Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported, "Steve and Annie Tobin fished a near-shore, catch-and-release trip with me on Monday, 10/12/15. They used live shrimp twelve to fourteen miles west of New Pass, and released a 27-inch cobia, five would-be–keeper lane snapper to 15 inches, and six red grouper to 18 inches.




Tuesday, 10/13, I headed offshore only about 12 miles west of New Pass with the Strube family--Don and Ellie and their two daughters, Emily and Katie. Especially for being so close to shore, the fishing was outstanding, and the Strubes used pinfish to catch and release ten red grouper to 22 ½ inches, including five would-be keepers, had red grouper not just gone out of season a few days prior. But, they were still fun to catch and release. The Strubes still ended up with plenty of eating-fish, with fifteen keeper lane snapper to 17 inches and a few grunts.



Long-time customer, Craig Royal and his family were anxiously watching the weather leading up to their planned offshore trip on Saturday, 10/17. Winds and seas had begun to pick up late Thursday, resulting in predictions for seas of two to four feet, even within 20 miles of shore. Saturday morning, with a 15 knot wind blowing, and a small craft advisory in effect for beyond 20 miles, I left the decision up to the Royal family. They decided to tough it out, so we headed offshore about ten miles, where we experienced steady three-to-four foot seas, so we ventured no further than that. The group, consisting of Craig, his parents, Ron and Janet Royal, his sons, Eric and Dan, and Dan’s fiancé, Michael Barkley, used live shrimp to box twenty keeper lane snapper to 12 inches, along with a keeper mangrove snapper at 13 inches. They released a dozen red grouper to 19 ½ inches and some grunts."