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Fishing Report for June 01, 2008--August
01, 2008
I left Sunday morning, 6/1, on a
busman's holiday to Key West, where six of us spent the night before taking off for the
Tortugas on a boat we chartered. For once, I was the charter’s customer rather than
the captain. Fishing that area has always been on my list of things to do but, in all
these years, I had never managed to do it.
We all had
visions of 25 pound groupers and huge mutton snapper like we had heard about from others
who had fished the Tortugas, But when we hooked up with our captain, he informed us that
bottom fishing hadn’t been so good lately and that
our best bet was going to be trolling for dolphin (mahi). So we trolled by
day and bottom fished at night. We left Key West about 12:30 in the afternoon on Monday,
June 2nd. We began trolling about an hour later, and 45 minutes after that, we
put lines out. Suddenly, a sailfish appeared on a flat line—I looked up and saw the
bill of the sail fish—It had hit the wire in front of the lure, then kinked it and
was gone. Fifteen minutes later, we had four take-downs with dolphin on all four lines. We
continued to catch 30 inch-plus schoolies for about two hours, then we headed out to 2600
feet in search of granders. We trolled and picked up a few more smaller dolphin until
about 8:30 PM, and ended up on the “Pill Box,” where we anchored in 70 feet
about fifteen miles from the Marquesas. There, we caught some nice, twenty-inch yellowtail
snapper and a few mangrove snapper and released a few short grouper.
At first
light, after watching the sun rise over the Atlantic, we free-lined bait and fished for
yellowtail, but we ended up with three cero mackerel instead, to 35 inches. We ate a quick
breakfast and headed out deeper to troll in 350 feet. Fifteen minutes later, three lines
went down, all with skipjack tunas. We trolled a couple more hours with little action. All
of a sudden, a rigger knocked down on the port side of the boat—A 350 pound blue
marlin was greyhounding toward the boat, screaming the line off the reel! Unfortunately,
the fish was about six times faster than the boat we were in. Its bill wrapped the 80 lb.
leader and snapped it (of course, it had hit one of the smaller reels.) Still, the sight
of that marlin was a heart-pounding, once-in-a-lifetime experience for all of us. That
fish was just 30 yards off the side of the boat. It covered 200 feet in two leaps,
completely out of the water, just like I have always seen on T.V.
We trolled
along and ended up with a 25 pound bull dolphin as our biggest catch, but limits of
quality dolphin from five to fifteen pounds were caught by all. We elected to anchor up
early, about 35 miles west of the Marquesas to indulge in a fresh fish dinner in calmer
water where we could cook. Then we anchored up for another night of yellowtailing. We
caught fifteen nice yellowtail and a few more mangroves and released lots of smaller
keepers before the sharks closed in on us.
We were up
Wednesday morning at first light again ready to troll but we awoke to squall-lines and
rough conditions so we decided to start the five hour journey back to Key West, where
about three hours of fish-cleaning awaited us. All in all, it was a great time with good
friends, great fishing and an adventure to remember always.
With my
feet planted on terra firma for a day, I was ready by Friday to resume my regular, local
fishing. I fished the artificial reefs off Bonita Beach Friday morning with William Smith,
son Walker, daughter Audrey and friend, Aaron Peets. We used shrimp at first to catch our
table-fare—nine Spanish mackerel to 25 inches, and we released blue runners and
cravalle jacks. Next, we baited with blue runners for some sport-fishing for goliath
grouper. We released two of those, a 60-pounder caught by Walker and a 100-pounder caught
by Aaron.
In celebration
of Harry’s birthday, brothers Grant and Harry Kurtz, along with friends Joe and Thais
Allen, fished with me Monday morning, 6/9, seventeen miles west of New Pass. The Spanish
mackerel bite was strong and we free-lined shrimp for those, kept nine to 27 inches, and
released lots more, along with gag shorts and blue runners. We also caught whitebone
porgies and two hogfish, one of which was a keeper at 14 ½ inches.
Wednesday,
Van & Amy McQueen, daughter Danielle, son Peyton, Peyton’s friend Hayden Beach,
and family friend Dan Neal fished with me about 17 miles out of New Pass. Amy caught a
nice mutton snapper 16 inches long and the group caught a mess of Spanish mackerel to 27
inches and whitebone porgies. We released an undersized hogfish, gag and red grouper
shorts, grunts and porgies, with plenty of action all morning.
Friday,
fishing 26 miles west of New Pass with Dave and Carol Young, we used live shrimp to catch
over a dozen keeper yellowtail snapper and we released about a half dozen smaller ones. I
kept moving further offshore because we were competing with porpoise at most of my spots.
We also caught some good sized whitebone porgies. We released small mangrove snapper and
lots of red grouper shorts to 18 ½ inches. We also had quite a shark-fest, releasing at
least fifteen sharpnose sharks, all around the three foot length.
I fished
inshore Saturday morning in central Estero Bay with Jim Hammer, sons Cameron and Collin
and friend, Erica Bensik. Thirty seconds after we anchored and dropped a few lines over,
Jim hooked a big redfish but it ran under the trees, wrapped his line and got away. We
caught another redfish keeper at twenty inches along with seven keeper mangrove snapper,
all on shrimp.
Monday, 6/16,
I fished central Estero Bay with Scott Heiss, his brother, Steve Heiss, their Heiss, dad,
Jerry Heiss, and Scott’s ten-year-old son, Nicholas. We had a good morning of fishing
with live shrimp along the tree lines. Nicholas caught the biggest redfish at 22 inches
(see photo) and we caught two other keepers at 19 ½ inches and 20 inches. The group
also caught seven keeper mangrove snapper and we released a 26 inch snook.
Paul
Duguay and friends fished with me on Wednesday morning, seventeen miles southwest of New Pass.
We kept about twenty-five porgies around 16 inches and released a good many more. We also
caught about ten yellowtail snapper, but only one of those was a keeper, and a keeper
mangrove snapper. We released gag grouper shorts to 19 inches and red grouper short to 18
inches.
Brian
Rodgers and Rodney Poole fished the mangrove shoreline of Estero Bay with me on a mostly
rainy Thursday morning. Brian got a 20 inch redfish on shrimp and the guys lost two larger
ones that ran under the mangrove roots and broke off. They also caught six nice mangrove
snapper, good-sized for the bay at 11 to 14 inches, along with two sheepshead 13 and 14
inches long.
Fishing
Saturday morning about 17 miles out of New Pass with Dan Slavenburg and friend, Ryan, we
cast live shrimp to catch eight keeper mangrove snapper and a dozen whitebone porgies to
15 inches. We released lots of smaller mangs, short red grouper, yellowtail and an almaco
jack.
Tuesday
morning, 6/24, I fished 14 miles west of New Pass with Mike and Noreen Weber and Bill and
Gail Carlson. We had lots of action and variety all morning, using live shrimp. Catches
included three keeper hogfish, two at 13 inches and one at 14 inches, Spanish mackerel to
24 inches (we kept two and released three), ten whitebone porgies, of which we kept three,
fifteen keeper mangrove snapper, and grunts. We released gag grouper shorts to 18 inches,
red grouper to 19 inches, triggerfish, and a 15 inch mutton snapper.
Thursday,
Greg Sommeski, sons Greg, Jr. and Louis, and friend Joe Morono fished with me about 17
moles offshore. We caught a mess of mangrove snapper, kept ten of those to 14 inches and
released lots more, along with whitebone porgies to 15 inches. We released Spanish
mackerel to 25 inches, along with gag and red grouper to 19 ½ inches, a 17 inch
true black grouper and a 15 inch mutton snapper. We used live shrimp for all.
Estero Bay
offered a pretty good variety of fish for us on Monday morning, 6/30, when I fished with
Jason and Callie Eubanks, Don Cruz and Paul Odele. We used live shrimp to catch a keeper
sheepshead, a 21 inch keeper redfish and a bunch of keeper-sized mangrove snapper. We
released all the mangs but four, and we were broken off by another slot red and by a big
cravalle jack.
I was
back in the bay Tuesday morning, with Tom Wolfe and young son, Jordan. We caught a nice
redfish at 22 ½ inches (see photo) and lost another keeper-sized red when it snagged on
some trees. We also caught a keeper mangrove snapper, which was big for a bay snapper at
14 inches. We released a couple dozen smaller snapper, along with three trout that were
all around 14 inches, four snook to 16 inches, and a cravalle jack.
Jim
& Lisa Roe, son Brendon, and friend Jerry Garland fished the reefs with me in 33 feet
Wednesday morning and we managed to get half-day of fishing done before the rains came. We
caught twenty nice- sized whitebone porgies and fifteen keeper mangrove snapper. We also
got a 25 inch Spanish mackerel and two hogfish, one of which was keeper-sized at 14
inches. We released small yellowtail snapper and red grouper shorts to 19 inches. We had a
cobia that was about fifty pounds hooked at one point, after he bit a fish we were reeling
in—that fight lasted about fifteen minutes until the cobia finally spit the fish and
took off.
Bill Brown
and son, Greg, fished with me Friday morning until we got run in a little bit early by
storms. Fishing with live shrimp about fourteen miles west of Big Carlos, we caught ten
keeper mangrove snapper to 14 inches, porgies to 14 inches and Spanish mackerel to 25
inches. We released red grouper shorts and grunts.
Ethan &
Kay Ware, along with children Malachai, Jack, Noah and Julia, celebrated the 4th of July
with an offshore fishing excursion. We fished about 17 miles west of New Pass. Unlike the
day before, there wasn’t much cloud cover and the water was crystal clear. We could
see bottom in 38 feet. The bite was a little slower. We caught a keeper hogfish, whitebone
porgies to 15 inches and grunts. We released triggerfish, a mangrove snapper that was just
short of legal size for federal waters, a Spanish mackerel and red grouper shorts to 19 ½
inches.
Brian McGoldrick,
Bill Justice and Todd Snapp fished central Estero Bay with me Saturday. Brian caught a
nice 25 ½ inch redfish shortly after we anchored. He lost three more nice reds that came
off their hooks. Bill caught a 24 ½ inch redfish and an 18 inch trout. Todd caught a
keeper sheepshead at 15 inches and the group caught eight keeper mangrove snapper to 12
inches, all on shrimp.
After a little
time away in the relatively cool N.C. mountains, I resumed fishing this Saturday, 7/26. I
fished 14 to 17 miles west of New Pass with Marty Kimball and his three young daughters,
Haley, Cheyeynne and Michaela. The girls had a lot of fun using live shrimp to catch and
release a bunch of big ladyfish to 30 inches. We also caught a keeper lane snapper and
released a few mutton snapper that were just short of keeper size, red grouper to 19
inches, gag grouper shorts, grunts and porgies.
Monday
morning brought rain and I had to delay by about an hour and a half my fishing excursion
with Deitnar and Andrea Binkowska, daughter Anna-Lena and young son, David. The Binkowskas
were visiting from Germany and one thing David definitely wanted to do on his visit was to
go fishing in the Gulf. We waited for the first round of storms to pass and there appeared
to be a window for us to get some fishing done, but the weather was unsettled all morning
and we couldn’t help but encounter a little more rain. Still, the group had fun at
the reefs, about six miles offshore, fishing with live shrimp. We caught ten keeper
mangrove snapper to 12 inches and released lots of red and gag grouper shorts. David also
got to feel a few big fish on the line, but they broke off before he could reel them in.
Tuesday was
another unsettled day so I stayed close-in again when I fished with Doug Grieble, his
eight-year-old daughter, Cera, and Dennis Baker and his three children, Rhys, Logan and
Seth. Cera managed, with a little help, to pull in a 27 inch gag grouper, definitely the
catch of the day! (see photo) The group also
caught ten nice mangrove snapper to 14 ½ inches, along with some grunts. We released four
gag shorts, as well as three goliath grouper to about 35 pounds. We used shrimp for all
except for the goliaths, which were caught on blue runners.
I had a
good morning of inshore fishing Wednesday with Chris Polumbo and son, Matt and Mark Tagano
and son, Anthony. We fished with live shrimp in central Estero Bay. Chris caught a 24 inch
redfish, then lost a larger one when it wrapped around the anchor line right by the boat.
His young son, Matt, outdid him by half an inch with a 24 ½ inch red, and he also caught
a 17 inch black drum. Anthony caught a big sheepshead at 19 inches, along with one smaller
one, and Mark landed a half dozen keeper mangrove snapper.
Thursday,
Jose Garcia and family and friends fished 17 miles west of New Pass with me. We did well
with snapper and caught fourteen mangrove snapper to 15 inches, two keeper lane snapper
and seven yellowtail snapper to 16 inches. We also caught two large grunts and released
small snapper, gag grouper shorts and a twenty-pound goliath grouper.
God Bless America
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Good
Fishing!
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