Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported, "Monday morning, 12/5, winds blew pretty hard and it was choppy heading out to twenty miles west of New Pass. But my long-time customers and hardy anglers, Mike Connealy and his son, Clint, didn’t mind a little chop. They used squid to catch sixteen red grouper, including a keeper at 23 inches, along with thirty grunts to 14 inches, of which they kept six, and five porgies to 13 inches, of which they kept two. They also caught a 13-inch margate.

Tuesday, 12/6, I had planned an offshore trip with four guys who were looking forward to it. But Mother Nature threw us a loop, as a front came through, bringing high winds and seas and small craft advisories. The water was pretty much sucked out of the bay with the approach of that front, so fishing good options were pretty much nil, and we cancelled the trip.

By Wednesday morning, 12/7, winds had died down and, though there was a residual swell when I headed offshore that morning, seas were pretty calm, even 27 miles out. Mike Connealy, who had fished with me Monday, fished again, this time with friend, Sherri Scharff. Using baitfish, Sherri landed two keeper red grouper at 21 inches and 23 inches. The anglers also used squid to catch and release 25 additional red grouper that fell short of keeper size, to 18 inches, along with twenty grunts to 14 inches that they chose to release, and one out-of-season triggerfish that measured 14 ½ inches. As for the fish box, along with the two keeper grouper, they added brace of 11-inch keeper lane snapper. We were cut off by big sharks a couple of times, but couldn’t make out what kind they were.



Thursday morning, 12/8, was a drizzly, windy one. I fished the backwaters of south Estero Bay with Paul Farrell and his cousin, Brian. Using live shrimp, the guys caught and released a 28-inch black drum, along with a couple of sheepshead shorts and a mangrove snapper short. There were lots of drum around the boat, but most were being finicky and not biting.

Friday morning, 12/9, another windy one, I fished a catch-and-release trip with Joe Hahn in south Estero Bay, where we released a total of thirty-two fish, including lots of sheepshead, three spade fish, a brace of 18-inch black drum, a mangrove snapper, a 13-inch mutton snapper, a few pufferfish, and a couple of ladyfish. Everything bit on live shrimp."


1.) Angler Patrick Connealy with a 25-inch red grouper, caught on squid 22 miles west of New Pass on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.



2.) Mark Shamroske with a 29-inch black drum, one of eight drum he and his party caught on shrimp in Estero Bay on a recent inshore Fishbuster Charter.