Sanibel Island Fishing

Sanibel Island sits amid pristine fishing waters. Whether you’re a beginner or novice angler, you’ll enjoy the myriad of fish species the island has to offer onshore, inshore, and offshore. Here, you’ll find many game-worthy species, such as ladyfish, jack crevalle, Spanish mackerel, kingfish, king mackerel, barracuda, cobia, grouper, permit, pompano, flounder, redfish, snapper, snook, sheepshead, speckled trout, tripletail, tarpon, and shark.

Sanibel and Fort Myers have a fishing-friendly shoreline and many charters available for deep-sea fishing throughout the year. Lighter lures, baits, and fly rods work best for shallow waters near the beach, while heavier baits attract bigger fish offshore. Use shiners to attract redfish and tarpon, catfish for catching cobia and sharks, and shrimps for snagging ladyfish.

The subtropical climate allows for fishing year-round, and wade fishing and fly fishing are popular from the shore and shallow waters. You’ll find fish around the island on the sandy beaches, mangrove estuaries, grass flats, tidal creeks, bayous, rocky groins, and oyster bars. You can fish most fish species from the shore.

Sanibel Island is one of the best fly fishing locations for snook worldwide. May through October is the best time for catching snook here. Seatrout is also very common and makes for great fly fishing inshore and offshore. The best places to fish on Sanibel Island are the fishing pier, Algiers Beach, Lighthouse Beach, Bling Pass Bride on Dixie Beach road, The Rocks, Bowmans Beach, and Ding Darling.

You can also head offshore to the waters near Captiva Island, The Gulf of Mexico, San Carlos Bay, the Caloosahatchee River, Pine Island Sound, Matlacha Pass, and Charlotte Harbor.

Sanibel Island Fish:

Sanibel Island boat ramps:

The following boat ramps provide access to Sanibel Island.

US Fish & Wildlife Service Facility Boat Ramp
900 Tarpon Bay Rd Sanibel, FL
Directions

Gulfside City Park Boat Ramp
2001 Algiers Ln Sanibel, FL
Directions

Dixie Beach Park Boat Ramp
1870 Dixie Beach Blvd Sanibel, FL
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Out Island Marine Boat Ramp
1630 Periwinkle Way STE H Sanibel, FL 239-472-1521
Directions

Sanibel Harbour Marina Boat Ramp
15051 Punta Rassa Road Fort Myers Beach, FL 2394892969
Directions

Timmys Nook Boat Ramp
415 Palm Street Sanibel, FL 8134729444
Directions

Lighthouse Park Boat Ramp
112 Periwinkle Way Sanibel, FL
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Sanibel Island Public Boat Ramp
Bailey Rd (next to causeway) Sanibel, FL
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Causeway Beach Boat Ramp
Sanibel Causeway Blvd Sanibel, FL
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Castaway Marine Boat Ramp
6486 Sanibel Captiva Rd Sanibel, FL
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Mccarthy’s Marina Boat Ramp
16238 /40 Captiva Dr Sanibel, FL
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J N Ding Darling National Wildlife Boat Ramp
1-99 Wildlife Dr Sanibel, FL
Directions