Tuesday, Mike Lischer and Jeff Heinrich, who had fished the bay with me the earlier Friday, decided to try out an offshore trip. We headed out about 23 miles west of New Pass, wherever we caught and introduced a mess of undersized red and gag grouper ahead of we strike the jackpot with a 25-inch, eleven-pound red grouper, which little bit a pinfish. We also caught about fifty keeper lane snapper, however the men kept only 9 of these, and we launched porgies, grunts, blue runners and a remora.

Thursday morning, 11/17, I fished the backwaters of Estero Bay with Peder Engebretson and Dan Fazendin, employing live shrimp for bait. We caught a 21-inch keeper redfish, two massive black drum, at 26 inches (fifteen pounds) and 29 inches (18 kilos), a fifteen-inch sheepshead, and six mangrove snapper. We unveiled some quick mangs and a couple of crevalle jacks. The guys determined to launch the two big black drum also, as they had ample fish for dinner without having them. So they are out there, waiting to be caught the moment once more!

Saturday early morning, I fished in Estero Bay with Vince Tomlinson, Andrew Steiger, Bob Krough and his son, Ryan Krough. We caught four redfish, two of which were keepers at eighteen 1/2 and 19 one/2 inches. We also caught three keeper sheepshead, all thirteen one/2 to 14 one/2 inches. We released two 18-inch snook, a pufferfish and some ladyfish.

Monday, eleven/21, I headed offshore for a day of fishing with Wayne Bauman and his son-in-law, Mike Lorenz. Fishing was wonderful, about 38 miles west of New Pass, exactly where we obtained into some good grouper. We caught 6 keeper red grouper to 21 ½ inches, making use of spot-tail grunts for bait. We introduced a lot more than a hundred additional red and gag grouper shorts to 19 inches, and we dropped three other massive ones. The relaxation of our catches have been on are living shrimp, and integrated twenty-five keeper lane snapper, all about eleven inches long. The men selected to release all but 5 of those. We also caught a 14 ½ inch triggerfish, and launched lots of more compact triggerfish, along with a mess of massive grunts. The mangrove snapper we caught had been mainly shorts, other than for 1 nice 16-inch mang that we held. We also caught two nice yellowtail snapper at sixteen inches each. Of the thirty keeper-sized whitebone porgies we caught, the men held only the greatest 1, at 17 inches. We also launched four little amberjacks, all about twenty inches. All in all, it was a quite good day of fishing!

Wayne and Mike returned, regardless of sore arms from the prior day’s fishing, to fish with me yet again on Tuesday. We fished in a few of spots 28 miles and 36 miles west of New Pass. We continued to catch a lot of red grouper, and released about fifty of these. Two have been mighty close to keepers at 19 7/8 inches but, when they are that shut, it is safest to release them. We also released 4 gag grouper, all about 21 inches. We caught a 29-inch king mackerel, four keeper yellowtail snapper, four keeper mangrove snapper, and we launched lots of mangrove and yellowttail shorts. We also caught 5 keeper-sized triggerfish, and the guys kept the greatest a single of people, which measured fifteen inches. We also kept 8 out of thirty whitebone porgies, as nicely as a 15-inch sheepshead. We launched two twenty-inch amberjacks and a 70-pound goliath grouper.

Wednesday morning, I fished the islands in Estero Bay on an incoming tide with Tom Zensen, John Hamilton and Greg Bauer. We caught thirteen redfish in all, six of which ended up keepers to 21 1/2 inches. We also caught 3 keeper sheepshead to fifteen inches, and unveiled eight modest crevalle jacks.

After the Thanksgiving Day getaway, I was back in Estero Bay Friday early morning, fishing a catch-and-release excursion with Amy Banks and Andrew Gires. They had prepared to fish offshore, but the rough seas and higher winds dictated in any other case, so we headed to the most wind-sheltered fishing holes in the bay. We did well with redfish, making use of dwell shrimp. We caught 6 of individuals, to 21 inches, along with a fifteen-inch sheepshead. We also unveiled more compact sheepshead, snapper, crevalle jacks, ladyfish, and a stingray.

Winds and seas picked up around the weekend, with small craft advisories offshore. Tough situations are forecast into the middle of the coming week.

The photo proven is of angler, Peder Engebretson, with an eighteen-pound, 29-inch black drum, caught on shrimp in Estero Bay, on a current inshore excursion.
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