Reds On The Flats

Estero Bay and Fort Myers Beach have been productive fishing for reds this past week. The bigger fish are on the flats while the smaller fish are around oysters bars and mangrove islands. The fish on the flats and the fish around mangrove islands are both eating live shrimp and pilchards. On the flats use a cork with a short leader, for the ladder use a circle hook with a split shot for the shrimp and free line the pilchards, both with 2/0 Owner circle hooks. Pilchards have been very hard to find but look for them in deeper water now that the water temps have dropped, luckily shrimp are available at the bait shops and they are good size. Trout are on the flats too, start in water around 3 feet deep with grass bottom and you should be able to locate the trout. We caught more trout on the pilchards i was able to find this week than the shrimp, it seemed the bigger trout wanted the pilchards too while the smaller preferred the shrimp. Remember FISHING ETIQUETTE while you're out there, on a few occasions this week i witnessed boats completely surround a fellow guide while he was fishing the same flat i was only further down, worst part is one of them was a guide too! Be courteous everybody there are plenty of other fishing spots than the one you can't have! Tight lines Capt Mark Yimin 941-677-3474 (FISH) www.fishingchartersfortmyersfl.com [email protected]