Moving to Lee County from Indiana

redroofer

I will be moving to Lee county from Southern Indiana in April for work. I am used to fishing farm ponds and natural lakes for Bass, Crappies, and Cats but I really have no clue about fishing Florida. I will take any tips I can get.... where to fish? What are common baits? What can I expect to catch other than Bass and pan fish? Best tackle to use? Thank you to all who help and God Bless!

DES51

Not a very diverse area for bass fishing. The largest lake in the area is Okeechobee. You will be fishing mostly retention ponds and farm ponds. Not a lot of variety as far as the fish go. You will catch mostly bass and occasional tilapia, panfish and gar. Up north if the bass weren't biting I could switch gears and catch yellow perch, white perch and crappie. Not the case down here. It is usually bass or nothing. I have been here a year and a half and have caught only 1 five lbr!  Have been disappointed in the overall fishing in the area.  <(((((><

Turner River Terror

I was freshwater fishing this weekend and slayed them.
Great place for Bass / Oscars / Mayan Chin lids ect. Our canal are full of exotics, never know what your going to catch. As far as big Bass , we're a little too far South.
I've caught a bunch of 7's and 8 pounders thru the years but the 10 pound mark is hard to top.
Some places out in the Glades you can do 50 bass per day.
Winter is best as the Glades dry up and the Canals get full of Bass ect.
They are Spawning right now.

duckmanJR

Any canal in the area is work fishing....look on google earth... In Ft Myers...we used to fish 10 mile creek from behind Page Field (airport). Cape Coral (north cape) has miles of canals to fish.  

10kman

  The obvious is we fish saltwater.You catch your first snook,red or tarpon
your going to quickly say no fish like this back in Indiana.Good luck!

redroofer

From the sound of things it looks like I’ll be leaving the bass behind and hittin the saltwater!

Turner River Terror

Many Freshwater canals have resident populations of Snook and Tarpon.
Come down my way about July and I'll show you some spots to catch baby Tarpon and Snook real easy from the bank. We're waiting for Rainy Season and the Culverts to have moving water.
Far South Collier County.

duckmanJR

Turner River Terror said:

Many Freshwater canals have resident populations of Snook and Tarpon.
Come down my way about July and I'll show you some spots to catch baby Tarpon and Snook real easy from the bank. We're waiting for Rainy Season and the Culverts to have moving water.
Far South Collier County.

Yep....Tamiami trail has good fishing when the rainy season starts.

DES51

Don't give up on the bass fishing! Just don't expect it to be like Fishing With Roland Martin! Lol

redroofer

Oh I won’t give up!! I may have to work a little bit harder but I think I’m up for the challenge. But it does sound like someone is going to have to teach me how to fish the surf!!

Turner River Terror

It's real simple..
Saltwater.. Spring , Summer , early Fall.
Freshwater all thru the colder months. Right now on the Sawgrass flats or Box Canals with any kind of vegetation..you'll catch Bass.
Rubber worms during the day and a willow leaf Spinner bait right at dark.
I've caught a fair amount of 5/6 pounders in canals that are 4 foot deep.
They only come out at late Dusk.