Sanibel Fishing Reports (May 2026)

Jon Fetter
Fort Myers, Florida
Reported: 2 years ago

The shallow water backbay fishing has been crazy good past week. The cooler air temps have really turned on the redfish bite! Shrimp under popping corks has been the go-to set-up and producing good numbers and slot size fish! Trout on the grass flats in 3-5 feet of water have...

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Jon Fetter Fort Myers, Florida Reported: 2 years ago

The shallow water backbay fishing has been crazy good past week. The cooler air temps have really turned on the redfish bite! Shrimp under popping corks has been the go-to set-up and producing good numbers and slot size fish! Trout on the grass flats in 3-5 feet of water have been chewing shrimp topped jig heads under popping corks. There have been a few slot sized fish mixed in but most have been right under slot at 14 inches. There has also been some quality bait schools along the beaches which have led to some good snook fishing as well. October is a great month to get out and fish in SW Florida. Come and get you some and let's bend some rods!

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Dylan Hood
Cape Coral, Florida
Reported: 3 years ago

Schools of redfish are all over the place eating artificial baits and live bait.

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Dylan Hood Cape Coral, Florida Reported: 3 years ago

Schools of redfish are all over the place eating artificial baits and live bait.

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Dan Muench
Fort Myers, Florida
Reported: 3 years ago

I took my brother out yesterday for an early morning Topwater lure run. Excellent morning as we caught three redfish on top water and a few snook as well, including a 28 1/2 inch one!

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Dan Muench Fort Myers, Florida Reported: 3 years ago

I took my brother out yesterday for an early morning Topwater lure run. Excellent morning as we caught three redfish on top water and a few snook as well, including a 28 1/2 inch one!

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Dan Muench
Fort Myers, Florida
Reported: 3 years ago

Fishing has been pretty steady even though we have water temperatures in the high 80s. Today the guest, a non-fisherman, brought in a 32-inch Snook off the flats today! What a great find this time of year. I have also seen plenty of red fish this last week and the...

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Dan Muench Fort Myers, Florida Reported: 3 years ago

Fishing has been pretty steady even though we have water temperatures in the high 80s. Today the guest, a non-fisherman, brought in a 32-inch Snook off the flats today! What a great find this time of year. I have also seen plenty of red fish this last week and the speckled sea trout bite is still hot as usual. No live bait needed for the Speckled SeaTrout, as they will hit soft plastics and hard Subsurface Baits as long as you work them correctly.

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Dan Muench
Fort Myers, Florida
Reported: 3 years ago

Hey David, the fishing has been pretty steady even though we have water temperatures in the high 80s. Today my guest, a non-fisherman, brought in a 32 inch snook off the flats today! What a great find this time of year. I have also seen plenty of red fish this...

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Dan Muench Fort Myers, Florida Reported: 3 years ago

Hey David, the fishing has been pretty steady even though we have water temperatures in the high 80s. Today my guest, a non-fisherman, brought in a 32 inch snook off the flats today! What a great find this time of year. I have also seen plenty of red fish this last week and the speckled sea trout bite is still hot as usual. No live bait needed for the Speckled SeaTrout, as they will hit soft plastics and hard Subsurface Bates as long as you work them correctly.

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Jon Fetter
Fort Myers, Florida
Reported: 3 years ago

The inshore bite has been as hot as the temps here in SW Florida. The seatrout bite is crazy good around the grass flats in 3-5 feet of water. Shrimp under a popping cork is the ticket. There have been some quality redfish hanging around the mangrove edges and oyster...

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Jon Fetter Fort Myers, Florida Reported: 3 years ago

The inshore bite has been as hot as the temps here in SW Florida. The seatrout bite is crazy good around the grass flats in 3-5 feet of water. Shrimp under a popping cork is the ticket. There have been some quality redfish hanging around the mangrove edges and oyster bars on higher water. Free lined pinfish or pins under a float will work best. Just remember to get out early to beat the heat as the bite has been over around 11 am.

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Dylan Hood
Cape Coral, Florida
Reported: 3 years ago

Fishing has been great. Snook, snapper, and grouper are biting on pilchards and pinfish. Weather conditions are good and sunny!

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Dylan Hood Cape Coral, Florida Reported: 3 years ago

Fishing has been great. Snook, snapper, and grouper are biting on pilchards and pinfish. Weather conditions are good and sunny!

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Jon Fetter
Fort Myers, Florida
Reported: 3 years ago

The fishing has been really good both inshore and nearshore. The shallow water bite has been good for spotted seatrout and ladyfish. Plenty of keeper seatrout. Mostly caught in shrimp under a popping cork. The nearshore shark fishing has been crazy good with both size and variety! Cut bait and...

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Jon Fetter Fort Myers, Florida Reported: 3 years ago

The fishing has been really good both inshore and nearshore. The shallow water bite has been good for spotted seatrout and ladyfish. Plenty of keeper seatrout. Mostly caught in shrimp under a popping cork. The nearshore shark fishing has been crazy good with both size and variety! Cut bait and chumming is the key to getting them to feed.

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