fort myers Fishing Report 2025

The Annual SFR charter aboard the Apollo with Captain J.J Gerritsen and crew was a big success !! The Apollo is running out of Sea Landing on beautiful Santa Barbara Harbor, the closest harbor to the outer Channel Islands. Great weather meant an ideal cruise over to San Miguel Island for some of the finest shallow water rockfishing you'll find anywhere. 300 feet down you say, maybe 200, how about 100 feet ? No way. The offshore terrain around San Miguel is so rugged and marked with underwater pinnacles, we spent most of the day fishing in 25 to 90 feet of water. Lighter rigs, jigs, leadheads and swimbaits were the order of the day, and the San Miguel rockfish were in a hungry mood. We started catching fish before daybreak and spent the rest on the trip hauling up huge reds, chuckles and lings, all sporting some of the most vibrant colors I've seen on any fish in a long time. Awesome day!! We limited out on huge rockfish, slammed about 50-60 grumpy whitefish, 5-6 huge goats and 16 or so pre-historic looking lings before calling it a trip. Epic day !!!! The jackpot was a nail biter as Shawn Suhr's huge lingcod and Art Moralez's giant goat battled to a near dead heat. Captain J.J needed to come down and settle the score, with the final vote went going to Shawn's 12-13 pound ling. Great job Shawn. Captain J.J and his crew did an awesome job as always and the Apollo is looking as spotless as ever. The Apollo will be in Santa Barbara till around mid May before moving down to Fisherman's Landing in San Diego. Call Sea Landing at 1-805-963-3564 or log onto www.apollocharters.com for their schedule. Great trip everyone !!!. email me at [email protected] for any photos. Thats the word on the water. Don

Hello again anglers. We have a trip coming up that has a few openings. This one is July 2 and 3. Cost is $500.00. Limited to 20 passengers. Cost includes food and permits. Please contact Patrick at 702-375-0010. Should be a great time. Hope to see you there.

We departed today on a private charter with 21 passengers. We hear the weather is coming down so we are anxious to get to the fishing grounds. We should be there tomorrow morning.

13 bluefin tuna from 40 to 80 lbs and 2 yellowtail. Come prepared with a 25 lb setup for kelp fish and smaller tuna. A 40 or 50 lb setup for flylining sardines at the 60-80 lb tuna and a 60 or 80 lb setup for flatfalling. Fluorocarbon is a must as well as size 1 to 2/0 circle hooks. Come take advantage of this rare opportunity to catch a true trophy fish in local waters without trolling.

On the second of May we hauled the boat out of the water and started boat work and today on the 10th of June we are still hard at it. Our main goal this year is cosmetics we have painted the whole exterior of the hull above and below the water line the inside boat works the house bait tank storage racks and the wraparound and the decks. We're now starting on interior cosmetics carpeting all the floors ceilings and walls of the whole boat. Quite the extensive maintenance definitely the most boat work we have ever done at one time.
Captain Tommy Rothery

One of the most frequently asked questions in the wheelhouse is. “What is a breezer ?” The second photo is a good look at an average size breezer in perfect lighting conditions. The first photo is a look at what is creating the breezer. I’ve been fortunate enough to spend thousands of days on the water with thousands of other people and I have come to the realization that some people can see breezers and some people cannot. Another challenging yet successful trophy hunt for us today. 13 Bluefin Tuna, 2 yellowfin tuna.

Polaris Supreme Trip Update 07-05-12

      

       We departed yesterday afternoon on a 1 1/2 day charter we picked up at the last minute so we are a little behind on our reports. When we left the dock with our 4 anglers the outlook was semi promising. There was one boat with 15 of the large bluefin late in the day at 150 miles and signs of 20 to 30 pound fish at 120 miles but it wasn’t biting. We woke this morning to find the ocean flat and calm as could be with spots of breaking 20 to 30 pound bluefin signaling us to stop. And stop we did and where rewarded with a hook up all the way around for every one on deck (all 3). The bottom line on our day was limits of small yellowtail and every one caught a couple of bluefin each except 1 angler only landed one. That’s 20 yellowtail and 7 bluefin, most of which was caught in the afternoon at 120 miles. The gang all had an excellent time and we would like to thank them all. This area has defiantly fallen apart and Drew and the boys will be taking you guys going out tomorrow farther south on your 2 day trip tomorrow so don't be late he will leave as soon as you all get down to the boat and ck in 11:00 am or sooner. The killer bluefin fishing right now is at 250 miles with the upper end being at 180 miles. You guys should be below 180 miles if you can clear the dock buy 12:00. So don't be late. This fishing in the 250 mile zone is insane. The best bluefin fishing in years if want to jump on a 2 to 5 day and target this fish call Susan at the Polaris Supreme office. We will be in tomorrow morning Friday at 8:00. Thanks for tuning in Tommy and Team Supreme. Polaris Supreme is your final destination for the ultimate long range fishing experience.

Polaris Supreme docked under owner-skipper Tom Rothery's hand June 26, after a five-day trip with 24 anglers for yellowtail and albacore. Tom weighed the fish at the certified scales at Fisherman's Landing, where a 48-pound yellowtail took top honors.
Terry Emmert of Douglas, WY had the first-place winner. "I got him in about 15 minutes," he said. "He just kept pulling and pulling, and he kept getting into a stringer of floating kelp. He's my best yellowtail ever." Emmert said he fished a sardine on the flyline, using a 3/0 Mustad 91450 hook on 40-pound P-Line. He had an Okuma 20 two-speed reel and a Seeker Black Steel 6470 rod, wrapped by Bill Boyce. Michael Giardino of San Pedro was second, for a 43-pound yellowtail, and Mal Wagstaff of Douglas, WY was third, for a 36.2-pound yellowtail. Three generations of Pattersons were aboard, and they posed with their fish. Liam Patterson of San Jose is eight, and he goes to Santa Teresa Elementary School, where he practices karate. Liam caught some big yellowtail, and he also got and posed with a 24.4-pound albacore, which will serve to start off this season's tally for the largest fish of that species.

Liam's dad Lane stood in with the boy, as did John Danis and John Patterson, also of San Jose and from the Patterson family.