Capt Chris

If this last months fishing was any indication as to what next month fishing will be like were are all going be in for a reel treat. Our bays have seen a bumper crop of baitfish in all forms. Most notable have been the giant schools of ballyhoo. We have been really crushing the redfish fishing with ballyhoo baitfish either alive or dead. Most fisherman will pick threw there live-wells and toss out all of the ballyhoo to make room for shiners and pinfish. Not us, we take all of the ballyhoo that die put them in a bag on ice. These baitfish chunked up and fished to a redfish is dynamite. Early fall redfishing in SWFL just cant be beat. Our bays have really shown excellent signs of healthy grass flats teaming with lots of bait. So in return we are getting those house sized schools of redfish back. Along with redfish inshore we have been catching sizeable trout, snook, and tripletail. Even better w are now going on 7 months of having to make sure you pack those tarpon rods every trip. These fish will continue to be around till at least November. Look for the schools of ladyfish and macks crashing bait and that’s were you’ll find those poons right now. It’s real easy to take a ladyfish off the hook and rehook him using a 6-10/0 circle hook and freeline them behind the boat while your bending a rod on the ladyfish and having some consistent action.

What I’m personally looking forward to is the big kingfish we are going to be finding this next month. There have been good numbers of fish in the 10-20 pound range within 5 miles offshore. Which tells me the big smokers are close behind these fish can be seduced into eating a slow trolled mullet with double stingers on 40lb wire. So whatever you’re fancy this month is sure to be red hot fishing!

Capt. Lacey

If you love to catch fish and haven’t experienced a ladies fishing tournament well it’s just a matter of fact that my good friend Kristi Riley and I are throwing one! We decided to give all our lady female anglers a chance to be pampered and enjoy a fishing tournament in their honor – Chix – N – Stix! The response that we’ve received thus far has been amazing and I can only imagine a great turnout on December 4 and 5^th at Fishtail Marina. This is the first ladies tournament of its kind and is guaranteed to be something you won’t forget. The tournament will kick-off with the Anglers Meeting on Friday night December 4^th.  Dinner will be served and a Margarita Bar will offer some cold, refreshing holiday cocktails. Anglers will receive their custom, tournament tote bags filled with items geared toward the lady angler...naturally. Saturday we’ll see who can catch the heaviest bucket of Ladyfish. Everyone says, “this will be easy;” but on tournament day things may not be what they seem. Teams are allowed to weigh 10 Ladyfish at a minimum 12 inches as well as a variety of fun fish for their respective divisions.  Frozen daiquiris will be served upon arrival back to the Weigh Station at 3:00pm. Teams will weigh their catch and relax with mini massages. After the fish are weighed, anglers will have time to head back to the hotel (Holiday Inn Fort Myers Beach special room rates of $79) to freshen up, following a break between the Weigh Station and Awards Dinner. The festivities get started at 7:00pm back at Fish Tale Marina.  The Awards Night will consist of a fish fry, sushi and martini bars and of course... the presentation of the awards and prize money - $5,000 in cash and prizes! I’d love to connect with all of you lady anglers out there so please come sign up and participate in Chix-N-Stix! For more info check out our website www.chixnstix.net or email us @ Chixnstix@live.com