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+--- Thread: Finally Kings! And Spanish, Snapper, Hogfish & Snook: SW FL Fishbuster Dave (/showthread.php?tid=123219)
Finally Kings! And Spanish, Snapper, Hogfish & Snook: SW FL Fishbuster Dave - fishbuster - 04-10-2004
[cool][font "Arial"][size 2]I was happy to see winds dying down Monday. It was still a bit rough out there early Monday morning, but was calmer by late morning. I fished with Craig and Jan Royal, son Dan, and daughter Keri, at the Bonita reefs. We caught keeper mangrove snapper and Spanish mackerel, and also caught and released a 25 inch snook, just one inch short of legal size. We also released gag grouper shorts to 20 inches.
Tuesday, I fished with the Ross Christenson family, in 33 feet off Naples, with live shrimp. We caught mangrove snapper to 14 inches and Spanish mackerel to 26 inches. We released lots of blue runners, but still spotted no kingfish.
Wednesday, I fished off Naples with the Brad Hayes party, including four children, who had fun catching and releasing lots small fish, including yellowtail snapper, grunts, and sheepshead. They also caught two keeper-sized sheepshead.
Thursday, I fished in 23 feet off Naples with the Peter Haluenen party. Since the fish have been finicky recently, and not aggressively feeding, we bottom-fished with the lightest tackle possible, 12 lb. test, with a 20 lb. fluorocarbon leader and a split shot. We caught nice mangrove snapper to 18 inches, whitebone porgies to 17 inches, and a four pound triggerfish. We released gag and red grouper shorts to 20 inches.[/size][/font][font "Arial"][#ff0000][size 2][/size][/#ff0000][/font][font "Arial"][size 2]
Friday, I fished in 50 feet off Naples with the Hal Haines, Steve Collons, Jim Young, Jay Powinall, Robert Stanfield, and Bob Sweet, using live shrimp. We caught nice-sized mangrove snapper to 16 inches, a 20 inch hogfish, and three king mackerel, each about 30 inches. We caught and released a 4 foot kingfish, which we did not want to kill. Finally, the kings are around, as I suspected they would be with the blue runners have been so abundant recently.[/size][/font][font "Arial"][#ff0000][size 2][/size][/#ff0000][/font][font "Arial"][size 2]
Fishing again Saturday in 50 feet off Naples, this time with Chuck Gornick and son, Chris, we used live shrimp and blue runners for bait. We caught thirteen nice mangrove snapper to 18 inches, large whitebone porgies, A 30 inch Spanish mackerel, and a 32 inch king mackerel. We released several additional kings, and also saw a big one eat a blue runner right beside the boat.
The photo attached is of the 20 inch hogfish, caught by angler Steve Collons, on a Fishbuster Charter off Naples this Friday.[/size][/font]
For full info and fish photo-album, please visit [url "http://www.fishbustercharters.com/"][#0000ff]www.fishbustercharters.com[/#0000ff][/url]
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