Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported, "As if weather hasn’t been enough of a hurdle this season, an outbreak of red tide is also upon us. But, though we passed a few areas that were hit pretty hard, there were others that seemed unaffected when I headed out Tuesday morning, 1/26, to fish with Ron Richardson and Dave Aragon. We fished fifteen miles west of New Pass, where the guys used live shrimp to catch three keeper sheepshead to 18 inches, a 17-inch pompano, and a beauty of a 22-inch mutton snapper. They added to the box twenty keeper lane snapper to 12 inches and ten grunts. They released five red grouper shorts. Ron and Dave had planned to fish inshore the following day on Wednesday morning, but rain curtailed those plans.



Wednesday, it rained all day, and persisted into Thursday, and I canceled both days’ trips. Friday, 1/30, the rains were finally gone, but were followed by windy conditions and rough seas, once again. So, Alan Bronson and son, Wendall, along with family friend, Clyde Balsrud, fished the backwaters of lower Hickory Bay with me. The north wind was chilly, and the temperature dropped from an early morning high of 59 degrees to about 56 degrees while we were out, with a chilly night predicted to follow. But the tide was pretty decent, and the guys used live shrimp to box two trout, 15 ½ inches and 16 ½ inches, as well as three sheepshead, all between 14 and 15 inches, and one keeper mangrove snapper at 11 inches. They released a four-pound stingray, along with some sheepshead shorts.



Saturday morning, seas were much calmer than they had been recently, and I fished offshore 15-20 miles west of New Pass with Darren and Linda Rachman and Darren’s dad, Bob. Ever since the cold front came through, the close-in red grouper bite has diminished, and those fish have likely moved further offshore. We released a few red grouper shorts, but no keepers. The group did well with snapper fishing, though, and boxed a dozen keeper lane snapper to 12 inches, along with eight nice mangrove snapper to 16 inches. They added a few good-sized grunts to the mix, and also released a 14-inch bluefish."