Fishbuster Charters’ Captain Dave Hanson reported, “Shawn & Lacy Ruhl and friends, Dave and Sharon Emerhiner, fished twenty-two miles west of New Pass with me on Monday, 7/22. The group used live shrimp and caught fifty keeper lane snapper to 13 inches, along with a 15-inch whitebone porgy. They released red grouper shorts. Interestingly, they hooked four squid also, and got two of those to the boat, decided calamari would be a good appetizer for their snapper dinner, and brought those home as well!
top right-Young angler Emma Fenwick with a 16-inch mangrove snapper, caught on shrimp on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.
above-A 40-pound blacktip shark, caught on a bait-fish and released by the O'Hara family, on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.
above-A 30-pound barracuda, caught on a blue runner and released by the O'Hara family on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.
Tuesday, I fished in Estero Bay on a catch-and-release trip with Steve and Judy Vender and their nephew, Cody Hennessey. The group used live shrimp to catch five keeper mangrove snapper to 13 inches, three sheepshead to 16 inches, a stingray, and a couple of crevalle jacks.
Wednesday, 7/24, I fished 27 miles west of New Pass with Ken Karstedt, his girlfriend, Kathleen Wendorf, Ken's brother, Bill Karstedt, and dad, Kenneth Karstedt. We used grunts and lane snappers for grouper bait, and used shrimp for all our other catches. The grouper did very well with red grouper, landing four nice keepers at 22 inches, 25 inches, 27 1/2 inches, and 28 inches. They also caught fifteen keeper lane snapper and a keeper mangrove snapper at 13 inches. They released lots of red grouper shorts, mangrove snapper, lane and yellowtail shorts. The group also had some fun with a 45-pound barracuda that ate a fish being reeled in, and battled until it finally cut the line, close to the boat. They also had an 8-foot sandbar shark bite a grouper that was being reeled in, and cut the line after a noble battle!
Thursday, 7/25, with seas too rough for the Miller family to take their young daughters, we opted to fish inshore in Estero Bay. Casey Miller, his daughters Megan and Maren, his sister, Mandy, and his dad, Ron used live shrimp to catch a nice keeper redfish at 22 inches, along with three keeper 11-inch mangrove snapper and a 13-inch sheepshead. They released lots of snapper shorts, a two-pound stingray, and a twenty plus-pound stingray.
With a family event here on the weekend, I will be off the water until next week--hoping for good weather then, though there is a storm brewing out in the gulf that may head our way and effect weather the middle of next week."