Fishing Reports by Capt. Dave Hanson

SW FL-Bonita Beach: Trout, Sheepshead, Snapper & Snook Inshore - Slow season is here for sure. Seasonal residents have fled our heat and humidity until October and the economy is not producing our usual number of summer vacationers this year. On top of that, a low pressure system that hung over our area for severa more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach

SW FL-Bonita Beach: Inshore & Near-shore Report - This week was challenging in terms of weather, for sure. Monday morning, 6/22, was the best weather of the week. I fished Estero Bay with the Matt Stanford family, including Matt, his wife, their two young children and the children's grandfather. more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach

SW FL-Bonita Beach: Inshore Report - Hot, hot, hot! Air and water temps are unbelievably hot this week. Tuesday morning, 6/16, I fished with Larry Battiste and his young son, Lorenzo, in Estero Bay. We used live shrimp to catch seven keeper mangrove snapper and a 14 inch sheepshead. more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach

Bonito, Goliaths, Kings, Spanish, Snapper & Redfish - Monday morning, 6/8, I fished Estero Bay with Steve Sepan, his son, Ron, and his young grandson, Logan. We used live shrimp to catch two keeper sheepshead to 15 inches and a keeper redfish at 18 1/2 inches. We released small mangrove snapper, trout a more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach

SW FL-Bonita Beach: Nice Muttons Offshore; Trout Inshore - Tuesday, 5/26, I fished central Estero Bay with Wayne Hawkins and his niece, Lauren Mullinax, both from Cumming, GA. We used live shrimp and popping corks to catch three keeper trout to 18 inches and release lots of smaller trout. We also caught two more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach

Backwater Reds, Trout & Shark; Yellowtail & Muttons Offshore - Monday morning, 5/18, Tim Guthman and his six-year-old son, Tyler, had hoped to go fishing offshore. But the time-line on an approaching weather front was uncertain and had me concerned about rough seas offshore for the little guy so I recommended we more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach

Kings, Shark & Snapper - Monday, 5/11, was one of those days that is bound to happen about three times a year and, fortunately, not more than that. The party for the gulf trip I had scheduled did not show up and did not call me or answer my calls. So, after purchasing the da more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach

400 lb. goliath whips two of us! - Saturday morning, May 2nd, I fished Estero Bay with brothers, Steve and Howard Potash, and their wives, Loree and Bonnie. We caught three trout, two of which were keepers at 17 ½ inches, and we released two undersized snook and mangrove snapper. A more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach

SW FL-Kingfish in 42 feet - Monday and Tuesday's winds and seas of 2-4 feet scared my anglers away. Wednesday, 4/29, I headed offshore to about 40 feet with John Holtman and three of his friends. Winds were easterly but still pretty strong and seas were hefty. The group caught more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach

SW FL- Red Grouper, All Kinds of Snapper, Goliath-Wrestling - Monday morning, 4/20, after a previous week of high winds and seas, I made the mistake of believing the predictions for 2-3 foot seas near-shore, with winds calm first thing in the morning. I headed to the Wiggins five mile reef with Tom & Dawn Wolfe more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach