Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported,"Estero Bay’s action was a little slow on Monday morning, 4/3. When I fished its southern end with Brad Miller. Brad had hoped to fish offshore, but seas of three-to-five feet in the gulf forced a change of plans. Using live shrimp, Brad caught five mangrove snapper, two sheepshead, and a 3-pound jack crevalle, which he released.

Lee and Karen Bach, joined by friend, Tony Mymo and his son, Anthony, fished southern Estero Bay with me on a windy morning Tuesday, 4/4. The group used live shrimp to catch nine black drum to 24-inches, keeping three of those that were 16 inches, since those are the best size to eat. They released the rest of the drum, along with one sheepshead short and two mangrove snapper shorts.

It was another gusty morning in the backwaters of southern Estero Bay on Wednesday, 4/5, when Leo Walsh and his friend, Jerry, used live shrimp to catch four sheepshead, including two keepers, and released two mangrove snapper shorts and two stingray.

The winds weren’t too much calmer on Thursday morning, 4/6, in southern Estero Bay, and Leeds Hutchinson and son, Bill, had to dodge a couple of rain showers with me, but their catch-and-release trip was productive, with three black drum, a sheepshead, a half-dozen mangrove snapper and 29-inch redfish released, after biting on live shrimp.

On Friday morning, 4/7, when I returned to southern Estero Bay to fish with Ray Ford, his son, Brian, and their friend, Stu, the winds persisted, but from a different direction, which pushed the water out of the bay and made for a very low tide. So the fishing was not as productive as it had been the previous day in favorable tide conditions. The guys caught and released three black drum, two sheepshead, two mangrove snapper, and four spadefish.

Saturday morning, 4/8, I fished the backwaters of Estero Day with Don Parsons, his dad, Bob, and another family member, Alan. The waters were muddy and the tide low, so conditions were not optimal, but the guys used live shrimp to catch and release spadefish, black drum, and crevalle jack."



1.) Angler Jim Danfort with a 25-inch red grouper, caught on squid 23 miles west of New Pass on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.

2.) Angler Amber Swanson with a 25-inch black drum, caught on shrimp in Estero Bay on a recent inshore Fishbuster Charter.