SW FL-Bonita Beach: Reefs-27 inch Gag & Nice Snapper; Bay Reds & Sheepshead

After a little time away in the relatively cool N.C. mountains, I resumed fishing this Saturday, 7/26. I fished 14 to 17 miles west of New Pass with Marty Kimball and his three young daughters, Haley, Cheyeynne and Michaela. The girls had a lot of fun using live shrimp to catch and release a bunch of big ladyfish to 30 inches. We also caught a keeper lane snapper and released a few mutton snapper that were just short of keeper size, red grouper to 19 inches, gag grouper shorts, grunts and porgies.

Monday morning brought rain and I had to delay by about an hour and a half my fishing excursion with Deitnar and Andrea Binkowska, daughter Anna-Lena and young son, David. The Binkowskas were visiting from Germany and one thing David definitely wanted to do on his visit was to go fishing in the Gulf. We waited for the first round of storms to pass and there appeared to be a window for us to get some fishing done, but the weather was unsettled all morning and we couldn’t help but encounter a little more rain. Still, the group had fun at the reefs, about six miles offshore, fishing with live shrimp. We caught ten keeper mangrove snapper to 12 inches and released lots of red and gag grouper shorts. David also got to feel a few big fish on the line, but they broke off before he could reel them in.

Tuesday was another unsettled day so I stayed close-in again when I fished with Doug Grieble, his eight-year-old daughter, Cera, and Dennis Baker and his three children, Rhys, Logan and Seth. Cera managed, with a little help, to pull in a 27 inch gag grouper, definitely the catch of the day! (see photo) The group also caught ten nice mangrove snapper to 14 ½ inches, along with some grunts. We released four gag shorts, as well as three goliath grouper to about 35 pounds. We used shrimp for all except for the goliaths, which were caught on blue runners.

I had a good morning of inshore fishing Wednesday with Chris Columbo and son, Matt and Mark Tagano and son, Anthony. We fished with live shrimp in central Estero Bay. Chris caught a 24 inch redfish, then lost a larger one when it wrapped around the anchor line right by the boat. His young son, Matt, outdid him by half an inch with a 24 ½ inch red, and he also caught a 17 inch black drum. Anthony caught a big sheepshead at 19 inches, along with one smaller one, and Mark landed a half dozen keeper mangrove snapper.

Thursday, Jose Garcia and family and friends fished 17 miles west of New Pass with me. We did well with snapper and caught fourteen mangrove snapper to 15 inches, two keeper lane snapper and seven yellowtail snapper to 16 inches. We also caught two large grunts and released small snapper, gag grouper shorts and a twenty-pound goliath grouper.