SW FL-Bonita Beach: Nice Gags in 43 feet; Bayside Trout

“No oil—No spoil
Our Beaches are Clean—Our Waters Pristine”

I fished in Estero Bay, in front of New Pass, with Steve and Jolissa Spitzer on Wednesday, the first day of September. We caught and released ladyfish and about twenty trout. We got one keeper trout at 16 inches and a keeper Spanish mackerel at 22 inches. We used live shiners for all.

Skip and Jody Brown had a productive morning of fishing Saturday, 9/4, when we headed out of New Pass in calm seas, to 43 feet. We caught two keeper gag grouper at 23 inches and 29 inches (see photo), the larger one weighing in at ten pounds. We nearly had a third one, but it got caught in the rocks and cut the line. We also got a nice 18-inch hogfish, a keeper yellowtail snapper, grunts, keeper-sized porkfish, and eight keeper whitebone porgies to 14 inches. We released the porkfish and grunts, along with some red grouper shorts.