Fort Myers Advice Needed
 

That time of year again. Going to Venice one day to fish w. Fish Galore for Grouper and would like to take the family another day to do some "back bay" fishing.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Do not want the tourist trap and would love for the kids and wife to catch some fish.

Re: Fort Myers Advice Needed
 

What time of year? If in May that is when the tarpon start showing up.

Re: Fort Myers Advice Needed
 

Going in 2 weeks, wish it were tarpon season :mad:

Re: Fort Myers Advice Needed
 

You looking for a charter or a place to stay/fish backwater?

Backwater is going to be Snook & Redfish

I can recommend either...

Re: Fort Myers Advice Needed
 

Well fishing for Tarpon is a commitment and its not like you can switch gears to something else. You are either fishing specifically for Tarpon or you are not and the best you can hope for is a shot or 2 during a days fishing so probably not suited for the kids.

I would stick to redfish and trout if you want some action for the kids... Lots of back bay charters in the area. We fished several times with www.captmattmitchell.com/. Great guy serious about what he does yet good with kids. He is out of Pine Island which is a half hour drive from Fort Myers.

He does half days and that is probably your best bet if your are fishing with kids.

Tell him Gerry, Mike and Jake from NJ sent you.

Re: Fort Myers Advice Needed
 

Charter

Re: Fort Myers Advice Needed
 

I have a great kayak guy down in everglades city about 1.5 hours from ft meyers. Tarpon reds trout ect

Re: Fort Myers Advice Needed
 

if you are looking for a family trip you got to go on hickory bay charters. captain mike is the nicest guy i ever fished with, he has a 30' pontoon boat very comfortable , i have always come back with a meal, which you can have cooked at the marinas restaurant .....239- 947-3851 ... you can tell him warren gave you his name

Re: Fort Myers Advice Needed
 

When I was in Venice about 15 years ago there was a nice fishing pier out into the bay. You could see flounder, sheepshead and other species right under you but all I caught was theirhttp://www.venicefishingpier.com/images/10.jpg type of bergall. At that time it only cost $1 to get on. I think they rented rods also. www.venicefishingpier.comhttp://www.venicefishingpier.com/images/10.jpg

Re: Fort Myers Advice Needed
 

So Gerry had some great advice with Pine Island.

Most of the backwater guides trailer their boats and will arrange to meet you at the ramp. Request a Pine Island Ramp. You will drive about 30 minutes from Ft Myers but if you launch in Ft Myers you will waste an hour or more going down the calusahatchee in a flats boat. Better to drive the car to Pine Island travel 15 minutes to best fishing grounds and have more fishing time!

www.hokefishingcharters.com

David Hoke wins more redfish snook tournaments than anyone down there. I highly recommend him.

Catch Big Fish!

Re: Fort Myers Advice Needed
 

I did a half day party boat trip out of Ft. Myers couple years ago.Target was bottom fish,mostly action with grunts and a few grouper.The issue with a half day boat is they will run an hour plus to get to there first stop,then every move after that will take bout 45mins to get set up again.This leaves a limited time to fish.Also as soon as dolphin (Flipper) shows up your going to move again.Consider if you can a full day trip.:cool:

Re: Fort Myers Advice Needed
 

http://getawaymarina.com Ft Meyers Beach good family head boat.

Re: Fort Myers Advice Needed
 

I fish in Venice with a charter called Best Catch Charters. He is new a good kid. He is at the Crows nest Marina . As far as back bay I stay at Tween waters they have a few good Capt. That run out of there. Have fun

Re: Fort Myers Advice Needed
 

Thanks, spoke with him today...he is booked solid except 1 day which I cannot make. Thanks for the info. Working on the next recommendation.

BTW, he was happy when I said I was bringing my kids.

Re: Fort Myers Advice Needed
 

You can always check with your capt. Joe Miller or Ellen Miller, they have some inshore guides they will recomend. Joe is your offshore grouper, snapper, AJ, etc. offshore guy!! You will have a great time!!!

Re: Fort Myers Advice Needed
 

I went last year in March. Unfortunately I didn't charter or hop on a party boat. I just did some land fishing from piers and along the mangroves. The snapper fishing is a blast, and I got some nice sheepshead as well.

One piece of advice you should absolutely follow. I got absolutely destroyed by "noseeums". A tiny biting insect that looks like a small gnat. When they bite, it kinda stings, but besides that no other side effects. Until the DAY LATER. jesus christ. I had dime sized red, itchy circles all over my body. It looked like I had some kind of Pox. I highly recommend you invest in a great insect repellant and use it religiously.

Sanibel Island is absolutely infested with them as well. And these bites don't disappear for weeks. Insane. On a side note, my one friend had 0 reaction to them. But most of us died. Im hoping you're one of the lucky immune ones.

Re: Fort Myers Advice Needed
 

I always recommend Tenacity Guide Service. Captain Bo was on the Scott Miller Challenge recently for goliath grouper. They take families with small children out all the time. First mate Deidra is quite a sight too, haha!! If and when I ever get down there, I will be fishing with them! They seem to fish for whatever the customer wants and will fish multiple species in one day, even sharks for the kids!