Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported,"My first trip of this season with long-time customer and seasonal resident, Ron Musick, was on Thursday, October 2nd, our last chance to keep red grouper before the season for them closes. Ron was joined by Eddie Alfonso, and we headed out to about twenty-two miles west of New Pass. The guys landed two keeper red grouper at 20 inches and 21 inches, a keeper hogfish at 15 inches, four nice mangrove snapper all 14 to 15 inches, a dozen keeper lane snapper, and five 15-inch whitebone porgies. They released a lot of red grouper shorts, along with one smaller hogfish. Everything bit on live shrimp."
1.) Angler Chris Baker with a 19-inch redfish, caught on shrimp in Estero Bay on a recent inshore Fishbuster Charter.
2.) Angler Emily Levy with a 12-inch mangrove snapper, caught on shrimp in Estero Bay on a recent inshore Fishbuster Charter. Larger snapper are found offshore, but smaller ones like these (still legal keepers) can be found in the backwaters.