mono for leader, and just set my rod in the rod holder and wait for that clicker buzz.

You can also shore fish with shrimp targeting smaller fish with great success.

I can tell you that sharking is pretty slow in winter, though I always still give it a go, since I'm just as likely to catch many other fish as well on a nice piece of cutbait on a 12/0 hook.

If you want to do any solo fishing without a guide, I'd highly recommend hitting up a shop called "The Bait Box". They've got tackle, and all the bait you'd ever need, and will point you in the right direction. They even rent fishing gear as well.

I believe you don't need a fishing license to fish from the pier I mentioned earlier, if you were interested in that I'd ask about that at The Bait Box to double check.

Good luck with the fishing!

P.S. you can google the bait box for their HSOforum, they have some great resources

[shortfatguy]

When you cross over the bridge from fort meyers to fort meyers beach there is a small pier under the bridge that you can fish from 24 hours a day since it is well lit at night. Not sure what you will catch this time of year but I was just there in September and there was alot of variety. I even saw a huge tarpon swim by. You can go to the bass pro in fort meyers or any of the small bai. Shops in the area for supplies and bait. I bought a cast net and would recomend getting one. It's easy to catch bait off of the pier or while wading with one. Best of luck and if you get a chance stop at the Matanzas Inn or Pierside bar in fort meyers beach. My uncle is one of the managers there and they have great food!

[fisherdog19]

Cross bridge going to FM Beach, hang a left heading south on the main drag that parallel's the beach and head to Lover's key. Get there before the tide starts heading back out, you'll need to get accross the small channel so you can fish off the key itself. Not sure what is there in December, but I have caught a ton of snook, trout, and redfish there during Feb/March.

[Gunnin4fish]

Thanks everyone for the information. I looked at The Bait Box online and they look like a good set up. I probably drove past it last year when I was on vacation down there. Like you said it looks like I can rent gear and get bait from them.

Any addition advise or comments?

Does anyone have a solid repellent for sandfleas? They target me right off the plane.

Meantime, I'll practice sucking my gut in,

[jwmiller33]

i was down in fort meyers 3 years ago for spring break. i stayed at a buddies house in a gated community on a private 18 hole golf course. their house was on the left side of the 16th fairway. between the fairway and the backyard was a small pond. my buddy said they had caught fish in the pond before and i didnt believe him. i grabbed a pole from his garage and threw on a old crank that they had there and reeled this guy in...

it was a good time and i got about 4 or 5 fish in a hr if i remember. that was all the fishing i did. keeping on the lookout for gators while i was fishing was kind of scary!

[jwmiller33]

i was down in fort meyers 3 years ago for spring break. i stayed at a buddies house in a gated community on a private 18 hole golf course. their house was on the left side of the 16th fairway. between the fairway and the backyard was a small pond. my buddy said they had caught fish in the pond before and i didnt believe him. i grabbed a pole from his garage and threw on a old crank that they had there and reeled this guy in...

it was a good time and i got about 4 or 5 fish in a hr if i remember. that was all the fishing i did. keeping on the lookout for gators while i was fishing was kind of scary!

[Gunnin4fish]

Nice Bass! I've heard there's very good Bass and Crappie in FL.

I was thinking of a charter on Okeechobee but they're a bit spendy. I was hoping someone knew of a good freshwater lake with a shore fishing spot.

Last year, I was driving south on 90 and there were these guys pulled over and fishing in the waterway on the roadside. About a 1/4 mile down the road were a half dozen gators. Push comes to shove mighty quick.

[jwmiller33]

ya i was told to watch out for gators while you are reeling in a fish into shore. gotta be careful!

[mainbutter]

I've seen plenty of pics of people who've caught gators on rod and reel (usually small ones of course, it gets pretty hard to reel in anything beyond 3 or 4 feet long even with heavy gear and 80lb superline.

[CaptZ21]

Well you are approximately a one hour drive to Roland Martin Marina on the Big O (that would be from the twins spring complex). You can fish the rim canal but I would be careful saw some big gators in the lake I have pics of them but cant seem to figure out how to load them on this site. No idea what guide fees are on Big O, but the if it is warm the bite should be good.

[roughfish29]

buy some live shrimp, wade out to a sandbar, cast out as far as you can.....and wait

you WILL catch alot of fish, and alot of different fish

[bklimek]

What about in early march? Is it better to hit up bass or ocean fishing during this time frame? I'm planning on checking out the Twins and maybe doing some fishing while I'm in the area.

[andrew chadwick]

when you guys shore fish do you usualy fish the shrimp live or cut/ on a float or slip sinker rig. I notice that every reef fish longer than 2 inches likes to eat shrimp and it makes for lots of lost bait.

[irvingdog]

Whole, live shrimp; hooked right under their head spike thingy...

[mainbutter]

What about in early march? Is it better to hit up bass or ocean fishing during this time frame? I'm planning on checking out the Twins and maybe doing some fishing while I'm in the area.

Oh certainly! In fact later in the year is my favorite time for fishing the gulf, with summer and august being my absolute favorite. Bass bite year round, though I'm not sure when peak season is, but water temps at 70 degrees has always been my favorite for LMB, though this may simply be because it's also the time when weather is the most pleasant. Each season has its hot bite for a particular couple of species for ocean fishing. I just personally love redfish, snook, and shark, which I've had better luck with during april through august.

The bait box mentioned above has a HSOforum, and they give a pretty decent list of what ocean species are most available during a particular part of the year.

Early march is an interesting time because it's right at the start of the turnaround where the pompano/mackerel/ladyfish (all of which are my absolute FAVORITE light tackle fishing!!) bite dies off a little and I start to find better snook/redfish/shark.

[RickyBobby]

I've fished the beaches around Sanibel Harbor resort (mainland side of the causeway) in early March and did well with ladyfish and jack crevelle. The jack crevelle were a blast as they would come into the beach in schools. I had fish flashing all around me as I stood thigh-deep in the water. When a school of jacks would come in it was a fish on every cast for 10-15 minutes at a time. A 27-inch snook and a 21-inch sea trout were the highlights of the trip. The snook was an amazing fight. I waded the beaches during early morning casting white twisters on 1/8 ounce jig heads using light spinning gear. I had the beach all to myself but The fishing piers at the resort seemed to be pretty busy.

[Gunnin4fish]

Seems like it would be good to bring/ship my some of my own gear down there. Would you agree?

What is a good line weight to have?

I'm getting really psyched for this trip!

[andrew chadwick]

when we fished the keys 14 lb mono, or 30 lb power pro are what I used for reef fish like snapper, grouper, jack and other similar species. Rigged on a medium weight spinning rod. I would definatly look into a saltwater spinning reel. Cabelas makes a nice model called the salt striker. Be sure to hose it down after every use.

we fished out of a boat and I found my favorite bait to be a fire ball, with white by far being the best, with black or green also working. 1/4-1oz with a half or third of a shrimp.

if you are shore fishing look into a sliding sinker rig, with a rubber band or bait clicker.

for bigger fish and smaller sharks (less than 5 feet)muskie grear works fine, although I have been spooled several times by bigger fish. fish a big dead bloody baitfish on a bottom rig with a large hook. Make wire leaders out of single strand 200 lb wire. most store bought leaders will be bitten through by sharks.

for barracuda, you can get away with your spinning reel with tube lures, or a very LIVE baitfish on a hook.

if you fly fish a 8-10 weight rod should do any of your inshore needs just fine. large long streamers in green, chartruse and blue fished fast are good for cuda. Keep in mind that the cuda's prefered food is the needlefish.

[youngie22]

if any one is headin' down soon, look in to some charters, got the word the sails and some wahoo and mahi are bitin'