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Fishing Report - Naples, Ft. Myers, Bonita Beach & Estero Bay
Capt. Dave Hanson
April 23, 2005
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report
Gulf and Bay Report: Bonita Beach, SW FL
I fished in Estero Bay Monday. It was kind of slow, but we released snook to 22 inches and mangrove snapper, all caught on live shrimp.
Fishing Tuesday 17 miles west of New Pass, we used live shrimp, grunts, pinfish, squirrel fish and blue runners for bait. We caught nineteen keeper lane snapper, a dozen jolthead porgies, a 22 ½ inch gag grouper, and released lots of gag and red grouper shorts. We were also broken off by a big goliath grouper, and fought a huge shark, a fight that took two of us, until he finally broke the line.
Wednesday, 17 miles west of New Pass, we caught an 18 inch yellowtail snapper, ten keeper lane snapper, and porgies on live shrimp and cut bait. We released lots of grouper shorts.
I headed out in search of tarpon Thursday with Bob Jokinen and friend, Mike. We sighted a bunch of tarpon off Ft. Myers Beach, but got no bites, even using tarpon bait favorites, such as manhaden and crabs. We headed to the reefs with some live shrimp and pinfish, and had a couple of good battles with a lemon shark and a goliath grouper.
Fishing with shiners in central Estero Bay Friday, we released a 17 inch redfish, four snook, and lost one big snook. We also caught a 19 ½ inch trout.
With small craft cautions up Saturday, we opted for the backwaters, where we caught and released lady fish and mangrove snapper to 12 inches, on live shrimp.
The photo shown above is of a pair of 20 inch mangrove snapper, part of a mess caught on a recent offshore trip.
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