I fished the artificial reefs off Bonita Beach on Monday, with Dave Yoder and family. We started at the 5 mile reef, where we caught some decent sized triggerfish, then moved in to MAY reef to catch lots of Spanish mackerel to 24 inches, using live shrimp.
Tuesday I fished with Ross Christenson, Dave Kempston and Dave's sons Alex, Brennan, and Connor, in 38 feet off Sanibel. With live shrimp for bait, we caught keeper mangrove snapper to 13 inches, Spanish mackerel to 27 inches, whitebone porgies and other bottom fish. We released gag and red grouper to 19 inches, and 7 ½ year old Connor enjoyed posing with one of those gags before releasing it.
Wednesday I headed to the reefs with Scott Stuckey and his two young sons, eleven-year-old Jacob and seven-year-old Zachary. The tide was slow and the winds were variable, making it kind of tough to hook-up. But the boys had fun catching three keeper pompano to 14 inches, and Spanish mackerel to 22 inches. They released lots of blue runners and gag grouper shorts.
Thursday I had a last minute cancellation, so I stayed in port to do some maintenance. Unfortunately, that hiatus extended into Friday and Saturday, as a late-season cold front arrived, bringing gusty winds and seas from 3-8 feet for the weekend.
The photo shown is of anglers Tom Graham and John Hughes, with a 26 inch gag grouper, caught on a recent offshore trip.
