sanibel island Fishing Report 2024

Aug 12

We had a descent day of yellowtail fishing today. We were looking at schools of yellows this morning that wouldn't bite before making a move where we looked at schools of yellows that would bite. Not full speed but just a comfortable pick for hours. The quality was good. 20-25 pounders. After lunch it stopped biting for the rest of the day. We took a tour of the island for nothing then settled back in where we were before but it never picked up again. We're headed back offshore for a couple days in hunt for those tasty BFTees with plenty of bait now.

Drew

50+ yellowtail so far on our offshore trip. On the hunt for bluefin now. No passport all week

 Just finishing up our three day trip here with some great local yellow fin Tuna!

We leave on our Beck eight day trip tomorrow!

~~Aug 17
 We figured it out.  The Cortes Bank isn't good right now for bait, or game fish.  Somebody had to be the guinea pigs.  Why not the boat full of fish already.  Check that off the list of places not to go for a while.  One thing I can say about that place is the weather there was fantastic.  Such a smooth ride around the area.  Not a common thing for that place.  If you aren't going to catch much you might as well do it in good weather.  But if you've been keeping up, we've had a great trip.  We're rolling in fat and happy.

 It sounds like they're having a tough time keeping good bait in the receivers as of late so we're going to get next to the harbor early morning and try and catch a tank of mackerel for our next trip leaving tomorrow.  4 days.  See you then.
     

Aug 17

We started off early yesterday morning in the hunt for yellowtail unsuccessfully. Great fishing on it the day before but the water dropped 2+ degrees and they were very inactive. We were getting the "should've been here yesterday" vibe so we took off to fish for yellowfin. After a couple hour move and a few hours in the zone, we were getting the "should've been here yesterday" vibe again but shortly after chowing down a big fat cheeseburger the call came down from Gunny. "kelp". It's those black eyes I tell you. Gets um every time. After that we pretty much drifted till dark scratching at 20-40 pound yellowfin with the occasional flurry for 20 or so. In fact right at dark there was about 6 people fishing, all with one on and the 18 other anglers standing around with a cigar and a cocktail in hand.

The weather was choppy and rolly today but it didn't bother us. As long as your catching fish who cares what the weather does. We were all very sore and tired after today and I think we're all ready for a nice pork chop meal and a pillow and blanket. We'll be fishing for yellowtail all day tomorrow then setting us up for our last day of bluefin fishing.

Mama bear- The litluns doing fine. Pretty much had a bent rod all day.

Captain Ryan of The San Diego checked in with a trip report for today.  57 Bluefin(15-60lbs) 14 Yellowfin (15-30lbs). About as good as it gets local Bluefin fishing. A 30-50lb bait rod was all you needed today.