Sunny, warm weather and great fishing in SW Florida
Capt. Rob Modys
May 5, 2014
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report
Summer has arrived. Yes, it's a bit early but we'll take it after the up and down weather of the past several months. Highs have been in the 90's and lows in the 70's with water temperatures in the low 80's in both Estero Bay and the Gulf.
Note: snook season is now officially closed until September 1st in the Gulf of Mexico, Monroe County and the Everglades National Park. This also includes all inshore waters off of the Gulf of Mexico. We can still fish for snook if you wish, but you have to release them to fight another day.
The fishing has been very good in the backcountry of Estero Bay over the past week. Lots of folks are looking for tarpon, this time of year, out in the Gulf so that leaves a lot of space in the back. The fishing pressure is also down and that makes it easier to get hookups. The redfish are biting well along the mangrove shorelines throughout the bay and seem to like the midpoint of the tide the best. We've been throwing live shrimp on jigs and cut ladyfish on circle hooks. The latter has been getting the bigger fish along with a few nice snook. Sitting on a spot for a while and letting the smell of the bait do it's stuff works best. Although still a bit show, the seatrout are moving in with better numbers to the grass flats. The bite is best in the early morning and then again, late in the day. Live shrimp under a popping cork in 2 to 3 feet of water worked best. We also picked up a lot of small sharks, jacks, ladyfish and the occasional pompano.
The nearshore reefs are good for action. Leading the pack are spanish mackerel, bluefish and jacks. All are hitting live shrimp, pilchards and cut baits. Shark fishing has picked up a notch. We've been anchoring up in about 13 feet of water and chumming with cut threadfin herrings. We then bait up with cut ladyfish, jacks or mullet on the bottom and it doesn't take long to get into a mix of blacktips, hammerheads, spinners, sharp nose and bulls.
More Fishing Reports:
