SW FL-Bonita Beach: Mostly Bay with a bit of Gulf mixed in

Tuesday, 4/13, the wind was howling through the tree-lines of Estero Bay, where I fished the backwaters with Richard Kostrcewa and his son, Stephan. We used live shrimp to catch and release nine sheepshead, a mangrove snapper and two crevalle jacks.

Wednesday was another windy morning in Estero Bay, where I fished with long-time customers Ed and Margie Bock. We caught a trio of keeper trout at 16 inches, 17 inches and 19 inches, and we released lots of crevalle jacks.

Thursday, the seas were too rough for my gulf trip, planned on a customer’s boat, so I cancelled that and got my newly re-powered offshore boat in order.

I fished offshore in 45 feet and sloppy seas Friday with Larry Kurlander and friends, Dave and Don. We caught keeper mangrove snapper to 18 inches, a 20-inch sheepshead, and whitebone porgies. We released smaller snapper, triggerfish to 13 ½ inches and grunts.

Saturday morning, I fished a catch-and-release trip with Harry Stevenson and son, Mark, in 45 feet out of New Pass. We released mangrove snapper, porgies, and gag and red grouper to 20 inches.

Monday morning, 4/19, after a Sunday that dumped nearly four inches of rain in our area, I fished in Estero Bay with Don and Rayelynn Welk and nephew, Dillon. We caught four keeper trout to 16 inches and released small sheepshead, crevalle jacks and ladyfish, all caught on shrimp.

Tuesday, I headed offshore about 38 miles with frequent customer, Ron Musick, along with his friends, Eddie Alfonso, Steve and Frith. We used live shrimp and had a nice variety of catches, including a 24-inch gag grouper. We also caught a 21 1/2 inch gag, but he was a half-inch too short to keep so we released that one. We also released a red grouper that was a half-inch too short at 19 1/2 inches. We caught a half dozen nice mangrove snapper, ranging from 15 to 19 inches, a 13-inch porkfish, and a half dozen whitebone porgies that were 14-to15-inches. We released a 30-inch cobia, short triggerfish, and grunts, along with a big remora.

Ray Reeber and son, Steve, fished Estero Bay with me on Thursday morning, where we caught eight keeper-sized Spanish mackerel, a keeper mangrove snapper, and two big stingrays. We released four of the mackerel, along with the stingrays.

Tom and Karen Gartland and son, Danny, fished for trout with me in Estero Bay Friday morning, using live shrimp. We caught five keepers to 16 inches and also caught two keeper sheepshead, each 14 inches. We released two Spanish mackerel and some ladyfish.

Norm & Pete Ayres had rescheduled their gulf trip several times this winter, due to weather. They planned to fish with me Saturday morning. Winds had picked up overnight, but seas were predicted to be 2-4 feet out to twenty miles, so we gave it a shot. Before we were even out of the pass, we were looking at 4 and 5 foot seas, so we ended up bagging the trip and returning to the dock.

Monday morning, 4/26, brought some pretty violent thunderstorms for a couple of hours, with rain, winds and high seas persisting even after the worst was over. I remained in port. I did so on Tuesday also, with no trip scheduled, as our peak-season draws to a close.

The first photo shown is of angler, Sidney Minnis, with an 18” mangrove snapper, caught on shrimp on a recent offshore trip.

The secondphoto shown is of young angler, Ben Loverude, with an 18”trout, caught on shrimp on a recent inshore trip.