Rotonda West Fishing Reports (December 2025)

Brandon Douberly
Bartow, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Fall is here and despite temperatures keeping pace with the typical summer heat we are seeing fall arrive in the form of an unbelievable fish bite. The fall months in southwest Florida is known for one of the greatest red drum fishing experiences found anywhere. These redfish are schooling up...

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Brandon Douberly Bartow, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Fall is here and despite temperatures keeping pace with the typical summer heat we are seeing fall arrive in the form of an unbelievable fish bite. The fall months in southwest Florida is known for one of the greatest red drum fishing experiences found anywhere. These redfish are schooling up and eating everything in sight to prepare for their spawn season. These schools are mostly upper slot to over slot fish most measuring in the 30 inch range. We are finding an abundance of slot redfish around the mangrove islands as well along with plenty of great snook action. Our trout fishing is getting great as well, they are gaining size and we are starting to see the bigger slot fish arrive over the grass flats. Fall is one of the best times to fish the waters of Pine Island, the fish are feisty, water temps will be dropping and it’s only getting better from here on out.

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Mike Chandler
Fort Myers Beach, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Waters are clearing back up after the last hurricane, Goliath grouper are biting nearshore just off fort myers beach. Caught both these on our 4 hour 5 mile trips.

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Mike Chandler Fort Myers Beach, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Waters are clearing back up after the last hurricane, Goliath grouper are biting nearshore just off fort myers beach. Caught both these on our 4 hour 5 mile trips.

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Steven Herich
Sarasota, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Sounds great Scott! Here's a first time keeper snook my client caught on his first attempt yesterday on the beach 🏖️.

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Steven Herich Sarasota, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Sounds great Scott! Here's a first time keeper snook my client caught on his first attempt yesterday on the beach 🏖️.

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Jack Swedberg
Fort Myers, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Plenty of good Tarpon Snook and redfish

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Jack Swedberg Fort Myers, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Plenty of good Tarpon Snook and redfish

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James Gibson
Sarasota, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

There are signs of fall in the air and the fishing seems to be really turning both inshore and nearshore.

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James Gibson Sarasota, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

There are signs of fall in the air and the fishing seems to be really turning both inshore and nearshore.

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Brandon Douberly
Bartow, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

The summer fishing is heating up and you don’t want to miss a second of the action. Big beautiful redfish, powerful snook and an abundance of seatrout have been giving us some fun days on the water lately. Bait is all over the sound and it’s the perfect size to...

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Brandon Douberly Bartow, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

The summer fishing is heating up and you don’t want to miss a second of the action. Big beautiful redfish, powerful snook and an abundance of seatrout have been giving us some fun days on the water lately. Bait is all over the sound and it’s the perfect size to sit off groups of fish and access the bite with long casts. This time of year we really try to use a long light leader so as to not give ourselves away. These lighter leaders sometimes means tougher times getting those big fish to the boat and requiring a lot more maneuvering when these fish get us in a tight situation, but that’s what makes this sport so fun, the thrill of the fight. The water is heating up quickly which means we are required to keep less bait so they have plenty of oxygen in our well. We are starting to see some mangrove snapper moving into the inshore waters and it’s about to get even more exciting when we can fill limits of delicious snapper. Tarpon are all around and we’ve managed a few short hookups but with the windy conditions we’ve been facing some days just aren’t great days to fish for them so the time spent fishing tarpon has been limited unfortunately but that is sure to change with nicer weather on the horizon.

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James Goodman
Fort Myers, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Great redfish and snook bite in estero bay on 2-4 inch live threadfin and pilchards.

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James Goodman Fort Myers, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Great redfish and snook bite in estero bay on 2-4 inch live threadfin and pilchards.

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Brandon Douberly
Bartow, Florida
Reported: 1 year ago

Sheepshead fishing is in full swing and they’re giving us some fun days on the water. These tasty, hard fighting fish are highly sought after during our winter months. They can be a tricky fish to hook, with a mouth full of human like teeth the areas to set a...

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Brandon Douberly Bartow, Florida Reported: 1 year ago

Sheepshead fishing is in full swing and they’re giving us some fun days on the water. These tasty, hard fighting fish are highly sought after during our winter months. They can be a tricky fish to hook, with a mouth full of human like teeth the areas to set a hook are few which can make them an even tougher target. Alongside the sheepshead we are catching reds, snapper and black drum, plenty of variety and good eating fish to catch when the weather is cold. For the next couple months we will stick to shrimp for our bait of choice. Catching white bait these times of the year can be difficult and the fish switch their food choices to bait easier to catch like shrimp, crabs and sand fleas. Fish get slower with dropping water temps so their energy levels drop as well, they still fight like crazy and show us a great time on the water.

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