Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported, "Monday morning, 1/22, I fished 22 miles west of New Pass with Frank Dwyer and his son-in-law, Ryan. The guys used cut-bait and squid to catch and release twenty-six red grouper shorts, and to cull ten keeper lane snapper to 13 inches, along with a half-dozen 13 to 14-inch grunts.
Tuesday morning, 1/23, I headed out in a light drizzle with Drew VanWerden and his two young sons. Seas were calm, and we headed out 22 miles, but the rain persisted, at one point turning into a heavy shower. We had enough wet-weather gear to keep us dry, and the boys didn’t mind fishing in the rain and in the fog that followed. They used squid and cut-bait to catch and release a 17-inch cobia, twenty-one red grouper shorts to 18 inches, and lots of grunts to 12 inches. The lane snapper were biting well, and the guys caught twenty-seven keeper lanes to 13-inches.
Winds picked up ahead of another cool front moving into the area, and that produced some choppy sea conditions on Wednesday, 1/24. But, long-time customers and hardy father-son anglers Larry and Chris Baumgartner weren’t intimidated! They fished 22 miles west of New Pass with me in a stiff 20-to-25 knot wind most of the morning, and used squid and cut-bait to catch a variety of fish. They lost one big grouper that swam to the bottom and cut the line, and they released red grouper shorts, an 18-inch gag grouper, and a 14-inch scamp grouper. They also caught five mangrove snapper, three of which were keepers ranging 13 inches to 15 inches. They caught over twenty grunts, and boxed a few of the largest of those, along with four porgies in the 13-to-14-inch range.
Frequent customer Mike Connealy and his son, Clint, had to trade their offshore plans for some inshore, catch-and-release fishing on a very windy Friday morning, 1/26. There were small craft advisories offshore, and even the bay presented some challenges in a relentless wind of about 25 knots. The guys used live shrimp to catch and release thirteen sheepshead to 13 inches, two crevalle jacks that were each about 12 inches, and a 15-inch black drum."
1.) Angler Mark Venturin with a near-20-inch red grouper, caught on squid and released 23 miles west of New Pass on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.
2.) Young angler Jack Pammer with an 16-inch sheepshead, caught on shrimp in Estero Bay on a recent inshore Fishbuster Charter.