Monday morning, 12/12, I fished in Estero Bay with Roy and Chris Mittman and Todd and Lynda Cohen. Fishing with live shrimp, the group caught fifteen sheepshead to 16 inches, and kept two of the four keeper-sized ones. They also caught a 17-inch pompano, and released a 15-inch black drum and an impressive, eight-pound crevalle jack.

A few days of rough seas intervened before I got out again, which was on Saturday morning, 12/17, with Bud Glanzer, son-in-law, Chris, and friends Alan Bronson and Dennis McGuire. Fishing with shrimp in 43 feet, out of New Pass, we caught a nice hogfish measuring 17 inches, a keeper triggerfish at 14 ½ inches, five keeper mangrove snapper to 14 inches, twenty-five whitebone porgies, and a mess of large grunts. The group released eight smaller triggerfish, five smaller mangs, fifteen of the porgies, and twenty of the grunts. They kept the rest for a family dinner. They also released lots of gag grouper to 20 inches and red grouper to 18 inches.

Monday morning, 12/19, I fished in the backwaters of Estero Bay with Larry Baumgartner, his son Chris, granddaughter, Madeline, and family friend, Walt Barney. The tide was a little on the low side, but we made the most of it, and were able to catch a 19 ½ inch pompano and three keeper sheepshead to 15 inches. The group released seventeen smaller sheepshead, a few crevalle jacks, a 24-inch snook, and a six-pound stingray. We used live shrimp for everything.

It was still choppy well offshore on Tuesday, so Frank Barry, brothers Tim and Zack Rivera, and friend, Steve Flower, decided to stay inshore and fish the Estero Bay flats, with live shrimp. The group broke my previous record by two on the number of redfish caught in one morning: twenty-two in all! Only one of those was legal to keep, at 19 1/2 inches, so we released the rest, along with crevalle jack, ladyfish, a small founder and a 20-pound stingray. We also caught three keeper sheepshead, all around 15 inches, and we released some smaller sheepshead.




Captain Dave Hanson
Bonita Beach, FL
SW FL-Bonita Beach: Good Variety
August 22, 2011

http://www.fishbustercharters.com
fishbuster@comcast.net