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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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Fishing Report for June 2, 2010--September
2, 2010
Our Beaches are Clean—Our Waters Pristine!” Tuesday morning, 6/8, I fished in 42 feet with
Billy-Bob Farinks, wife Jessica, and son, Levi, from Arkansas. We used live shrimp to
catch a dozen keeper whitebone porgies to 14 inches a 20-inch Spanish mackerel, and a
keeper mangrove snapper. We released smaller snapper, many undersized triggerfish, red
grouper shorts to 15 inches and gag grouper shorts to 20 inches. We had two kings on, but
they broke off, despite steel leader, after biting blue runners. We nearly had an
unwelcome passenger when a huge eagle-ray jumped, nearly boarding the boat! Ralph and Vicki
Mulholland, along with friends, Rich and Rose McLaughlin, fished inshore with me Monday
morning, 6/14. Fishing along the mangrove shoreline and oyster bars in Estero Bay, we
caught fifteen mangrove snapper, eight of which were keepers. We released the shorts,
along with two small snook, a small sheepshead, and a ladyfish. Mike Mercer and
friend, Bill, were hoping to hook some big fish when they fished offshore with me Tuesday
morning, 6/15. They got lucky: Between them, they caught and carefully released eight
goliath grouper, ranging in size from 30 inches to 56 inches, fishing over rock piles with
Spanish mackerel and blue runners as bait. Bill also hooked a big kingfish, on shrimp, but
the fish ran out about 150 yards, got a loop in the line, swam back toward the boat and
pulled off. We also released a 4 foot sand-shark, along with short triggerfish and
yellowtail snapper. The guys also went home with some good eatin’ fish, including six
keeper mangrove snapper to 14 inches and a mess of whitebone porgies. Rick
Lang and his three young sons, Tim, Chris and Ben, fished in 38 to 45 feet with
me Wednesday morning. The boys had fun catching and releasing four goliath grouper to
approximately 100 pounds: the smaller the angler, the more impressive the enormity of
those fish! Dolphins showed up at my favorite snapper hole, so we moved from there and
went to another spot where we caught nine keeper Spanish mackerel to 23 inches, grunts and
whitebone porgies. We released short triggerfish, three 19-inch gag grouper shorts, and
small red grouper and snapper. The boys were cut off a few times, probably by king
mackerel but, after the goliaths weakened their arms, they weren't too sad about that! Chris
Morrow, Dave Bayer, Dave’s son, Alex Bayer, age eleven, Bob Schneider, Bob’s
son, Zack Scneider, age eight, and Buck Bachara, the boys’ grandfather, all fished
Monday morning, 6/21, with me in 35 feet of water, west of New Pass. It was the official
first day of summer and it surely felt like it, with temps approaching 90 early in the
day. Fishing was pretty hot too, and we caught a variety of species. We got one kingfish,
28 inches long, and were broken off by a larger one. We also caught eight keeper Spanish
mackerel, two hogfish, one of which was a keeper at 15 inches, ten keeper porgies, and a
mess of grunts. We released small mangrove snapper and red grouper shorts, along with two
goliath grouper at 30 pounds and 60 pounds. There were three cobia swimming around the
boat at one point, and we did hook one of those, but one of the goliath grouper got to it
before we could reel it in. Gregg
Runge and son, Jay, fished with me Tuesday, about 37 miles west of New Pass and at a few
ledges on the way in, using live shrimp. Winds had picked up and there was a good sized
swell offshore. We also ran through a big rainstorm on the way in, so it took a while
longer to get to our fish-cleaning. The guys caught three very large whitebone
porgies, at twenty inches plus, along with keeper mangrove snapper. We released red
grouper to 19 1/2 inches, just short of keeper-size, as well as undersized triggerfish,
small snapper and grunts. Jay also caught and released a 45-inch sandbar shark. Wednesday
morning, Jason Dempsey fished Estero Bay with me, using live shrimp. We caught a half
dozen keeper mangrove snapper to 12 inches and released a bunch of shorter ones. We also
caught two keeper sheepshead, 13 and 14 inches, and two keeper redfish, 19 inches and 21
inches. Chris
and Jan Heapy fished Estero Bay’s islands with me Friday morning, 6/25. Using shrimp,
Jan landed a 16-inch trout. The couple also caught five keeper mangrove snapper and
released lots of smaller snapper. The
Mike Bochman family reserved a few days of fishing in June with me many months ago.
Saturday morning, we took off for the first of those and headed offshore, where we fished
in 33-to-45 feet. The calm winds we had the beginning of this week had picked up quite a
bit and were out of the east, about 15 knots. Seas were a little sloppy but we did fine.
The group caught a keeper lane snapper, a keeper yellowtail snapper, and a mess of
whitebone porgies 13-14 inches. They released short mangrove snapper, red grouper and
triggerfish. We had what would have been a keeper gag grouper hooked, but a barracuda
helped himself to all but the head portion of that. We casted that back in and caught the
‘cuda on a light spinning rod, with a piece of wire. Mike photographed the 47-inch
barracuda and we released it. We also saw a 9-foot lemon shark, which circled the boat
three times. The Bochman group, comprised Tuesday of Mike Bochman,
Dennis Ring and friends, Marty and Kevin, finished out their fishing adventures with an
inshore, catch-and-release trip in Estero Bay, where the group released a mess of mangrove
snapper, six of which were keeper-size, two 14-inch sheepshead, small redfish and crevalle
jack. Pat Fitzgerald and his sons have fished with me for
years. This year, the boys brought some friends along for a boat-load of six, including
Pat, sons Jimmy and Tommy and friends, Matthew, Jacob, and Brandon. We headed out of New
Pass Thursday morning, 7/1, to fish in 44 feet. The boys caught a mess of yellowtail
snapper and kept two of those that were 14 inches. They also caught a few nice whitebone
porgies to 15 inches, along with a 44-inch king mackerel. We caught a big blue runner,
about 4 ½ pounds, and used him as bait to hook and release a huge goliath grouper—I
estimated him at about 375 pounds and about as big around as an oil-drum! We also released
small mangrove snapper, triggerfish, Spanish mackerel and porgies. Friday, 7/2, Scott and Jeanette Thron
and friends, Mike Radkin and Jerry Vojtush, had hoped to spend a full-day fishing
offshore. But, after checking the weather forecast, I had to tell them that we’d
likely be lucky to get a half-day in before the rains. So, we headed out of New Pass with
intentions to fish as long as we could. We did well with hogfish, catching four of them,
three of which were keepers to 16 ½ inches. We also caught eight keeper mangrove snapper
to 14 inches, keeper porkfish to 12 inches and some keeper whitebone porgies, all on live
shrimp. We released smaller porgies and yellowtail snapper, along with a 90-pound goliath
grouper that bit a 25-inch mackerel. We made it in just before the heavy rains began so we
got wet while cleaning fish but, at least, we were off the water. After a rainy weekend over the 4th of July
holiday, long-time customers, Dennis and Jamie Riddell brought their friends, Doyce
& Kay Paine along to fish offshore with me on Monday morning, 7/5. We fished with live
shrimp in 34 feet, off of Naples. Dennis caught a keeper gag grouper at 23 inches and
Jamie caught two keeper hogfish, 13 ½ and 15 inches. The group also caught a half dozen
keeper mangrove snapper to 15 inches. We had tried to catch a grouper on a pinfish at one
point, reeled in the bait and had it hanging just at the water’s surface to lure a
cobia, when a 4-foot bull shark bit the pinfish—we released him, along with some
smaller mangrove snapper and undersized triggerfish. Tuesday morning, the rains held off but seas were pretty sloppy early in the day, having been churned up by storms the evening before. I headed offshore with Tanner Rust and family to 45 feet, and we decided not to venture further than that in the sloppy conditions. The boys had a great time with goliath grouper, hooking and releasing seven of those, to 150 pounds. They also released mangrove and yellowtail snapper shorts, short red grouper and short gag grouper to 21 inches. They caught a mess of good-sized whitebone porgies and grunts so they could have something to cook after their day of goliath adventures. Tim Otterlee and his three young sons fished Wednesday morning with me, over live-bottom in about 35 feet, near-shore, where we caught keeper mangrove and lane snapper, porgies and Spanish mackerel. We released red grouper shorts. Robert Duhlberg was in town on business, along with his
boss, Lair, so the two snuck away for a morning of fishing in Estero Bay on Thursday. We
used live shrimp to catch eleven trout, though only one was keeper size at 16 inches. We
also caught fifteen mangrove snapper, two of which were keepers. Tim Reid fished near-shore with me, about ten miles off the beach Saturday morning, 7/17. Winds and seas, which were calm most of the week, had picked up quite a bit and seas were a little sloppy, so we decided to stay near-shore and do some shark fishing. We site-casted on the surface, using pinfish strips on a mackerel-rig, and we caught and released fourteen sharp-nose sharks to 40 inches. Tuesday, 7/20, Daniel Wallace and friends fished with me. Seas were predicted to be two-to-three feet, but they were much rougher than that. We headed to the reefs and decided not to go any further offshore, due to conditions. We fished with live shrimp and caught a 16-inch flounder, a keeper triggerfish and mangrove snapper and grunts.Having seen what the gulf was like on Tuesday, I
advised Jim Shubert, his son Terry, and grandson, T.J. to fish inshore on Wednesday. We
did well with trout and caught fifteen of those, four of which were keepers, ranging 15 ½
to 16 ½ inches. We caught a keeper sheepshead at 15 ½ inches and a keeper redfish at 21
inches. We released a mess of mangrove snapper, all but four, which were keeper size. We
used live shrimp and a popping cork for the trout and live shrimp tossed under the
mangroves for the redfish and the snapper. Kevin Coyle and son, Paul, fished Estero Bay with me on
Thursday morning. The trout bite was again active and we caught fifteen of those on
shrimp, but most were undersized and released. We also caught keeper Spanish mackerel and
mangrove snapper. Kevin also caught a 16 ½ inch black drum. We released undersized
sheepshead, small snook, and a crevalle jack. On a drizzly Friday morning, ahead of tropical Storm
Bonnie’s arrival, I fished Estero Bay with Dwayne McCoy and his sister, Heather
Romines. There was trout a-plenty again—sixteen of them, including four keepers to 17
inches, along with a 20-inch Spanish mackerel, small sheepshead, ladyfish and crevalle
jack, all biting shrimp. We released all but the keeper trout. Saturday morning, the sun was shining and the only
remnants Bonnie were some slightly higher than usual winds. I fished inshore with Terry
and Lori Dobbs and friends, Tom & Jane, all from Arkansas. We went after trout with
shrimp and popping corks and caught a bunch of those, including two nice keepers at just
over 20 inches and 16 inches—Lori caught both of those, along with a 15-inch
sheepshead. Tom caught and released a twenty-pound stingray, as the group tried to capture
its immensity on film. We also released ladyfish, smaller trout and smaller sheepshead.
The group got to see some dolphins and a manatee, on our way back to shore. Monday morning,
7/26 I was back in Estero Bay, this time on a catch-and-release trip with Chris and Lori
King and their daughters, Addy, eleven, and Libby, fourteen. We released trout,
sheepshead, ladyfish, snapper and snook, all caught on live shrimp. Estero Bay was my
fishing grounds again on Tuesday morning, when I fished with Chris Polumbo and his young
daughter, Miranda, along with Miranda's two friends, Bridget and Rachel. We caught two
17-inch trout and two keeper mangrove snapper. We released lots of smaller trout and
snapper, along with crevalle jack, all on live shrimp. Wednesday, I headed offshore for the first time in a
while. Mark Aldridge, son Colin, eleven-year-old grandson Alfie, and family friend Dave
VanDomilan fished 36 miles west of New Pass with me in 76 feet. We had a great day of
fishing and landed three keeper red grouper at 21 inches, 22 inches and 24 inches. We
nearly had one that was about 30 inches but it cut the line and got away just as we were
readying the net for him. Still, the three grouper, along with eight keeper yellowtail
snapper, two keeper mangrove snapper, a keeper Spanish mackerel, and a few 14-inch
whitebone porgies made for a nice mess of fish. We released lots of smaller mangrove and
yellowtail snapper, all caught on shrimp. Chris Polumbo, who fished with me Tuesday, fished with
another set of kids—his son and friends—on Thursday. We tried a different area
of the bay this time, toward Wiggins Pass, but there was an abundance of catfish down that
way. We moved around a bit and ended up catching keeper whiting and keeper mangrove
snapper, on shrimp. Friday morning, I dodged a few scattered rain showers
offshore with Richard Sturgill, his wife, and a couple of friends. We fished with live
shrimp in 43 feet, out of New Pass, where we caught keeper Spanish mackerel, keeper
mangrove snapper and keeper lane snapper. We released red grouper shorts and crevalle
jack. I fished in Estero Bay, in front of New Pass, with Steve and Jolissa Spencer on Wednesday, the first day of September. We caught and released ladyfish and about twenty trout. We got one keeper trout at 16 inches and a keeper Spanish mackerel at 22 inches. We used live shiners for all. 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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