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Fish Tales: Gusty winds hamper anglers

By CATHY COTTRILL (Contact)

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Sheepshead were the catch of the week in offshore waters, but anglers also had some luck with mangrove snapper and grouper. Gusty weather again hampered fishing for part of the week.

Fishbuster Charters’ Capt. Dave Hanson said large sheepshead were definitely the catch du jour last Monday when he fished with Leon Dargis and Bob Rose in 30 feet off Sanibel. They caught a total of 25, and kept the biggest five, which ranged from 17 to 21 inches.

"We had fun with those until the goliath grouper moved in to eat all the fish,’’ said Hanson. "Heading back in, we had heavy for with zero visibility — glad I have radar!’’

The fog was still thick Tuesday morning, when Hanson set out after more sheepshead for Mike and Lee Connealy and friend Dick. They fished hard bottom in 40 feet off Sanibel with live shrimp and caught a total of 20 sheepshead, releasing all but seven of the largest, to 22 inches. They also released mangrove shorts and a 4-foot goliath grouper they had fun wrestling for a while. The water was so clear the group could spot the goliath on the bottom, so they decided to throw a bait out for him, and he obliged.

The sheepshead bite was strong again on Wednesday, Hanson fished in 38 feet off Sanibel with Brad Clemons and his girlfriend, Amanda McCrackin. They again caught a total of about 25, and kept seven of the largest, which ranged from 18 to 22 inches. They released red grouper shorts, mangrove snapper and triggerfish.

Thursday, seas started off pretty calm when Hanson fished in 35 feet off Sanibel with Ron Musick and friends Alan, Dick and Hank.

"By noon, it started getting pretty sloppy out there, with winds picking up to 20 knots and seas building to above 3 feet, so we headed in about 12:30,’’ said Hanson. "By that time, we had plenty of fun catching and a keeper snapper and 26 sheepshead to 18 inches. We released half of them, along with triggerfish.’’

Capt. Ron Kowalyk saw good action in the wayback sloughs and lagoons on the eastern wall of Estero Bay last week.

"My crews lucked into several pods of reds, juvie snook and sheepies that ate shrimp, Gulp shrimp and DOA shrimp,’’ he said. "The driftfishing in the central Estero Bay has picked up geometrically with trout, ladies, jacks, Spanish and blues tagging softplastics and shrimp tipped jig and cork rigs.’’

Fly guys had more than their fill with big ladyfish to 28 inches and Spanish mackeral to 30 inches running into the backing on 5-6 weight setups equipped with intermediate sink tip lines.

The feeder creeks of Estero Bay were home to loads of feisty jacks and juvie snook that kept fly guys busy; a stripping basket was in order though much of the time.

Up north, Kowalyk found reds, snook, snappers and sheepies in abundance in the Ding Darling, Matlacha Pass and the protected flats on the west shoreline of Pine Island. Working off the beach was tough again with strong winds making for rough going at time. There were some nice pompano bites in the roily surf, providing beach fishers with action and tasty dining.

The seas that started building on Thursday continued to increase into Friday morning, and with small craft advisories issued for Friday, I cancelled my offshore trip. Conditions were less than favorable in the bay, with low tide and gusty winds, so we decided against backwater fishing too.

Saturday was another one of those days between two weather fronts. The morning might have been calm enough to fish the reefs, but my anglers were a bit squeamish, with 2-4 foot seas predicted and fears of sea-sickness, so they decided to pass."