Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported, "Weather canceled out four consecutive trips, with various combinations of high winds and seas, rain, and low tides. I finally got out fishing again on Tuesday, 3/13, when I fished the backwaters of southern Estero Bay with Tom Schilli, his wife, and their two grandsons Steven and Sonny Barclay. The family used live shrimp to catch and release a dozen sheepshead to 12 inches, four black drum to 14 inches, six mangrove snapper shorts, and a 14-inch sand bream.
Mike Jansen, his son-in-law, Matt Menting, and Matt’s seven-year-old daughter, Lily, fished in Estero Bay with me on Wednesday morning, 3/14, using live shrimp. We had a great morning o sheepshead catching, boxing thirteen keeper sheepshead to 19 inches and releasing a dozen more consisting of shorts and some keepers that weren’t needed. The family also boxed a 17-inch trout, and they released a 17-inch snook, along with a dozen short mangrove snapper.
Mike Jenson and Matt Menting fished with me again on Thursday, 3/15, this time joined by Mike’s son, Chris Jenson, to fish offshore. Seas were choppy early on, but we all knew they would be and we were prepared for the three-to-four foot seas we encountered heading out to 19 miles west of New Pass. Seas calmed down later in the morning, as predicted. The guys used squid and cut-bait to loan up on lane snapper, boxing twenty keepers to 14 inches. They added to the box a 14-inch mangrove snapper, a nice 17-inch mutton snapper, a 14-inch porgy, and a 13-inch grunt. We had to be quick to boat the mutton snapper, since an 8-foot hammerhead shark was in pursuit of it, but we got the mutton safely into the boat. The guys also released five yellowtail shorts, along with a 9-foot sandbar shark.
Ian McKinnon, his son-in-law, Remi Nickel, and Remi’s three young sons, Mark, Luke, and Jack fished 19 miles west of New Pass with me on Friday, 3/16. The kids had fun catching a mess of grunts to 12 inches, and releasing blue runners and short red grouper. But the highlight of the trip was when we caught the hammerhead that I had seen lurking in the area the previous day—he bit on a blue runner on a heavy rig, and we were able to get some good video before releasing him.
St. Patrick’s Day Saturday, I fished from 19 to 23 miles offshore with Darren and Linda Rachman and their friends, Craig and Heather Laudenslager. The group used cut-bait and squid to box twenty grunts to 14 inches, a half-dozen lane snapper to 14 inches, a 15-inch porkfish, and a 13-inch porgy. They released twenty-five red grouper shorts."
1.) Angler Mike McCarthy with a near-20-inch red grouper, caught on cut-bait and released 24 miles west of New Pass on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.
2.) Angler Kristen McCarthy with 17-inch-inch trout, caught on shrimp in southern Estero Bay on a recent inshore Fishbuster Charter.