Fishing Reports by Capt. Butch Rickey

A Six Day Week Turned Into Four, But the Fishing Was Pretty Good - It was to be a six day work week, but it seems it's been impossible to get a full week in this season because of the constant fronts. This week was no exception! First up on Monday were John Hanson, and his friend Wes Iijima, a couple of great gu more...
Capt. Butch Rickey - Pine Island Sound

To Say It Stunk Would Be Putting It Mildly! - To say the week ending April 18th stunk, would be an gross under-exaggeration! You can probably still smell it from where you are! First, it was a week of poor tides, which by Thursday and Friday were reminiscent of a flat-lined heart monitor. I g more...
Capt. Butch Rickey - Pine Island Sound

A Dreadfull Slow Bite In the Second Week of April! - Another big cold front and a week of full moon tides made this one of the slowest bites I've seen in a long time. The week began on Monday with Jim Szabo, a great guy I fished with back in February. He brought along his friend Charley, whom he war more...
Capt. Butch Rickey - Pine Island Sound

Wind and Poor Tides Again the Order of the Day! - Wind was again a factor this week, as were poor tides toward the end of the week. By Thursday the forecast was for 31 knots, and that's just time to stay at the dock. It was bad enough Tuesday and Wednesday, blowing near 25 knots! First up on Tu more...
Capt. Butch Rickey - Pine Island Sound

How quickly the weather can turn a full week into crap! - How quickly the weather can turn a full week into crap! We fished for three days is wind gusting to 25 MPH. By Thursday morning the wind was out of hand. Some of us put our boats back on the trailers and went home. Others went out to try to get t more...
Capt. Butch Rickey - Pine Island Sound

Poor Tides Make for a Tough Bite the Week Ending 3/21/09 - Very poor tides and a trip to Port Manatee to fulfill my TWIC (Transportation Worker Identification Credential) requirement cut the work week a bit short. First up on Sunday was my good friend Dr. John Hitt, of UCF. He was over from Orlando for s more...
Capt. Butch Rickey - Pine Island Sound

A Week Full of Big Trout and Keeper Snook! - Save for one day, it was a great week of fishing. The big yellow-mouth sow trout are thick in the right places, and there are some nice snook eating, too. The week began with Jim Olson and his good friend Gary, of Superior, Wisconsin. We had man more...
Capt. Butch Rickey - Pine Island Sound

The Week Was a Blow Out! - Sorry! No report for Pine Island Sound for the week ending 3/7/09. more...
Capt. Butch Rickey - Pine Island Sound

Rescheduling Trips Was the Order of the Day, Trying to A Bite! - Constant cold fronts and the wind and high barometer that comes with them, along with cold water, have served to make catching very tough this week. I was supposed to fish on Monday with Bob Johnson, on what was to be the first of three trips. Bu more...
Capt. Butch Rickey - Pine Island Sound

It Was a Week of Juggled Days, Fog, High Pressure, & Poor Tides - Problems with fog continued into the first of this week, prompting some schedule changes. My friend Andy Mount and daughter Rachel and I sat at the dock waiting on the fog to lift until around 9:30 Sunday morning, which was altering my plans for fis more...
Capt. Butch Rickey - Pine Island Sound