Browse Recent Bonita Beach Florida Fishing Reports

Another tuna! Kingfish, shark, snapper, gag by Dave Hanson (5/05/2007)
Caught a third blackfin tuna within a week--unusual for around here. Also got a kingfish or two, a 7' bull shark, grouper & snapper.

Two 28 lb. blackfin tuna made my day! by Dave Hanson (4/28/2007)
I never caught a tuna before, but this week we got two. Fishing was good all week, but Tuesday was the best!

5' blacktip shark, lanes, mangs, yellowtail, red, sheepies: SW FL-Bonita Beach by Dave Hanson (4/21/2007)
Winds have been relentless, but we managed a few offshore trips and a few bayside.

SW FL-Bonita Beach: Near-shore Spanish, Pompano, Then The Seas by Dave Hanson (4/07/2007)
Before the rough seas set in, pompano and Spanish mackerel were plentiful at the near-shore reefs this week.

2 little kings-waiting for big daddy-Spanish bite hot by Dave Hanson (3/31/2007)
I finally found two small kingfish this week, but they were just a tease. I am hearing reports of some kings further out now. Meanwhile, the Spanish are everywhere.

SW FL-Bonita Beach: snook, redfish, sheepshead, Spanish, goliaths by Dave Hanson (3/24/2007)
A couple of days mid week were blown out by weather, but the rest of the week was productive for sheepshead, mackerel, and a couple of snook and redfish.

Sheepshead everywhere! Spanish too-where's the kings? by Dave Hanson (3/16/2007)
Great sheepshead fishing this week, inside and offshore--also snapper, Spanish, redfish, snook

Gulf & Bay Productive Fishing In Bonita Beach Area by Dave Hanson (3/10/2007)
Large sheepshead were the best bet offshore, with smaller ones inshore, along with whiting and snapper.

SW FL-Bonita Beach: Winter Sheephead Bite Strong by Dave Hanson (3/03/2007)
The sheepshead were bigger and plentiful this week, with nice ones to 22 inches.

30 Pound Plus Black Drum Caught by Dave Hanson (2/24/2007)
Good fishing this week, with a big black drum, bigger sheepshead moving in to the cool waters, snapper and trout.

Bonita beach, FL-Bluefish, sheepshead, trout, snapper by Dave Hanson (2/17/2007)
Winds and seas kept me inshore this week, where we caught trout, bluefish, and sheepshead.

Bay Was Good For Trout by Dave Hanson (2/10/2007)
The bay was good for trout on a decent tide; offshore, the snapper bite slowed with the cold front.

SW FL-Bonita Beach: 26 inch gag grouper, 17 inch snappers, Spanish by Dave Hanson (2/02/2007)
Cold fronts with high winds and seas made it tough this week, but on the good days, the grouper and snapper catches were nice.

Gulf Snapper Fishing and Reds In The bay by Dave Hanson (1/27/2007)
Nice gulf snapper to 17 inches this week,with reds in the bay, and sheepshead both gulf and bay. Saturday morning, 1/20, when I headed offshore with Chris & Yvette Worthington, their young sons Hunter and Peyton, and Yvette's parents, there were rough seas offshore that had not yet calmed to the two foot predicted. We stayed in close for a while in about 30 feet, and caught some keeper mangrove snapper...

SW FL-Bonita Beach: Keeper Gag Grouper to 26 inches by Dave Hanson (1/19/2007)
Good fishing for grouper and snapper this week, when the seas allowed.

Bigger Mangrove Snapper by Dave Hanson (1/13/2007)
High seas cancelled out several trips this week, but the snapper bite was good about 28 miles out. Saturday, 1/6, I fished in 38 feet out of New Pass with Dean Stanton and son, Dean, Jr. The bite was kind of slow, but we caught some keeper (14 inch) mangrove snapper, Spanish mackerel, porgies and triggerfish.

Good Size Mangrove Snapper In Cooler Gulf by Dave Hanson (1/05/2007)
Good-sized mangrove snapper are moving into the cooler Gulf now. After some family time to bring in the new year, I headed offshore again on Tuesday, Fishing with brothers Mark and Tony Kapala in 35 feet out of New Pass with live shrimp, we encountered some four foot seas early in the day, but they calmed to two to three's after a while. We caught seven keeper mangrove snapper to 15 12 inches, keeper sheepshead, Spanish mackerel to 22 inches, and whitebone porgies. We released gag and red grouper shorts.

SW FL-Bonita Beach: gags bigger this week, snapper, sheepshead by Dave Hanson (12/30/2006)
Fishing was good this week for nice-sized mangrove snapper, and the grouper shorts are getting bigger, at least.

SW FL-Bonita Beach: more hogs & sheep, snapper by Dave Hanson (12/23/2006)
Hogfish, sheepshead and snapper predominated offshore this week, when it was calm enough to get out.

SW FL-Bonita Beach: 175 lb. goliath, gag, hogfish, snapper, sheepshead by Dave Hanson (12/16/2006)
Offshore fishing was good this week, with the first keeper gag grouper I have seen in a while. After a blustery weekend, that caused me to cancel my offshore trips, I headed to the artificial reefs on Monday with John Maliszewski and friends, Phil, Russ, and Irv. Seas were decreased to 2-3 feet most of the day, although there was still a pretty stiff wind blowing. We caught keeper mangrove snapper and a half dozen nice triggerfish, and released short gag and red grouper.

SW FL-Bonita Beach: flounder, sheepies, reds, snappertriggers, goliath by Dave Hanson (12/08/2006)
I fished inshore and offshore this week, with a good variety of catches before the cold front arrived.

SW FL-Bonita Beach: pompano, sheepshead, snapper by Dave Hanson (12/02/2006)
One bay trip and one offshore trip yielded decent catches this week. Tuesday, I fished in Estero Bay with Pat Cahil, girlfriend Debbie Szymski, and Debbie's uncle, Reno Bracci. We used live shrimp, fishing down toward Wiggins Pass, and caught three pompano and keeper sheepshead. We released smaller sheepshead.

SW FL-Bonita Beach: redfish, sheepshead, snapper, trout by Dave Hanson (11/25/2006)
With rough conditions offshore, I fished bayside this week, for redfish, sheepshead, snapper, and trout.

4 Snapper Caught On One Eel! by Dave Hanson (11/18/2006)
The winds howled and the seas built most of this week, but Saturday was good for lanes, mangrove snapper, and Spanish.

SW FL-Bonita Beach: snapper, goliaths, red grouper, Spanish by Dave Hanson (11/11/2006)
I fished offshore twice, when the winds and seas subsided, and once in the backwaters on an outgoing tide.

SW FL-Bonita Beach: hogfish, yellowtail, scamp by Dave Hanson (10/27/2006)
I fished offshore this week, and had good success with a variety of species, on live bait.

Snapper Bite Is Hottest Now In Bonita Beach SW FL by Dave Hanson (10/21/2006)
I fished offshore twice this week, and we got a variety of catches, but the snapper bite is the hottest right now. We fished with live shrimp in about 40 feet out of New Pass. We caught keeper mangrove snapper to 13 inches, lane snapper to 12 inches, Spanish mackerel to 20 inches, along with triggerfish, porkfish and porgies. We released red grouper shorts.

Bonita Beach Out Of New Pass Fishing Report by Dave Hanson (10/14/2006)
I fished both offshore and in the backwaters this week, and fishing was pretty good in both. 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.

Estero Bay-Bonita Beach: Keeper Reds, Sheepshead by Dave Hanson (10/07/2006)
I fished the backwaters saturday, which were good for redfish. We fished the tree lines toward Wiggins Pass, on an outgoing tide, using live shrimp. We caught our limit of redfish, two at 23 inches each, and released two others that were just short of keeper size.

SW FL-Bonita Beach: Spanish & snapper by Dave Hanson (9/30/2006)
I only got offshore once this week, but we caught a good variety of fish.