Nice mixed bag of fish in both backcountry and Gulf waters
Capt. Rob Modys
November 13, 2013
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report
It looks like we are headed toward a fairly warm, wet early part of the coming week. The approaching full moon will give us great tides and water movement and that should bring good fishing on Estero Bay and the nearshore Gulf waters.
We must have caught one of every species available in Estero Bay this past week. On a recent outing my anglers counted 18 different kinds of fish. Of course that's one of the great things about fishing the Bay. You can select your target but that's not always what's going to show up along side the boat after reeling in your line!
The redfish bite was very good thanks to better tides and lower winds. Live shrimp on jigs tossed up under the mangrove overhangs did the trick. We also used live pilchards under corks and free lined, but the shrimp proved to be what they really wanted.
Working oyster bar points provided catches of sheepshead, pompano, permit, spanish mackerel, snook, seatrout, mangrove snapper and black drum. Once again live shrimp worked best.
Artificial lures and flies produced quite a mix in the backcountry. Most notable were huge jacks that were going after Chug Bugs worked quickly across the top of the water. There's nothing like a big jack exploding on a topwater lure. Flies of choice were Clouser Minnows in smaller sizes and the Strawboss.
The nearshore reefs were once again stacked with spanish mackerel, along with catches of bluefish, jacks, ladyfish and the occasional gag grouper.
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