Sanibel island Florida

[Danny Hauser]

My brother and I went down to sanibel island for a week of fishing and relaxing a couple weeks back and I wanted to share some of our catches. If anyone gets a chance to be down in the Ft Myers area you should definitely take the time to head over to the island for a wide variety of fishing options. While we were there It's was on the colder side for Florida (37 one morning) and quite windy so we spent most of out time hiding back in the mangroves of the ding darling national wildlife refuge. My brother brought down his ocean kayaks and we were able to use them to locate the warmer water back in the protected mangrove habitat. There we were able to catch snook, redfish, seat trout and even some sheepshead on the fly. If you find yourself on sanibel island make sure to visit Norm Ziegler at his fly shop on periwinkle way. His fishing knowledge of the island is unmatched and his custom schminnow fly is awesome for almost all of the species in the area.

[TurbineBlade]

Great report and a LOT of species guys!  It appears obvious that you had a heck of a lot of fun.  ;)

Were you able to get into fish with a floating line, or did you end up having to go deeper?  

Gene

[Sam Hauser]

I went back and forth between spin and fly. Danny was fly the whole time. All fly fishing was done with floating line. We had sinking bud did not need it. The number of fish species in that area is rediculous. Just like most of florida. We also got some small spanish makeral, mangrove snapper, one gag grouper, lafyfish, a lizardfish and some schoolie jack creavelle. But most of those did not get photographed and were quite small. This place is a gem. People just roll past it on thier way to the keys which is a big mistake. You pretty much need a boat or a guide for the keys and If you dont have that kind of money go to sanibel instead. Lots of shore acess, wading spots and kayak acess (rental kayaks are relatively cheap) And yes gene probably the best fishing week i ever had and the scary part is most locals told us it was the worst month of fishing of the year.

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[TurbineBlade]

Awesome Sam -- you guys (the bros.) seem to be a solid team!  I'll keep that (area) in mind - I may be down that way this Spring.  Man, what a way to add a few new species to your life list ;).  And with no lost time considering how cold it is here ;).  I'm jealous -- if someone posts more fish pics from the southern states I might need some Vallium and 2 tubes of white out.  

Gene

On Wednesday, January 29, 2014 1:07:19 PM UTC-5, Sam Hauser wrote:

I went back and forth between spin and fly. Danny was fly the whole time. All fly fishing was done with floating line. We had sinking bud did not need it. The number of fish species in that area is rediculous. Just like most of florida. We also got some small spanish makeral, mangrove snapper, one gag grouper, lafyfish, a lizardfish and some schoolie jack creavelle. But most of those did not get photographed and were quite small. This place is a gem. People just roll past it on thier way to the keys which is a big mistake. You pretty much need a boat or a guide for the keys and If you dont have that kind of money go to sanibel instead. Lots of shore acess, wading spots and kayak acess (rental kayaks are relatively cheap) And yes gene probably the best fishing week i ever had and the scary part is most locals told us it was the worst month of fishing of the year.

On Jan 29, 2014 12:51 PM, "TurbineBlade" <doubl...@gmail.com> wrote:

Great report and a LOT of species guys!  It appears obvious that you had a heck of a lot of fun.  ;)

Were you able to get into fish with a floating line, or did you end up having to go deeper?  

Gene

On Wednesday, January 29, 2014 12:34:05 PM UTC-5, Danny Hauser wrote:

My brother and I went down to sanibel island for a week of fishing and relaxing a couple weeks back and I wanted to share some of our catches. If anyone gets a chance to be down in the Ft Myers area you should definitely take the time to head over to the island for a wide variety of fishing options. While we were there It's was on the colder side for Florida (37 one morning) and quite windy so we spent most of out time hiding back in the mangroves of the ding darling national wildlife refuge. My brother brought down his ocean kayaks and we were able to use them to locate the warmer water back in the protected mangrove habitat. There we were able to catch snook, redfish, seat trout and even some sheepshead on the fly. If you find yourself on sanibel island make sure to visit Norm Ziegler at his fly shop on periwinkle way. His fishing knowledge of the island is unmatched and his custom schminnow fly is awesome for almost all of the species in the area.

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[Bruce Mathews]

Sam,

Did you guys launch the yaks along the dirt road through the preserve or did you launch out of Tarpon Bay and paddle around to that back water?  How were the 'gators?

 

Bruce Mathews
703.772.7167

On Wednesday, January 29, 2014 1:13 PM, TurbineBlade <doubl...@gmail.com> wrote:

Awesome Sam -- you guys (the bros.) seem to be a solid team!  I'll keep that (area) in mind - I may be down that way this Spring.  Man, what a way to add a few new species to your life list ;).  And with no lost time considering how cold it is here ;).  I'm jealous -- if someone posts more fish pics from the southern states I might need some Vallium and 2 tubes of white out.  

Gene

On Wednesday, January 29, 2014 1:07:19 PM UTC-5, Sam Hauser wrote:

I went back and forth between spin and fly. Danny was fly the whole time. All fly fishing was done with floating line. We had sinking bud did not need it. The number of fish species in that area is rediculous. Just like most of florida. We also got some small spanish makeral, mangrove snapper, one gag grouper, lafyfish, a lizardfish and some schoolie jack creavelle. But most of those did not get photographed and were quite small. This place is a gem. People just roll past it on thier way to the keys which is a big mistake. You pretty much need a boat or a guide for the keys and If you dont have that kind of money go to sanibel instead. Lots of shore acess, wading spots and kayak acess (rental kayaks are relatively cheap) And yes gene probably the best fishing week i ever had and the scary part is most locals told us it was the worst month of fishing of the year.

On Jan 29, 2014 12:51 PM, "TurbineBlade" <doubl...@gmail.com> wrote:

Great report and a LOT of species guys!  It appears obvious that you had a heck of a lot of fun.  ;)

Were you able to get into fish with a floating line, or did you end up having to go deeper?  

Gene

On Wednesday, January 29, 2014 12:34:05 PM UTC-5, Danny Hauser wrote:

My brother and I went down to sanibel island for a week of fishing and relaxing a couple weeks back and I wanted to share some of our catches. If anyone gets a chance to be down in the Ft Myers area you should definitely take the time to head over to the island for a wide variety of fishing options. While we were there It's was on the colder side for Florida (37 one morning) and quite windy so we spent most of out time hiding back in the mangroves of the ding darling national wildlife refuge. My brother brought down his ocean kayaks and we were able to use them to locate the warmer water back in the protected mangrove habitat. There we were able to catch snook, redfish, seat trout and even some sheepshead on the fly. If you find yourself on sanibel island make sure to visit Norm Ziegler at his fly shop on periwinkle way. His fishing knowledge of the island is unmatched and his custom schminnow fly is awesome for almost all of the species in the area.

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[Sam Hauser]

Bruce,

           Most of our launches were along the dirt road through the refuge. We also got a few of our fish in the canal system that winds through the beginning part of the island. It is best at night because a lot of the residents have lights on their docks which attract lots of trout and snook. The rental we stayed at was on the canal so those launches were easy. We did not check out tarpon bay because they have a 7 dollar per yak launch fee and the wind was pretty high there most days. I did not see a single gator the whole time we were there. It was pretty disappointing actually. 

 

                                                                                                   -Sam

Sent from my iPad

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[Vic Velasco]

I'd beg to differ...

Those are some big gator snook you caught - must have been hard coming back up here to this freezing weather.

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[Sam Hauser]

So hard coming back up here I am actually moving down there. I am in between jobs at the moment and I found some cheap housing down there so I am going to give florida life a go. Hopefully It will work out in my favor.

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[Nedak]

How about a recipe for the custom shminnow or some pics.

Also what wt rod were u using?

Great report. Very jealous.

Thanks.

[Matthew Longley]

Sad to see you go, but the up side is that there will be more fish up here for the rest of us :).  I swear based on your reports you guys must have "educated" (the hard way) half the fish in this river.

Seriously though, got to fish with you once and it was a blast.  Give us a shout if you make your way back here to wet a line.

[Sam Hauser]

Give me a shout if you are ever in the ft myers area. Im leasing a place on a gulf acess canal with a dock. Taking my boat and yaks with me.

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[Danny Hauser]

I believe it is tied on a #2 hook but im not sure. Looks like Crystal estaz body with trimmed marabou tail, Eyes are un  weighted but the body may be lightly wire wrapped. Great tied with lead clouser eyes for bass too. White seems to be the best color down there, it was like candy to every species. Its great cause it also presents super soft. I was using a 6wt orvis helios with floating line and 30lb floro tippet, strongly recommended for snook by the local guide.

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[Tom Roberts]

Again, Awesome fish.

I was down there about the same time.  Checked in at Norm Zeiglers.  He was not there, but spoke with a young bearded dude who wasn't into conversation.  He just said that nobody was catching anything do to the cold and wind.  The biggest  Norm;s Schninnow is a # 2.  His biggest closer was also a #2.

Where and how did you rent from on the canal?

I did fish the refuse one day from the road while my wife and I drove through it.  Very windy.  I used a sinking line, from what I read regarding cold and shivering snook.  The articles said to get down deep.

Saw nothing and caught nothing.  Some spin guys with shrimp were catching sheepshead on the incoming tide.  

I would love to have a chance to put a yak into the water down there.  Mine wouldn't fit into the overhead compartment on the plane. 

Besides the Schminnow, what flies were you using?  Clousers, bait patterns, colors?

Kayaks were definitely the way to go.  Great photos.  Thanks. 

Next time-

Tom

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<20140130_121048.jpg>

[Danny Hauser]

Its funny cause norm Ziegler himself will almost talk your ear off hahaha. We had some seriously cold and windy days but the refuge helped counter act that. Our best snook were caught right from the road against the mangroves in less than three feet of water. Sinking line is not necessary almost anywhere on sanibel according to locals, specially for snook. Ziegler stressed that the way snooks heads are shaped theyre always hunting and attacking upwards, so unwieghted flys are perfect. I used the weighted #2 orange over red clouser for my redfish, sheep's head and just about everything else. If it wasn't caught on a schminnow it was on that.

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[Tom Roberts]

Oh, NOW, I know how to fish the refuge. Thanks.

Just need to talk the wife into another trip South.  

Enjoy your new life in Ft Meyers

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[Nick F - Gaucho Fly]

Just picking up on this report to see if you can give me some ideas on this area or tips as to how to approach. Planning on going to Captiva or Sanibel the first week in June and want to figure out if it makes a big difference which one I pick from a fishing standpoint...  Right now I have a reservation at South Seas in Captiva but was also looking at Casa Ybel... Would love to get your thoughts on which will be better access for quick morning trips before the family gets going.  Also wondering if you know any good guides to go out for tarpon while there. 

Thanks! 

On Wednesday, January 29, 2014 12:34:05 PM UTC-5, Danny Hauser wrote:

[Sam Hauser]

I am living there now and I work out on Captiva at the tween waters inn. I would definitely go with south seas because of its close proximity to redfish pass which has lots of snook and potentially tarpon on a calm morning. Come by and see me at tween waters and I might be able to tell you some spots that are too awesome to advertise over the internet. As for a guide I would try to get Rob McKay Jim Burnsed or Jimmy Burnsed (2394721779) if you are on captiva or Whitney jones (2395790399) if you are on sanibel. I also work part time at Whitney's tackle shop on your way to captiva and that is another great place for local advice.

-sam

[Sam Hauser]