Fort Myers Fishing Guide Captain Bill Curtis

December 2012 Marathon Keys Vacation

December 29, 2012
I’m still not sure how I pulled it off, but we were able to go on our first family vacation to the keys in a few years now. Actually I do know, with the help and support of my better half and our great friends, the Riddles. Our 2 families had a villa at the Cocoplum Resort on Marathon reserved for several days, the week before Christmas. Scott and his family arrived on Wednesday and we came in Thursday with the boat. As soon as we splashed the boat and found our wet slip, a curious manatee welcomed us.



A nasty cold front came through the day we arrived bringing 20-30 mph winds. So the first full day was spent strolling around our favorite spots in Key West. We did get back in time that afternoon for a little fishing. My son was able to catch his first ever barracuda,



among several we caught on our first adventure onto the water,



as well as the first keeper snapper of the trip.



The next couple of days were a mix of trying to run ocean side to fish the patch reefs, and trying to find more fishable water in the 20’ bayboat we were working out of. Luckily we were able to net nice bait, pretty much at will during our stay.
When we were able to get out to the reefs, we caught some nice lane snapper, several different species of grouper,



grunts, porgies, one amberjack that gave Pedro all he could handle,



and one moray eel with a nasty disposition.



The big fishing surprise for the trip came on Sunday morning, as we got chased back inshore by the wind and waves, without even being able to drop a line. With a livewell brimming with fresh caught bait we found an inlet with a deep hole at the mouth of the pass that we anchored on and began fishing. The bites started quickly with some small snapper. Then my better half got a nice drag screaming fish, and to our surprise battled a nice snook to the boat.



She quickly got another good bite that she missed and my son quickly put his bait back in her spot. He hooked up almost immediately and fought a beautiful redfish right at the top of the slot limit to the boat.



Dawn got another chance on a good bite, and landed a nice keeper redfish of her own.



Not to be out done, Uncle Scott got a big drag burning red of his own, that was just a hair smaller than Koltons.



Of course the trip was over way to soon, but we got a nice sunset cruise in the evening before we had to leave.

    



 

12-05-12 Estero Bay Fishing Charter

December 6, 2012
I received a call Tuesday morning from Michael, staying on Ft. Myers beach and in search of an inshore fishing charter. They were fairly flexible and we decided on fishing the flooding tide on Wednesday afternoon for a 4 hour trip. I was able to get the boat on the water a little early, after picking up several dozen huge live shrimp at the ramp, to search for other live bait to net. Didn’t see any bait around, but found a fairly large school of snook in one area. I had to see if they were ...
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11-21-12 Lake Trafford

November 30, 2012
My boy’s itch to fish has had him asking for a while now to go bass fishing out of our boat. We have worked a few of the local ponds and ditches with somewhat limited and mixed success, but have landed a few nice bass on artificials. We got a chance with a day off of school before Thanksgiving Day, and made plans to try Lake Trafford. With cool conditions we left late morning and arrived to a stiff breeze out of the north, as we surveyed the boat ramp for our first adventure to the lake. Th...
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A Couple of November 2012 Charters

November 27, 2012
No pictures from the last 2 trips, not due to a lack of fish though. First trip was a Sunday charter the beginning of the month with a new Ft.Myers resident, his brother and father. Because of the tide and weather we met midmorning. I already had a nice bunch of whitebait caught right at the ramp at Punta Rassa, and some store bought shrimp for the day’s bait supply. With still fairly low water it was off to Shell Creek where we were able to get everyone a fish or 2 to get started. Lots of ...
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10-16-12 Fort Myers Estero Bay Fishing Charter

November 5, 2012
Had a great charter on Tuesday with first time customer Jeff, in town for vacation. It was just the 2 of us as we left the dock at Lover’s Key just about the time the sun was peaking over the horizon. We started the day heading out of New Pass looking for the snook that have been pounding the bait along one of the shorelines. The tide was still swiftly running out, and there wasn’t any visible activity in the muddy looking dark water. So we were off to the beaches from there to hunt for b...
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10-15-12 Kolton Estero Bay

October 26, 2012
Finally getting a chance to post this report. A teacher workday gave us a chance for a boys escape to the water. The day started with us casting artificials at some snook busting small baits in New Pass to no avail. So we headed to the beach where we loaded the forward livewell with small to medium whitebaits along with some small threadfin herrings. We all immediately caught a snook or 2 back at the pass on the livies before they stopped feeding and we moved on.



My son was casting  a lure at...

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09-20-12 Estero Bay

September 26, 2012
For the first time in forever I got to fish with good buddy Scott in Estero bay. We knew a low and falling morning tide would be a challenge, but it didn’t matter as we had an opportunity for an escape to the water and we were taking it. Another friend in town from out west, Carlos, was scheduled to meet us for a morning of fishing, for which he showed up for just after about noon I think.  Scott and I met just after 7:30 and fished some shorelines in Estero Bay with artificials to start th...
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09-01-12 Labor Day Marco Island Family Trip

September 7, 2012
With a good bit of excitement for the family escape and fishing trip ahead of us we all jumped out of bed on Saturday morning. No nasty alarm clocks were set even though we had plenty of work to do before we got on the road. Everybody did their part and before we knew it we were at the boat ramp at 951 in Collier County by late morning, for our mini vacation on Marco Island. We invaded the house by land and by sea, and once all the stuff was unloaded, we headed to Key Wayden Island for a leis...
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08-13-12 Ft Myers Beach Charter

August 15, 2012
Monday’s charter was with a couple of guys fishing with me for the first time, from the New England area, staying on Fort Myers Beach. The 3 of us met right on time, just before 7 am at the boat ramp at Lover’s Key where I picked up a few dozen decent shrimp, a couple of bags of ice, and we were off. The first stop was to throw the cast net a few times where we added some pinfish, croakers, mojarro and a couple of whitebaits to the livewell. We put those baits to work right away, and the ...
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08-08-12 Hot Ft Myers August Charter

August 9, 2012
An unexpected chop, even on the inland waters greeted me as I throttled up the motor and the boat began to plane for a weekday charter with first time clients on a Wednesday morning. They wanted to fish for tarpon, and the cloudy and generally stirred up water was going to make it difficult for what I wanted to do.  I picked up the eager group of 3 before sunrise and we set up some drifts not far from the ramp on the swift flowing outgoing tide. Bait was a combination of perfect large sized b...
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