Monday brought rain, high winds and seas, in advance of a cold front, and I was forced to remain in port. Tuesday was very windy, and it was tough anchoring in the bay, but I fished Estero Bay. We caught six keeper sheepshead to 17 inches, and released lots of short ones. We also released a short snook and two redfish at 17 1/2 inches, just 1/2 inch short of keeper size. With seas still 3-5 feet minimum Wednesday, that offshore trip also cancelled.
After Thanksgiving Day, seas calmed, and I fished Friday offshore, 19 miles due west of New Pass. We started out using cut bait, and later switched to frozen shrimp and live shrimp. We caught eighteen nice mangrove snapper, to 18 inches, and some decent lanes to 11 inches. We released a 17 inch bluefish, along with gag shorts and porgies.
The photo attached is of a 24 inch redfish, caught in Estero Bay on a recent backwater trip.
