Saturday morning I headed back out to 43 feet, this time with long-time customers Sandy and Rusty Hook, Rusty’s young son, Charlie, and family friend, Sam. We caught lots of porgies and grunts again and we lost a bonito when it wrapped around a crab-trap buoy after running out 165 yards of line. But young Charlie has the best fish story to tell: He had dropped a live shrimp over on a spinning rod with 17 pound test line. A small blue runner bit the shrimp and Charlie started to reel in. Just as he did that, along came Mr. 29-inch gag grouper to bite the blue runner, and Charlie ended up with a much bigger prize than he expected! With a little help from the captain, he landed that gag and was more than happy to be photographed with it!

Ron Musick and Eddie Alfonso fished with me Monday, 4/28, when we were hoping to beat the weather front predicted to arrive late Monday night. We had originally planned to fish on Tuesday but we rescheduled once we heard the forecast. Seas were predicted to be two-to-three feet offshore Monday but that wasn’t the case. About the only place that was true was in the bay! We only went out about 15 miles from New Pass and we came in short of a full-day, due to conditions. We managed two keeper mangrove snapper and eight whitebone porgies on shrimp, so at least there was stock for Ron’s freezer.

 Tuesday, the winds were predicted to howl and the seas predicted to churn offshore. There was also a good chance of rain predicted and I remained in port.

 Although NOAA predicted seas calmed to two to three feet, out to 20 miles for Wednesday, I was a little dubious, knowing it usually takes the Gulf longer to calm down after a couple days of rough seas. I checked with my scheduled anglers to see if they might prefer inshore fishing but they decided to try for near-shore, so I headed out with Louis Wolfe and friends to about 30 feet out of New Pass, where we encountered seas of three to five feet. We knew we could expect only worse if we headed further out. Later in the morning the seas did calm a little. We did the best we could, which was two keeper lane snapper, two keeper mangrove snapper, a 24 inch Spanish mackerel, a 14 inch pompano, and a half dozen whitebone porgies. We released grunts and grouper shorts.

 Thursday, seas were 3-5 feet again and I didn’t venture out. By Friday, the forecast was for 2-3 foot seas within 20 miles again but I knew better. My two anglers, father and son team Terry and Mike Hopkins,  wanted to give it a shot anyway so we headed out to 43 feet from New Pass, where we had three-to-fives all morning. When we headed in about 1:00, there were two to threes once we got to within 10 miles of shore. We fished with live shrimp and caught about 20 whitebone porgies to 15 inches. We kept seven of those, along with a 14 inch hogfish. We released the rest of the porgies, gag and red grouper shorts, triggerfish, blue runners and a three-foot sharpnose shark.

Saturday morning, brothers Steve and Howard Potash fished central Estero Bay with me on a decent tide. Baited with live shrimp, we caught three keeper redfish, two at 18 ¾ inches and one at 19 ½ inches, and a keeper mangrove snapper. We released small snapper, a ray and a 22 inch snook.

Tuesday morning, 5/6, I fished Estero Bay with Paul and Rebecca Miller. The tide was slow coming in. We fished the tree lines, which is challenging, especially for novice anglers, and we lost one nice redfish that got tangled in the trees and broke the line. Rebecca caught a nice 14 inch sheepshead and we also caught a keeper mangrove snapper. We released smaller snapper and sheepshead.

 Gary McDermott and friends fished the Gulf with me on Wednesday, in 38-46 feet out of New Pass, with live shrimp. We caught five hogfish, one of which was a beauty at about 18 inches but, unfortunately, a hungry barracuda bit that one off right at the head as we were reeling it in. We had one other keeper hog and released the other three. We also caught a keeper mangrove snapper and released nine others that were small, along with short red grouper. We caught a keeper triggerfish and eight pretty nice whitebone porgies, all in the two-to-three pound range.

 Greg & Helen Bauer and Tara Barnes fished at the reefs with me on Thursday morning. It was too rough to get our much further than that, but we did okay reef-fishing, with a 12 inch flounder and some grunts for filleting. The rest of our catches were pure sport and included two goliath grouper at twenty pounds and thirty-five pounds and a forty-pound barracuda. We released those, along with small snapper and gag grouper shorts. We caught the big guys on blue runners and the rest on shrimp.

John Keener and son, Chris, fished Estero Bay with me on a windy Monday morning, 5/12. We released two snook about 18 inches, sand bream, small snapper and a big redfish about 32 inches (see photo below). We were broken off by another bull red along the mangrove tree line.

 Thursday, I fished a catch-and-release trip in Estero Bay with Ron Constantini and Rich Staubauch. We used live shrimp to catch three slot reds and lost two bull reds in the mangroves. We also released keeper-sized mangrove snapper, two undersized (and out-of-season) snook and a cravalle jack.

Monday morning, 5/19, I fished with Casey Serumba and friends in Estero Bay. We caught a couple of keeper snapper and released smaller snapper, a sheepshead and a snook. Casey had one nice red hooked but his drag was too loose, and once the red ran under the trees he was gone.

 Tuesday, I fished with Marc Miller and Dave Ihle at the artificial reefs off Bonita Beach. We had a good morning of fishing, despite rough seas, with a 24 inch gag grouper Dave landed after it bit a live blue runner, seven keeper mangrove snapper, and two flounder 16 inches and 12 inches that Mark landed on shrimp. We released blue runners and gag shorts and a 25 inch goliath grouper.

 Brothers Greg and Dave Bauer and their wives, Helen and Kathy, fished Estero Bay with me on Wednesday, along the channel from Barefoot Beach to Wiggins Pass. We had originally planned to fish offshore, but after seeing the conditions Tuesday and noting the winds to be even worse Wednesday, we decided to stay inshore. Greg caught a keeper 20 inch redfish and we also got a keeper snapper and released small sheepshead.

 The backwater was where I fished again on Thursday, this time with Tom Tomasheski and seven-year-old son, Tom, Jr. They had already been offshore on a head-boat and wanted to experience some quieter, more personal fishing so we fished Estero Bay with live shrimp and caught and released mangrove snapper, cravalle jack and ladyfish.

 Roy Bumstead and Jimmy Egan headed offshore with me to 53 feet out of New Pass on Friday. We caught ten nice yellowtail snapper to 17 inches, whitebone porgies to 16 inches—we kept six of those and threw back a bunch more—and a few keeper lane snapper. We released six sharpnose sharks, all about three feet long. We also released some gag grouper shorts and at least 150 red grouper shorts to 19 ¾ inches.

 Mark Miller and ten-year-old son, Jake, along with Mark’s mother, Jackie, fished Estero Bay with me Saturday morning. Using shrimp along the tree lines from Wiggins Pass to Barefoot beach, we limited on slot reds, with three of those all around 20 inches. We also caught ten keeper-sized mangrove snapper, of which we kept five. The tide was incoming and the bite pretty steady.

Sunday morning, a family group in town for a weekend wedding fished a catch-and-release trip with me about 17 miles west of New Pass. Jim Christ, son Bill, Bill’s uncle, John, and father-and-son team Brent and Chad Robinson collectively released about 80 fish with good variety including mangrove snapper, gag grouper, red grouper, grunts and whitebone porgies, all caught on live shrimp.

On a catch-and-release trip to the artificial reefs off Bonita Beach on Tuesday, 5/27, long-time customers Pat Fitzgerald and sons, Jimmy, Tommy and Peter, along with friend, Brendon, caught a smorgasbord of fish on live shrimp. We had steady action all morning, and released two keeper-sized pompano, lots of whitings, lots of gag grouper shorts to 19 ½ inches, seven keeper-sized flounder and lots of grunts and keeper-sized mangrove snapper.  I don’t know how many fish we caught in all, but a couple of Pat’s young sons were keeping count of their catches and each had between 30 and 40.

 Friday morning, 5/30, fishing with Bill and Debby Wright in central Estero Bay, we caught two keeper redfish just under 20 inches and released a nice 26 inch snook along with mangrove snapper, cravalle jack and a stingray. The snook ran the length of the boat and was a good fight on 8 pound test.

A busman's holiday to the Tortugas is on my upcoming agenda...something I have not yet done and I am looking forward to a different kind of fishing for a few days--Hope I'll  have something to brag about.

I left Sunday morning, 6/1, for 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 2^nd. 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 35o 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.

       God Bless America

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