Sanibel and Captiva May/June

A lot of lemons at the pier try getting big mullet or carcuss from local marinas

The baits that work best are whatever you can catch right there at the spot that day. I'm not into sifting through the rich man's trash for carcasses that have been cooking in the sun all day, or paying for bait in any way..so I head out several hours before I even plan on putting out a shark bait. Makes it more fun in my opinion.

Bait should be easy to come by. Start off with whatever you can catch in a cast net and work your way up the food chain from there. There should be mackerel, jacks, ladyfish, sheepshead, rays, pup (bait) sharks, and all other kinds of stuff. Whatever you can catch will work for bait just make sure it is legal. If all you can get is a catfish, run it out it will work.

As for what you catch I find that 75% of the sharks I catch up that way during that time of year are lemons from 7' to 9.5' and the rest are bulls. There are also a lot of blacktips too, and an occasional nurse curse. There are also a lot of tarpon to be caught and you could try fishing with a heavy mono leader instead of wire for more tarpon runs. Occasionally you will hook into something bigger that will take you for a ride but for the most part you are looking at lemons and bull sharks.

Thanks for the info. Usually plenty of catfish around so I'll give them ago if that's all I can catch!
How far do I need to yak the baits out? I hear there's a snag close to the peir and can be better fishing either side?

What is the shark fishing on the gulf side like? It would need to be early morning or late evening as I don't want to burn any swimmers with my line!

Thanks for the info. Usually plenty of catfish around so I'll give them ago if that's all I can catch!
How far do I need to yak the baits out? I hear there's a snag close to the peir and can be better fishing either side?

What is the shark fishing on the gulf side like? It would need to be early morning or late evening as I don't want to burn any swimmers with my line!

I don't really fish that area too much but when I do it is usually in the gulf. How far you yak out doesn't really matter. You can literally stand on the shoreline and hand toss the bait out and catch sharks over 8'. Some of the beaches in the area have 6'-7' deep water 30 feet from shore at high tide. I usually fish two rods at different distances anywhere from 80 yards to 400 yards depending on the stretch of beach. Plus whoever I am fishing with will have their rods out at different ranges so we cover a lot of ground this way. If it is slow I will cast out a small cut bait near the sandbar and catch quite a few on the casted baits.

Like Tarpon J said alot of Lemons that time of year.You can catch whiting for bait in the surf and during late morning and early afternoon cow nose rays run the beach line(have a rig ready to snag one or two).Use the whiting for small sharks(they make great bait)both the lemons and Bulls will eat them.Yak your baits out to the buoy line and tie a Balloon to your line about 1/3 of the way out.There is a hard shell bottom between the two sandbars that will cut your line like a knive.If you get a chance fish the pass at southseas Plantation,you will catch afew more Bulls.....Dave

Agree on the bait tips, use your castnet and whatever you catch start workin' your way up
get some SABIKI rigs if you can , they work
If you have a big spinning outfit or a heavy casting rig that will handle big fish and you can cast good distances,
Get some "Plugs" RAPALA "HUSKY JERKS" and THE BIGGEST RAT-L-TRAPS you can find 1-1/2ounce size ,
The husky jerk, work it parallel to the beach and on a 45 degree angle , work it like you're supposed to: Throw it out,let it sink to where you want and jerk it, let it sit a second or two ,reel ,jerk it, let it sit , reel , jerk it , let it sit, reel .....you get it,
The big RAT-L-TRAPS, if you get lucky {&you will} and you see a shark chasing ,killing bait on top, throw it right atthe bait he's chasing they'll hit it as soon as it touches down, sometimes,
Jacks will hit both plugs , and if so ,you're set
GOOD LUCK

I agree whith what has been said and have fished there a lot. As indicated along the Gulf Shore drive Beach, you will get a lot of Lemons, which are fun. Remember they can bite their own tail! I have caught them in the day as well as at night. You will also get Bulls and Black tips.

The water isn't alway super clear there so catching white bait can be tricky. That time of year I would blind throw a cast net just into the edge of the surf. There always seems to be a lot of Mullet there that time of year. sometimes there will be little schools of cownose rays. Jig one of them.

As indicated, you can get deep enough 50 yards off the beach. The first gully scary enough might be ok, I ussually drop just over the second bar. You can walk it out if need be.

Two spots you should definately try are:

Blind pass - you might get something big there. a big Tiger was caught there a year ago. Great place for Snook.

Lighthouse point - caught my first ever shark there. 6' bull. I would stay away from the inside unless the wind is ripping off the gulf. The tides really rip through there and it's hard to keep your bait down. Though it can get to 25 feet deep really quick. There are some big goliaths off the pointjust the other side of the lighthouse. Probably some big bulls, maybe a hammer. Watch for the line where the tide hits the gulf. Lots of snook near the pier. Toss a lady fish near the pilings of the pier and hold on.

Lots and Lots of Lemons on that west side.

Hope this helps.

Hey and if you need a partner in crime i'll be in that area around that time also. just hit me up!

Great information from everyone. Caught a large ray last time I was at Sanibel and my line was streaded from the 1st sand bar. Like the tip about a balloon as this should help.

I'm going to be using a Tyrnos50 loaded up with about 600 yds of JB braid backing with 200ft topshot of 150lb x-hard momoi due the the abrasion. Going to finish with 30-40ft of 500lb x-hard momoi then #19 signle strand wire doubled up with a 18/0 mustad circle hook. Had to go down the braided route to ensure I had enough line capacity. But wanted a long enough topshot - hopefully?

How far out is the second sand bar? I have previously walked out to the first then cast as far as I can but never over the second. Can't rember how far the bouy line is as it was 2011 when I was last in Sanibel.

Going to get some fishing in from the 8th to 11th June. I was thinking of fishing the morning (high tide) and in the evening from 5pm to dusk (low tide). Is the time of the day or the tide more important?

It's a family holiday so got to keep the wife amd kids happy as well.

The no see ums are evil when it gets to dusk. Are they bad all night? I guess there are less about in the cooler morning air?

Can't wait....!

I'll be at Sanibel May 24th to the 31st. I'll be fishing as much as my wife will let me. Anybody want to join me? I have 2 other questions:
1. I usually wade out as far as I can and toss as far as I can because I don't have a yak to get it out to the buoy. Tourist kayak rentals cost a bundle. Anybody got a suggestion? Got a yak you'll rent? Don't need anything fancy. Just delivering bait.

2. Last year I drove out to the end of Dixie Beach Blvd Near Woodrings Point and like the looks of it. Looks like a lot of fishing goes on there. Good place for Shark? Where can a non-resident park around there?

Let me know if you're up for some company May 24 to 31. I'd like to do some night fishing, but that's not realistic on a family vacation.

I'm curious about the balloon. How is it attached to the line? I'm assuming that if it's just tied directly, you will run into a bit of a problem when it hits the top guide on the rod.

I'm going to try a small rubber band looped around the line and through itself. The spare loops end will hold the balloon and I'm hoping it will come free when it hits the top guide of the rod.

I've been reading up on using sabiki rigs from the shore to catch bait fish and I read about using a 1 or 1.5oz lure instead of a sinker. It will either be awesome or a nightmare to cast!

I don't know what other people do, but I usually use 1/2 to 1 oz sinker on the bottom of the sabiki depending on the waves. sometime I spike the hooks with a tiny piece of squid. The downside of the squid is that it sometimes produces too many catfish bites.

As for the balloon, I thought about that too, but I'm thinking the rubberband is not going to break easily enough. I was thinking perhaps sewing thread. The Sanibel sandbars have some pretty sharp shells. I like the balloon thing and will try it if I can figure out how to get rid of the balloon.

Fishon: When will you be at Sanibel? I'll be there from 5/24 to 5/31 at Oceans Reach (Just east of Casa Ybel).