Fishing with Craig & Jan Royal, son Dan, daughter Kerri, and friend Jeff on Tuesday, the king mackerel bite was hot. We caught twenty of them to 38 inches, kept our limit of ten, and released the rest. We were fishing in 35 feet over live bottom that included sea fans, coral and sponge.
Nick Novosel, his parents, and a friend drove all the way from Lakeland to fish with me on Wednesday. We caught three kings in the 25 to 28 inch range, and released some smaller ones, along with short gag and red grouper, triggerfish and porgies. We also caught keeper sheepshead to 15 inches, in 35 feet out of New Pass, with live shrimp.
Dan & Linda Papol and friend, John, fished Estero Bay oyster bars and potholes with me on a catch & release trip Thursday. We caught two redfish (one keeper-sized and one short), an 18 inch flounder, and fourteen sheepshead, five of which were keeper-sized to 16 inches.
Friday, John Grieger fished with me in Estero Bay. We caught eight sheepshead to 14 inches, two of which were keepers, and two keeper mangrove snappers. We saw a school of about 200 jacks, but they would not bite.
Mike Cronin and friends, Richard, Dick and George, fished Estero Bay with me Saturday. We caught a keeper sheepshead, and released several smaller ones, along with mangrove snapper, a stingray, and a 4 lb. cravalle jack, using live shrimp around the oyster bars.
The photo shown is of a 22 lb. kingfish, caught on a recent offshore trip. The same day, we released the 100+ lb. nurse shark shown.
