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Fish Tales

By CATHY COTTRILL (Contact)

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Once again, brisk winds hampered fishing for at least part of a week. But anglers with patience found fish inshore until later in the week when conditions calmed and offshore waters beckoned.

Fishbuster Charters’ Capt. Dave Hanson said last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday brought strong gusty winds and high seas, which caused him to reschedule his offshore anglers for later in the week. Hanson finally headed out Thursday on a catch-and-release trip with Harry Oleferak.

"NOAA had predicted 2- to 4-foot seas, but I knew they would be at the higher end of that range,’’ said Hanson, "with the winds still blowing hard. We stayed close in at the reefs off Bonita Beach, and even there we had 3- to 4-foot seas and a steady wind of 15 knots. We used small cravalle jack and blue runners for bait. We caught and released Spanish mackerel, mangrove snapper, and an 8 pound goliath grouper. We also had a bigger goliath cut our line, and a 3½-foot barracuda eat one of our blue runners.’’

Anglers Eric Harper and Dave Enayert had been waiting since Monday for a day calm enough to go after goliath grouper. The two wanted the thrill of the big catches, and Hanson knew trying to catch those in the rough seas we had earlier this week would be next to impossible. On Friday, there were finally 2-foot seas at the reefs, so he seized the opportunity to load up the heavy tackle.

"We released six goliaths boat-side that ranged from 75 pounds to over 200 pounds,’’ he said. "The biggest one was 5½-feet long. We caught them all on blue runners and small Spanish mackerel.’’

Chris and Yvette Worthington and young sons Hunter and Peyton fished with Hanson Saturday. They started out about 16 miles out of New Pass where they caught some snapper, but before long, the porpoise moved in, so they headed further out to about 37 miles. They caught a bunch of keeper yellowtail and lane snapper for food value, but Hanson’s anglers also wanted some big fish for sport value. They caught two sharpnose sharks, each about 3-foot, then hooked a 7-foot bull shark that gave them a good fight.

"We were broken off by something big and fast that I am guessing was a tuna," Hanson said.