March 31, 2013
I had charters on both of the coldest days of the year here on Estero bay in Fort Myers Florida. Tuesday’s trip was by far the colder of the days, but the fishing was better. We fished a full day and caught a good bunch of keeper sheepshead with a bunch of shorts.
We also caught quite a few jack crevalles, ladyfish and small mangrove snapper, along with 1 nice big spotted sea trout.
One of the guys also caught a pretty big stingray, which gave us some great excitement for the trip. As we had... Continue reading...
Posted by Captain Bill Curtis. Posted In : Fort Myers
March 25, 2013
We had found some nice redfish the last few trips in Estero Bay and the tide and wind were perfect for the day’s charter to hunt them again. A few jack crevalles and ladyfish got things started for the group of 3. Then along came the big bite of the day. Luckily the fish ate the large shrimp away from the mangrove shoreline and never really tried to head that way.
The lady on board did an amazing job of battling the huge redfish to the boat where we took a couple of quick pictures and releas... Continue reading...
Posted by Captain Bill Curtis. Posted In : Fort Myers
March 24, 2013
I’ve been on the water 6 out of the last 7 days and it’s getting difficult to catch up with the reports. Great to be busy though and even better that the fishing continues to get hotter and hotter. The passing cold fronts are changing the bite daily, but were seeing glimpses of spring patterns during the warming trends. I had several charters this week in Estero Bay and the fishing was off the hook. On low tides and while family fishing with kids, we had no trouble catching lots of mangro... Continue reading...
Posted by Captain Bill Curtis. Posted In : 10,000 Islands
March 15, 2013
The day was warming up some, but there was still a cool breeze blowing as my first time Canadian clients boarded the boat right on time for our 4 hour afternoon Fort Myers fishing charter. The tide was now flooding the Back Bay giving us access to the area we found some nice fish on Monday. So that’s where we went to start our fishing. On the way we found a group of dolphins that played and jumped in the wake of the boat starting the trip off nicely. The first fish came pretty quick as a s... Continue reading...
Posted by Captain Bill Curtis. Posted In : Fort Myers
March 15, 2013
The cool morning 4 hour charter began with 2 sons, dad, and grandpa boarding the boat right on time at the boat ramp on Estero Bay. The livewell was chock full of live shrimp to use for bait throughout the day. The tide was extremely low and still headed out as we began fishing some deeper water. With not much more than a few nibbles at the first spots in New Pass, we headed south for a change down to Hickory Creek. The first fish came quickly, a hard fighting jack for one of the young men.
Fr... Continue reading...
Posted by Captain Bill Curtis. Posted In : Fort Myers
March 14, 2013
Monday’s scheduled 4 hour charter on Estero Bay in South West Florida started right on time with a couple of avid fisherman from Minnesota. We met at 9am at the Carl Johnson Boat Ramp at Lover’s Key and had the dolphins join us almost immediately as we headed for Big Carlos pass to look for bait to gather with the net. We looked inside the bay as well for bait and dropped a line in an area of grass flats where some pelicans were diving and finding some kind of small fish to eat. After a c... Continue reading...
Posted by Captain Bill Curtis. Posted In : Fort Myers
March 12, 2013
The Friday afternoon 4 hour charter was reserved way in advance, by a mom looking to create a very special day for her 7 year old son, on their Florida vacation. The weather was warming up nicely when I picked them up at the Carl Johnson Boat Ramp at Lover’s Key just before noon for our adventure on Estero Bay. First up was a quick look for whitebait to gather with the cast net. So we left the ramp and headed towards Big Carlos Pass, where we quickly came upon a group of dolphins who gave u... Continue reading...
Posted by Captain Bill Curtis. Posted In : Fort Myers
March 8, 2013
A cold day is a bit of an understatement by South West Florida standards. The temperature was still in the low 50s when I put the boat in the water for the 10am 6 hour charter. At least the wind eased up as the day went on as predicted. The day’s guests were the nicest people from Louisiana in town for a shelling festival on Sanibel. I figured it would be a struggle to find fish with the water temperature in the low 60s but we ended up having a pretty good day. Not a bite at the first spot,... Continue reading...
Posted by Captain Bill Curtis. Posted In : Fort Myers
March 3, 2013
I wasn’t sure how Thursday’s scheduled afternoon charter was going to go, mainly considering that my first time clients were meeting me at the ramp directly upon landing from the airport. To both of our relief, the travel went smoothly and on time, and we were idling away from the ramp by 2 pm for the 4 hour charter with Bob and his 13 year old son. It was nice to start a trip in the afternoon this time of year with a higher tide, and we immediately headed back to some mangrove shorelines... Continue reading...
Posted by Captain Bill Curtis. Posted In : Fort Myers
