Good Time Charters

Capt. Mike Denegre of Good Time Charters reports a great week of back country fishing in Estero Bay.  The variety of species being caught has been awesome this last week.  Flounder have been caught in various areas of the bay where the bottom is a little silty.  Flounder were also caught while drifting Big Carlos Pass for snapper which were plentiful and reasonably sized.  Nearly all the mangrove snapper caught are in the 11 to 13 range.  The pass has also been loaded with great action fish like Ladies, Blues, Jacks, and bonnet head sharks.  Several Pompano were caught this week both out in the passes and while fishing the flats of the back bay with live shrimp.  While fishing the mangroves with good water movement has produced a nice redfish bite.  Big schools of undersized reds are being found all over with some nice bruts mixed in including a couple over slot.  The trout are still all over the grass beds being caught on live shrimp under popping corks, just look for the terns diving for bait and the fish won’t be far off.

Capt. Mike Denegre of Good Time charters reports the grass flats of Estero Bay are banging with sea trout.  This past week saw an exceptional bite in the morning.  Floating live shrimp under a popping cork just enough to keep the shrimp above the grass worked great.  Popping the cork under the water was key to drawing these fish in.  Once hooked bringing them to the boat gently was crucial so as not to tear the hook from their weak mouth.  The larger trout ran just over 20″ but there were plenty within the slot and below.  The mangrove islands are alive with mangrove snapper who were more then anxious to pounce on live shrimp.  when targeting mangrove snapper capt. mike recommends smaller to midsize shrimp as they will hit the hook quicker then if they have to break up a bigger one. 12″ snapper were abundant but you may have to weed through a lot of shorties too.  End of the week saw an improvement in the redfish bite.  Reds were found feeding along the mangroves often deep under the branches.  floating a shrimp into these hard to reach spots with popping corks works great.

Captain Mike Denegre of Good Time Charters spent better part of the week fishing Estero Bay.  Live shrimp was the bait of choice while targeting sea trout on the open grass flats.  drifting these flats in about 2 to 4 feet of water with popping corks produced some great action.  Lots of slot trout mixed in with ladyfish and jacks.  Along the mangrove islands redfish and mangrove snapper were inhaling the live shrimp.   The snapper have posted up below just about every submerged branch in the bay literally fighting over the bait.  The redfish have been found in similar location and deep under the overhanging mangroves.   snook were especially active this past week,  particularly in the morning with good tidal movement.  Juvenile snook were in abundance, sucking up the bait almost as soon as it hit the water.  Live shrimp free lined under the mangroves proved irresistible to them.

Capt. Mike Denegre of Good Time Charters reports lots of action in the passes.  Most of his charters this past week focused on Estero Bay and big Carlos pass where spanish mackeral were in with large numbers along with the regular area residents ladyfish, bonnet head sharks, blue fish and jacks.  Also mixed in with the bag were several small black tip shark and pompano all caught with live shrimp either on a jighead or free lining.  The passes proved to be pretty consistent either tide but the bay showed much more productivity on the morning incoming tide last week.  The grass flats still produce sea trout of mid to upper slot with several nice ones over 20 in.  Along the mangroves both redfish and snook were sucking up green backs as well as live shrimp, free lining when able and using as little weight as possible if needed.  most submerged branches, especially those sunk deep, are housing lots of mangrove snapper right now and they love small bite size shrimp or even pieces of bigger shrimp.

Captain Mike of Good Time Charters reports a productive week in Estero Bay.  Lots of fish caught on live shrimp.   Trout were found feeding on the grass flats in about 4 feet of water caught under a popping cork.  The trout were especially active in times of good tidal movement.  Mixed in with the trout were some hungry ladyfish and a couple pompano.  The sheepshead have about wrapped up their anual spawn but a bunch of nice 3 to 4 pounders out and about.  Baiting live shrimp on small 2/o jay hooks and a little wait works great.  Lots of mangrove snapper ranging from just legal 10″ on up to 14″ were found under dead mangrove branches draped in the water.  Catching the snapper using practically the same setup for sheepshead.

Capt. Mike Denegre of Good Time Charters reports another week of great back bay action.  The spotted sea trout were on in Estero Bay,  hitting live shrimp both free lining when the winds were down or on a jig head in windier conditions.  These fish were found feeding in areas of fast moving water and at depths between 4 to 6 feet.  Fishing deep edges of mangrove islands seemed to be the most productive either bouncing the bait with a jig head or letting it drift along the bottom popping it occasionally.  Mixed in with the trout were an abundandce of big lady fish just a blast on the light tackle.  These fish hit so hard they practically hook them selves.  Once the current slowed up so did the trout bite and it was on to the sheepies.  Live shrimp weighted down by no more than an 1/8th ounce sinker and a little patience is all it took to hook into some nice 3 to 4 pound sheepshead.  Recommend if targeting sheepshead using a egg sinker placed above the swivel.  this allows the bait to move away from the sinker as the line passes through it.  this will also help you feel the sheepsheads light bite even if the sinkers is obstructed.

Another great week for spotted sea trout.  Mike was finding these fish to be most active on the morning incoming tide.  Early in the tide before the water reached the mangrove roots these fish were found feeding out from many of the Estero Bay mangrove shorelines.  Mike reports these fish are inhaling live shrimp many caught simply free lining the bait or bouncing them off the bottom on a jig.  Several pompano were found amongst the trout all legal size and ready to fight.  These fish are awsome on light tackle.  If the trout aren’t hitting out from the trees Mike recommends casting off some of the deeper mangrove banks and letting your bait lay on the bottom.  There’s lots of hungry sheepshead out there and if  you just let it lay for a minute or two one is bound to pick it up.  Remember to be patient with the sheeps as they will chew and crush your bait, wait for the big pull then let em have it.   Smaller shrimp or even chunks of bigger shrimp work great for this fish using a smaller hook, preferrably a jay hook as they are easier to remove from their toothy mouth.   Capt. Mike also reports the blue fish are starting to get active in big Carlos pass.  These fish will hit just about anything you throw at them and there great fun especialy for the junior anglers.

With the conditions at the best we’ve seen in a while the fish were hungry and plentiful.  Fishing the mangrove islands of Estero Bay yielded plenty of sheepshead the majority of which averaged out between 3 and 4 pounds with a few topping 5.  lots of fun on the light tackle.  We were hooking these notorious bait steelers with # 2 aberdeen jay hooks, a small almost wire like hook that the sheeps literally hook them selves on.  I highly recommend when targeting these fish to use the medium to small shrimp, they take small bites and this will lead to quicker hook ups. The sea trout were abundant on the grass flats again using shrimp and a popping cork.  while fishing the flats we had a couple nice run ins with pompano and jacks.  Lots of jacks out there and they’re hitting anything moving. We also found the sea trout to be active in areas of 4 to 6 feet with good moving water.  bouncing the bait off the bottom with 1/8th ounce sinker or jig head was all it took.  Just keep in mind these trout got a weak mouth so once you hook one keep steady tension on the line but don’t wrench it in.  The warmer water this week finally woke some of the reds up.  we were finding small slot and rat reds mixed in with the sheeps along the  mangroves where there was adequate current.