Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported, "There was no getting offshore for a couple of days at the beginning of this week, with small craft advisories in effect. I cancelled my offshore trip for Monday, 5/4, and was able to reschedule my Tuesday trip for Wednesday, 5/6, when seas finally calmed down and were actually nearly smooth, 22 miles west of New Pass, where I fished with brothers Tom and David Duval and their wives, Kate and Bev. The group did well using live shrimp. They boxed six keeper lane snapper to 14 inches, four keeper mangrove snapper to 14 inches, three porgies to 15 inches, and a 22-inch keeper red grouper. They released four mangrove snapper shorts, along with twenty red grouper shorts to 19 ½ inches, within a half-inch of keeper-size.

Angler Harry Easom with an 18-inch sheepshead, caught on shrimp in Estero Bay on a recent inshore Fishbuster Charter.



Angler Sean Montellese with a 22-inch red grouper, one of two keeper red grouper caught on shrimp 26 miles west of New Pass on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.


Thursday morning, 5/7, was another nice one offshore, where I fished 20 miles west of New Pass with Don and Kathy Balas and their friends, Richard and Louise Guimond. Using live shrimp, the couples landed fifteen keeper lane snapper, a half dozen keeper porgies to 14 inches, an 18-inch Spanish mackerel, and a keeper red grouper measuring 21 ½ inches. They released twenty-five additional red grouper that were shorts.
Friday morning, 5/8, I fished 21 miles offshore with Jim Jenkins, father-son team David & Eric Ewing, and Ken Fiedler. The group caught a lot of fish, including two keeper red grouper at 20 inches and 22 inches, the larger of them biting on a bait-fish, and the smaller on a live shrimp. The guys also used shrimp to catch and release twenty-eight red grouper shorts to 19 1/2 inches. They boxed twenty keeper lane snapper and released an equal number of lane shorts, along with a half-dozen mangrove snapper shorts. They topped off the fish box with two keeper porgies, and released four porgy shorts.
This Mothers' Day weekend is reserved for family events. I will be back on the water Monday morning!"