Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported,"Monday morning, 4/17, I headed offshore 22 miles with Sean & Jennifer Ball and family/friends Jared, Jack, Kevin, and another Jack. The group used squid and cut-bait to box thirty keeper lane snapper and to release a dozen red grouper shorts to 18 inches. The dolphins seemed to be everywhere that morning, so we had to pull anchor and change spots several times.

Seas were predicted to be calm on Tuesday morning, 4/18, when I headed offshore with Jack Miller, Leo Walsh, and their friends, Tim and Alan. Though winds were stronger than predicted and seas a little choppy, the guys managed okay, fishing in spots 17 miles and 20 miles from New Pass. They used squid to box a dozen grunts and eleven keeper lane snapper. They released fifteen red grouper shorts.

Bill Bredbenner and his fiancé, Teresa, fished Estero Bay’s backwaters with me on Wednesday morning, 4/19. Conditions were not optimal, with hefty winds, low tides and some muddy waters, but the couple used live shrimp to catch and release mangrove snapper and a crevalle jack.

Seas were choppy again on my offshore trip Thursday morning, 4/20, when I fished 20 miles west of New Pass with Terry O’Neil, his son, and two grandchildren. The family used squid to box fifteen keeper lane snapper and a mess of grunts. They released twenty-one red grouper shorts to 18 inches.

A catch-and-release trip in Estero Bay Friday, 4/21, with Matt Birnie and his young son, Frasier, yielded four sheepshead and a spadefish, caught on live shrimp.

The overcast conditions on Saturday morning, 4/22, seemed to give the inshore fishing a boost. I fished southern Estero Bay’s backwaters with John Abernathy and his son, Ryan, and the pair caught nineteen fish all together, which beat any previous action in the bay recently. Catches, all on live shrimp, included two black drum to 20 inches, an 18-inch whiting, four mangrove snapper shorts, and a dozen sheepshead shorts."

1.) Angler Brad Large with a 23-inch black drum, caught on shrimp in Estero Bay on a recent inshore Fishbuster Charter.


2.) Angler Ben Dwyer with an 18-inch sheepshead, caught on shrimp in Estero Bay on a recent inshore Fishbuster Charter.