Fort Myers Fishing
Fort Myers has a temperate climate that allows for nice weather year-round. Because of the weather, you can experience some very good fishing throughout the different seasons in Fort Myers. The Ft. Myers, Ft. Myers Beach and Sanibel Island area offer a variety of fishing opportunities from bay and backcountry fishing for snook, redfish, trout, black drum, sheepshead, grouper, pompano, jacks, ladyfish, triple tail and tarpon. Most of these fish caught inshore are around from the spring all the way through the winter, while some species are around in bigger numbers at different times of the year. You can easily find out what’s biting best by talking to the local bait and tackle shops as well as checking out the fishing reports from the area fishing charters.
You can head offshore and catch tarpon, shark, barracuda, permit, cobia, king mackerel, black drum, sheepshead, goliath grouper, snook, bull redfish, little tunny. There are plenty of fishing charters available to take you offshore. Check out the reports to see what the fishing is like before you book your offshore fishing adventure.
Surf fishing can be good on the area beaches as well. Most surf anglers will use live bait such as shrimp, minnows or small bait fish as well as dead baits such as cut bait, fresh and frozen shrimp. Some of the good areas to fish from the shore are Cayo Coastal Island State Preserve, the Yacht Club Community Park, Rotary Park, Causeway Beaches and Fort Myers Beach.
Jacksonville Fishing
Jacksonville, Florida is a unique fishing destination because you have plenty of entertainment and conveniences that a larger city can offer, but you can still get onto a boat and feel like you’re away on a nice fishing trip. Fishermen enjoy a variety of fishing in the area as there are excellent inshore, offshore and beach fishing opportunities available in the Jacksonville area. The top species that anglers target in Jacksonville are redfish, speckled trout and flounder, but you can catch a variety of other fish as well.
The inshore creeks and saltwater marshes hold redfish, trout, black drum, flounder and more. There are numerous anglers that enjoy flyfishing the inshore areas from a kayak or a typical saltwater boat. If you’re visiting the area and you enjoy kayak fishing, take a look at the Jacksonville Kayak Fishing website for more information. The jetty fishing can be very good as well as anglers will target sheepshead, redfish, black drum, trout, flounder and jacks.
Offshore anglers can expect to catch amberjack, tarpon, cobia and kingfish as well as many bottom species such as snapper and grouper.
For more information on visiting Jacksonville, Florida, take a look at our tourism links below.
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Jacksonville Bait Shops
- Jacksonville Boat Rentals
- Jacksonville Fishing Charters
- Jacksonville Fishing Piers
- Jacksonville Lodging
- Jacksonville Marinas
Everglades Fishing
Fishing the Everglades is truly a unique experience that very few anglers will get to enjoy. If you are heading to Naples, Marco Island or even Miami, you are not too far from the Everglades and you may want to consider hiring a guide to take you out for a memorable fishing trip. The Everglades National Park is the largest subtropical wilderness in the entire United States and it boasts rare and endangered species.
The fishing in the Everglades can be very fast-paced for a number of species. With the brackish, shallow backcountry bays and rivers, outside islands, oyster bars and miles of canals, there are plenty of places to fish for largemouth bass, snook, redfish, trout and tarpon.
Most people have heard of the Everglades for the largemouth bass fishing, but there is a tremendous saltwater fishery in the Everglades as well, which gives you a couple of different options when you plan a trip down here. Most of the fishing guides and charters will take you saltwater fishing for snook, tarpon, redfish or trout or bass fishing in the canals, so you need to know what type of trip you’d like to go on before hiring a guide.
The saltwater fishing consists of Florida Bay, Ten Thousand Islands and elsewhere in the National Park’s coastal zone. While most of the anglers target snook, tarpon, redfish or trout in the Everglades, there are plenty of other saltwater fish to catch while you’re here. Some of the other fish that are available are black drum, bluefish, bonefish, cobia, flounder, grouper, spanish mackerel, pompano, shark, sheepshead and snapper.
For the freshwater angler, the bass fishing can be amazing in the canals. More largemouth bass are caught here per hour than any other place in the entire state of Florida. That says a lot knowing how many excellent bass fishing lakes that are available to Florida anglers. Most guides have no problem getting their clients to catch plenty of bass using artificials, so expect to use a lot of topwater lures, plastic snakes, plastic frogs, big spoons, buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, etc. Just try not to get too distracted with all of the alligators that you may see while you are fishing.
Summer months are going to be hot and humid with temperatures in the 90s, while the winter months will cool off a little bit with temperatures in the high 70s most of the time. Fishing can be good in the Everglades in the spring, summer, fall or winter.
For more information on the Everglades, take a look at our tourism links below.
Destin Fishing
Destin, Florida is known for its excellent offshore fishing, but there are plenty of other fishing opportunities here as well. Shore anglers can catch a variety of fish from the beach, pier or jetty. Fishing picks up in April and stays good through most of the fall for shore anglers. Some of the common fish that are caught from shore are pompano, sheepshead, whiting, jack crevalle, spanish mackerel, blue runner, king mackerel, cobia and bonito. Whiting, pompano and sheepshead are usually the species that are caught most from shore though.
Inshore fishing can be excellent in Choctawhatchee Bay year round for many types of fish including redfish, speckled trout, sheepshead, bluefish and flounder. If trolling is your thing, try fishing for king mackerel, spanish mackerel, cobia, bonito and dolphin. When the cobia arrive in the spring, many anglers sight fish for them and cast to them. This can be very effective.
The offshore fishing is what most people think of when they hear of fishing in Destin, Florida. The bottom fishing can be very good for snapper, grouper, amberjack, trigger fish and cobia. Offshore trolling can be very exciting for marlin, wahoo, sailfish and dolphin.
For more information on the Destin area, take a look at our tourism links below.
- Destin, Florida
- Destin Bait Shops
- Destin Boat Rentals
- Destin Fishing Charters
- Destin Fishing Piers
- Destin Lodging
- Destin Marinas
Daytona Beach Fishing
Daytona Beach attracts tons of tourists here every year for a variety of reasons. From racing to college spring break to bike week, there are many events going on here to draw a crowd. While you are in the Daytona Beach area, you may want to experience some of the fishing.
Fishing can be very good here depending on the time of year that you decide to visit. The colder months are mid to late October through early March will offer much better offshore fishing than inshore fishing. There are plenty of offshore fishing charters in the Daytona Beach area to put you on some fish if you are in the Daytona area during the colder months. Some of the fish that you can catch offshore during these months are dolphin, king mackerel, little tunny, sailfish, wahoo, grouper, snapper, tuna, barracuda and a variety of other bottom species.
If you can get here during the warmer months of the year from late March through September, you can experience some excellent fishing inshore and/or offshore. Once the water starts to warm up at the end of March and into April, the fishing starts to heat up as well. Inshore and offshore anglers will have a variety of fish to catch such as redfish, bluefish, jack crevalle, spanish mackerel, cobia, little tunny, barracuda, amberjack, snapper, grouper and many of the bigger sportfish as well such as marlin, sailfish, dolphin and king mackerel.
If you are planning a trip to Daytona Beach, late spring through early fall would be the best time to find a hot bite for a variety of species. If you’re going to be here during the colder months, just plan on getting an offshore fishing charter if you really want to do well here.
For more information, take a look at our tourism links.
- Daytona Beach
- Daytona Beach Bait Shops
- Daytona Beach Boat Rentals
- Daytona Beach Fishing Charters
- Daytona Beach Fishing Piers
- Daytona Beach Lodging
- Daytona Beach Marinas
Citrus County Fishing
Citrus County, Florida is home to both the Homosassa River and Crystal River, which are spring fed and they both flow into the Gulf of Mexico. With the rivers, estuaries, grassy flats and the gulf, there are plenty of places to fish in Citrus County.
The Crystal River gets overshadowed by the Homosassa River, but there plenty of fishing opportunities here. For the inshore fisherman, the Crystal River offers excellent fishing for speckled trout, redfish, pompano, cobia and spanish mackerel. There are fishing charters that guide this river in case you needed a little help on your vacation.
The Homosassa River is loaded with speckled trout and redfish and they can be caught year-round. July through September are the times to visit if you want to find the largest schools of redfish. If you are looking for a trophy redfish, October and November give you the best chances. The speckled trout won’t be here in huge numbers from the fall through spring, but as the water warms up in the summer, trout can be caught in bunches. Bluefish, mackerel and cobia are also popular species of fish among anglers that fish the Homosassa River. The cobia action heats up at the end of March and continues through April. Find the sting rays during this time of year and there is a good chance that you will find some cobia right behind them feeding heavily. Other species to catch in the river are jacks, snapper and ladyfish. The winter months provide some hot action for these types of fish and they can be a lot of fun to catch on lighter tackle.
Other fish that common in the area rivers and the Gulf of Mexico are grouper, tarpon, cobia, spanish mackerel, snook and jack crevalle.
For more information on the Citrus County area, take a look at our tourism links.
- Citrus County, Florida
- Citrus County Bait Shops
- Citrus County Boat Rentals
- Citrus County Fishing Charters
- Citrus County Fishing Piers
- Citrus County Lodging
- Citrus County Marinas
Cedar Key Fishing
Cedar Key is located at the very southern end of what is called the Big Bend of Florida. This area has some excellent inshore and offshore fishing opportunities. Inshore fishermen take advantage of the grassy flats that dominate most of the bay and the outer keys. The grassy flats hold numerous species of fish from spring through fall and then the fish head elsewhere during the winter. Trout, redfish, cobia and shark are some of the more popular species of fish that are caught around the grassy flats of Cedar Key, Florida. Trout and Redfish can be found here from spring through fall. Shrimp and pinfish seem to be the most common baits that are used in the area, but any good lure or bait that attracts trout and redfish will work well here. If you’re looking for cobia, June seems to be the best month for these fish. Some of the popular fishing spots for inshore anglers are Deadman’s Key, Snake Key and the finger channels around Snake Key.
For the offshore angler, there are plenty of fishing charters that operate out of Cedar Key. Many of the charters specialize in bottom fishing for grouper, but there are other types of fish to catch such as snapper, cobia, kingfish and more.
For more information on the Cedar Key area, take a look at our tourism links.
- Cedar Key, Florida
- Cedar Key Bait Shops
- Cedar Key Boat Rentals
- Cedar Key Fishing Charters
- Cedar Key Fishing Piers
- Cedar Key Lodging
- Cedar Key Marinas
Bradenton Fishing
Bradenton, Florida offers fishermen some inshore and offshore fishing opportunities. Some of the common fish caught in this area are barracuda, snapper, king mackerel, grouper, shark, cobia, triggerfish, tuna, dolphin, amberjack, tarpon, permit and more.
Bradenton, located on the south side of Tampa Bay, offers quick access to excellent fishing areas of Tampa. Nearby, the Skyway Bridge provides plenty of structure for grouper, snapper and many other types of bottom fish to go along with snook, shark, blue runners and more. With shallow waters close by to the deep shipping channels, there are plenty of ledges to target grouper on the bottom.
Offshore fishing is available, but you may want to consider where the charter boat takes off from. There are many charters in the Tampa Bay area and it may be worth your time to drive farther in your car to find a charter that takes off a little closer to its offshore fishing grounds. Once you get into the boat, you are paying for their time. If you can cut down 20 to 30 minutes of a boat ride, you will have more time fishing.
For more information on the Bradenton area, take a look at our tourism links.
