Dave Hanson

Monday morning, 8/31, I fished in 45 feet, out of New Pass, with Mike & Denise VanHorn. We fished for goliaths first, while the couple had their best energy--Good thing because Denise hooked one that was most likely over 300 pounds. Mike followed up with one that was around 100 pounds. We used Spanish mackerel, blue runners and a grunt for bait. After we released those two fish, we got serious about finding some fish to eat. We ended up with ten keeper lane snapper, all caught on shrimp. We released mangrove snapper just short of the twelve inch requirement, along with red grouper shorts.

Estero Bay had good tides most of this week. Wednesday morning, the tide served us well, when I fished with Bob Flesch and his friend, John. Bob caught a nice red. We could tell it was going to be good-sized from the way it fought, and we were hoping it would be within the slot for keeping. We were lucky, as it measured exactly 27 inches (see photo.) We also caught five keeper mangrove snapper and a 14-inch sheepshead. We released two small snook, as well as a 50-pound stingray, which was an admirable fight!

Fish Species: grouper, snapper, mackerel, sheepshead, redfish
Bait Used: live shrimp & blue runners
Tackle Used: light to heavy spinning
Method Used: bottom fishing and tree lines-oyster bars bayside
Water Depth: 1-3 bayside; 30-40 feet gulfside
Water Temperature: 95
Wind Direction: S,SE
Wind Speed: 5-10 knots
27-inch redfish
27-inch redfish


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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