Vermilion, yellowtail, lanes, mackerel, sharks, goliath:SWFL

[fishbuster]

I fished Monday, out of New Pass. We began in a spot about 41 miles offshore, where it was a bit slow, so we moved to a spot about 36 miles out, where we found good action. Using mostly frozen squid, we caught some nice vermilion snapper, keeper yellowtails, and twenty-five lane snapper about 14 inches long. We released grouper shorts, along with two sharpnose sharks, each about 3 ½ feet long.

Thursday, I fished the Bonita reefs for a few hours. We caught mostly Spanish mackerel to 22 inches.
I fished Saturday, 9 miles out of New Pass, just off Bonita Beach. We caught keeper Spanish mackerel and mangrove snapper on live shrimp. I also pulled up a goliath, which bit a piece of cut-bait. It was tough, on 12 pound test line, getting that 80 pound fish to the top for a photograph, but after a 25 minute battle, I succeeded.

The photo shown is of a 40 pound goliath grouper, released on a recent offshore trip.