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.

Though seas were forecast earlier in the week to be calming down by Wednesday, such wasn’t the case as of the early morning forecast that day. The winds continued to blow pretty hard, and Rob & Tracy Wessels , their son, Tanner, and their daughter, Maddie, decided to fish the backwaters, on my recommendation. The family caught half a dozen redfish, one of which was a keeper at 19 inches. They also caught two keeper sheepshead. They released eight smaller sheepshead, an 18-inch gafftop sailcat, and four stingray, the largest of which was 18-to-20 pounds.

Thursday, I fished Estero Bay again. With the winds still brisk, I expected seas to be rougher than predicted offshore again, and with the fishing so good inshore, Shane and Erlene Smith, Robert Darr, and John Robb agreed to fish inside. The group did well with live shrimp. They caught two keeper pompano at 15 inches each, three keeper sheepshead to 17 inches, and a 19-inch keeper redfish. They released seven smaller sheepshead, two smaller redfish, and a 20+ pound stingray.

I finished off my pre-holiday week with a backwaters trip with Bob Potts and son, Trevor, Friday morning, 12/23/11. We fished the channel down toward Wiggins Pass, using live shrimp. We caught and released a 20-inch sea trout (sea trout are presently out-of-season.) The duo also caught two nice sheepshead, 15 inches and 17 inches, and they released twenty-five smaller sheepshead. They also caught two 16-inch pompano.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL !

Tuesday morning, 12/27, just ahead of a cold-front's approach, I fished Estero Bay with long-time customers, the Tomlinsons. Vince and Jenny, along with their son and daughter, Mike and Katie, had fun catching lots of sheepshead on live shrimp. Most were smaller than keeper size and were released, but the family kept one 13-inch sheepshead to go with a 15-inch whiting they caught, for dinner. Vince also caught a nice, 17-inch trout, which had to be released, since trout are out of season for another few days. The family also released some big sailcats, small snapper, and a 16-inch crevalle jack

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

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