February 15, 2020
By Florida Sportsman
Recent inshore fishing reports from the Southwest region.
The Fish are Cooperating
Florida Sportsman member: Gypsies Call & Fishbuster Dave
I hit one of my favorite areas yesterday afternoon. The tide was low and incoming, with a major solunar period from 2-4pm. Around 3:30, this one hit my Skitter Walk after I threw it up near a bank with a downed log that provides some underwater structure. This one was just over 30". That's my second slot snook this year. It swam away healthy upon being released. I got one other snook and a couple jacks the rest of the day.
Click here to read the full topwater snook report.
Click here to read the Bonita Beach report recapping the last month.
Action on the Myakka
Florida Sportsman member: Gypsies Call
Lots of snook have migrated up from the harbor and are in the backwater canals, holes and other spots on the water. All were caught using topwater lures, with the biggest at 37 1/2", followed by a 34". All the rest varied from under slot to dinks. For every one caught, we probably had three to four hits. It was such a blast seeing a topwater lure being crushed! My wife caught one and I landed five over two days.
Click here to read the full forum report.
Tons of Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
Finally, after the red tide chased them all away over a year ago, the juvi tarpon are back and in great numbers. Earlier in the year, they would come and go, but never in the really good numbers we normally had. Well, they've been back for a couple weeks now and it looks like they're sticking around. The bait in Charlotte Harbor is the thickest I've ever seen it, so I would imagine that's the reason why. The good news is they're eating. The last few trips have resulted in an average of eleven per night. Good times. With all the whitebait around, it's a no-brainer to use it. If you're throwing artificials, the Hogy's and BaitBusters are producing as usual. TerrorEyz though, have been a struggle.
Click here to read the full forum report.
Click here to check out his previous tarpon report.
Boca Grande Pass Tarpon Battle
Florida Sportsman member: HFF
After three trips to Boca Grande Pass we finally got a tarpon boat side. The two previous trips were full of action and hookups, but there was bad luck everywhere. This time we focused on using live crabs and sand perch. The tarpon were not as thick as previous trips, but there was still lots of action.
Click here to read the full forum report.
Click here to check out their previous tarpon report.
Fun Family Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: Snookaddict91
We stayed on the island for the holiday weekend. Lost count of the fish, but there were only a few good ones. The first fish of the weekend was my wife's personal best snook.
Click here to read the full forum report.
Tarpon and Snook
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
This boy is doing everything he can to get that tarpon in and he got it! It was the perfect size for him in the strong current at about 20 pounds. High fives and smiles all around. It was his first tarpon. Let's get another one. Then one of the big rods with mullet goes off, but before I could get to it we're broke off. Tighten the drag down, throw another one out there, it immediately gets hooked up. A massive big shouldered snook breaks the surface! Then it came undone. Dad hooks up to a few more tarpon in the 20-30 pound range, but they all came unbuttoned. Then we get another snook on the big rod. Another big smiling little boy struggling to stay on the boat does an amazing job fighting the 38" slob and we get it in the boat for a couple quick pictures before the release. To end the night, we had one more tarpon hook up, this one on a mullet. It was the biggest of the night, at between 40-50 pounds. We had the boat hollering and cheering him on to get it in the boat. He fought it for a good minute or two but on the first jump, the headshake was just too much for the tight drag and the line popped.
Click here to read the full forum report.
Estero Bay Bites
Florida Sportsman member: Binder
We meet up at Mullock Marina at 9:45 and head out in search for bait. I got a text from a buddy on the way to the tripod that said the tripod was empty, so I chummed a grass flat in the bay. Fifteen minutes and in one throw, we loaded the well with 5" pilchards. I was surprised to see pilchards in the bay. I was figuring threads, greenbacks or pinfish would be hanging around instead. We headed to a couple oyster bars in search of redfish or snook. The boy casts out towards the bar and hooks the first snook of the day. He ends up casting out on the same part of the bar and hooks another snook about the same size as the first. My buddies daughter was so excited to catch her first fish. Scott casts a little further down the bar from where the boy was catching his snook and it paid off. The bobber went down, she starts reeling, the snook putting on a show and jumped a couple times. She gets it to the boat and I net her first snook (27") she has ever caught.
Click here to read the full forum report.
Massive Tarpon on a Broken Rod
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
The action was pretty slow in the backcountry. Only a couple rollers and not much on the side scan. The silence was shattered by the sound of the biggest tarpon of the year crushing a mullet behind the boat, followed by drag screaming, yelling, and utter chaos in the boat. We all were blown away by the size of this fish during its first couple of jumps. It was clearly a beast of a tarpon. So this thing apparently has been through this before, because he tried to twist us around every darn crab trap out there. I can't believe we didn't get broken off by one. Fifteen minutes later, we were clear of the traps... and then it happened. I hear a snap and look up at my client who just about fell out of the boat. The rod snapped! Well, this isn't good. So now we spend the remainder of the time with him trying to reel down on a fish that's not ready to come in, using sort of a bench press technique where he pulls the fish towards him, then reels up as he pushes his arms out. A half hour later, the fish is close enough to grab, so I went for it. She got loose, the broken rod touched the line, and the rest is history.
Click here to read the full forum report.
Snook Are Biting
Florida Sportsman member: Snookaddict91, BigGuyinaLittleBoat & Binder
Snookaddict91: I went out the other night and loaded both wells with greenies in two throws. I headed to the spot and lost count of snook. It was non-stop all night. It was mostly males, but I also caught a couple upper slots.
BigGuyinaLittleBoat: I took the kayak out by the house yesterday in Punta Gorda and ended up catching my new personal best snook. She measured out to just under 43". I got her by soaking a chunk of ladyfish in a creek mouth. I also picked up a 35" dink before calling it a day.
Binder: I finally got the hookup I was looking for. At first, I thought it was a cobia because of its weight and the way she was swimming in circles around the boat. Then we caught a glimpse and realized it was a breeder snook. Once boatside, we locked the boca grip on her lip, snapped a couple pics and took a measurement at just over 37". I dropped another bait down and hooked up to another snook that measured out to 35", but she wasn't nearly as heavy as the first.
Click here to read Snookaddict91's forum report.
Click here to read BigGuyinaLittleBoat's forum report.
Click here to read Binder's forum report.
Nice Tarpon Bites
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
There was a huge outgoing tide in the harbor last night. We threw the whippy stick most of the night and ended up going three for ten on the juveniles and one small adult, maybe 60-70 pounds. They'd turn on for 30 minutes and we'd jump a few, then turn off for an hour, then back on. It was definitely some fun action with the fly rods though. I decided to hit the local spots for another six tarpon the next morning. These were a mix of live bait and artificials. Again, no big ones to be found, but we had a great time with some light tackle.
Click here to read the full forum report.
Tarpon Time
Florida Sportsman member: Snookaddict91
We headed out on the river today and caught our share of snook, just couldn't get the big ones to take. We decided to hit up a spot I usually jump some juvenile tarpon at and caught a few of them and lost a few on the jumps. Once the tide turned, we headed to the big tarpon hole. We weren't even there a whole 15 minutes and the drag was already singing! One hour later she was boatside, revived, and swam away for another day! She's looked like she's already survived a recent shark attack.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Mixed Bags
Florida Sportsman member: Binder & dodger31
After having some good success with cobia, grouper and jack off of Estero Bay, forum member Binder returns to the bay to hop around along the east wall. They were catching jack pretty much everywhere and one redfish at just over 26" and lost another. Meanwhile, dodger31 had success on a reef off of the Sanibel Lighthouse where he and his son caught mangrove snapper until the mackerel moved in and started some mayhem. After catching about 25 and keeping four for the smoker. After running out of shrimp, the mackerel still wanted more and proceeded to bite some pink pompano jigs.
Click here to see Binder's offshore and inshore report.
Click here to see dodger31's mackerel and mangrove report.
Family Fishing Weekend
Florida Sportsman member: Snookaddict91
Even in the hurricane force winds, we had a great weekend. There was plenty of bait around and plenty of fish to follow. We landed multiple keeper reds and caught 18-20" trout at every stop. There were also some good flounder and big snapper. Last but not least, there were a lot of small snook and we lost one overslot. Will be back this weekend to try it again.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Tarpon Tussle
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
I went out to do a little scouting of a new place and ended up having a great time. I fished a strong outgoing and managed to go four for eleven on juvies. Most were on the Hogy 4.75" Pro Tail Eel, but a couple were on Baitbusters. I only fished for two hours and had to head home, so it was pretty much non-stop. On the flip side, I took some people out there yesterday and only managed one.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Inshore Plan for Success
Florida Sportsman member: maxwew59
I was down fishing Fort Myers Beach area and Estero Bay a week and a half ago from Michigan and probably had some of the best fishing we have ever had down there. The key was finding greenies along the beaches in the mornings and hitting the oyster bars and mangroves with good current on incoming tides. We would get there and start chumming and then the blowups follow shortly after. There was consistent action every day with lots of snook, jacks all over, and the occasional redfish. The biggest snook of the trip was this 36 incher on a live greenie. There was good trout action on the flats as well with shrimp tipped jigs.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Night Bites
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
We fished the end of an outgoing and a couple hours of a good incoming with pretty good results. Steve got two nice 35-40 pound tarpon to the boat that put up a good battle. He also reeled a stud black drum out of the structure early in the evening. One of the tarpon were caught using a black Hogy eel and a mid-size snook was boated using the same lure.
Click here to see the 3/28 forum report.
Morning Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
We got out at first light and immediately saw some juvies rolling around us. Not a ton, but just enough to keep it interesting. We had a few good hits, but couldn't hook up. Then Russell got this 30 pounder to the boat. It was a pretty crazy fight on light tackle, and it was everything they had hoped for. We had some big blow ups on mullet a while later with a bananas chase around a dock, jumping on it, whipping the rod under the pilings, then jumping back on the boat. Unfortunately that one got off. We decided to extend the trip a bit and headed to another spot and almost immediately got another one to the boat, this one a bit smaller, around 20"-ish.
Click here to see the 3/24 forum report.
Bonita Beach Breakdown
Florida Sportsman member: Fishbuster Dave
On St. Patrick's Day, I fished from 19 to 23 miles offshore with Darren and Linda Rachman and their friends, Craig and Heather Laudenslager. The group used cut-bait and squid to box twenty grunts to 14 inches, a half-dozen lane snapper to 14 inches, a 15-inch porkfish, and a 13-inch porgy. They released twenty-five red grouper shorts.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Southwest Exploring
Florida Sportsman member: bayhawk
Forum member bayhawk spent a few days fishing with the fam and had a few good catches to show for it, including tripletail, sheepshead, snook, trout, tarpon and even a blacktip. To read the full report click the link below.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Bonita Beach
Florida Sportsman member: Fishbuster Dave
Fishbuster Dave gives a rundown of his past couple weeks of battling the winds to get to his catches, but with some rewarding results.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Edison Sheepshead
Florida Sportsman member: Joesaranti
We headed out to the causeway and the action was excellent, but the fish were small. We got one keeper out of about 20. The weather was so calm, it was a gorgeous day! We decided to head out to Edison to see if there were any keeper size fish to catch. We were not disappointed! We had great action until the tide died out and then it was a fish here and a fish there.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Matlacha Trout
Florida Sportsman member: Capt Dan Medina
Our target species of the day was trout, using the good ol' popping cork method. Both of them caught at least a dozen trout a piece, along with Karina getting a baby bonnet head shark and a couple puffer fish. Lillie also had a couple puffers and had the big trout of the day that went over 20". Although we could have kept a good seven or eight trout, today was all catch and release. I'm trying to teach them to release today, so that later we might catch them again.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Windy Winter Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
Well with all this NE wind and cooling temperatures, I figured I'd try out one of my winter time tarpon spots to see if they were in there yet. A stiff NE wind made it impossible to see if there were any brave rollers. I ended up jumping three, two 40's and a 50 would be my best guess on them. Two shook the hook on the first jump and one shot directly under the boat and jumped up on the other side before I could react. Hogy 2oz paddletails in black/purple with a slow retrieve were the go-to lure to get it down deep where they were sitting. Hopefully we have a mild winter again, so these resident tarpon stay a little active. Time will tell.
Click here to see the full 11/16 report.
Click here to see the full 11/14 report.
Hungry Fish
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
We set out of Stump Pass to calm seas and we immediately saw working birds over spanish mackerel in good numbers. We were using Hogy epoxy jigs with good success on the macks. We caught around a dozen each before we had enough to bring home. No really big ones with most being around the 15" mark. We switched up gears and started the run and gun for some tripletail. Ross landed a couple of really nice ones, and the two that I caught were just undersized. On the way in we stopped at Tom Adams for 30 minutes to see if we could pick up a sheepshead. Ross landed one right away and then we just hung out and caught several way undersized gags, two snook, and a jack.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Sanibel Results
Florida Sportsman member: bigyellowtuna
I walked the beaches casting an X Rap between 7am and 8:30am each morning of my vacation. First morning, I went four for seven on snook, second morning two for three, and on the third morning I only managed one. I also spent one afternoon fishing the beach with cut shrimp and managed one decent whiting, and one afternoon tossing a white bucktail jig that yielded two snook and a ladyfish. Lastly, I rented a pontoon boat at tarpon bay with the wife and kids. There were no keepers, but we managed several sea trout and a gag grouper on the troll.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Stump Pass Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
I ran out Stump Pass to a butter smooth Gulf and headed south. I got to the spot and saw quite a few rollers before I had my first bait on. Within ten minutes the first one was on, and within ten seconds the first one was off. I ended up jumping seven more and got two to the boat. No big ones today, but still a ton of fun. The bite was good for an hour and turned off once the tide turned.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Charlotte Harbor Variety
Florida Sportsman member: Capt Dan Medina
We launched from Ponce De Leon park in Punta Gorda and went to get some live bait. It was out in abundance, as were the predators chasing them. Between the three of us, we hooked and jumped a dozen or so tarpon as well as a half dozen or more trout, along with some trash catfish, a couple mangroves and ladyfish. The bite slowed, so we went to look for some reds. We hit the west wall and live chummed which resulted in three hits immediately.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Matlacha Mixed Bag
Florida Sportsman member: Capt Dan Medina
We worked a mangrove shoreline, with Mike throwing a jig head with shrimp and I was using a zoom split tail fluke. Early on, we managed a few ladyfish, some small trout, then came a run of smaller snook. Mike hooked up with a 29" redfish. Once the water got pretty high into the mangroves, we picked a nice point with moving water. I cut some ladyfish up into chunks, and spread them out. Mike continued with success on the jig head and shrimp combo. He boated an undersized red at 17.5", follow by a 16", followed by a 22" keeper. I finally gave up on the fluke and went with a live shrimp. Low and behold, redfish on.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Matlacha Tailing Reds
Florida Sportsman member: Seein'Tails93
We hit the Matlacha area and bait was plentiful. We had to wait for the tide to start falling out in order to notice some action. The mullet were all around and sure enough you could start to see the reds popping up, milling on the bottom with their tails wagging. The school we were targeting slowly crept back towards our skiff within casting distance. I gave it a nice cast in front of the school and let my gulp chill. Finally, one smelled it and did not hesitate to eat. These fish were very healthy!
Click here to see the full forum report.
Tarpon Poppin'
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
I took some friends out tonight who had never landed a tarpon, and we changed that up for them. No big ones today, but we did manage to go three of five on the juveniles up to 40 pounds. All of the fish were caught on artificials in a fast current. The fish were popping everywhere, slurping up the shrimp and glass minnows. It was an awesome night all around.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Estero Bay Backwater Variety
Florida Sportsman member: Fishbuster Dave
I was back in southern Estero Bay's backwaters on a Saturday morning, where I fished a catch-and-release trip with Steve and Gayle Repetto. The couple used live shrimp to catch a 15 inch black drum, a short sheepshead, a 14 inch sand bream, and two would-be-keeper redfish at 22 inches and 24 inches. Here's Steve and Gayle Repetto, with a 24 inch redfish, caught on a shrimp.
Click here to read the full forum report.
Tarpon on Hogys
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
I met up with Captain Ross from Hogy lures last night for a good outgoing bait flush. About three casts in, Ross hooked up with a solid 75-80 pound fish. The action was pretty steady during the stronger portion of the tide, but died off as the tide slowed. All fish were caught on big white Hogy paddle tails and 7" Hogy eels in purple flake. We ended up landing four of five, all adults.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Inshore Night Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
Good times today. We got onto some juvenile tarpon and landed two of four. Three were on Hogy's of different styles and one was on a pinfish. We also got a few snook. Again some on Hogy's and one on a pinfish. We also caught a few ladyfish to use for shark bait and ran two decent sharks before being broken off at the leader/wire leader connection on one of them.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Inshore Variety
Florida Sportsman member: GatorInPISound
I've been an early riser, catching bait and trying to get some fish before it gets to hot. Or this year, before it gets too windy and rainy. Seems like the shiners have been a bit elusive for me, but the pins have been plentiful and since they are usually very big, I have been fishing them cut and on the bottom.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Sanibel Fishing Trip
Florida Sportsman member: Hobbs28midsouth
Despite the weather, I was beach fishing no matter what, so we got there at sunrise. After about an hour, we had caught five or six small snook each. I then got a couple nice 26"-ish snook. We caught about 25 to 30 each in the next four hours and they just stopped hitting. I was using a 3000 reel with 10 pound braid and 30 pound fluoro.
Click here to see the full forum report.
May Night Snookin'
Florida Sportsman member: Jirvin70
The fishing in May was mixed for me. I did not catch as many snook, but the ones I did catch were larger than last year. I don't have much time to fish during daylight hours, but rely on certain clues to tell me how the night will proceed: splashing pelicans, large baits popping, and ladyfish. I call this the "Trifecta"
Click here to see the full forum report.
Non-Stop Tarpon on Light Tackle
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
We fished the bottom half of the huge outgoing today and just wrecked the tarpon. From start 'til stop, we averaged a fish in the air every 12 minutes. Non-stop laughing and hollering all night. All the fish were 30-45 pounds, but man on light tackle they're a blast. We even had a couple of doubles tonight. The fly rod was on fire when it was being used. It usually wasn't any more than four to five casts before it hooked up. I'm going fly rod shopping.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Venice Pompano Saves the Day
Florida Sportsman member: rhymechizel
I was trolling back to the launch spot with a jerk bait and hooked up with this pompano. One fish can change the day.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Boca Grande Big Snook
Florida Sportsman member: dorian kennedy
Last year, my son caught three huge snook in one day with a personal best of 40 inches. We went out the first time this year and he bested it with this 41 1/2 inch snook.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Sanibel Kingfish
Florida Sportsman member: larrywitt
In 95 feet of water and a big grunt for bait, they box a nice king. Then in 118 feet of water on freelined a cigar minnow, another king takes the bait.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Night Snookin'
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
While the tide was dying, we didn't do well, except Matt hooked up on the fattest 34" snook I've ever seen. That girl had some juice and made some long runs.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Sarasota Snooking
Florida Sportsman member: Jirvin70
The cold fronts definitely slowed down the big snook from moving out of the bay and the water has become very turbid. Plenty of fish out there, just need to adjust tactics.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Full Moon Snook
Florida Sportsman member: GatorInPISound
We fished the incoming tide and picked up two keepers, a 28" and a 33" right on the nose. We also hooked up with a huge tarpon that had to be well over 100 lbs.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Port Charlotte Snook
Florida Sportsman member: Snookaddict91
We hit the harbor Saturday, even though the wind was terrible! We caught some nice snapper and some short snook.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Sanibel Sheepshead
Florida Sportsman member: larrywitt
The light rod and line is doing its job. He lands his first 17" to 18" sheepshead and boy is there a smile on his face now. We ended up with 14 sheeps from 14" to 18" in the box, we released a large amount of legal size ones to get a little bigger, two nice pompano, and one nice flounder.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Sheepshead on the Reef
Florida Sportsman member: larrywitt
I was the first one to hook up it was a 22" sheepshead. Mary is in a battle with another big one, her rod tip being pulled into the water, then nothing. Her knot came undone. She has always had to tie her own knots and this was example of being careless and losing a big fish. There are big sheeps out there, if you take the time get right over a big pile.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Estero Bay Snook and Snapper
Florida Sportsman member: snipes27
Drifted some lively shrimp under floats over the rocks for the first two hours of the outgoing tide. Total nine snook between 18 and 30 inches. I did get two snook on the new LiveTarget Scaled Sardine swimbaits. Just jigged it in the current and bam!
Click here to see the full forum report.
Outgoing Tide Snooking
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
Ross was trying out the new Hogy 4" paddle tail jigs that are pre-rigged. When the water slowed down he had good success with the 9" classic eel. In about four hours, we boated eight snook ranging from 24" to 31". Ross definitely schooled me on casting accuracy, especially accuracy at distance. Missing your desired spot by 12" could be the difference between that laid up 40" snook seeing your bait or not.
Click here to see the full forum report.
South Matlacha Topwater Action
Florida Sportsman member: offshore22
After the tide turned, it was party time. Trout on topwater is truly rewarding. I landed four nice keepers and lost a monster which easily could have been 24-26". Caught about half a dozen others. My go to lure of choice is the Yo-Zuri 3db pencil. It casts far, tracks well and catches everything.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Tarpon and Snook
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
I went two for six with the estimated weights ranging between 12 lbs and 50 lbs. We also caught quite a few snook between the two of us. Probably six decent ones released and another eight or so lost into the pilings or with pulled hooks.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Charlotte Harbor Bluefish
Florida Sportsman member: yank707
We fished off some of the keys with shrimp on a circle hook and bobber. We found a school of bluefish and put down the power pole. They lasted a good half hour with several hookups and catch and releases.
Click here to see the full forum report.
Wind Fishing Pine Island
Florida Sportsman member: TimGleason
The fish were super active and pounding bait in six feet of water. Mostly smaller snook right against the shoreline. Bombed a few hundred yard square box for three redfish, one decent one of about 26". Also nabbed two trout, both decent at 17" or so. The snook were infinite, the biggest that was caught was about 26".
Click here to see the full forum report
Matlacha Pass Snook and Reds
Florida Sportsman member: TimGleason
Fishing has been surprisingly steady. Slot size and undersized snook have been steady in the predawn and dawn time frame. The redfish bite has been steady as well. Fishing isn't on fire but a pick bite is better than water devoid of life like in the red tide areas.
Click here to see the full forum report
Pine Island Ladyfish and More
Florida Sportsman member: ReelFinsFlorida
My girlfriend pulled in a monster ladyfish, the biggest I've seen in awhile. After that, we decide to make a move and found some good action near Cabbage Key. I was able to put my girlfriend on her first snook! Besides that, we ended up catching a ton of snappers, smaller snook and also a decent trout.
Click here to see the full forum report
Pine Island Snook and Redfish
Florida Sportsman member: TimGleason
Snook bite has been steady on outgoing tide in the dark/grey light. Pick bite on 15" - 32" snook fishing dark color 5" swimbaits rigged weedless. Getting slot fish every other day or so. On to red fishing once it gets a bit lighter. Getting some slot, as well as overslot fish daily on same baits, but white/silver.
Click here to see the full forum report
Inshore Family Day
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
Lots of action on the water to keep the kiddos busy. I even broke down and bought some shrimp which seems to keep them occupied for longer than it should. Nothing big but a couple keeper trout and flounder were caught along with some jacks, ladies, and snapper.
Click here to see the full forum report
Lemon Bay Mixed Bag
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
All we did was drift and catch fish. Pretty much non-stop action for a couple hours until the tide went slack. Caught several trout, snook, jacks, and one bluefish that she couldn't handle herself.
Click here to see the full forum report
Reds, Snook and More
Florida Sportsman member: Binder
We dropped the powerpole and "fired out" some baits. Within minutes we had a double hookup on a redfish and a snook. We re-baited and casted in the same spot, another red.
Click here to see the full forum report
A Fishing Trip to Remember
Florida Sportsman member: Gonzalezrob
Day two started slower than day one, but Capt. Ozzie Fischer was determined to put us on some quality fish. After trying a few spots and netting some live pilchards, Capt. put on a bunch of snook. There were a couple of occasions were we had doubleheader and even a triple header.
Click here to see the full forum report
Pine Island Solo Action
Florida Sportsman member: TimGleason
The one evening I did manage to get out on the low tides, I also found a number of tailers that didn't want to bite. Poling home, I saw a wad of fish about 400 yards away. Got to stalk them and lay a lure into them for a 31-incher. Biggest of the season so far. Good to see a nice school of 15 or 20 big fish happily tailing.
Click here to see the full forum report
Sarasota Bay Drum
Florida Sportsman member: former bluefishinny
We hit an area, and after a few little trout pops, Mark gets a nice boil on his Super Spook. Fish rolls, we can see its a red - "fire at him, see if he will eat you" Mark says. I present a smaller bait, different color. Swirl, and I am on to this just shy 28 inch red.
Click here to see the full forum report
A Red Morning
Florida Sportsman member: GatorInPISound
At this point we were hoping the incoming tide would really trigger a bite but the only thing we conjured up was a small shark. We continued on for a bit and picked up a couple more reds including a tiny reddish looking shark and a 22 inch snook.
Click here to see the full forum report
Recent Outings
Florida Sportsman member: Bassin Assassin
Cast out my mullet in mullet color and it got crushed at 1:35pm. Set the hook and felt good weight. She stayed down and I knew it was a red. She made a number of drag-screaming runs and used the boat for cover when that didn't work. Finally got her in the net and she came in at healthy 27 3/4 inches.
Click here to see the full forum report
Starting the Morning Right
Florida Sportsman member: Snookaddict91
Hit the river Monday morning wasn't there 10 minutes and landed a 41 inch snook, can't complain about that kind of start to the week! Caught another shortly after that was 32 inches and quite a few small snook.
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Low Water in Estero
Florida Sportsman member: Grey Beard
The wind was blowing a bit and not quite sure when water would be deep enough to navigate the oyster bar. Second cast got smacked and the fish turned right at the boat. By the time I could turn the boat around she was into my backing knot.
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Fishy Weekend
Florida Sportsman member: former bluefishinny
Rising tide yielded a topwater redfish for Mark pretty quick. The wind picked up, and we decided to hit East Bay. I was rewarded with a topwater red as well. And a few minutes later, a snook to complete the slam.
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September Reds
Florida Sportsman member: GatorInPISound
Bait has been very good with ballyhoo, shiners, and pinfish being plentiful, to the north has been easier than south for me in that regard. I've been focusing on redfish more than anything else, looking for the fish to school.
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Breaking in the New Skiff
Florida Sportsman member: JoshW
I picked up a new to me Dolphin Renegade Pro last week. I fished some skinny stuff on Saturday and Sunday morning for the falling tide. The morning snook bite was great in the mangroves and the reds bit well on the low. All fish were caught on artificials and my son got his first slam on artificial this weekend.
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Tarpon and More
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
Forum member
kmagnuss got into some solid fish recently, including 7 landed tarpon and snook.
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Southwest Redfish Bite
Florida Sportsman member: GatorInPISound
The rain slowed things up just a little and changed the bite from actively aggressive to timid and lethargic but the fish did cooperate. I thank the lord for enabling us to catch fish and have safe passage on the water, it was a great three weeks of fishing.
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New Personal Best
Florida Sportsman member: red_magnet
We fished late afternoon yesterday till about 10:00pm. Caught a 20 inch snook, 29 inch snook , big black drum and a bigger black drum. Second Drum was all of 25 pounds and fought like a vw bug and felt like a medium size dog when you picked him up.
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Night Time Artificial Bite
Florida Sportsman member: flsnookhunter
this past week I was staying at South Seas and fishing Redfish Pass from shore. There was a solid bite almost every night. Ended up catching around 15 snook, a small tarpon, and a few trout. All of these fish were caught on the Spooltek 6 inch Fatty in electric ladyfish except for 3 on pinfish.
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Sliming up the New Boat
Florida Sportsman member: jvanpelt
I traded in the paddles for an outboard and got myself an Action Craft Flyfisher. Yesterday was the first of many road trips. This was a short one down to Chokoloskee to do some exploring.
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Southwest Inshore Bite
Florida Sportsman member: TimGleason
Been doing well on Redfish and Snook on Pine Island east side. Topwater and White Berkley 5" Grass Pigs working over mullet schools. Not lighting it up but a steady fish or two every time I go out.
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Epic Month of Tarpon Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: Captain Ross
The past few weeks have really turned around my tarpon season. Between trips with friends, we've managed to jump well over 100 tarpon on soft baits during the month of May. Lost track of how many landed, but it's around 45%.
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Sarasota Snook
Florida Sportsman member: SRQSkinnywater
We followed it for a ways throwing lures at it and i ended up hooking up on it with a 7 inch mullet that it inhaled. All in all it was a great day with my personal best snook at 40 inches even!
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Charlotte Harbor Bite
Florida Sportsman member: Real V
Went out at about noon to see if I could find some trout and reds. What a day, started off with two 18 inch trout and then hooked 4 cobia. The biggest I landed was 30 inches. I saw about 30 cobia in all. then hit the west wall and got a 25 inch red.
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Charlotte Harbor Night Bite
Florida Sportsman member: Real V
Took my friend Doug from Wisconsin out. He caught his first snook ever and some black drum. We got one keeper and I got a 38 inch snook. I don't know why the black drum have moved in so early, but saturday night I got a 45 inch blackdrum.
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Sanibel Trout Bite
Florida Sportsman member: Grey Beard
It was noon and the bumpy northeast winds of the early morning were gone and it was now flat calm. I put on a chartreuse Zara Spook Jr. and missed a decent bite. Then a big whoosh and a nice battle, thinking I had another red, it turned out to be my biggest trout ever at 25 inches and 5 pounds, a real gator.
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East Wall Redfish
Florida Sportsman member: Ryanlee
I waited until the tide wasn't negative to go out and saw a lot of reds on the east wall. Water temps were around 74 degrees. Got a nice 30 inch fish on a zman shrimp. I'm able to cover a lot of ground with my trolling motor looking for them.
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Taking the Kids Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: Tight Loops
The bite never really turned on but was steady all afternoon. Mostly shorts and "fun" fishing but we got to see mangrove snapper, a grunt, a lane snapper, tomtates, spanish mackerel, one flounder, sand perch, blue runners, whiting, baby grouper and a puffer that was a big hit as it inflated.
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Pine Island Flats
Florida Sportsman member: CoTroutGuy
Forum member
CoTroutGuy got out recently and chased some fish in the shallow water. Spotting tailing redfish in the overcast conditions at hand was tough, but he was able to land a nice red and a nice snook!
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Pine Island Inshore
Florida Sportsman member: GatorInPISound
At this point we looked at some potholes and sandy bare bottom zones to see if the fish might be hanging around waiting on the incoming, and a few were.
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A Pleasant Surprise
Florida Sportsman member: Captain Ross
We went out last night fishing the incoming tide. Hoping to find some big snook and tarpon, but had a hard time getting our baits through...COBIA? Wound up landing 3 up to 30 pounds and broke off another pig. The cobia bit best on slack tide using Hogy HDUV Black/Purple Flake Paddle Tails on 1 ounce Jig Heads.
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Bumping the Bridges
Florida Sportsman member: Real V
Forum member
Real V got into some nice Charlotte Harbor snook recently. The tactic used for these linesider was hopping D.O.A. Terroreyz along the bottom around bridge structure.
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Southwest Inshore Bite
Florida Sportsman member: Binder
We moved to a stretch of groves and landed 16 snook, 3 reds, 4 mangrove snapper, 3 jacks and a trout. We moved one last time to another section of groves and caught 6 more snook and 2 jacks. Back by 2 and they were happy!
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Tarpon, Tripletail and More
Florida Sportsman member: Captain Ross
We've still been plugging away at tarpon at night, it was a bit inconsistent around the last full moon. One night we jumped six, the next night four, then the two following trips we jumped a big fat zero.
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Peace River Snook
Florida Sportsman member: Snookaddict91
Forum member
Snookaddict91 got into some nice snook while fishing the peace river. Fishing the shorelines for these fish, it can be a blast pulling them out of the sticks on spinning tackle. Nice fish!
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Fighting the Heat, Catching Fish
Florida Sportsman member: GatorInPISound
As the tide finally reached the branches of the mangroves, we decided to start working the bushes. It turned out to be a good idea and the fish cooperated. They got fired up, eating both under and off of the bushes. When the sun went behind a cloud the fish came out very far off the shadow line, and when it was sunny they retreated to the sanctuary of the roots.
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Snook and Tarpon Action In July
Florida Sportsman member: Captain Ross
Most tarpon have been in the 40 to 80 pound range and we've been averaging 2 to 5 tarpon in the air per night for our effort. While it's not the out of control excitement that late April, May and June offered, one can't simply give up on tarpon fishing when it gets a bit more difficult.
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Pine Island Inshore
Florida Sportsman member: RichieUF
About 11am we found a nice school of about 40 fish in a location about 10 miles from where we had seen the other schools. We managed to pull 3 out of it before we lost it. 2 of the 3 were well over the slot, but one would have been close enough to take a ride to the scales and let the measure man decide.
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Pine Island Inshore
Florida Sportsman member: RichieUF
About 11am we found a nice school of about 40 fish in a location about 10 miles from where we had seen the other schools. We managed to pull 3 out of it before we lost it. 2 of the 3 were well over the slot, but one would have been close enough to take a ride to the scales and let the measure man decide.
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Southwest Inshore Bite
Florida Sportsman member: gumgator
Forum member
gumgator shared some pictures of recent trips with a nice variety of inshore fish.
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Early Morning Inshore Bite
Florida Sportsman member: cptjoshua420
I took my grandfather out last week before the super moon. we had pretty good luck early in the morning on the incoming tides. the whitebait was all over the mouth of the Caloosahatchee, and if you could find any island sheltering the bait from the strong tides you'll more than likely hook up.
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Tearin' Up the Reds
Florida Sportsman member: GatorInPISound
This week we decided to return to the flats and see what we could do for a few hours. At the end of the outgoing we had a tremendous school of reds absolutely smash a pinfish and rip the leader off. I have no idea how big those fish were but they had to be well over 30 inches.
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Little Girl, Big Snook
Florida Sportsman member: kmagnuss
Next one on was bigger, but didn't feel like anything special as I was handing the rod to her. As soon as she started to reel it was like the switch went off in the fish's head that he was hooked and he started pulling drag. I held the pole while she struggled to reel. It took a few minutes but we got it in the boat and it went 31 inches!
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Tarpon Time!
Florida Sportsman member: Captain Ross
It's no secret tarpon fishing is excellent right now. Big groups of tarpon are moving along the beaches and through the sound. I still don't have much time to fish during the day, but night fishing is becoming very productive.
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Fort Myers Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: Captain Bill Curtis
After the first 2 baits got stolen, the third was the charm when the large threadfin got hammered and a giant snook broke the water when the circle hook came tight. My angler did a stellar job of leaning on the fish, with the 20 pound braid, as it raced to the mangrove roots hoping to escape. The slob snook barely fit in the net, and we gently cradled her for a couple of pictures before I spent the time to revive her, and she swam away strong.
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Bull Red and More
Florida Sportsman member: Flats Blue 96
On Sunday we went to Estero Bay. We were fishing along the edges of the mangroves catching a lot of sheepshead and a couple small snook. Then out of no where a huge red cruised by, so I tossed my greenie off the back of the boat and put out some slack line. I started to reel it in thinking he had swam by when my drag started screaming. Got my personal best red in the boat after a couple minutes and he measured 38 inches.
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Night Time Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: Captain Ross
It was a special fish for the angler, his first tarpon and largest fish to date. It's also the smallest one landed so far this season, right around 60 pounds. It made for a short, exciting fish full of leaps and head shakes. A perfect, manageable show for our angler.
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Windy Southwest Reds
Florida Sportsman member: Captain Ross
Hit the red school and was hooked up within 2 minutes of the first cast. Hooked about 20 fish and landed 13 in an hour or so, then headed back for the ramp. An excellent day with captain Mike catching a ton of fish in a short amount of time in bad weather.
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Southwest Reds on Artificials
Florida Sportsman member: GatorInPISound
A few days ago a buddy and I decided to work some silver and gold spoons as well as some gulps on jig heads. We focused on deep sandy drop offs from bars as well as some mangrove shorelines that were flooded with the incoming tide.
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Shallow Water Trout and Pompano
Florida Sportsman member: aaron
Hit the flats after school for a bit today, and did really good. I caught 2 keeper sized trout on fly and a keeper pompano on fly. My buddy was on fire. He caught 4 trout, going 18 to 22 inches and a whopper at 25 inches! He also got a 17 inch pompano. All of his fish were caught on a mirrodine. The fly I was using was a greenback looking streamer.
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Lady Lovin' Redfish
Florida Sportsman member: GatorInPISound
I've been using cut mullet but today I was able to grab a few ladyfish on a spoon first thing in the morning. I was excited to see if they would be equally effective. I tried a few spots and with a low, low tide and it seemed like forever before the tide began to fill up some places that I like to fish.
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Pine Island Redfish
Florida Sportsman member: Capt JohnZ
Finally had a chance to take the neighbor out for a trip. Fish have been biting on cut pins and shrimp. Getting a lot of oversize ones. Spend most of my time in the Pine Island Sound.
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Sanibel Sharkin'
Florida Sportsman member: Reelinrudy
After I determined it had the bait long enough I pushed the drag up into the “strike” setting and maneuvered the rod up and rested it on my shoulder. As I felt the line begin to come tight, I ran forward away from the water to take the stretch out of the springy monofilament and pumped the rod to set the hook. After 20 feet I could feel the fish on the other end and turned around and wound tight as I made my way back to the water. I Worked the fish a bit and everyone watching did not believe there was a fish on the end. I knew it was there however, not a huge fish, but there was definitely a shark there.
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Keeping The Rod Bent In Pine Island
Florida Sportsman member: nitelite08
Using live shrimp on a jighead, outgoing tide by some old pilings and a small drop off. Sorted through the usual short sheepshead, mangrove snapper, a lot of spanish mackerel and jacks. Got a good bite about 30 minutes in a few minutes later pulled in a very nice black drum.
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December Southwest Inshore
Florida Sportsman member: Captain Ross
The number of bites has decreased, but the quality is still there if you manage to hook up. Adult Tarpon have been feeding well on Hogy 10 inch Original Series Soft Baits rigged weightless and fished very slowly across the surface. Black has been the best producing color.
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You Will Always Remember Your First Redfish
Florida Sportsman member: fishdish
My 8 year can't quite cast far enough for flats fishing yet so she casted out as far as she could and let the line go out as we drifted. It wasn't but a minute later when I heard "Daddy, Daddy, I got one". I thought she may have been snagged on the bottom but her screaming drag said redfish! She tried to pass the rod to me but I told her it wasn't happening. The only help I gave her was I tightened up her drag a little and held the boat still with the pole. 5 minutes later we had a 25 inch red on board!
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Low Tide Fishing In The Southwest
Florida Sportsman member: Tight Loops
Bottom of the full moon low tide, just as it started to flood back in. I had a couple of folks I wanted to show tailing red fish to on a flat in less than a foot of water. Saturday was the better of the two days as it stayed overcast for most of the morning. We managed to find some redfish and a few nice single trout hanging out as well.
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Beach Sharkin'
Florida Sportsman member: Shore Catch Fishing
15 minutes later the first Bull hit the beach. We stayed for 4 hours and had 10 or so runs, Caught some Bt's and Spinners as well.
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Whitebaiting The Redfish
Florida Sportsman member: Inshoreslam
Bite was slow at first but quickly fired up and stayed pretty consistent for a few hours. As soon as the wind picked up and the bite died we headed in. Wound up with around 15 reds for the day ranging from 22 to 27 inch all looking thick and healthy.
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Captiva Snook
Florida Sportsman member: Snookslayer772
Traveled over to Captiva Island this weekend from Stuart for the Floridians for clean water rally to stop the dumping from lake O. I Wanted to try to squeeze in some fishing while over there. Talked to some local guides and asked them what they thought about some good wading spots and a few tipped me off. Woke up sunday morning at 6:30 to hit the first light bite and it paid off. Found a beautiful Mangrove pocket and decided to give it a shot. No more than 10 casts later did this healthy 36 inch snook come up and smash my top water. In less than a foot of water which made it an awesome visual bite and a great fight on a 2000 sized reel. I ended up catching seven snook and one nice trout to end the morning.
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August Reds
Florida Sportsman member: GatorInPISound
August has been a pretty nice month so far. My boat was down for a bit but I have been able to run a few trips as of late. Ive been getting out with family, church brethren, and friends. The pot holes are holding fish at the bottom of the tide and the oyster bars and bushes have been good on the high water. The fishing looks like it will be just fine out there and the bait is looking like it is getting better. The shiners are almost full grown now. The reds are eating both of em and pinfish are nothing to sneeze at, they get it done as well.
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Another One for the Records
Florida Sportsman member: former bluefishinny
Tonight I slipped out with forum member Fatsnook. We entered the water around 4:30, only to be greeting with a good thunder boomer. We took shelter in the sticks, waited 10 minutes and the storm passed over. Bait everywhere, just a lack of predators. End result was not too bad, just not as good as I had anticipated. We caught 6 snook with 2 going over 28 inches, 1 fat bluefish, 1 flounder, and a few trout. Tonight (I try to keep records) was my 75th snook on artificial this year at this particular location (76th according to record keeping).
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Rough Weather Reds & More
Florida Sportsman member: GatorInPISound
Yes, I have been crazy enough to venture out into the weather the past few days. I started out trying to catch bait and had what has been consistently a tough time doing it. Pinfish just swarm my chum but I have not been able to get a net on them. I ended up getting a good couple of dozen over sized pins and a ton of them about the size of your thumb. I never get too caught up in bait and just use what I catch. So, with that in mind we continued on through a storm with lightening and thunder and bee sting like rain in the face to our first destination.....
The fish were ready from the get go and I think we ended up catching around 20 drum. The mullet were swarming the shorelines and it always seems like the reds are not far behind, just gotta be patient. There were bites when we had to wait em out and then there were some that hit like we threw it into their mouth[...]
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Fresh and Salt Water Success
Florida Sportsman member:RollerToaster
My buddy Ben came into town from England to do some fishing, he was an avid fisherman so we went out in search of some snook. The day started out slow, when we got to one of my favorite creeks on the Caloosahatchee but due to weak tides it was too risky to go in all the way. As we worked some new shorelines Ben managed this nice 20 inch flounder on live shrimp. After that the fishing died down again until a man with a boat wrap for Lobster Lady Seafood in Cape Coral gave us some extremely nice whitebait. After that it was game on with the snook, we managed a 31 inch, a 33 inch and a 36 inch snook in the span of about 30 minutes before it died down again. Once the snook bite died down the wind picked up, so we decided with his limited time here we should go try and catch him a nice largemouth bass, so we were off to the North Cape Canals with a bucket of live shiners. We caught at least 15 bass Ben managed quite a few small-medium sized bass and I managed to pick up this nice bucket mouth. All in all it was an awesome day, it's not everywhere you can catch huge snook and bass all in one day. It makes me glad I've gotten to grow up and live down here in SWFL...
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Tarpon Beach Snook
Florida Sportsman member: cpr
Went to the Sanibel pier and netted finger mullet and mohara 2-4 inch. The pier was dead so I took the bait to the condo near Tarpon beach. Soaked the mohara (sp) from 12:30-3 pm and got nothing. Went out to eat and left the mullet in a flo-thru. Got back at the dead end of the out going. Within 10 minutes pulled in a 22 inch snook that once hooked pulled line for a short distance then headed for the beach, the little guy beached himself. It was an easy release. Hooked up anther mullet through the nose and after 15 minutes got into a fight with a big boy, he pulled line out mid way on the sandbar and was a blast to catch and release. A nice woman on the beach took a photo. Equipment used, 4000 symetry with 20# PP and 20-pound fluro leader, owner lite-wire circle hook and a small split shot.
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Sarasota Snook
Florida Sportsman member: former bluefishinny
Three members hit the flats last night in search of some picture worthy snook. The evening overall started off slow, very slow. Three of us were throwing soft plastics in dark colors, black and gold - as this is our confidence bait in this area. A few flounder here and there, some short trout, and Matt finally hooks up on a drag screamer. Nice little fight, and this healthy snook comes to grips. Overall slow night...Matt also banged out a very nice trout.
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Sanibel Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: ColeJennette
Me and my buddy took his 17 foot flats boat out this past Friday to try our luck at some tarpon action off of Sanibel. Being complete newbies, we had talked to just about everyone we knew who fished for these guys and felt like we had a rough idea of what we were doing.
Hit up blind pass for bait early, then cruised the beaches. Nothing but spanish mackerel. Went out off of Knapps next. Nothing but sharks. Ran into the causeway to grab bait and fuel up around lunch then decided we'd cruise the beach back north then head out. Tons of spanish on the way back and then suddenly we saw a hugh concentration of birds. Up closer discovered they were diving on some bait they had gotten to ball up. Ten minutes after we arrived, the tarpon showed up and were free jumping from the middle off the ball and rolling all around us[...]
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Plan B Pays Off
Florida Sportsman member: Ptsrhenry
Well last week we tried to go offshore fishing, we picked up bait easy outside Jug creek and headed west. Wind was blowing pretty good, seas easy 2 feet. Our first stop was at 42 feet over a wreck, picked up one spanish mackerel. This is were we made the decision to come back in as one of my crew started chumming. Came in through Captiva pass and went south looking for a few new spots. The area down there has some big snook under the bushes. We will be back. We managed to do well fishing inshore. We caught two reds, several snook and nine keeper trout. Plan B payed off, pics are of my son Sean. This kid can fish, he can soak a hook all day, tie his own knots, and loves to wade.
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Turning High Expectations into High Fives
Florida Sportsman member: former bluefishinny
John and I hit a flat just South of Tampa Sunday evening with high expectations. Good tide, good water temperature. The high expectations turned into many many high fives. All of our fish tonight were caught on Mirrolure Lil Johns in dark colors. We entered the water at around 3, and left around 8. Final tally: 9 snook, anywhere from 14 to 29/30 inches. 8 redfish from rats, to around 26inches, 5 decent flounder, a black drum (good eating size) and a few decent trout. Last hour of sunlights was simply spectacular! It was like watching Discovery Channel. Imagine a 30 minute segment on snook leaping all around...That is what we experienced!
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Sarasota Bay Reds and Trout
Florida Sportsman member: Flat_Top
Got out with my buddy Jeff today. He found some Reds over the weekend, but couldn't get them to eat and wanted to see if we could find them. We hit the area and there was a ton of mullet, but no Reds. After about an hour of looking we were about to give up when they came cruising across a white sand pothole. First cast in produced a nice 26" Red. For the next hour or so the school of Reds would cruise between a couple big potholes allowing us to preform CPR, Catch, Photo, Release, on them. We had a big 55 inch Redfish double with Jeff and a 26 inch Red and me with a nice 29 inch pig.
Eventually the Reds got tired of us and moved on so we went looking for others. Next flat we hit was also loaded with mullet and there were Reds mixed in with them. Next thing you know we are both hooked up with what we think are Reds. But no, we have a 53 inch double of Gator Trout[...]
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Sarasota Inshore Variety
Florida Sportsman member: RMD
Its been a long cold winter up north, and we've been looking forward to some deep offshore trips to combat the depression. We arrived Saturday and the week's forecast looked pretty dismal. Our first "offshore" trip was scheduled for Monday, but the weather was not cooperative as there were 5-8 foot seas projected in the Gulf. Any day fishing is still better than working, so we decided to settle for an inshore trip.
We fished rock piles, docks, and any structure, hoping it would hold something for the dinner table. The high winds and rough waters were helpful in that we had no competition, as we saw less than 5 other boats all day. We had a very productive day, bringing home 10 sheepshead, 2 black drum, 3 flounder. We used live shrimp for bait.
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Estero Bay Reds & More
Florida Sportsman member: dtobias
Fished with an old friend and his girl in Estero bay on Wednesday and Thursday. It was tough with the dip in temp and the wind howling. You really had to fish the lee of islands and such. Caught some jacks, ladys and cats....trashcan slam. Only trout were underslot. Finally, my buddy got this slot redfish at 19 1/2". His girlfriend had never had redfish, so they came over after the charter and I cooked it up on my grill for them. Next day, more of the same. Only put one sheepie in the cooler[...]
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Bulls, Pompano, & Gator Trout
Florida Sportsman member: GatorInPISound
Had an outstanding day with Redfish57 yesterday. We used handpicked shrimp and were into some really good fish.We came across some reds early on the incoming. All but one were over the slot with the only keeper at 26 3/4 inches.We were able to score some real nice upper and overslot trout as well.
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Pine Island Snook
Florida Sportsman member: Capt. Gregg McKee
I had a very good weekend with snook on artificials in the northern part of PI Sound. Bokeelia angler Mike Craig and his buddy Dr. Russell from NC did all the catching using topwaters, Gulp Shrimp, and white paddletails.This was the best snook fishing I've had all year. We caught them in a lot of surprising places when I wasn't really looking for snook. We also pulled in a handful of upper-slot trout.
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Sheeps at the Wall
Florida Sportsman member: larrywitt
Every year i have the privilege of running a fishing tournament for the Waters Edge Motel and Apartments out of their marina in St James city on Pine Island..It is a fun event to be sure. It is a team event for the sheepshead ,5 largest fish from each boat are weighed..There are two places for sheepshead. Two boats had the same weight 17 pounds 15 ounces the tie is broken by the the longest fish from the five that were weighed.. More important where were they fishing The wall at redfish pass. Fresh and frozen shrimp were both being used. Both boats had (4) fishermen that were on a constant hook up. The fish were stacked at the wall.
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Hog Island Cobia
Florida Sportsman member: Real V
My wife and I went out to try for trout, sheephead. Stopped at the El Jobean bridge tried for sheephead but no one home so we ran to the south end of Hog Island for some trout. Fishing in 3 feet of water we caught a few small trout and ladyfish. I was throwing a twitch bait black/silver about 10 feet from the boat was a big flash on my bait. At first I said damn shark, but after about 15 minutes I got it near the boat an saw it was a cobia. Another 1/2 hour we landed it. 47 inches.
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Estero Bay Morning Bite
Florida Sportsman member: JSTickum
Went out Wednesday morning with fellow member Dave O. We knew the forecast was horrible , but we needed to wet some lines. The plan was to fish the morning out-going tide while the winds were light and find some clean water. Well that was actually very easy. The winds were somewhat light at 6:45 am and we took advantage of it. We ran to our first spot , which was our only spot tucked in close to the mangroves.The tide was heading out and we had great water clarity.We set up facing the current with the wind on our back and started pulling in Trout and Jacks one after the other. The trout were feeding ,eating every color plastic we threw at them. The trout were between 15 to 18 inches and fat.
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Matlacha Redfish
Florida Sportsman member: Captain Ross
I was lucky enough to have the day free last Friday. Weather was perfect with some light winds and clear skys. My intentions were to sight fish some mud flats on the -.8 tide around 10am. A buddy and I put in at the Matlacha ramp with our kayaks and made a 2 mile trek to a spot, I hoped would have some tailing redfish. Trying to approach the spot, we actually had to drag the kayaks across the mud for about 30 yards. We sure didn't have to worry about somebody in a boat blowing by us, at least for awhile. Made it to the top of the hole and found fish pushing bait all over the place. Made 3 or 4 casts and it was game on with a nice over slot redfish. We ended up picking up 6 more nice redfish, a pair of decent snook and a few trout to give us a slam.
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Sarasota Bay Slam
Florida Sportsman member: ANDROS18
Took my dad out again on saturday. He proceeded to catch a slam! I could only manage reds but that's ok with me! All reds where upper slot or over slot. Kept one smaller one for dinner. The trout and snook where caught on a mirrodine and one red on a gold spoon. We cheated on the rest using cut ladyfish! Also one of the redfish had no spots!
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Sarasota Bay Redfish
Florida Sportsman member: Makomenuts
It was my dads bday yesterday and I wanted to get him out on the water. I met up with forum member flatzbroke and we decided to do a little inshore trip to target redfish and trout. We arrived at 10th street boat ramp around 9 a.m. and headed to our first spot. We fished potholes for about an hour catching a lot of trout (most trout were 13-18 inches) but one was 4-5 pounds. and a couple reds here and there. We drifted off the flat and made a move across the bay and it was on. Oversize redfish were everywhere[...]
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Placida Reds
Florida Sportsman member: Makomenuts
We fished the incoming tide started off sight fishing in shallow and as the tide creeped in we started fan casting in the mullet schools in 1-2 feet of water with salt and pepper bottom. We caught 30 reds a dozen trout and 1 small snook in about 4 hours. Most reds were between 24-27 inches with a few rats and oversized fish mixed in.[...]
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Redfish Bite is On!
Florida Sportsman member: InshoreSlam
Headed out this morning around 9 with one of my best friends and longtime fishing buddy Captain Russ. With the skys grey and cloudy and thunderstorms in the distance, what we thought was going to be a horrible day turned out to be the best I have had this month! We fished a strong incoming tide untill about 1330, catching red after red, after red. The bite would not stop and was consistant the whole day. Wound up catching around 20 or so reds ranging from 20 to 27 inches with most being around the 24 inch slot.[...]
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Nearshore Triple Tail and Gags
Florida Sportsman member: Shore Catch Fishing
Ran out of Fort Myers on Sunday with Michael on a 6 hr Near shore trip. Picked up a few dozen shrimp and netted spent a half hour netting a few pilchards to bolster our success chances. Anchored on some rubble 4 miles out and starting hammering the gags in various sizes. Nothing special. Used large gulp and pilchards. Once the sun came up we set out on our target species. Ran to about 11 miles in search of the oddball. Caught 15 or so and probably saw over 50 fish. Caught them on both pilchards and live shrimps [...]
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Sanibel Night Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: Captain Ross
Hit the lights last night looking for snook and left over tarpon. Not many to be found in the first couple spots. Did find a new technique for grouper though, bouncing a 10-inch Hogy on a 1-ounce jighead. The technique out fished live bait all night. Too bad they are not in season. We did manage one good snook [...]
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Windy, Snook Biting
Florida Sportsman member: Joupdog1
Went out after school to test out some new lures that Treasure Coast Tackle is now carrying. They are "Unfair Lures". My first 2 casts resulted in 2 baby snook! The wind was blowing 15 out of the north, but I was hiding in the mangroves. One snook after another on the Unfair Lures Mullet. All around 20 inches until my buddy shows up and hooks up to a much better one. Pulls some drag then I go down and land it.[...]
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Trying to Avoid the Wind
Florida Sportsman member: InshoreSlam
Headed out this morning around 0930 with a good friend of mine and fellow capt. looking for the allusive tripletail. After venturing off the beaches we figured out it was too windy and the water that was hitting us over the sides was just too damn cold!! Long story short, the tripletail trip was cut short, and we fell back on what we do best...catch redfish in the shallows. After running around some of the local keys, dodging the wind and the low tide that was even too shallow at times for my ranger flats boat..we found some very large mullet schools that we figured would be holding some reds.[...]
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Pine Island Trout
Florida Sportsman member: jvanpelt
Today I decided to hit the water as the wind finally decided to die down. Today was a perfect day on the water. No wind, cool weather, crystal clear water and BIG trout[...]
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Redfish Fury
Florida Sportsman member: GatorInPISound
We've had some pretty good trips the last few times out. Yesterday, amid tournament boats zooming all over, we were able to catch 24 redfish out of some pot holes. We used light tackle to land the fish from 20 to 27 inches [...]
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Sunday Slam in the Harbor
Florida Sportsman member: GitchaPull
Took the girlfriend out Sunday. We slept in and got a late start, on the water at 11 a.m. to catch the last bit of the outgoing tide. This was her second time on a boat in saltwater. She wanted to catch a "big fish" and I said "hmm, o.k." She got her wish. This was her first fish she's ever caught [...]
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An Evening Spent Wading
Florida Sportsman member: former bluefishinny
This beauty was the first of 5 snook caught this evening. All fish came on Zoom Flukes rigged with modified EWG weighted hooks (lead was painted gold/gold flake, its the OCD in me).
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Beach Shark Fishing Recap
Florida Sportsman member: J_WaRd_29
We obviously have kind of fallen off the face of the earth for a while. Nothing to do with the site, but instead just because we had such a horrible start to the season that the frustration took over until we got things going again. What a weird year for sharking so far . . . well, at least that we've seen here in SWFL.
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Pine Island Sound Redfishing
Florida Sportsman member: Capt. Brent
Had a great day with the redfish on friday fishing with my brother (Capt. Dave), finally breaking the 24 inch mark. Had 2 perfect tournament fish weighing in just under 14 pounds, 1 is pictured below. Also caught tons of mid-slot size reds and about 50 big trout. Action was non stop all day even with the late afternoon high tide and the boiling water.
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Pine Island Tarpon Action
Florida Sportsman member: Capt. Gregg McKee
We're right in the middle of our second tarpon season here in SW FL. The really big fish have migrated north but the resident juveniles are coming out of the woodwork right now. Here's some shots of the fish my anglers have landed over the last few days.
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Reds on Fire!
Florida Sportsman member: backwater boy
Headed out today with one of my good fishing buddies around 9 a.m. We headed out to my favorite white bait spot and absolutely blacked out the livewell. We ran about 30 minutes north into PI in search of some bronze warriors in a few old spots of mine, oh boy we found them alright. Within the first hour we already had nine [...]
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Back in the Sunny Southwest
Florida Sportsman member: SWFLFisher
After calling my good friend and forum member Trey (swsnookred) the day before, I decided redfish would be the target for the morning since they'd been chewing close to home recently and the tides were right. We loaded up on the usual bait for this time of year (small threads and white bait), and started our search for the bronzed beauties who always change colors as the river water begins to mix with the surrounding waters [...]
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Reds on Fire
Florida Sportsman member: swsnookred
Summertime can be some of the best fishing if you get out there early and beat the heat. I hit the water with a couple buddies at 3:30 and was back on the trailer at 10. Redfish were on fire, as were some nice trout. Final tally for the day: 7 reds boated with probably 6 lost, and 6 nice trout boated (smallest going 17 in). Was a great day on the water! [...]
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Old Friend and a True Warrior
Florida Sportsman member: SWFLFisher
We began our day with the normal hour long cruise or so out of the river and into San Carlos Bay. Two casts of the net at the causeway and we were loaded down with bait and ready to wreck some fish! Our first thought was it would be awesome if we could bring some fish home for lunch or dinner, so redfish was obviously our first targeted species of the day [...]
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Snook You Want to Hook
Florida Sportsman member: Doodidle
Yesterday I was at work when by the hand of God Almighty, my power went out! Awesome for me cause I work on a computer. So I decided to make a mini fishing trip with a couple of buddies. Stopped at Lehrs to pick up a couple reels I had getting serviced and bought a New St.Croix fly reel. We headed out the river around 1:30 p.m. Chased big threadies for a while out by picnic island and caught about a hundred hand size threads [...]
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A Trip Down Memory Lane
Florida Sportsman member: cubs83
Came down with my girlfriend memorial day weekend and fished with some friends. Netted some mullet and chummed an Estero Bay grass flat with chunk mullet. We caught 4 or 5 lower slot redfish in about an hour. Went offshore for tarpon and only saw one off Knapps. My buddy caught a 3' blacktip shark on the new Shimano Tranx on a Terez rod...sweet combo. The blacktip came up and smacked a 10" mullet so that was fun to watch. Sure beats bass fishing. Hope everyone is doing okay in my hometown!
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Beach Sharkin' Double Header
Florida Sportsman member: Shore Catch Fishing
The night was fading slowly when I decided to call two friends, Drew and Mark. Plan was to rendevouz at the beach at 10 p.m. and catch the last few hours of the incoming tide. I loaded my SUV with my Penn 133LH (4/0 wide) and 50TW international. Both loaded with PowerPro. Upon set-up, a blue-streaked meteor flew by and knew it was time to paddle out the spread. I paddled the 50TW and 4/0 out while Drew paddled his Senator 6/0 out. We had a few smaller runs and landed a 7 foot nurse shark and were debating on whether to stay [...]
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Estero Bay Trout Action
Florida Sportsman member: JSTickum
Fished with buddies Dave O and Derrick on Tuesday in overcast conditons and wind on Tuesday in Estero Bay. We started out the morning with the incoming tide in the back of the bay stalking Reds and Snook, we caught 2 Reds, 4 Snook and a bunch of mangos. We changed gears and went after trout and did real well on the trout, lots of trout, 20 or more using soft plastics and shrimp under corks [...]
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Matlacha/Pine Island Snook Bite
Florida Sportsman member: Capt. Gregg McKee
Thought I'd make a quick post to confirm what a few other folks here are reporting. There is definitely some excellent snook action going on in the Pass and PI Sound right now. I'm spending most mornings chasing tarpon right now but they have a habit of calling it quits around 10AM and that's when I go after the linesiders. The miles of shoreline around Burnt Store has been really productive this last week. The best catch was my neighbor's son Sam who was in town from Montana and landed this slob on a white Zoom.
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The Tarpon Report
Florida Sportsman member: Tarponator
We took our first trip down south last week to Boca Grande. It's always nice to get away, and this trip was no different. We arrived at Palm Island on Wednesday night, and got prepared to fish with my long time friend and guide Phil Dugger the next morning. Woke up before dawn, met Phil at the dock, and we were off to Boca Grande Pass. The west wind would have made fishing on the beach impossible, and the reports were the fish hadn't been on the beach in any event [...]
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Estero Bay Report
Florida Sportsman member: binder077
Got out on the water and got bait at the bridge about 10 a.m. Headed over to the shoreline with downed tree stumps at Big Carlos Pass expecting to catch some snook. We found no snook but plenty of average sized trout [...]
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Shoot for Goliaths
Florida Sportsman member: Shore Catch Fishing
Bait was thick. Threads and pilchards were getting mauled by 18 inch spanish macs. Dropped a few live Spanish down and you know the rest. Also, messing around with a white jig produced a 30 pound cobia to follow. No commitment on that fish. After we caught a few goliaths I played around with the cudas on my 4000 size reel which never gets old.
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Estero Bay Action
Florida Sportsman member: binder077
The plan was to get bait and head to Knapps point for tarpon but we got a later start than I wanted and had a hard time getting bait so we decided to fish around Mound Key. The bait that we got at the bridge was fairly big (8 inches) so we knew the smaller reds and snook wouldn't be interested. We lost 2 big snook and a bruiser red 5 feet from the boat. For the day we caught reds and snook at mound key and heres the 2 that were worth taking pics of. My bubby Billy caught the snook and it was 34 1/2" inches and I caught the red.
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Estero Area Island Report
Florida Sportsman member: Shore Catch Fishing
While in the market for a new vessel I decided to return to my roots for a few days and do some land based fishing. Dispite the wind and dodging sporadic rain I went out on two evenings back to back. The 30th and 1st.
Pilchards are around but not thick. The ones ive netted are nice (4 inches) The lady's, macks, and mullet are a different story.(All over) Snook are patrolling the beaches and pass and becoming very active at dusk. Didn't see any tarpon but there food source is definetly around. Both these fish were caught on mid outgoing tide around sunset. Snook on lady. Lemon on bft. Also got a 22inch trout but didnt care to photograph him.
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Redfish and Gator Trout Months
Florida Sportsman member: GatorInPISound
The last few times out we netted some pretty decent fish. Over the past 2 weeks the bait has really just exploded on the flats and it is nothing to see big trout busting while you are netting it up. I've been spending most of my time near oyster bars on the flood tides and shorelines with good tidal flows. The gator trout are still around and will eat a shiner and now the snook are wandering into the keys [...]
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Sanibel/Ding Darling Report
Florida Sportsman member: pjstevko
I spent all of last week doing some work on Sanibel at the Ding Darling Refuge and spent my evenings fishing the wildlife drive and several other spots around the island and did really well. My weeks total was 6 trout and 2 nice snook and my friend Wes caught 4 trout, 1 redfish, and a couple snook. ALL the fish were caught using DOA shrimp of varying colors.
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Pine Island
Florida Sportsman member: simeoncoleman
Fished with the kids this weekend while they were on spring break and had a real good time. We probably caught 50-60 trout through a day and a half and 3 under slot reds. I caught 2 big trout 21 and a 24 incher. My son had a ladyfish magnet and caught a mess of them but he didn't mind as long as he was catching(so he said). The kids had an awesome time as did the adults, thanks to my friend who invited me to come along [...]
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Screamin' Reds and Trout
Florida Sportsman member: GatorInPISound
I got the chance to get out with two friends from church this weekend. Friday my bud JH came out with me to see if we could locate the Gator Trout. JH is a veteran of WW II having fought at Iwo Jima and Okinawa so you can imagine how interesting the day became outside of fishing. He also won some Commendation Medals. We were able to catch bait in the Sound and tried many different places [...]
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Sunset Reds
Florida Sportsman member: Flat_Top
It's the time of the year when I like to do a sunset trip. Topwater is preferred, but not always the way to go. As was the case the last couple of nights. We fished the afternoon high tide on a protected shoreline and the water was mirror smooth and clean. Mullet everywhere with the occasional Redfish tail. The bite would turn on about 30 minutes before the top of the tide and last until sunset. Stick Shadd, spoon, and soft plastics were the ticket. Can wait for the time change so I can fish longer [...]
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Mixed Bag Inshore
Florida Sportsman Member: Feeding Frenzy
Spent a lazy day drowning shrimp in 30 ft of water just the other day and found the fishing to be fantastic. Nothing exotic, but a bunch of fresh flounder that made for an excellent dinner on very light tackle.
We found what seemed to be an endless supply of flounder situated just on the perimeter of the articicial reefs, with the occasional sheepshead mixed in. The flounder were eating both live shrimp and small strips of cut bait, and were in the sand, not the actual rubble itself. One of the flounder actually had color on what would normally be the white, under side [...]
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Estero Bay on Fire
Florida Sportsman member: JSTickum
Been a great couple of weeks in Estero Bay going back for 4 weeks it has just been on fire . The Reds have been feeding on the mud and sand , on the flats and by the groves , its been odd , their every where latly feeding slow , real slow (like you feel like your hooked up on grass and then the line starts to move on you) eating cut bait , shrimp , and mostly on soft plastics , here are a couple of pics starting 4 weeks ago to yesterday.
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Ret Hot January Snook Bite
Florida Sportsman member: flyinhawaiian
The snook have been going crazy seems like they have been eating everything that swims past their face.
Everywhere I have been fishing has been loaded with snook and a lot of them are BIG fish. During the day the snook have been feeding on the Sebile Stick shad and Sebile Flat shad in the hollow mullet color. Also been getting alot of fish on the mirrolure little john in just about any color with a 1/4oz jig head when the fish arent that active. But once that sun sets they have been feeding in full force [...]
Inshore and Windy
Florida Sportsman member: GatorInPISound
I braved the wind yesterday afternoon not realizing just how much it would blow. I figured we might get a pretty good incoming but the N wind had another idea. Anyways, I took a bro from church along and we fished 2-3 spots on in the afternoon looking for trout or redfish and we ended up catching both along with a nice shark....we were using handpicked shrimp [...]
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