Ft. Meyers Fishing

I thought I posted this last night but I don’t see it now.

Anywho, I’m headed down there shortly for a long weekend to take in some Twins spring training. I should have a morning available for fishing so I’m thinking of either finding some shore fishing, possibly a kayak rental (either of which I’d have to acquire rods and tackle somehow) or hooking up with a 4 hour guide which solves the tackle issue and hopefully would put me on fish.

I don’t really want to pack rods and reels to bring with me however I do have a nice little Med/light pack rod that breaks down into 4 or 5 pieces. I could take that but I’m uncertain if saltwater is going to harm the reel or rod?

Anyone have any first hand experience in that area on where to go or who to hire? Open to species, most likely be C&R. I’m capable of googling but looking for first hand info.

There is a boat that goes out of the harbor that does open launch Caption Tony’s. Its before you get to the bridge to the Fort Myers beach just past Pinchers restaurant.
Other wise you can fish out of San Corlos beach, to the right there is a creek that flows out and this guy always catches fish using a red jig and shrimp. There is a Kayak rental place in the park also.

I would go with the guide if its for one day. I would not take my own rod and reels as the sand is more of an issue than the water but both will mess up your reels. I would buy a cheap set there, again I would go with a guide if its only for one day. FF

I’m jealous. I need a short vacation. Drink on the beach and have no plans all day. Sounds awesome

I did book a manatee watching kayak trip for me and my daughter. I’m sure the whole time I’ll be thinking of slinging lures towards the mangroves for snook and redfish.

The guide is the most practical but there’s something about sniffing out a shore fishing spot but the odds are certainly lower.

If I didn’t have to worry about abandoning my daughter for a day I’d be all over an off shore trip. It’s bad enough she’ll have to sit through a couple baseball games, I don’t need to torture her with fishing too

Swing into Wal-Mart. Buy a cheap rod/reel combo, a few jigs/plastics, some circle hooks and a few egg sinkers. Hit a bait shop for some frozen squid or shrimp and enjoy. Leave the rod/reel there when you leave if you don’t want to mess with flying it home. We used to do that. Now we have a small tackle box and rod/reel combo we pack everywhere we go. You can always find a pier, jetty or mangrove shoreline to fish for a few hours.

A few pics from the last trip. Hit a bridge for a couple hours. Sure wasn’t a bad way to burn a few hours.

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A nice little Speckled Trout as well. Lots of dink grunts and trout that day. My buddies and I do a lot of long weekend trips around the country to get out of here and see the sun and feel the warmth. We always have a rod/reel with us. I’m super pumped for a scalloping trip we booked in August. I can’t wait to snorkel for scallops.

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