Summer Fishing Near Fort Myers Beach
Capt. Rob Modys
June 29, 2011
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report
Summer is officially here and in full swing. The rains finally started showing up, a bit behind schedule, but we Floridians were glad to see them arrive. Don't worry... most mornings are rain free, so you just need to get an early start before the "booming" starts later in the day.
The bite on the reefs and rock piles in the Gulf is still good with spanish mackerel, pompano, trout and snapper leading the way. It takes a bit longer to get the bite going but once started the fish show up in good numbers. Cut bait and live shrimp are still the go-to's but we've been adding some live threadfins and shiners to get the bigger fish.
Spanish mackerel are starting to school close to the beaches. Look for the birds diving on bait and then cast spoons or bait under corks to get their attention. The sharks are also in the same area and it doesn't take long after putting some chum in the water to get the first one. There's a nice mixed bag of them including blacktips, hammerheads, bonnets, silkies, lemons and spinners.
The water in the backcountry is starting to "tannin up" from the rain runoff and that makes for good redfish fishing. Small jigs tipped with shrimp or cut ladyfish is the ticket for a keeper. We've been working the higher tides around mangrove edges for the best results. There are snook in the same area but I've stopped targeting them. The season is closed until September of 2012, due to the nasty winter of 2009-10, so they are best left alone.
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