Mark Ament, sons Brett and Brady, and their grandfather, Paul, abandoned offshore plans Thursday, due to 3-5 foot seas, and instead fished Estero Bay holes with me. We caught sheepshead to 17 inches, and released short snook.
Fishing Friday, in about 35 feet out of New Pass, we caught keeper lane and mangrove snapper, grunts and triggerfish on live shrimp, and a 26 inch gag grouper on a tomtate.
Saturday I fished offshore again. It was windy and foggy when we started out, which is an unusual combination, since usually there is little wind in foggy conditions. But the wind died abruptly, and remained light and variable for most of our fishing time, making it tricky to anchor on structure. The fog never lifted, and the tide was slow all morning, fishing about 8 miles out of New Pass. We caught some nice mangrove snapper to 15 inches, nice sheepshead to 16 inches, keeper lane snapper, and large porkfish, all on live shrimp.
The photo shown is of a 23 inch gag grouper and a 15 inch mangrove snapper, caught on a recent offshore trip.
