Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating - View Single Post

Crafty Angler · 02-02-2004, 11:29 PM

The best area that I've fished on the West Coast is the Ft Myers area around Sanibel and Captiva Islands - redfish, snook and specks.

LOTS of opportunities for shore based fishing like the Sanibel Pier near the lighthouse (free and easy access), Lover's Key (you can park by the side of the road in a designated area just past the bridge and wade across to it, or just wade the flats on the left befoe you get on the Sanibel Toll Bridge - there's also the Ding Darling Nat'l Preserve just up the road a piece in the early AM.

Then there's Blind Pass, which is the cut between Sanibel and Captiva (where Mike Laptew told me he saw large schools of big snook just hanging out in the current in the backwater while snorkeling with his wife) and a billion places nearby with small creeks, cuts, canals, etc - the whole Estero Bay area and Pine Island Sound is pretty hot, it'll look pretty fishy the very first time you see it.

If you decide on Sanibel, just get some nice live shrimp at The Bait Box on the Island, pay the guy extra for handpicking the better (bigger) ones for ya, and get some of Capt. Hank Brown's Hook-Up jigs to pin 'em on.

You fish the drop at the end of the Sanibel Pier with the shrimp & Hook-Up jig or a 3/4 oz. bullethead jig tipped with a red porkrind at sunset into dark reeling sloooowly just above the bottom (geez, is any of this starting to sound familiar to ya yet?) for snook - if the water temp is above 70 - that's the turn-on temp for them.

You can also try liveling pinfish, too, pick up a bait bucket with an aerator so you don't end up with a bucket of expensive floaters after getting stuck in the heat in the brutal Sanibel/Ft Meyers traffic. It's especially heavy in March, too.

Other than that, start buying Florida Sportsman every month, read it cover to cover if you haven't fished the west coast before and see if you can find their annual Trout and Redfish issue still on the newstands.

Oh yeah, and almost all those places have soft sandy beaches and great shelling (best in the U.S.) to keep the Mrs or significant other occupied while you fish.

A charter is certainly the surer way to go but I'd say save the money for beer and shrimp (yeah, you can eat your bait if you have any left)

if you don't mind a little homework before you go and a litle exploring when you get there.

All we expect is some happy photos posted and a coupla good was stories. Damn, wish it was me, I'm gettin' all lathered up just thinkin' about it.

Good luck, have fun

.

02-02-2004, 11:29 PM	#4
Crafty Angler Geezer Gone Wild iTrader: (2) Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 3,397 Blog Entries: 2	The best area that I've fished on the West Coast is the Ft Myers area around Sanibel and Captiva Islands - redfish, snook and specks. LOTS of opportunities for shore based fishing like the Sanibel Pier near the lighthouse (free and easy access), Lover's Key (you can park by the side of the road in a designated area just past the bridge and wade across to it, or just wade the flats on the left befoe you get on the Sanibel Toll Bridge - there's also the Ding Darling Nat'l Preserve just up the road a piece in the early AM. Then there's Blind Pass, which is the cut between Sanibel and Captiva (where Mike Laptew told me he saw large schools of big snook just hanging out in the current in the backwater while snorkeling with his wife) and a billion places nearby with small creeks, cuts, canals, etc - the whole Estero Bay area and Pine Island Sound is pretty hot, it'll look pretty fishy the very first time you see it. If you decide on Sanibel, just get some nice live shrimp at The Bait Box on the Island, pay the guy extra for handpicking the better (bigger) ones for ya, and get some of Capt. Hank Brown's Hook-Up jigs to pin 'em on. You fish the drop at the end of the Sanibel Pier with the shrimp & Hook-Up jig or a 3/4 oz. bullethead jig tipped with a red porkrind at sunset into dark reeling sloooowly just above the bottom (geez, is any of this starting to sound familiar to ya yet?) for snook - if the water temp is above 70 - that's the turn-on temp for them. You can also try liveling pinfish, too, pick up a bait bucket with an aerator so you don't end up with a bucket of expensive floaters after getting stuck in the heat in the brutal Sanibel/Ft Meyers traffic. It's especially heavy in March, too. Other than that, start buying Florida Sportsman every month, read it cover to cover if you haven't fished the west coast before and see if you can find their annual Trout and Redfish issue still on the newstands. Oh yeah, and almost all those places have soft sandy beaches and great shelling (best in the U.S.) to keep the Mrs or significant other occupied while you fish. A charter is certainly the surer way to go but I'd say save the money for beer and shrimp (yeah, you can eat your bait if you have any left) if you don't mind a little homework before you go and a litle exploring when you get there. All we expect is some happy photos posted and a coupla good was stories. Damn, wish it was me, I'm gettin' all lathered up just thinkin' about it. Good luck, have fun .
	"There is no royal road to this heavy surf-fishing. With all the appliances for comfort experience can suggest, there is a certain amount of hard work to be done and exposure to be bourne as a part of the price of success." From "Striped Bass," Scribner's Magazine, 1881.