Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported, "Long-time customer, Jeff Heinrich, was scheduled to fish offshore for a full day on Monday, 6/6, but the tropical depression making its way toward Florida was due to arrive on Monday, and to bring rainy weather and rough conditions for much of the week. We tried our best to beat all that by fishing on Sunday, 6/5, when Jeff was joined by his young daughter, Maddie, and by Jeff’s brother, Scott, and his young daughter, Lacey. NOAA had predicted two-foot seas within 20 miles of shore, and two-to-four foot seas beyond 20 miles. We ventured out 20 miles from New Pass, and we encountered three-to-four footers, with a steady 15-20 knot wind. So, we ventured no further than 20 miles. Using live shrimp, the family caught and released fifteen red grouper to 19 7/8 inches, just shy of keeper-size. They did get some fish to eat, though, with a total of twenty lane snapper keepers, one 13-inch keeper mangrove snapper, and a few grunts. They released several yellowtail snapper shorts. About 11AM, rain could be seen over the gulf, and we knew we had to start toward shore, a bit shy of a half-day excursion and nowhere close to the full-day excursion originally planned. Sometimes, Mother Nature throws a wrench into the works. But, at least the family had some fun catching, and will have a couple of fresh fish dinners during their stay.

After that trip, there was nothing but rain and stormy weather for nearly a week. I finally got out fishing again on Saturday morning, 6/11, and headed 23 miles offshore with Darren Rachman, Mike Saxinger, and Mike’s dad, Jere Saxinger. We caught baitfish for grouper fishing, and used live shrimp for everything else. The group caught lots of red grouper, including one keeper at 21 inches. They caught a total of 24 keeper lane snapper to 18 inches, along with a 22-inch Spanish mackerel. They released a triggerfish, as well as four sharpnose shark that were all about 35 inches."

1.) Angler Jim Dean battled and released this estimated 400-pound goliath grouper, caught on a crevalle jack 20 miles west of New Pass on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter. This protected species must be released while submerged.



2.) Angler Christian LeClerc with a 19-inch hog snapper (hogfish) caught on shrimp 22 miles west of New Pass on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.