Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported, "Monday and Tuesday, 1/18 and 1/19/16, began just as the preceding week had begun, that is, with a cold front that brought high winds and seas, along with some cold temperatures. The two offshore trips I had planned for those days had to be canceled.

Wednesday, 1/20, it was still pretty breezy, but winds were forecast to decrease, and seas were calmer, with two-to-three feet predicted. I headed offshore for a full day of fishing with Dale Beckett and Dave Frantz. Seas were rough first thing, but subsided as the day progressed, and we fished in spots from 18 to 24 miles west of New Pass. The guys caught a nice variety, including a 22-inch keeper red grouper, a brace of 23-inch gag grouper (released), ten keeper mangrove snapper ranging 13 to 19 inches, fifteen keeper lane snapper to 12 inches, a brace of 14-inch porgies, some nice grunts to 16 inches, a 13-inch hogfish, and three keeper sheepshead to 19 inches. They released a few short red grouper, smaller grunts, a 16-inch white margate, and a 13-inch mutton snapper short. The grouper bit on baitfish, and everything else was caught on live shrimp.

Ron Musick and Eddie Alfonso fished offshore with me Thursday, 1/21, in spots ranging 20 to 26 miles west of New Pass. The red grouper were biting, but they were shorts right up to the 20-inch mark, and had to be released. When a fish measures exactly at its lower limit, it is best to release it, since shrinkage will cause it to be under legal size, once placed in the fish box. We would have been in luck for gag grouper, if only they were in season, but they are not. So we released five would-be-keeper gags to 29 inches. All the grouper bit on baitfish. Using live shrimp, we fished for snapper and other bottom varieties, and we boxed six porgies to 15 inches, fifteen lane snapper all 12-13 inches, and a few grunts."