February Fishing
Capt. Dave Hanson
February 26, 2022
Bonita Beach - Saltwater Fishing Report
Sharon Krummel and her son, Greg, fished southern Estero Bay's backwaters with me on Tuesday morning, 2/1/22. They were after sheepshead, and used live shrimp to make that happen. They caught seven keeper sheepshead between 14 and 17 inches, and released ten shorts. They also released two ladyfish.
Corey Pease and his dad, Mike, had planned to fish offshore Wednesday morning, 2/2, but the winds and seas would not allow that. They fished inshore instead, in southern Estero Bay. The sheepshead bite wasn't quite as strong as it was the previous day, with lots of wind and muddy water this day. But the guys used live shrimp to catch eight sheepshead, including a brace of 16-inch keepers.
Adam Smith, his two children, A.J. and Annie, and Grandpa Dale fished southern Estero Bay's backwaters with me on Monday morning, 2/7. The family used live shrimp to catch twenty-five sheepshead to 17 inches, along with three keeper mangrove snapper. They also caught three pompano, two at 15 inches and one at 17 inches.
Eric Mandly and Tommy Ray fished the backwaters in southern Estero Bay on Tuesday morning, 2/8. They used live shrimp to catch and release a 25-inch redfish, a dozen short sheepshead, and six short mangrove snapper. They boxed 15-inch pompano, and released a smaller one.
Kyle Beaudway, his dad, Mark, and his son-in-law, Mike Kemp, traded their planned offshore trip for an Estero Bay backwater trip, due to rough seas on Wednesday, 2/9. They fished a slow tide with live shrimp, and caught three keeper sheepshead and released several shorts.
The tide and bite was still kind of slow on Thursday morning, 2/10, which was chilly and windy. Roy Brown and his friend, Bill, fished southern Estero Bay's backwaters, using live shrimp for bait. They caught sixteen sheepshead, including a 14-inch keeper. They released six mangrove snapper shorts and one crevalle jack.
Dave Knoll, Nick Meyers, and Ken Anderson used live shrimp in southern Estero Bay's backwaters on Tuesday, 2/15, to catch a 15-inch pompano, a brace of 14-inch keeper sheepshead, and a keeper mangrove snapper. They released five mangrove snapper shorts, a 17-inch redfish short, and fifteen short sheepshead.
Don Soderquist and his brother-in-law, Larry, fished on a very windy Wednesday morning in southern Estero Bay's backwaters 2/16. They used live shrimp to catch seventeen sheepshead, including two 13-inch keepers. They released two mangrove snapper shorts.
Lindy DeBie fished southern Estero Bay with me on Thursday, 2/17, using live shrimp on his catch-and-release trip. He caught a fifteen-inch pompano, along with nineteen sheepshead, including three would-be keepers. He also released a ladyfish.
Chuck Powell, his young son, Dylan, and Dylan's friend, Jayden, fished on another windy morning in southern Estero Bay on Friday, 2/18. The boys had fun using live shrimp to catch and release eight sheepshead, a ladyfish, and two crevalle jacks.
Bob Steele, his son, Jim, and grandson, Andy, fished the backwaters of southern Estero Bay on a catch-and-release trip Saturday morning, 2/19. They used live shrimp to catch twenty-two sheepshead to 20 inches, including four keepers. They released four crevalle jacks.
Bob Bernu took his six-year-old grandson, Luke Mackinnon, fishing with me in southern Estero Bay on Monday morning, 2/21. They used live shrimp to catch twenty-one sheepshead, including two keepers at 13 inches and 16 inches.
Kari Vilamaa, and his friends, George and Paul, fished 31 miles west of New Pass with me on Tuesday, 2/22. Seas were a little sloppy early on, but calmed down later. The guys used squid to catch and box fifteen nice grunts and eighteen keeper lane snapper. They released thirty red grouper shorts.
Roy Mittman and friends, Larry Evelhar, Richard Borgatti, and Rick, fished 31 miles west of New Pass with me on Wednesday, 2/23, using cut-bait and squid. Snapper and grouper were biting well, and the guys caught thirty keeper lane snapper to 14 inches, along with fifty-two red grouper shorts to 19 ½ inches. Roy caught a keeper red grouper at 22 inches. The guys added a dozen good-sized grunts to the fish box. They released a 14-inch scamp grouper and a 19-inch gag grouper.
Mike Connealy, who has fished with me for many years, headed out to spots between 31 and 35 miles west of New Pass on Thursday, 2/24. We used squid, cut-bait, and bait-fish, and had steady action with various species. We caught thirty-three red grouper, including thirty-two shorts to 19 ½ inches, just shy of legal size. Mike finally landed a 22-inch, keeper red grouper, which he caught on a squirrel-fish. Unfortunately, the sharks were around, competing with us for grouper, and the shark won three times, biting what would have been nice-sized red grouper in half, as we tried to reel them in. One of those looked like it was about 26 inches. We also caught a half dozen porgies, ten grunts, and four lesser amberjacks that were all around 15 inches.
Gary Jacobson and friends, Paul Yellin and Tom, fished in spots 25 to 31 miles west of New Pass with me on Friday, 2/25. Using squid and cut-bait, the guys caught and released three dozen red grouper shorts. They boxed nine porgies to 17 inches, a half dozen grunts, and fourteen keeper lane snapper. They had a huge hammerhead shark on for a few runs, before the monster broke the line.
Steve Baylog and his dad, Jim, joined by friend, Paul Heflin, fished 19 miles west of New Pass with me on Saturday morning, 2/26. They used squid to catch thirteen keeper lane snapper, along with a half dozen grunts. They released twenty-four red grouper shorts to 19 ½ inches, along with a 14-inch triggerfish.
You can view our fishing action videos at http://fishbustercharters.com/fishingvideos.html
Bonita Beach Fishing Forecast:
Calm seas were great this past week, but winds and seas will pick up a bit next week. If too rough offshore, the bay is an option. Fishing has been good inshore and offshore.
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