Dave Hanson

Terry Mooney and friends fished with me Wednesday, in about 40 feet out of New Pass, using live shrimp. We caught five nice yellowtail snapper, four keeper lane snapper, several 25 inch Spanish mackerel, and some whitebone and jolthead porgies. We released everything except the snapper.

Friday, I had a good morning offshore with Brian Wilson, Bob Twiss, Mike Twiss, and Dan True. We headed out of New Pass to about 40 feet, with a bait well full of live shrimp. We caught ten nice yellowtail, all between 14 and 16 inches, and we released two shorts. We also caught two keeper lane snapper, a 12 inch and a 14 inch. We released porgies, Spanish mackerel to 27 inches, and two bull sharks, one 40 inches and one 4 foot. We were broken off a couple times by something big, which might have been another shark—All in all, it was a pretty busy and exciting morning.

Saturday I spent a very windy morning on Estero Bay with father and son anglers Paul & Stephen Eckstrom. We fished with live shrimp, along the channels, sheltered from the wind as much as possible. We caught five keeper sheepshead, all around 14 inches, two sand bream and a keeper mangrove snapper. We released a 17 inch snook and a 17 inch redfish.

The photo shown is of angler Larry Kavulich, with a 50 pound goliath grouper, released on a recent offshore trip.

Fish Species: yellowtail, lane, mangs, Spanish mackerel, shark, sheepshead,
Bait Used: live shrimp
Tackle Used: light spinning
Method Used: bottom fishing
Water Depth: 30-40 feet
Water Temperature: 82
Wind Direction: S, SW
Wind Speed: 10-15 knots
50 lb. goliath grouper released from Bonita Beach
50 lb. goliath grouper released from Bonita Beach


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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