Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported, "Robin Latham and his seven-year-old grandson, Dylan, fished southern Estero Bay with me on Monday morning, 2/18. They used live shrimp to catch sixteen sheepshead, and kept the ten largest of those, all between 14 and 18 inches. They also released four ladyfish, a crevalle jack, and a 17-inch redfish.


Danny and Mary Walter, who fished offshore with me last Tuesday, decided to try some backwater fishing on Tuesday morning, 2/19. The couple did very well using live shrimp to catch nine keeper sheepshead to 18 inches. They released eight smaller ones, along with four ladyfish. They also caught two nice pompano, both about 17 inches.


Roy Mittman, who usually fishes offshore with me, fished southern Estero Bay’s backwaters instead, along with his friend, Rich Borgatti, on Wednesday morning, 2/20. Seas offshore were forecast to be three to four feet, so the bay seemed like a much better option. It proved to be fruitful: The guys used live shrimp to catch fifteen sheepshead, including six keepers to 19 inches. They caught a 17-inch pompano, and they released a 19-inch redfish (due to the current moratorium on harvesting redfish.)


Long-time customers, Craig and Jan Royal, joined by their brother-in-law and his wife, Curt and Barbara Claassen, fished 31 miles offshore with me on Thursday, 2/21. We had a great day—the best offshore day in a while—and the group caught a nice variety of fish. Using shrimp, they caught seven keeper mangrove snapper to 16 inches, along with fifteen yellowtail snapper that included a 14-inch keeper. Using cut-bait, they caught a mess of fifteen grunts, all around 12 inches, one keeper-sized sheepshead, and five nice porgies—unfortunately a shark helped himself to the biggest porgy, leaving us to reel in only its head. The group also caught two keeper porkfish, including the biggest porkfish I have ever seen, at 17 ¼ inches.


Gary Hourselt and his dad, Richard, fished southern Estero Bay’s backwaters with me on Friday morning, 2/22. Using live shrimp, the guys caught a dozen keeper sheepshead, with two of the largest measuring 19 inches. They released eight smaller sheepshead, along with a nearly 19-inch redfish.


Dr. Meir Daller, his wife, Rie, their two sons, Julian and Brenden, and a friend of the boys’, Joey, fished 33 miles west of New Pass with me on Saturday. They used frozen shrimp and squid to catch a brace of 15-inch porgies, a 13-inch mangrove snapper, and a dozen good-size grunts. The winning catch was a 50-inch, 60 pound cobia, which bit on a small grunt. There were three cobia around the boat, and Meir managed to land the largest of the three. We also released an 8-foot sandbar shark."



1.) Angler Rich Henke with an 18-inch redfish, caught on shrimpand released in Estero Bay on a recent inshore Fishbuster Charter.



2.) Angler Beth Wilson with a 19-inch sheeshead, the largest ofeight keeper sheepshead she and her party caught on shrimp in Estero Bay on arecent inshore Fishbuster Charter.