SW FL-Bonita Beach: 150 lb shark, keeper grouper, lanes, flounder

Monday, 5/two, was one more 1 of individuals breezy day, but the wind route created it achievable to at minimum get my celebration of four out to the reefs. Lengthy-time buyers Dennis &amp Jamie Riddell brought Dennis’ brother, Tom, and sister-in-law, Joan, along this time. We utilized reside shrimp to catch 6 great trout to 18 inches, a sixteen-inch flounder, a couple of keeper mangrove snapper, a few Spanish mackerel to 23 inches, and four sheepshead to 13 inches. We released about 25 gag grouper shorts.

Tuesday, I headed back to fish the reefs, this time with Ralph and Kelly Kroll. Seas ended up nonetheless a little sloppy for obtaining out nicely offshore, but the reefs offered us a great deal of action in comparatively calm seas. We used reside shrimp to catch fifteen trout, seven of which had been wonderful keepers, all measuring between 16 and 18 inches. We released 8 that ended up in the 15 to fifteen 1/two inch array. We also caught a few of keeper mangrove snapper, and we released plenty of gag grouper shorts and ladyfish.

Thursday morning, a quite windy one particular, I fished Estero Bay with Chris &amp Barbara Hodgson. We utilized shrimp to catch and release two black drum, two crevalle jacks, and five sheepshead. We also caught two keeper mangrove snapper. The tide was going out most of the morning, with the wind blowing about 18 knots.

Friday, I fished the last of this season’s trips with extended-time client, Ron Musick, joined by Eddie Alfonse, Dick Arnett, and friends, Denzel and Garrett. Eddie caught a keeper red grouper at 21 ½ inches, and the group caught fifteen wonderful lane snapper to fifteen inches. The grouper ate a sardine and the lanes took reside shrimp. We released a 5-foot barracuda, which also ate a sardine and, soon after a challenging battle that practically pulled me and Ron out of the boat, we caught, on a sardine on the bottom, a nurse shark that was 7 ½ feet long and believed at 150 pounds. After we released that one, we referred to as it a day!

Saturday morning, I fished a catch-and-release trip in Estero Bay with Greg Parish and his two sons, Jason and John. We employed shrimp to catch and release two redfish, a snook, and trout.

Tuesday, five/ten, I fished 22 miles west of New Pass with Jeff &amp Tina Slabbekoorn and their kids, nine-year-outdated Zayda and seven-yr-previous Max. We used stay shrimp to catch a 21-inch keeper red grouper, 7 Spanish mackerel to 24 inches, and fifteen keeper lane snapper to thirteen 1/2 inches. We launched about 25 added red grouper that ended up shorts to 19 inches, as nicely as 35 further scaled-down lane snapper.

Wednesday, the S,SW winds manufactured for some sloppier problems offshore, so David Raynondo and Joe Resendes fished in the vicinity of-shore with me, in 18 to 26 feet of drinking water, with dwell shrimp. We caught two keeper sheepshead that measured thirteen inches each, a sixteen-inch sea trout, a 17-inch black drum, a sixteen-inch flounder, and two Spanish mackerel 23 and 24 inches extended. We released a lot of mangrove snapper and gag grouper shorts.

Prolonged -time consumers, brothers, Harry and Grant Kurtz, along with Harry’s daughter, Lindsay, and her boyfriend, Cory, fished with me 22 miles off Naples on Thursday. The wind was up all around fifteen knots, with the seas two to three feet. We stopped at the 1st place in about 43 feet of drinking water, where visibility was about twenty feet. The approach was to catch plenty of fish for dinner and release the rest. We had non-cease action on great lane snapper, but there ended up not many massive ones at that spot so, following an hour or so, we moved a tiny ways, searching for grouper, and identified tons of undersized red grouper and a couple of larger lanes. Cory also caught his initial Spanish mackerel, which was twenty inches extended.

The following time I was scheduled to fish was on Saturday, 5/14, when I had hoped to get offshore with a celebration of 6 that obtained canceled a couple of Saturdays in the past, because of to tough seas. But the weather-front that moved via the area early Saturday had winds and seas kicked up as soon as once again, along with ominous hunting skies threatening rain. We had to cancel that trip, and hope to reschedule for a day that might last but not least give great problems.

The photograph shown is of angler, Joe Resendes, with a 16-inch flounder, caught on shrimp on a current trip (previous week.)