Fishbuster Charters' Captain Dave Hanson reported, "The winds that had been blowing hard for the past several days continued into and 3/7, with gusts still at 20 knots and seas offshore still too choppy for my fishing party, Shawn Enoch and his parents, Janie and Monty. So we fished south Estero Bay’s backwaters instead of heading offshore. The group caught two sand bream, five sheepshead that included one keeper at 13 inches, and a half-dozen black drum short, all on live shrimp.

Seas were calm Wednesday but, unfortunately, my fishing client for that day took ill, and we had to cancel the trip. Thursday, 3/9, seas were still calm, though they picked up in the afternoon, while I fished 26 miles west of New Pass with Ken Spaulding and his friends, Dave, DeeDee, Lee, and Wayne. The group caught and released over thirty red grouper up to 19 7/8 inches, just 1/8 inch short of keeper size. But, even if not keepers, they had fun reeling them in on light tackle. As for food-fish, the lane snapper were biting like crazy, and the group boxed thirty of 70-plus keeper-sized lanes. They added a few nice grunts to the fish box for some variety. We used squid and cut-bait.

Friday morning, 3/10, calm seas greeted us once again, and I headed offshore 22 miles with Pat Dombrovski and his son, Noah. The guys used cut-bait and squid to catch two keeper red grouper at 21 inches and 22 inches, and released a dozen red grouper shorts.

They also caught twenty-five keeper lane snapper to 14 inches and a half-dozen grunts. They released a 15-inch, out-of-season triggerfish.


1.) Young angler Maddie Heinrich with a 23-inch red grouper, caught on squid 29 miles west of New Pass on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.



2.) Young angler Tanner Heinrich, Maddie's brother, with a 21-inch red grouper, caught on squid 29 miles west of New Pass on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.