The first fishing excursion of the New Year was on Monday, 1/2/23, when I fished offshore, in spots 17 to 25 miles west of New Pass, with Jay Johnston, his son and daughter-in-law, Tim and Amy, and their nine-year-old son, Merritt. The family used squid and cut-bait to catch six keeper lane snapper to 17 inches, along with a dozen grunts. They released fourteen red grouper shorts and an abundance of squirrel fish. Adam Smith, his dad, Dale, and his young son A.J., joined by family friend, Yang, had planned to fish offshore on Tuesday, 1/3, but the winds and seas had other ideas. With gusts of 20 knots offshore, they were more comfortable fishing inshore, where they used live shrimp to catch and release nine sheepshead to 15 inches, along with a redfish short. Mike Connealy and his brother, Ted, also scrapped their offshore plans on Wednesday, 1/4, due to rough seas in the gulf. They fished a catch-and-release trip instead in southern Estero Bay, using shrimp, and released twenty-five sheepshead, including six would-be-keepers to 14 inches. They also released a 15-inch seatrout, an 18-inch redfish short, and two black drum at 13 and 14 inches. {%image_id=70893%} {%image_id=70892%} {%image_id=70891%} You can view our fishing action videos at http://fishbustercharters.com/fishingvideos.html