SW FL-Bonita Beach: Gulf & Bay report

The bay was good fishing on Friday morning, 9/4, when I fished a catch-and-release trip with father-son anglers Dennis and Mike Page. Mike hooked a bull red at the edge of the trees and fought that until it broke free in the mangrove roots. We also caught and released eleven keeper-sized trout to 16 inches, two sheepshead at 14 inches and 18 inches, and fifteen keeper-sized mangrove snapper to 15 inches. We fished with shrimp under the edges of the mangrove trees, and used popping corks on the flat for the trout.

Monday, 9/14, I fished in 38 feet, 18 miles offshore from New Pass, with Dennis and Jamie Riddel and their friends. We were lucky with hogfish—caught five of those, three of which were keepers to 16 inches. The Riddels will definitely be eating well! We also caught some keeper Spanish mackerel, nice whitebone porgies and grunts, which are good to eat too, but hogfish have a way of making everything else seem unworthy! We caught keeper yellowtail, but released a bunch more of those that were just short of the 12-inch legal size, along with four mutton snapper at 15 1/2 inches, also just shy of keeper-size, triggerfish, and red and gag grouper shorts.

Tuesday, 9/15, I headed out of New Pass again to about 18 miles, with Doug Sapp and his two friends, one also named Doug and the other, Brian. Brian released two goliath grouper, one of which was 5 foot long and quite a monster to fight. The other was a small one at about 15 pounds. We also caught keeper Spanish mackerel and whitebone porgies. There were lots of big ladyfish around, which were a nuisance, so we had to move several times.

The photo shown is of angler, Robert Deering, with a 15-inch hogfish, caught on shrimp on a recent offshore trip.