Fishing Reports by Capt. Dave Hanson

Good Action Offshore - Fishing Saturday morning, 6/21, about 17 miles out of New Pass with Dan Slavenburg and friend, Ryan, we cast live shrimp to catch eight keeper mangrove snapper and a dozen whitebone porgies to 15 inches. We released lots of smaller mangs, short red g more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach

Inshore Yields Good Variety-Mostly Porgies & Yellowtail Gulfside - Monday, 6/16, I fished central Estero Bay with Scott Heiss, his brother, Steve Heiss, their dad, Jerry Heiss, and Scott's ten-year-old son, Nicholas. We had a good morning of fishing with live shrimp along the tree lines. Nicholas caught the biggest more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach

Hogfish, Yellowtail Mangrove Snapper & Sharks Offshore-Bay Reds - In celebration of Harry's birthday, brothers Grant and Harry Kurtz, along with friends Joe and Thais Allen, fished with me Monday morning, 6/9,seventeen miles west of New Pass. The Spanish mackerel bite was strong and we free-lined shrimp for those, more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach

Tortugas Tales and Goliaths at Bonita Beach Reefs - I left Sunday morning, 6/1, for Key West, where six of us spent the night before taking off for the Tortugas on a boat we chartered. For once, I was the charter's customer rather than the captain. Fishing that area has always been on my list of thing more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach

Good Variety Offshore; Snook & Reds Inshore; Tortugas-Bound! - On a catch-and-release trip to the artificial reefs off Bonita Beach on Tuesday, 5/27, long-time customers Pat Fitzgerald and sons, Jimmy, Tommy and Peter, along with friend, Brendon, caught a smorgasbord of fish on live shrimp. We had steady action more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach

Reds are Best Bet Inshore with Keeper Gags & Snapper - Monday morning, 5/19, I fished with Casey Serumba and friends in Estero Bay. We caught a couple of keeper snapper and released smaller snapper, a sheepshead and a snook. Casey had one nice red hooked but his drag was too loose, and once the red ran u more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach

It Takes Two to Hold this Cuda; Bull Reds - Tuesday morning, 5/6, I fished Estero Bay with Paul and Rebecca Miller. The tide was slow coming in. We fished the tree lines, which is challenging, especially for novice anglers, and we lost one nice redfish that got tangled in the trees and broke t more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach

SW FL-Bonita Beach: Nearshore in 25 Knots; Redfish in the Bay - Ron Musick and Eddie Alfonso fished with me Monday, 4/28, when we were hoping to beat the weather front predicted to arrive late Monday night. We had originally planned to fish on Tuesday but we rescheduled once we heard the forecast. Seas were predi more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach

SW FL-Bonita Beach: A Little Boy and a Big Fish - Monday, 4/21, I headed out from New Pass to 43 feet with Bill Story and friends. We caught a keeper hogfish, released a smaller one of those, and caught grunts, porgies and porkfish. A couple of the guys had good-sized gags hooked, but lost them in t more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach

SW FL-Bonita Beach: Shark Battles, Yellowtail & More - Monday, 4/14, I fished Estero Bay in the area of Wiggins Pass, with Court Newman, Joe Desiata and John Curtis. Joe caught a keeper redfish at 19 inches. John caught a 13 inch sheepshead and the trio also caught a couple of keeper mangrove snapper, al more...
Capt. Dave Hanson - Bonita Beach