Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported, "Joe George and his two sons, Eric and Brad, fished 23 miles west of New Pass with me on Monday morning, 7/6. The catch-of-the-morning was a 27-inch red grouper, which bit a baitfish. The guys also caught a dozen keeper-sized lane snapper, which they chose to release, along with yellowtail and mangrove snapper shorts and eight red grouper shorts.

Wednesday morning’s tide in the backwaters wasn’t optimal, when I fished in lower Hickory Bay, Fish Trap Bay, and central Estero Bay with John and Dauma Glennon, but the couple did catch a 14-inch permit to keep, along with a 12-inch keeper mangrove snapper, on shrimp. They released a dozen mangrove snapper shorts, along with three stingray.

Thursday morning, 7/9, though NOAA had predicted seas less than two feet, it was a little sloppy heading offshore, probably due to the strong thunderstorms of the previous night. So, I stayed 10-12 miles from shore with Jack Carey, his fourteen-year-old grandson, Jack, and Jack's fourteen-year-old friend, Beck. The boys used live shrimp to catch and release red grouper shorts and grunts. As for keepers, they landed fourteen lane snapper to 13 inches, and planned to have those for dinner."

1.) Angler Ryan Hall with a 24-inch red grouper, caught on a baitfish 25 miles west of New Pass on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.



2.) Angler Peter Halunen with a 17 1/2-inch lane snapper, the largest of a mess of nice lanes ranging 14 to 17 1/2 inches that he and his son caught on shrimp 22 miles west of New Pass on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.