The few anglers getting out of late have been contending with quite a few fish.
Redfish have been biting very well in a wide variety of locations and sizes, including many that have been too big to keep.
Hungry, post-spawn snook are moving from coastal waters, back up into the estuaries.
Mangrove snapper continue to bite well in the outer estuaries, as recently mature fish move to join offshore spawning stocks.
Tarpon hookups on big fish were reported from Boca Grande Pass, and on juveniles from upper Charlotte Harbor.
The vanguard species of migratory pelagics ? Spanish mackerel and little tunny ? are showing up in large sizes as they move south through cooling Gulf waters.
Rapidly rising waters in Lake Okeechobee have spurred bass to move en masse into the outside vegetation lines, all around the Big O.
REDFISH: The Bait Box on Sanibel reports redfish biting well, all around the island. A rental rod customer caught four, including two fish over the 27-inch maximum, Wednesday at Blind Pass. Anglers ducking out of Tuesday?s strong winds reported catching keeper reds and trout along Wildlife Drive (closed Fridays) in the J.N. ?Ding? Darling National Wildlife Refuge. And anglers fishing San Carlos Bay waters from the Sanibel Pier and causeway also have been catching keeper and oversize reds.
Lehr?s Economy Tackle in North Fort Myers got a couple of reports from the Picnic Island area of upper San Carlos Bay, where schooling reds to 22 inches were biting in good numbers.
And Lehr?s customer Mark Miller reported doing very well on redfish along the Charlotte Harbor shorelines from Matlacha Pass north to the Burnt Store Marina area, where more of his catches were oversize than in the high-slot range.
Steve Mason and Casey and Gail Canada caught and released slot-size reds on numerous stops during Saturday?s rising tide in northern Matlacha Pass, where ladyfish chunks under the mangroves proved irresistible, providing there were plenty of baitfish and mullet in the same areas. They also picked off a few reds and trout on artificials, before the tide began flooding.
Out of Fishermen?s Village, King Fisher bay boats fishing Charlotte Harbor?s eastern shorelines with live sardines and shrimp have been catching slot-size and undersize reds between Punta Gorda and Pirate Harbor.
SNOOK: Anglers fishing from the Sanibel Pier have been catching and releasing huge snook, often when baiting with frozen thread herrings, according to the Bait Box. Rough surf has slowed the beach fishing action for snook, but some linesides still are being caught along Bowman?s Beach and in Blind Pass, early in the mornings or in the evenings.
Lehr?s reports very good numbers of snook to 31 inches have been taking live baits along Charlotte Harbor?s lower east side on an afternoon bite this week.
Lehr?s also reports the sales of plastic avocado jig tails and 1-ounce leadheads remain strong to anglers who cast into the outflows of the W.P. Franklin Lock, from the North Shore Park Pier. That action should only pick up tempo as more snook move up the Caloosahatchee River, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues freshwater releases from Lake Okeechobee.
King Fisher bay boats report snook biting live herrings along Charlotte Harbor?s upper east side.
SNAPPER: Chris and Kaylyn Romey used live shrimp to catch and release 10 mangrove snapper, two sheepshead, a 17-inch snook and a crevalle jack Wednesday on a Fishbuster Charter to the backwaters of Estero Bay with Bonita Beach Capt. Dave Hanson.
Sanibel anglers have been catching lots of mangs, and one reported bonnethead shark, fishing from the center-span abutment of Sanibel Causeway Island B. They?ve also been catching snapper on live shrimp along Wildlife Drive, according to the Bait Box.
MACKEREL: Ed and Hunter Moran and Dana Cline and sons caught 18 dandy Spanish mackerel, from 22 to 26 inches, trolling Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow plugs, Kastmaster Spoons and white feather jigs along the northern bar, just outside Boca Grande Pass. They also got into a school of large little tunny, just inside the pass, and they lost two lures to tarpon while trolling inside the pass Sunday.
Bait Box customers reported catching Spanish mackerel while casting chrome spoons this week from Sanibel beaches, where a few whiting also were biting throughout the day on shrimp.
TROUT: Sanibel beach fishermen have been catching a few trout from the island?s shoreline troughs, according to the Bait Box.
Trout have been the main targets of King Fisher bay charters. The specks have been mostly undersize, but biting well on live shrimp and smallish sardines.
OFFSHORE: The Mesch party of six from Cape Coral braved sloppy seas Tuesday to box a dozen grouper, including 10 reds to 8 pounds and a brace of gags taping two feet apiece. They also caught six mangrove snapper and 20 lanes, fishing southwest of Boca Grande Pass in 85 feet of water. King Fisher Capt. Ralph Allen also reports seeing lots of Spanish mackerel in depths around 60 feet.
LAKE TRAFFORD: Boaters still are finding boat launching difficult due to low water levels in the Immokalee lake, but Lake Trafford Marina owner Ski Olesky reports two groups fishing over the weekend caught enough crappie and bluegills for family fish fries. They baited with minnows, worms and crickets, and fished well off the shorelines.
LAKE OKEECHOBEE: Clewiston Capt. Mark King reports very good bass fishing in the Big O?s rising waters. His Sunday party went through five dozen wild shiners and caught some 40 ?good, solid fish? to 7 pounds, fishing scattered holes in outside grass lines on the West and East walls. By 9:30, however, that action was mostly over as bass buried back into denser shade.
Santos Solis of Vero Beach, Fla., won the Sept. 15-16 Gator Division Walmart Bass Fishing League tournament with a two-day total weight of 47 pounds, 15 ounces. Solis said he was flipping a 1-ounce Medlock Jig trailered with a black-and-blue-colored Gambler Ugly Otter in reed lines near Cochran?s Pass, near the north end of Observation Shoal. Three other anglers also had bags topping 40 pounds.
