San Carlos Bay

  Had a pretty busy week on tap again this week, but late season cold fronts are still causing problems. It's gusting 30 mph outside as I write this, and of course, I had to reschedule this day. The week began on Tuesday with another trip with my friend Dale Grantman. I picked Dale up at his condo at Punta Rassa. It appeared we'd drawn a beautiful weather day, and I was hopeful that the water might be warmed up enough to let the fish bite well. Dale had expressed an int...

  This was a week of poor tides, with the exception of Monday. It wasn't a strong tide, but it was a big one. You can usually get redfish to bite on tides like that, even thought the ambush feeders might be tough to come by. My Monday trip was with a long time friend and customer, Dale Grantman, from Urbandale, Iowa. This would be our first kayak fishing trip together. Dale has canoed and kayaked, but never fished from either. I had the boats ready for the water when Da...

Fishing report for the week ending 3/18/2012The past couple of weeks has been just what the doctor ordered, warming air and water temperatures are making everything work. Above Christine and Amy with a nice redfish caught on a live shrimp under a popping cork.Amy pictured above with a nice redfish of her own. Tides early in the week made things challenging but fishing remained good.Mackerel are a sure sign of spring, Ken Liss and his wife get in on the action.Nice size trout have remain...

Fishing report for the week ending 10/10/2010       We are getting more like fall weather each day and the redfishing is great. Other than the wind being up several days you can”t beat the temperature or the fishing this time of year.   Here”s regular George Samenuck with a nice redfish he caught in San Carlos Bay free linning a shinner. Just about every oysterbar has good numbers of fish on high water, some enough to keep you in one spot for a long time. Sure...

Fishing report for the week ending 9/19/2011     The last days of summer have been very slow charter wise which is normal for this time of year. After Irene past by the water quality especially in the river and bay changed dramatically, there is very little if any salt content until you get out near the passes. The mullet run has started signaling that fall is not far away, there are few if any quality shinners in the bay. Most fisherman are using pinfish, grunts or cut bait....

At a chance of sounding repetious we are getting as many as two or even three fronts a week. Its hard to tell from day to day which directions the wind will come from next, the one thing for sure is its jacket time.     With highs only in the mid to upper sixties our water will probably stay at or below sixty making the fish hold up in deeper areas. Sea trout, rat reds (under ther slot) and sheepshead are the norm, anything you fish with needs to be lower and slower. Pothole fi...

    Thanksgiving came and went and another great week of redfishing, warmer than normal conditions have allowed the scools of small redfish to stay on the oysterbars for another week. Fishing in San Carlos Bay and Estero Bay with the right conditions the redfish bite was off the chart at times. The higher water is always better but even on low tides deeper holes are holding sub slot reds in the hundreds.       Fishing with Dan and Sean Quinn on...

Fishing report for the week ending 11/7 2010     The falls first strong cold front arrived friday changeing the fishing picture for the next week. With water temperature"s dropping, north and east winds and much lower tides this will start us into our early winter pattern. There may be a couple of days to enjoy the end of the bait migration off the beaches, this usually signals the move of the bigger fish to there warmer winter homes. Tarpon either move upriver or south an...

    I  got out on Friday in the Native Manta Ray 12 Angler to explore the flats out in front of Bunch Beach. I've fished it many times during the winter when there's a ripping north wind and no water, and it can be very productive then. I haven't been out there in a long time, and besides, the world looks different from a kayak.     There was no water to speak of when I got there, and I had to load my boat up on the Wheeleez balloon tired kayak cart and...

Ft. Myers: Pine Island Sound was generous to my crews with numbers of reds from San Carlos Bay to Galt Island and points north. There were legal snook in the passes and on the piers and docks off Sanibel. Trout were thick on the flats with the best action around Regla and Chino. Estero Bay held up its end with fair trout action, numbers of mixed size reds on the outgoing tides and snook around the passes and docks. There were reds and snook in the feeder creeks and they ate pins, whiteba...

Pine Island, Estero Bay, 10,000 Islands Ft. Myers, Sanibel, Naples Report We found redfish, snook and sea trout and baby tarpon throughout much of the area.  Slot reds ate well in Pine Island Sound from the Sanibel Causeway drifts to Regla Island.  Plenty of fiesty trout in San Carlos Bay. Cobia are cruising on the flats of San Carlos Bay.  Pinfish and whitebait were the top picks for snook and bigger reds. Off the beaches we found some nice szie permit, cobia and snook on t...