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Saltwater Fishing in SW Florida--Naples,Bonita, Ft. Myers Beach Fishbuster Charters, Bonita Beach, FL Cap't. Dave Hanson "they hatch 'em--we catch 'em!" Who Ya Gonna Call? Fishbuster! (239) 947-1688 No oil-no spoil; Our beaches are clean; our waters pristine
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Three-Month Fishing Report for February 08, 2012--May 08, 2012
Our Beaches are Clean—Our Waters Pristine!” And this goliath grouper video shot by Captain Dave on May 20, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IwFm88U7Rk And check out more fishing videos on our fishing video page ******************************************************************************** Now
to our three-month fishing report (hint:
if you want to see the most recent trips, scroll to the bottom of the page, and read from
the bottom up): Thursday, Terry Howell and friends, Fred and Jerry, had planned to
fish the gulf. But the weather had other plans, with high winds and seas of three-to-five
feet offshore. So, we switched tracks and fished a catch-and-release trip in Estero Bay,
where we used live shrimp to catch five sheepshead and three crevalle jacks. The
bite was slow, and the bay was on the muddy side that morning.
Friday morning, seas calmed temporarily, and I got out offshor 19 miles to fish with Roger Gordon, Rich Nelson, and Rich Pearson. We caught a mess of about thirty grunts to 12 inches and a keeper triggerfish at 14 inches. We released three smaller triggerfish, three porkfish, a few porgies, and a hogfish-short. Our most exhausting and exciting catch was an 8-foot sandbar shark that weighed about 200 pounds--we shot some video of that one before releasing it, which you can check out at 200lb Sandbar Shark 2-10-2012 Roger Gordon.avi By the time we headed in, there was a sizable swell building in advance of the next cold-front, which is due to arrive Saturday into Sunday, bringing high winds and seas and probable rain. After a couple days off the water, due to a cold front that
brought frigid temps, high winds, low tides and rough seas, I headed to the near-shore
reefs Tuesday, 2/14/12, to fish a catch-and-release trip with Richard and Trish Burdow.
Seas had calmed to two-to-three feet near-shore, and the sheepshead bite was strong. We
released a dozen of those all large, to 20 inches. We also released two 20-inch Spanish
mackerel and some ladyfish, all caught on live shrimp.
Wednesday,
I headed further offshore, with seas calm, to about 20 miles west of New Pass, where I
fished in 45 feet, using live shrimp, with long-time customers Jim McGrath and Bill
Crockett. The duo caught a keeper hogfish at 14 inches, four keeper mangrove snapper to 14
inches, and four 14-inch porgies (joltheads and whitebone.) They released grunts, smaller
porgies, porkfish, and scamp, red and gag grouper shorts.
Thursday, I headed out to about 30 feet with frequent customer Ron Musick and friends, Eddie Alfonse, Bob Mayer and Kay Daugherty. The groupe caught fourteen nice sheepshead to 19 1/2 inches, thirteen good-sized mangrove snapper to 16 1/2 inches, two keeper hogfish at 14 inches and 15 inches, two keeper porkfish, and grunts. They released a 22-inch gag grouper, due to closed season, along with fifteen smaller sheepshead. We caught everything on live shrimp. John Pound, son-in-law, Dan Bow, and friends Al Armstrong and Troy Bouchard spent Friday fishing with me, in 70 feet, about 36 miles west of New Pass. We encountered another big sandbar shark, as I’d done on an offshore trip the previous week. This one was another 200-pounder, and we videoed the ensuing battle, then released the monster, which had eaten a blue runner. Check out the video clip at Big Sandbar Shark 2-17-2012 Dan Dow.avi We also released a half-dozen amberjacks, all about 20 inches, a 22-inch bluefish, ten triggerfish shorts, a dozen porgies, and a bunch of grunts, all caught on live shrimp. The guys did keep one big whitebone porgy that measured 18 inches. They also caught ten nice mangrove snapper, the biggest of those also measuring nearly 18 inches. Saturday morning, Gary Hested, eight-year-old
grandson, Nathan Faga, and eleven-year-old grandson, Kade Faga, fished Estero Bay with me.
Using live shrimp, the trio caught three redfish, two of which were keepers at 19 inches,
two pompano, one of which was a 15-inch keeper, and a 19-inch trout. We released a 25-inch
snook, a puffer-fish and a few ladyfish. Frequent customer
Mike Connealy fished with me Thursday morning, along with his nephew, Quinton Connealy and
his wife, Jill. The winds had changed direction and picked up speed since the day before,
so we decided to stay near shore and fish the reefs off Bonita Beach. Even there, we had
three-to-four foot seas most of the morning. We did well with snapper and sheepshead,
though, catching ten nice-sized sheepshead to 17 inches and fifteen mangrove snapper to 11
inches, along with a 14-inch triggerfish-keeper and five Spanish mackerel, all caught on live shrimp. We released two gag
grouper shorts. Friday, winds and seas were even rougher than
Thursday, but my three hardy anglers, Karl Buckholz, Matt Brady, and Mike Bramwell, wanted
to fish the near-shore reefs, rather than the back-bay, so we headed out there with plenty
of live shrimp. The gag grouper were thick out there, and the group caught and released
many of those to 23 inches. We also had several break-offs, most likely by bigger gags. We
caught seven nice sheepshead to 17 inches, three Spanish mackerel to 18 inches, and a 14
½-inch flounder. Saturday and Sunday brought a cool front with seas of five-to-seven feet and 25-knot winds. I remained safely in port. Although, after a windy, rough weekend, seas were calming to two-to-four feet on Monday, my planned gulf-trip canceled, as they thought seas would still be too rough. So I missed that day on the water. But, I got back offshore on Tuesday, 2/28, with Kari Vilamaa, George Dyer, Paul Kikendall, and Don Holsinger. We headed out of New Pass to fish in 45 feet, using live shrimp. Another one of the big sandbar sharks that have been abundant lately provided us with a fun battle; this one was about 175 pounds, and you can see a short action clip at Fishbuster Charters 2-28-2012 Paul fights a sandbar shark offshore naples.The group also caught three keeper mangrove snapper to 15 inches, a brace of 23-inch Spanish mackerel, some large blue-striped grunts, and a couple of 14-inch whitebone porgies. They released one hogfish-short, a 17-inch red grouper, and two gag grouper that would have been keepers, if not for closed season, at 23 inches and 24 inches.Frequent customers
Jim McGrath and Bill Crockett fished offshore with me on Wednesday morning, in 33 feet,
fourteen miles west of New Pass. The guys fought and released a 75-pound goliath grouper,
then set about catching some food-fish, using live shrimp. They caught five nice
sheepshead to 17 inches,four whitebone porgy keepers, and a mess of grunts. They released
lots of smaller sheepshead, blue runners, lizard-fish and puffer-fish. Thursday, Ron Musick,
Eddie Alfonse, John Ebbrecht, Hank Sherkowski and Larry Mottice fished with me, 36 miles
west of New Pass. The group caught twenty nice whitebone porgies to 17 inches, two keeper
triggerfish and a brace of 16-inch mangrove snapper. They also released a 19-inch red
grouper. A battle with a seven-foot sandbar shark got everyone excited, and left a couple
of anglers with sore arms! Friday morning, Chuck Nebes and son, Steve, fished Estero bay with me, using live shrimp. We did well with redfish, and caught six of those, four of which were keepers at about 20 inches each. We also caught a 15-inch sheepshead, and released two snook, a couple of crevalle jacks, and five stingrays that were all about 5 pounds. Saturday morning, the Dargis family took a chance on beating the time-line for a predicted weather front approaching our area. We knew the winds and seas would be picking up during the course of the day, though we weren't sure just when. We decided to head to the near-shore reefs and see how conditions were there. We had 4-5 foot seas by 11AM, even just 6 miles off the beach, so we headed back to shore about then. But, by that time, Leon and his four adult sons, Brett, Kurt, Andrew and Bob, had caught six nice sheepshead to 19 inches, a 17-inch hogfish, and a 16-inch sea-trout. The guys released two gag grouper, a lot of smaller shepshead, and a few small mangrove snapper. Everything was caught on live shrimp. Winds howled and seas built throughout the weekend, leaving Monday, 3/5, with dead-low tides in the bay and seas of five-to-seven feet offshore--no good options for fishing anywhere, so I canceled my trip for that day. Rough seas persisted into Tuesday, forcing me to cancel my offshore trip that day also. Wednesday, I fished a
catch-and-release trip in Estero Bay with Jalissa Reever and Alyce Mehring. The ladies
caught and released five trout, two black drum, a whiting, two sheepshead, ladyfish and
two stingrays, all on shrimp. Jim McGrath and Bill Crockett usually fish
offshore with me but, with seas still sloppy and rough on Thursday, we decided to fish
inshore in Estero Bay. The water was muddy and he tide wasn’t ideal, but the guys
managed to catch a 17-inch keeper sheepshead, and released smaller sheepshead and
stingrays. We lost a decent-sized redfish about five feet from the boat, when the hook
pulled out. Friday, 3/9, was the first day this week that I
was able to get offshore, with seas calmed to two-to-three feet. I fished about 19 miles
west of New Pass in 43 feet with Ernie Troisi, Ed Hoffman, Chris Dougherty, Steve Rahaim,
Bill Hessler and Bart DetliObizzi. We caught and released nine gag grouper, the biggest of
those measuring 30 inches and weighing twelve pounds, along with four red grouper. The
guys also caught porkfish, grunts, and nine whitebone porgies. They released a few odd
catches, including puffer-fish, a ramora and lizard-fish. We used live shrimp for all. I was off the water
all weekend, due to a family reunion. Monday, 3/12, after a fairly windy weekend, winds
were predicted to calm somewhat, and seas were forecast at two-to-three feet near-shore,
and three-to-five feet beyond twenty miles. But, as I approached the near-shore reefs with
Mark McCarthy, Mark and David Hatch, and Rich Jenkins (who was celebrating his birthday) I
knew we were in for some rough seas, even six miles off the beach. We had three-to-four
foot seas all morning, with winds of 15 to 25 knots. But the guys were hardy, and they did
well, using live shrimp, with sheepshead, grouper, and mackerel. They caught five nice
sheepshead to 19 inches, and they released eight smaller ones. They also caught an 18-inch
pompano, and they released eleven gag grouper to 23 ½ inches and eight Spanish mackerel,
all in the 22-to-23-inch range. Tuesday morning, winds were quite a bit calmer
than they were the day before, but seas were still kind of sloppy, so I returned to the
near-shore reefs, this time with long-time customers, Lee Larsen and Tom Batchlor, joined
by friends, Rich Alick and John Egeland. Using live shrimp, the guys caught eleven keeper
sheepshead to 17 ½ inches, and released nine smaller ones. They also caught seven Spanish
mackerel, all around 22 inches, and chose to keep three of those. The gag grouper were
biting well, and we caught and released ten of those, to 22 inches. We also released a
twenty-pound stingray, grunts, puffer-fish, and three crevalle jacks. Wednesday morning, I fished a catch-and-release
trip in Estero Bay with Brian Wilson and his daughter, Allison Wilson. We used live shrimp
to catch and release four sea-trout and an 8-pound stingray. Frequent customers Ron Musick, Eddie Alfonse, Dick
Arnett, and Bob Mayer, joined by friend, Tom Lammert, fished the near-shore reefs with me
on Thursday. The guys caught two keeper mangrove snapper, a Spanish mackerel keeper, a few
grunts, and twenty-two nice, keeper sheepshead to 19 ½ inches, all on live shrimp. They
released eleven gag grouper to 23 inches, along with two red grouper shorts. Saturday, I
headed back to the reefs, this time with Sue Augustine, her daughter, Alanta, and her son,
Mitch. They wanted only enough fish for dinner, so we released most of what we caught.
We caught fourteen sheepshead, eight of which were keeper-size, to 16 inches, and a
few grunts in the 13-14-inch range. We also released blue runners, puffer-fish, and gag
grouper to 19 inches, all caught on shrimp. Thursday morning, I fished the near-shore reefs with Tom Batcheller and son, Joe Batcheller, Lee Larsen, and Bud Glazier. We used live shrimp, which lured fifteen sheepshead our way, ten of them keepers,to 18 inches. We also caught ten Spanish mackerel to 22 inches, and released five gag grouper to 22 ½ inches. Friday morning, I fished the last in a series of seasonal fishing trips with long-time customers Jim McGrath and Bill Crockett. We fished with live shrimp in 35 feet, off Naples. The guys caught two hogfish, one of which was a keeper at 15 inches. They also caught three 15-inch sheepshead, four keeper porkfish, a 14-inch whitebone porgy, five keeper mangrove snapper, and three 20-21-inch Spanish mackerel, along with some grunts. They released six triggerfish shorts, gag grouper to 21 inches, and three red grouper shorts. Something big ate one of our Spanish mackerel as it was being reeled in, and also broke the line—It could have been another big kingfish, like the one caught the day before. Saturday, I fished in 45 feet with Rick Steiger and friends. Using live shrimp, the guys caught several Spanish mackerel, all about 22 inches long, ten keeper mangrove snapper in the 13-14-inch range, four whitebone porgies, all around 14 inches, and a mess of grunts. They released a half dozen triggerfish shorts, a few porkfish, ten gag grouper to 20 inches, ten red grouper to 16 inches, and a 140-pound nurse-shark. Monday morning, 3/26, I fished over
hard bottom in 35 feet, with Chris Ernberger, his dad, Jerry, and Chris's son, Carter.
There was about a 3-foot roller left over from the windy Sunday that preceeded our trip,
so we didn't venture too far offshore. The guys used live-shrimp to catch six keeper
mangrove snapper to 15 inches, a keeper lane snapper, a keeper triggerfish, and some
whitebone porgies. They released additional mangrove snapper that were shorts, along with
six additional triggerfish shorts, and gag and red groupers to 19 inches. Tuesday, I headed offshore to fish
with live shrimp in 38 feet, about 15 miles west of New Pass, with frequent fishers Ron
Musick, Eddie Alfonse and Dick Arnett. Dick’s family was visiting so his two sons,
Josh and Nate, and Nate’s young son, Jack, went along this time. The guys caught five
keeper mangrove snapper, a few keeper porkfish, a keeper triggerfish, a half-dozen 14-inch
whitebone porgies, a mess of grunts, a 16-inch sheepshead, a 23-inch Spanish mackerel, and
a 14-inch keeper hogfish. They released lots of grouper shorts—gags to 20 inches and
reds to 18 inches. Young Alex Goodall, who has been
fishing with me each year since he was a toddler, brought his dad Joe, and family friends,
Dave, Tony, and Fred to fish the reefs Wednesday morning. Seas had kicked up quite a bit
over night, with steady winds of 15-20 knots, so we spent most of our time at the
Five-Mile Reef off Bonita Beach, fishing with live shrimp. The guys caught more than
twenty sheepshead, but only two of those were keepers, which was unusual, since the reefs
have been producing lots of big sheepies lately. They also caught a keeper mangrove
snapper, a keeper lane snapper, a 14-inch flounder, and a half-dozen Spanish mackerel in
the 20-22-inch range. They released gag grouper shorts. Friday, I was hoping to fish an
incoming tide, albeit low, all day with Andy Haas and Tucker Dahl. But the tide was
strange—It came in and went out again, and it made fishing a little tough in the
backwaters. But the guys used live shrimp to catch four sheepshead, one of which was
keeper-size,along with a keeper mangrove snapper. They released a 14-inch trout, three
17-inch redfish, two snook that were17 and 18 inches, and four big stingrays to 20 pounds. Saturday morning, rather than face
another low tide in the backwaters, I headed to the near-shore reefs with Ed Oleksy and
his twelve-year-old son, Nick. Seas were sloppy, even close-in, and by the time we headed
in around noon, seas were hitting four feet. The guys caught and released a couple of gag
grouper, one 20 inches and the other 23 ½ inches, a would-be-keeper, if it were not for
closed gag season. They also caught two keeper sheepshead, a keeper lane snapper, a couple
of grunts, and nine Spanish mackerel. They released all but one of the mackerels, along
with lots of ladyfish and a few crevalle jacks. Everything bit shrimp. Monday morning, 4/2, seas were
calmer than they’d been in several days. I headed offshore with Bill Conklin, Jan
& Sara Range, their five-year-old daughter, Libby, and father-son duo Rick Weigand Sr.
and Jr. We fished about 22 miles west of New Pass, in 45 feet. Being as red grouper season
opened as of April 1st, we were hoping to find some of them. We did so, and got one keeper
red grouper 23 inches long, and released lots of red grouper shorts. The keeper-grouper
ate a spot-tail grunt. We used live shrimp for all our other catches, which included a
dozen grunts, all about 12 inches long, a half-dozen whitebone porgies, five keeper lane
snapper, and two hogfish, one of which was a keeper at 15 inches. The group also released
lots of gag grouper shorts, along with short mangrove snapper, short lane snapper, and
triggerfish. Tuesday, I headed offshore in
pursuit of red grouper again, this time with frequent fishers Ron Musick, Dick Arnett,
Eddie Alfonse, and Justin Baker. We had the full day, so we headed out to 70 feet, about
35 miles west of New Pass. The prize of the day was caught by Ron, who landed a 15-pound,
28-inch red grouper, which ate a bait fish. The guys caught two additional red grouper
keepers on shrimp, measuring 21 inches and 22 inches. They caught about thirty red
groupers in all, two additional that were probably keepers, but right at 20 inches, and we
released those, along with all the other shorts. They also caught six nice whitebone
porgies to 16 inches, a keeper yellowtail snapper, and fifteen keeper lane snapper. They
released gag grouper shorts, and battled something big that eventually snapped the line. Wednesday, winds began picking up
somewhat, but we had 2-3 foot seas, so we were still able to get out a way. I fished 22
miles west of New Pass with Dick Driscoll, his son Rich, Rich’s son Jack, Jack’s
uncle, Steve Calhoun, and Steve’s daughters, Emma and Sadie. The red grouper bite was
on, but keepers were hard to find. We had one that measured right at 20 inches, but fish
tend to shrink once in the cooler, so I don’t keep borderline-sized fish. We released
it, along with many other shorts. We did well with lane snapper, landing fourteen keepers,
along with three keeper mangrove snapper, whitebone porgies and grunts. We had a big cobia
on for a little while—it was about 4 ½ feet long—It bit a mangrove snapper that
we were reeling in, but it was on a light pole, and we couldn’t get the cobia boated
before he spit the hook. We tried to lure him back, but to no avail. Cobia can be finicky
and opportunistic. Thursday, I headed out with Bob
Sawyer and family, hoping to get one more good day offshore before winds and seas kicked
up. According to the NOAA forecast, I was thinking correctly; but we needed only to get to
the pass to see that waves were every bit of five feet, and I deemed it unsafe to proceed
even to the near-shore reefs with my group of six. The wind was blowing so hard that it
didn’t even seem very appealing or productive to fish the back-bay, or we would have
gone back to the dock to trade boats. Instead, we decided to reluctantly bag the trip, and
we headed back to shore. Monday, 4/9, seas had calmed at
last, and I headed out to fish in spots between 22 and 28 miles west of New Pass with
Bill Conklin, his son, Eric Conklin, and friend, Rick Weigand. Bill caught a keeper red
grouper at 21 inches, and we released lots of red grouper just short of keeper size. The
group also caught fourteen keeper lane snapper. They released gag grouper and
mangrove snapper shorts, along with two sandbar sharks, one at 38 inches and the other at
40 inches. We used live shrimp for all but the grouper, which ate bait-fish. Tuesday morning, I headed out 21 miles from New Pass with Larry Baumgartner, his son, Chris, Larry's grandaughter, Hannah Stanfield, and Chris's daughter, Maddie, who was celebrating her birthday. We did great with lane snapper, catching thirty-four nice keepers to 14 inches, on shrimp. The group also caught a 23-inch Spanish mackerel, and released a 23-inch kingfish, along with some red grouper shorts. Arno Trinkl and his girlfriend,
Katherine, both from Austria, had been planning to fish with me this Wednesday, ever since
early December, when they began planning their trip to the U.S. Arno really wanted the
experience of catching something big, especially after watching a few of our goliath
action videos. So, we headed out in search of bait to use for big fish. We caught some
Spanish mackerel to 23 inches, about four whitebone porgies to 16 inches, some gag grouper
shorts, some blue runners and some crevalle jacks. We’d intended to use the blue
runners for bait, but along came a goliath grouper as we reeled in a 16-inch porgy. The
goliath ate the porgy, and Arno had a 200-pound goliath battle on his hands! We shot some
video of that, released the goliath and all our other catches, and sent Arno home with a
sore arms and a big story to tell! Thursday, frequent anglers, Ron Musick, Eddie Alfonse, Dick Arnett and Tom Collins, fished with me about 28 miles west of New Pass. The group caught a dozen keeper lane snapper to 12 inches, fifteen whitebone porgy-keepers to 18 inches, four grunts to 12 inches, four keeper mangrove snapper to 13 inches, and a Spanish mackerel. They had fun with a 4-foot sandbar shark and a 200-pound nurse shark, before releasing them, along with twenty-five red grouper to 19 7/8 inches and a half-dozen gag grouper to 19 inches. Friday-the-thirteenth morning
turned out pretty lucky for my anglers. I headed out of New Pass about 21 miles with
Karai Vilamaa and Bernie Kirsh. The guys used live shrimp to catch two keeper red
grouper at 20 ¼ inch and 20 1/8 inch, both just over the legal size limit. They also
caught fourteen keeper lane snapper, a few large grunts, and a 23-inch Spanish mackerel.
They released about twenty-five short red groupers, along with two gag grouper shorts and
some short triggerfish. The high winds and seas that had
been promised earlier in the week finally made it into Saturday’s weather. Tom
Monoghan and his dad, Brian, had planned to fish offshore with me, but the small craft
advisories in the gulf forced us to change plans and fish the backwaters. The guys used
live shrimp to catch two keeper sheepshead, 12 to 13 inches, a keeper mangrove snapper at
12 inches, and a 14-inch flounder. They released a five-pound stingray and crevalle jacks. Monday morning, 4/16, NOAA had
predicted two-to-three-foot seas, out to twenty miles. But, when I fished just six miles
off the beach with Terry Hopkins and his daughter, Kelly, we had three-to-five footers,
with winds blowing 20-25 knots. We used live shrimp to catch ten Spanish mackerel, a
keeper mangrove snapper, and grunts. We released blue runners, red grouper shorts, and
five of the mackerel that weren’t needed for dinner. Tuesday, I had planned a full-day, offshore trip but, after the seas I faced on Monday, I advised my customer to reschedule that trip for Thursday, to allow seas to calm down additionally. Now that seasonal rush is slowing down, there are sometimes opportunities to reschedule for better conditions. Wednesday's forecast was for
calming seas of two-to-three feet out to 60 miles offshore, but the trip I had scheduled
that day had little faith that would be the case, given the persistent winds, and they
canceled their day. Thursday, 4/19, after a near-week
of rough seas and high winds, I headed offshore with Ron Musick, Eddie Alfonse and Bob
Mayer, on a trip we had rescheduled from Tuesday, due to rough seas. NOAA and local
weather stations all predicted two-foot seas for Thursday, and we thought that all
we’d have to worry about was a possible scattered shower or two. But, five miles off
the beach, we had steady three-to-fours, with occasional five-footers—very rough. We
toughed it out and caught nine whitebone porgies and four grunts. We released a gag
grouper short and two red grouper shorts, all caught on shrimp. By Friday, I’d had about
enough of the week’s incorrect marine forecasts so, despite predictions for calm seas
offshore, I advised frequent customers Steve Spitzer and Jalissa Reever to fish in the
backwaters. Fishing was a little slow, but it beat getting tossed around in the waves. The
couple caught two redfish, one of which was a 20-inch keeper, along with a 15-inch
flounder. They released a 16-inch redfish, two short black drum, and a mangrove snapper
short. After about six days off the water,
due to high winds and seas offshore and shallow, muddy conditions in the bay, I finally
got offshore with Ron Musick, Eddie Alfonse, Dick Arnett, Bob Mayer, and Matt Watson on
Thursday, 4/26. We headed out of New Pass to 36 miles, where we fished with live shrimp
and pinfish. The group caught a keeper, 21-inch red grouper on a pinfish, and used live
shrimp to catch two 14-inch yellowtail snapper, three mangrove snapper in the 13-14-inch
range, fifteen keeper whitebone porgies, a 14-inch porkfish, nine keeper lane snapper, and
a 14-inch triggerfish. They released red grouper shorts to 19 ¾ inches and gag grouper to
18 ½ inches. We also had a nine-foot sandbar shark eat a big gag grouper as we reeled it
in, leaving us only the head. Friday morning, Nick Siska and his dad, Fran, fished
with me, 22 miles west of New Pass. We used live shrimp, which landed Nick a 22-inch red
grouper. We released twenty-five red grouper shorts to 19 ½ inches. The guys also caught
eight keeper lane snapper to 12 inches and released king mackerel shorts and blue runners. I was off the water Saturday, due
to a family event and, by Sunday, weather had again deteriorated, with a rainy, windy
front that had reversed direction from the beginning of the week, and returned to us as a
warm-front. Winds and rough seas persisted into the beginning of the next week, cancelling
a planned offshore trip on Tuesday, 5/1. Our fishing schedule is also lighter, now that
seasonal residents and tourists have mostly returned north for summer. It was Saturday, 5/5, before I got back to fishing. I fished 22 miles west of New Pass, in 44 feet, with Nick Blanchard and his two sons, Mike and Brandon. The guys used live shrimp to catch keeper mangrove snapper to 18 inches, a few keeper lanes, a half dozen keeper porgies and a few grunts. They released lots of red and gag grouper shorts to 19 inches.
Monday, 5/7, I fished at the near-shore reefs with Joe and Donna
Corso. The couple used live shrimp to catch a 14-inch keeper-pompano, two keeper flounders
at 14 and 18 inches, a keeper mangrove snapper, a keeper seatrout at 20 inches, a half
dozen Spanish mackerels in the 22-23-inch range, and three grunts. They released five
southern croakers, a whiting, and a few crevalle jacks. Tuesday, I headed out 38 miles west of New Pass for a full day of fishing with Phil Griffo, his son, Chris Griffo, and Phil's nephew, Jeff Miller. We had a great day of fishing, using live shrimp and bait-fish. The guys caught about 75 groupers in all, including a 25-inch red grouper keeper. We released a couple more red groupers that were just at 20 inches, but allowing for shrinkage made give those up. We also caught what would be a keeper-sized gag grouper, if gags were back in season, which they are not. So we released that 23 inch gag, along with all the rest of the groupers, except for the keeper red, which weighed 7 1/2 pounds. The guys also caught a dozen keeper mangrove snapper to 14 inches, a dozen keeper lane snapper, a bunch of whitebone porgies, of which they kept six, along with a half-dozen big grunts. We also got to experience a few cool sightings, including several big sharks and sea turtles. And, the best sighting of all was a whale--I have no idea what kind--it had a blunt nose, was anout 20 feet long, and came up right by the boat, so I got some video of that, and you can check it out at the following link: Whale offshore Naples 5-8-2012.avi
Click any link on the left margin to view fish of that kind, or click on "recent photos" to view our most recent posted photos. Come back next week to view our updated weekly report. Good Fishing! God Bless America
sushi at its freshest!
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