SW FL-Bonita Beach: Good Action–Lots of Hogfish!

Monday, two/21, Don Kennis, his dad, Doug, and his twelve-year-old son, Bradley, fished a catch-and-release journey with me about 18 miles west of New Pass. We introduced a hogfish, thirty mangrove snapper, red grouper, grunts, porkfish and sheepshead. There had been some keepers among the mangs and sheepies, but the Kennis household just wished to fish for sport, even though traveling to from Ohio, so we released all.

Tuesday early morning, Mike Connealy, his sister, Kass, and her husband, Rod, headed out with me in hopes of playing with the goliath grouper for a while, then catching some table-fare. We did hook a few goliaths, but never acquired 1 near adequate to photograph. We moved on and fished in 43 ft with shrimp to catch about sixteen meals-fish, including whitebone porgies, grunts and triggerfish. We introduced mangrove snapper and grouper shorts.

Wednesday early morning, the keeper-sized fish had been a lot more abundant, when I fished with Frank Partee, his son, Mike, and Mike’s wife, Ginger in 43 feet, eighteen miles west of New Pass, even though the fog persisted offshore most of the early morning.. The Partees selected to release every thing except what they essential for dinner, but we caught a nice selection, including a dozen keeper whitebone porgies, all about 14 inches, of which we stored 3, and eight sheepshead, such as 4 keepers, of which we kept the most significant, eighteen inches. We also caught about twenty mangrove snapper and kept one particular that was 13 inches. We introduced a 12-inch hogfish, grouper shorts, grunts, porkfish, triggerfish, and a 20-inch Spanish mackerel.

Thursday, Ron Musick, who fishes with me regularly for the duration of winter-time, introduced his friends, Dick Arnett, Eddie Alfonse, Fred McNeil and Denzel Green, and we headed out about 38 miles to fish with reside shrimp in 70 feet. We brought residence 39 fish, such as 38 significant whitebone porgies to 22 inches and a single 15-inch mangrove snapper. We really caught close to a hundred keeper-sized whitebones, but released all but the greatest of individuals. We also introduced gag and red grouper to twenty inches.

Jim McGrath and Bill Crockett, who fished with me last week, fished with me once again on Friday, two/25. Winds picked up that morning, and seas were a small sloppy so we made the decision to fish in the vicinity of-shore at Could Reef, off Bonita Seashore. We did quite properly, using stay shrimp, and caught twenty-7 keeper-sized sheepshead. The guys kept a dozen of these to 18 ½ inches. We also caught thirty keeper-sized mangrove snapper and kept 10 of individuals to 17 inches. We launched grouper shorts, and we loved steady action the total morning.

With the bite as very good as it was at the reefs on Friday, I headed again out to fish there on Saturday, this time with long-time buyers Lee Larsen and Bud Glazer, and their pals, Joe Kaufman and Alan Bronson. After a couple of minor mishaps on the way out, which incorporated running up on a mud flat in the dense early-early morning fog, then getting a wad of improperly discarded fishing line wrapped about my starboard engine, we ended up doing nicely catching fish. So, other than dropping the shine on my prop and getting to shell out some time unraveling fishing line, which had entirely shut down my starboard engine, it was a good early morning! (Discover to all anglers: Please discard your fishing line appropriately, which signifies not in the water.) Anyway, utilizing live shrimp, we caught 3 keeper hogfish, 13 inches, 16 inches and 17 inches, a keeper triggerfish at 14 inches, nine keeper sheepshead to 17 inches, and 13 keeper mangrove snapper. We launched more compact sheepshead, snappers and grouper-shorts.

Monday early morning, two/28, predictions were for relaxed seas, but the winds picked up to fifteen to 20 knots and there have been three foot seas even at the close to-shore reefs, wherever I fished with Joe and Ursula Padavic. We caught about 20-5 sheepshead, and kept 5 of them that ranged from thirteen to eighteen inches. We also caught two hogfish, including a single keeper at fifteen inches. We launched the shorts, along with a 20-inch Spanish mackerel.

Tuesday, Ron Musick fished with me once more, this time at the in the vicinity of-shore reefs, along with his pals, Eddie Alfonse and Dick Arnett. As soon as again, the bite was on! We caught seventeen keeper mangrove snapper, two hogfish that had been thirteen inches and 16 inches, three keeper Spanish mackerel, and about forty sheepshead, of which we stored 10 to 15 inches. We also caught a mess of grunts, and we launched grouper shorts.

I suspected that Tuesday would be the previous day this week for relaxed seas, as rain ushered in a windy cool-front late Tuesday. Confident adequate, there were tiny-craft cautions issued for Wednesday morning, and seas have been creating to three-to-5 feet offshore. Ross McDonald, his son Gary, his eight-12 months-outdated grandson, Evan, and his 10-12 months-old grandson, Ethan, had planned a early morning of offshore fishing. Once advised of problems, we changed that prepare and, instead, fished in Estero Bay. The boys caught a lot of sheepshead, most of them launched, but we did get two keepers at 14 ¾ inches and fifteen ½ inches. We also obtained a fifteen-inch flounder, which we kept, and we released a 5-pound crevalle jack.

Jim McGrath and Bill Crockett, who fished offshore with me a few occasions over the previous several weeks, also had to trade their offshore plans for backwater fishing on Thursday, with strong winds and tough seas keeping us inshore. We utilised stay shrimp to catch two keeper trout at 19 inches and a6 inches, and we released sheepshead-shorts and ladyfish…oh, and Bill wanted to be confident I gave him credit score for his “back-bay, garbage-can slam,” which integrated a catfish, a stingray, a ladyfish and a crevalle jack!

Rough conditions persisted Friday and Saturday and I had to cancel my offshore fishing trips these days.

The photo proven is of angler, Ron Musick, with a 22-inch whitebone porgy, caught on shrimp, on an offshore journey two/24/11.