CyberAngler

Tuesday, fishing 17 miles out of New Pass, in 40 feet, we caught keeper triggerfish, lane snapper and mangrove snapper, and released lots of grunts and red grouper shorts. We had to work pretty hard to catch what we caught, with a slow tide and bite most of the morning.

We scrapped offshore plans Wednesday, in the face of 4-6 foot seas, and we fished instead in some Estero Bay holes. The tide was incoming, but very low, and the winds were strong. We caught a couple of keeper mangrove snapper and sheepshead, and released a redfish and a snook. The highlight of the trip was a huge, 25 pound cravalle jack, photographed and released, after a 45 minute battle.

The winds and seas were rough on Thursday, and not much better on Friday. But, Friday’s group decided to give offshore fishing a try. With dead low tides in the bay, the prospects there didn’t look too good, so we headed offshore, planning to stay close in, around the reefs, where it would be a little calmer than out further. We caught keeper mangrove snapper, grunts, and triggerfish, and released gag shorts, along with a 4 pound goliath grouper. By that time the 4-5 foot seas were getting too rough to stand up and fish, so we headed in a little after noon.

The photo attached is of an unusually large (for this area), 25 pound cravalle jack, caught in Estero Bay this past Wednesday.

i caught a jack also at 25lbs......big fish, great fight....specially when you are using 30lb mono...

MangroveFisherman wrote:i caught a jack also at 25lbs......big fish, great fight....specially when you are using 30lb mono...

If you think it is fun on 30, try it on 12 lb.! I caught that one on 12 lb. test with 30 lb. leader.

woa...but were you 30 feet from the water? like on a bridge? hehehe....gotcha!

hope you had fun bro!

That's why I like that light tackle--it's so much fun that way!