Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported, "Ryan Hall, Matt Hoffman, Greg Wetzel, and Tom Brackmann headed 25 miles offshore with me on Monday, 6/8, hoping to catch some grouper. The guys did well, catching twenty-eight red grouper in all, three of which were keepers at 24 inches each. Those larger grouper bit on bait-fish, while live shrimp lured some smaller ones, along with grunts, porgies, lane snapper and yellowtail snapper. The guys added one nice-sized lane to the fish box, and released the rest, along with two 40-inch sharp-nose sharks.

Tuesday, 6/9, Adam Bennett and son, Max, fished offshore with me in spots ranging from 23 to 29 miles west of New Pass. We used bait-fish to catch three keeper red grouper that were all around 21 inches, and a slightly smaller keeper at 20 ½ inches bit on a live shrimp. In addition to the four keepers, the guys caught thirty red grouper shorts, which they released. They added a dozen keeper lane snapper to the fish box. They released a 30-inch sharp-nose shark, two goliath grouper, one about 25 pounds and one just under 200 pounds, as well as a 15-inch triggerfish, fifteen yellowtail snapper shorts, ten mangrove snapper shorts, and a few grunts.


Seas were rougher than predicted Saturday morning, 6/13, when I headed out with Joe Hogue, his son Adam, and brother-in-law, Dave. We braved the seas to get out twenty miles from New Pass. The guys caught a 23-inch, keeper red grouper on a baitfish, and released twenty-five red grouper shorts. Using shrimp, they added a few more fish to the box, including eight 15-inch porgies, a dozen keeper lane snapper to 12 inches, nine 11-13-inch grunts, and a nice hogfish at 18 inches."

1.) Angler Justin Padgett with a 23-inch red grouper, caught on shrimp 26 miles west of New Pass on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.


2.) Angler Mike Boden with a 19 1/2-inch redfish, one of two keeper reds he caught on shrimp in Estero Bay on a recent inshore Fishbuster Charter.