Dave Hanson

This week was a good one for snapper of all varieties. Terry Mooney, Mike Franklin, Bob Myers and Jim Schultz fished with me Monday in 45 feet straight out of New Pass. We did well with snapper. We caught two 14 inch yellowtails and twenty mangrove snapper to 15 inches. We also caught triggerfish and porkfish and released three short hogfish and gag grouper shorts. As we were reeling in one of the mangrove snapper, with a light spinning rod and no steel leader, a 4 foot barracuda bit the snapper and ended up hooking himself in the lip. We managed to get the cuda to the boat without breaking the line, photographed and released it.

Mike and Sandy Chandler fished with me Tuesday morning when seas were predicted to be two foot. In actuality, we had 3-4 foot seas and sloppy conditions in 45 feet out of New Pass, with a steady fifteen knot wind. But, the fishing was good, which compensated us for the rough seas. We caught a dozen nice mangrove snapper to 16 inches, a keeper mutton snapper at 17 inches (see photo), a 13 inch hogfish and some whitebone porgies. We released smaller yellowtail and muttons, triggerfish, and a 15 pound goliath grouper. All were caught on shrimp, except for the goliath who ate a grunt as we were reeling it in.

The tropical weather system off our coast kicked up seas to 4-6 feet by Thursday, and I had to cancel my final trip for this week.

Fish Species: snapper, hogfish, barracuda
Bait Used: live shrimp
Tackle Used: light spinning
Method Used: bottom fishing
Water Depth: 30-45 feet
Water Temperature: 91
Wind Direction: S, SE
Wind Speed: 10-15 knots
17 inch mutton snapper on shrimp
17 inch mutton snapper on shrimp


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Dave Hanson

About The Author: Captain Dave Hanson

Company: Fish Buster Charters

Area Reporting: Bonita Beach

Bio: Captain Dave Hanson is a native of southwest Florida. He has been fishing local waters since childhood, and has been fishing professionally for over fifteen years. He is Coast Guard licensed, and is a member in good standing of the Bonita Springs Chamber of Commerce. He has been featured in several national fishing magazines, and he also appears weekly in the fishing reports sections of the Bonita, Ft. Myers, Ft. Myers Beach, and Naples, FL newspapers.

239-947-1688
Click Here For Past Fishing Reports by Captain Dave Hanson