Naples, Ft. Myers, and Bonita Beach 07-27-12

After several weeks off the water because of a family reunion trip, followed by lots of rainy days unsuitable for fishing, I finally got offshore on Friday, 7/20/12 with John Hamilton and friends.

We fished 36 miles west of New Pass, where we got into some red grouper. We didn't get a keeper, though, out of the 100+ reds we caught and released. All were between 16 and 19 1/2 inches. The guys did catch some food-fish, however: Six large grunts, six big whitebone porgies, and six yellowrail snapper to 14 inches. They also released a 38-inch sharpnose shark and a 70-pound goliath grouper.

The two photos shown are as follow:

1.) Angler Patrick Dreyer with a 39-inch, 17-pound cobia, caught on shrimp on a recent offshore Fishbuster Charter.

2.) Young angler Jared Greiner, with an 18-inch spotted sea-trout caught on shrimp at the reefs off Bonita Beach, on a recent near-shore Fishbuster Charter.