Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported,"Monday morning, 8/3/15, I headed twenty-two miles offshore with Ron Sticha and his son, Noah. They had planned to go last Thursday, but that day was rained out, so we rescheduled, hoping to beat the PM showers predicted for Monday. Seas would have been calm, but some squalls kicked up in the late morning, making seas rougher, and prompting us to return to the dock a little bit earlier than planned. Still, the guys did well with snapper and grouper. They caught thirty lane snapper on shrimp, ten of which were keepers to 11 inches. They also caught thirteen red grouper, including one keeper at nearly 21 inches. We made it back in ahead of any big rains, but the winds and seas were definitely on the increase.

David and Melanie Yoder fished Estero Bay’s backwaters with me on a catch-and-release trip Tuesday morning, 8/4, which yielded two mangrove snapper, a 17-inch snook, and a 3-pound stingray, caught in spots from Mound Key south to the Imperial River. The recent heavy rains have greatly reduced the salinity in the bay.

Thursday morning, 8/6, I fished the backwaters again, this time with Steve Lynch, on a catch-and-release trip, using live shrimp in lower Hickory Bay. Steve caught a would-be-keeper redfish at 21 inches, and lost one bigger red that pulled off on an oyster bar. He also released a 25-inch black drum, twenty mangrove snapper, including ten would-be-keepers, a 17-inch permit, and a 15-inch crevalle jack."

1.) Angler Brad George with a 27-inch red grouper, caught on a baitfish 28 miles west of New Pass on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.



2.) Young angler Tierman Pepple with a 14-inch permit, caught on shrimp in Estero Bay on a recent inshore Fishbuster Charter.