Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported,"Dave Bailey and his son, Mason, fished with me on Monday, 7/21, about 25 miles west of New Pass. They wanted to experience some big fish, but also wanted some fish for the cooler, so we started out closer in, fishing for goliath grouper and shark. The guys got to release one of each: an 80 pound goliath and a 4-foot blacknose shark. Both of those bit shrimp. We used pinfish for grouper, but the twenty or so red grouper we caught were all shorts, up to 19 ½ inches, so we released those. The father-son team did box a dozen keeper lane snapper, all around 12 inches, and they released some lane shorts. They also caught nine whitebone porgies to 13 inches, and kept three of those, along with some grunts to 14 inches.


The fishing schedule was quiet for about a week, with a few rainy days and a slow period on bookings.

Tuesday morning, 7/29, winds were stronger than they had been in about a week, and they were straight out of the west. I advised brothers Jose and Robert Garcia and their sons that we would likely be fishing near-shore, rather than well offshore. Even the spots we fished 8 to 12 miles west of New Pass were fairly rough, with three-to-four foot seas. The guys used live shrimp to catch lane snapper, ten of which were keepers. They added a few grunts to the box. They released lots of red grouper shorts, yellowtail, mangrove and lane snapper shorts, and a 15-inch bluefish.

Long-time customer, Dr. John Carmack, his son Jackson, and his father-in-law, Bill Maslow, fished with me Thursday, 7/31 in various spots ranging from 18 miles to 28 miles west of New Pass. We released fifty red grouper shorts that measured to within ¼ inch of keeper-size; the largest of those at 19 ¾ inches bit on pinfish, while the smaller ones bit live shrimp. The guys used shrimp to box a 20-inch Spanish mackerel, a 13-inch mangrove snapper, and two dozen keeper lane snapper to 13 inches. They released thirty-five shorter lanes, along with a half-dozen short yellowtail snapper and a few short mangrove snapper. They also battled and released a brace of 40-inch blacknose sharks.

Friday morning, 8/1, there was some rain over the gulf, but it was moving further offshore. I encountered some heavy rain at the beginning of my fishing trip with Antonio Abrantes, his son, Tony, and Tony’s grandfather, Douglas Crane. But the rain moved off, and we were able to remain rain-free for the remainder of the morning, fishing 20 miles west of New Pass. The guys did well with grouper and snapper. They caught a 21-inch, keeper red grouper on a pinfish, and released lots of red grouper shorts. Added to the box were twenty keeper lane snapper, most of which were right about 13 inches, and two keeper mangrove snapper to 14 inches. We released lots of smaller lanes.

Father-son anglers Walt and Ian Bond fished with me Saturday morning, 8/2, 18-20 miles west of New Pass. We used pinfish for grouper, and the guys caught four keeper red grouper, two at 24 inches, one at 23 inches and one at 21 inches. They released fifteen red grouper shorts. Lane snapper were biting well on live shrimp, and the guys caught a dozen keeper lanes to 12 inches, which we added to the four keeper red grouper in the box—the makings of a few delicious dinners!"


1.) Young angler Brenden Daller with a 17-inch hogfish, caught on live shrimp 17 miles west of New Pass on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.



2.) Young angler Julian Daller with a 23-inch gag grouper, the first of the season that opened July 1st, caught on a pinfish 17 miles west of New Pass on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.