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Fishing Report - Naples, Ft. Myers, Bonita Beach & Estero Bay
Capt. Dave Hanson
December 17, 2005
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report
Big sheepshead, keeper redfish, pompano, mangs bayside: Bonita Beach, SW FL
The photo shown at right is of a 17 inch sheepshead, caught on a recent backwater trip.
I fished Thursday, casting around oyster bars and holes in Estero Bay, with live shrimp, and a #7 splitshot for weight. We did well on an incoming tide. We caught about twenty sheepshead, five keeper, the two largest measuring 17 ½ inches and 19 inches. We released three redfish to 17 inches and three small snook from 12 to 20 inches. We lost what looked like a pretty nice red, and a couple other bigger fish when they broke our lines. Oyster bars hold fish, but they can be tough on lines.
Friday, with seas 4-6 feet offshore, we changed our offshore plans to fish the bay instead. We fished an outgoing tide nearly all morning. Low tide was supposed to be about 8:30AM, but the northerly breeze must have delayed it, and it didn’t turn around until about 11:45AM. We fished around oyster bars and holes with live shrimp, and caught keeper sheepshead, a keeper pompano, and keeper mangrove snapper. We released four small snook.
Saturday, I again fished the oyster bars and holes alongside the channel in Estero Bay. We caught most of our fish on a slack tide with live shrimp. We caught a keeper redfish at 23 ½ inches, and released a 17 inch red. We caught about twenty nice sheepshead to 16 inches, and kept 3 of them for dinner. We also caught keeper mangrove snapper, and released a large cravalle jack.
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