• South West Florida Fishing Report - FL

    Fishbuster Charters
    (239) 947-1688 http://fishbustercharters.com/Index.html fishbuster@comcast.net
  • Captain Dave Hanson is a native of southwest Florida. He has been fishing local waters since childhood, and has been fishing professionally for over fifteen years. He is Coast Guard licensed, and is a member in good standing of the Bonita Springs Chamber of Commerce. He has been quoted and featured in several national fishing magazines, and he also appears weekly in the fishing reports sections of the local paper.

  • South West Florida Fishing Report - FL

    Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported, "Calm seas—what a treat and a novelty! Monday, 4/2, I headed offshore 22 miles west of New Pass with Bob Bockhorst and Don, Kevin and Kristen Leesman. The family used squid and cut-bait to land twenty nice keeper lane snapper to 15 inches, and a few 13-to-14-inch grunts. They released a 14-inch triggerfish and 27 red grouper shorts to 18 inches.


    Seas were still calm on Tuesday, 4/3, when I headed out 35 miles with Paul Russell, Jeff Hoffman Sr., and Jeff’s sons, Jeff Hoffman Jr. and Dylan. Using squid, cut-bait and bait-fish, the guys did great with snapper, boxing fifteen lane snapper to 16 inches, a 13-inch mangrove snapper, and two dozen vermillion snapper. They added to the box fifteen keeper porgies, and they released four short mangrove snapper, thirteen yellowtail shorts, five banded rudder fish that were all about 20 inches, and thirty-two red grouper shorts to 18 inches. They also battled a five-foot goliath grouper that they photographed and released boat-side.


    Frequent customer, Mike Connealy, and his son, Brett, fished 15 and 19 miles offshore with me on Wednesday, 4/4/18. They wanted to tackle a goliath, so we headed to one of my goliath spots, hooked a blue runner to use as bait on a heavy rig, and reeled in a 90-pound goliath, which we photographed and released boat-side. After leaving that spot, we used squid to catch a 13-inch mangrove snapper and a trio of 14-inch grunts. Mike also caught an unusual snapper—an 11-inch schoolmaster snapper, which we also photographed and released.


    Winds and seas increased on Thursday, 4/5, but it was still tolerable for Roy Mittman and his son, Zach. They used cut-bait and squid to catch four keeper lane snapper and15 grunts all about 12 inches. They released two mangrove snapper shorts and a half-dozen red grouper shorts.


    On Friday, 4/6, seas were actually a little calmer than predicted, and I was able to get out 22 miles from New Pass with Ashton Lockhart and his young daughter, Barrett, along with David Clayton and his young daughter, Baylee, and another friend, Paul. The group used cut-bait and squid to box twenty-one keeper-sized lanes to 16 inches, along with a couple of grunts, out of the eight they caught. They released twelve red grouper shorts.


    Winds picked up dramatically on Saturday, 4/7, and I fished inshore in southern Estero Bay with Aaron Mead and his friend, Brett. They had a plane to catch after their fishing trip, and had no need for keeping fish, so we released two sheepshead measuring 15 inches and 17 inches, along with a half-dozen small

    1.) Angler Chris Jansen with a 17-inch mutton snapper, caught on squid and released 24 miles west of New Pass on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.



    2.) Angler Matt Menting with a 19-inch-inch sheepshead, caught on shrimp in Estero Bay on a recent inshore Fishbuster Charter.

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