Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported,"Friday, 10/21, I spent the morning fishing the backwaters of south Estero Bay with Keith Foreman and his friends, Ken and Kirsten Bailey. Using live shrimp, the group caught four keeper sheepshead ranging 13 to 16 inches, a 13-inch sand bream, and a 22-inch Spanish mackerel. Spanish mackerel are not typically caught in the bay, but this one must have wandered in. The group also released lots of short mangrove snapper—there was a school of about 150 of those under a tree on one of the mangrove islands. They released three crevalle jacks, all of which were about two pounds, along with a couple of 3-pound stingray.



My planned offshore trip for Saturday, 10/22, was blown out by small craft advisories due to high winds and seas.





Tuesday morning, 10/25, Jeff and Nicole Krajewski fished south Estero Bay’s backwaters with me, using live shrimp. The couple caught seven keeper sheepshead to 15 inches, and release five shorts. They also caught a keeper mangrove snapper at 12 inches, along with a 16-inch black drum.



I spent a windy Wednesday morning, 10/26, fishing Estero Bay with Marie and Bill McSkimming, and their family members, Rose and Michael. Using live shrimp, the group caught four keeper sheepshead to 14 inches, and released five sheepshead shorts, a 17-inch redfish, and two two-pound stingray.



A steady 25-knot wind blew across Estero Bay Thursday morning, 10/27, when I fished the southern end of the bay in as many wind-sheltered spots as I could find, with Doug Strempek and Katherine Braun. The couple caught eighteen sheepshead in all, including eight would-be-keepers to 16 inches, though we released all of them, along with a couple of crevalle jacks. Katherine bragged that she out-fished Doug, but it was a tight contest!



I fished another catch-and-release trip in Estero Bay on Friday morning, 10/28. Mike Henson released five sheepshead to 13 inches and a sand bream, all of which bit on shrimp."

1.) Angler Jamie Fishbeck with a 27-inch redfish, caught on shrimp in Estero Bay on a recent inshore Fishbuster Charter.

2.) Angler Peter Havender with a 17-inch black drum, caught on shrimp in Estero Bay on a recent inshore Fishbuster Charter.