A Week Of Bad Weather?
Capt. Butch Rickey
May 24, 2014
Matlacha - Saltwater Fishing Report
Week ending 5/03/14..........
Again this week I had three trips on the books, and one day to visit with my buddy Frank Faust and get him to RWS on his plane back to Iowa.
First up on Tuesday was Bob Rinear, of Sarasota, Florida, and he was taking a little birthday trip. We drew a really rough day. I met Bob at Matlacha County Park at around 9 AM, and we were on the water around 9:30. It was howling right up the gut out of the south, as there was yet another cold front on the way. Normally, a strong south wind before a front would turn the fish on, but the fishing just seems to be turned off lately no matter what's going on.
What happened that day doesn't make for interesting fishing reports, but my readers know when they read my reports they're getting the truth. I don't gloss things over. We fished hard all through the tide, in a beautiful area that is normally very fishy. We got one hit, and I'm glad it was on Bob's lure instead of mine. It was a nice jack crevalle. I never got a hit. Drew a skunk! Well, it wasn't for the lack of trying. Bob seemed to instinctively understand, and was good with the situation. He was a good sport.
Wednesday, I was supposed to fish with my good friend Frank Faust in Clam Bayou. But, Frank had been in Matlacha the day before, as well. I bumped into him once. He was on his 9 ft. Hobie, and he was so worn out he could barely go. And, the wind was still howling on Wednesday, so we canceled the trip. Thursday afternoon, I took Frank to RSW, and put him on his plane home. We didn't even get to fish on this trip!
Saturday, I was to fish with Chase Crouch and his fiance, Keri Roach. They were down from Leesburg, Florida, and wanted to get out on a kayak fishing trip, and the only day they could go was Saturday.
Well, guess what. That big front that had been making its way across the country all week finally hit town Friday night and Saturday. I stayed glued to my computer watching the weather on several sites Friday night. I talked to Chase and we decided we'd wait until Saturday morning to make the call.
Although I was to pick Chase and Keri up at around 9:30 AM, I bounced out of bed very early and wen t straight to the computer. There was a lot of stuff out in the gulf, but it looked like it might be far enough to let us get our trip in. The call was now for storms in the afternoon. I called Chase, and we discussed the situation, and decided to go for it. I headed to Captiva to pick them up.
If memory serves me right, they were staying at a place on Dickey Lane, where I spent some of the best moments of my childhood living on the bay and fishing every minute I could. I picked them up after turning around at South Seas, and we headed toward Bowman's Beach. We got up to the gulf side of Captiva and the skies opened up with torrential rains, lightning, and thunder.
I got on my Droid and checked the radar and the screen was solid orange and red. All kinds of storm cells had bubbled up that weren't showing up earlier. We pulled off the road and discussed the situation, and decided to scrub the mission. I couldn't see how we would be able to safely get our trip in at that point. All three of us were bummed. But, better to err on the side of safety. My first concern is for my customer's safety. My second concern if for my own safety. Well, at least Chase did propose to Keri on that short trip, and she accepted his proposal. How cool.
And that was the week. One out of three ain't good, but that's the guide business.
Target Species:
Anything That Will Bite!
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