Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported, "Doug Duncan and friends, Eric and Randy, would have liked to battle some goliath grouper on Monday, 10/3. Usually, goliaths are fairly easy to locate, but there were no bites at any of my favorite goliath spots. We finally gave up on goliaths, and fished for snapper, and the guys caught four keeper lanes, along with a few grunts, which all bit on squid.. It was a tough day on the water, with lots of wind and waves, and with lots of small dead fish on the surface about six to seven miles offshore. Fortunately, the wind direction is such that any red tide will likely be blowing out to sea. There has been an outbreak of red tide to our north, around Englewood, and it was thought to be moving toward us.


Kim Fischer took her mother, Shirley Tyson, on an inshore, catch-and-release fishing trip with me on Tuesday, 10/11. Kim and Shirley had originally planned to fish offshore on Monday, but seas were too rough, and I was available Tuesday, so we awaited a possible calming then. That calming never came, however, so we decided to fish inshore on Tuesday. Baited with live shrimp, we fished the south end of Estero Bay, where the ladies caught a 21-inch redfish, three sheepshead to 17 inches, two mangrove snapper, and four stingray that were all about two pounds.

Tony Stinson and friends, Brad and Jackie had planned to fish offshore with me on Wednesday, 10/12, but with winds still howling and small-craft advisories in effect offshore, they traded those plans for some inshore fishing at the south end of Estero Bay. The group used live shrimp to attract an active sheepshead bite. They caught seven keeper sheepshead to 15 inches, and released a half-dozen shorts.

Friday morning, 10/14, Darwin Brown took his young grandson, Trey, fishing in south Estero Bay with me, where live shrimp yielded seven sheepshead including a keeper, along with a keeper mangrove snapper, two short snook, a spadefish, and one short redfish. Something big bit at one point—most likely a black drum—but it cut the knot right at the hook, and got away."