• South West Florida Fishing Report - FL

    Fishbuster Charters
    (239) 947-1688 http://fishbustercharters.com/Index.html fishbuster@comcast.net
  • Captain Dave Hanson is a native of southwest Florida. He has been fishing local waters since childhood, and has been fishing professionally for over fifteen years. He is Coast Guard licensed, and is a member in good standing of the Bonita Springs Chamber of Commerce. He has been quoted and featured in several national fishing magazines, and he also appears weekly in the fishing reports sections of the local paper.

  • South West Florida Fishing Report - FL

    Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported, "I was off the water for about a week, given the typical end-of-May lull, plus some family plans that took up most of the Memorial Day weekend. I got back out fishing on Monday June 1st, when I fished the west wall of Estero Bay on an inshore catch-and-release trip with Keith and Chris Miller. The couple had no desire to keep fish, but enjoyed a relaxing morning on the water catching a good variety. They released a 14-inch flounder, two sheepshead to 14 inches, a 12-inch mutton snapper (yes, another one of those in the bay, which is odd), a 13-inch pompano, seven mangrove snapper to12 inches, and three sail-cats to 23 inches.

    Scott Saveraid and friends usually book a few goliath grouper trips each year, for the thrill of reeling in the big ones. Scott was joined by Mike Wernsman, Terry Brandt, and Ran Woodsin this trip, which was on Tuesday morning, 6/2. The guys used blue runners to lure four goliaths to the surface, where they were photographed and released. The weight estimates on those were 50 pounds, 65 pounds, 180 pounds and 200 pounds, which made for lots of sore arms. The guys used live shrimp to catch and release two cobia, one 26 inches and one 30 inches.



    Wednesday morning, 6/3, I headed 25 miles offshore with long-time customer, Bob Sawyer, joined by his friends, Bill Jameson, Bill Teutsch, and Keith Kies. The guys caught twenty-eight red grouper, including three keepers at 21 ½ inches, 23 inches, and 26 inches. The keepers all bit on bait-fish, and the 25 shorts to 18 ½ inches bit on live shrimp. Also on shrimp, the guys caught eighteen keeper lane snapper to 12 inches, and four 14-inch grunts.



    Scott Saveraid, Mike Wernsman, Terry Brandt, and Ran Woodsin, who fished for catch-and-release goliaths with me on Tuesday, fished again with me Thursday morning, 6/4, this time going after table-fare. The guys caught three keeper red grouper, two of which bit bait-fish, and one that bit on shrimp. The group boxed a 20 ½, 21 and 23-inch trio of red grouper, and released thirty shorts. Two big ones also broke the line and got away. Added to the fish box were a couple of keeper lane snappers and a 13-inch mangrove snapper. The guys released ten mangrove snapper shorts, four lane snapper shorts, a 36-inch bonnet-head shark, and a 38-inch sharp-nose shark, along with lots of blue runners."

    1.) Angler Mike Calvert with a 12-inch mutton snapper, caught on shrimp and released in Estero Bay's backwaters on a recent inshore Fishbuster Charter. It is highly unusual to catch mutton snapper in the bay, as they typically inhabit fairly distant gulf waters.



    2.) Angler Betty Bergland with a 35-inch blacknose shark, caught on shrimp and released 21 miles west of New Pass on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.


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