Cold Fronts, Cold Water, and Cold Bite Continue!
Capt. Butch Rickey
March 20, 2010
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report
The seemingly constant cold fronts continue to bring, rain, cold, and cold water, and conspired to cut my week from four to two days of hard fishing.
The week began on Monday, with Richard Sergel, of Wellesley, Massachusetts. We were to fish Monday and Tuesday, and were fishing behind a cold front with water in the mid-50's. A lot of wind at some point in the day was a certainty. I knew it was going to be a tough day, I just didn't yet realize just how tough it would be!
Richard and I shared a long history and love of Pine Island Sound, as he first began coming here as a boy back in the 50's with his parents. That was during the time I was growing up on the islands. Richard's life story is a fascinating one, and he has been an avid angler since his childhood. He certainly knew his way around a rod and reel.
Winter fishing, especially on the low water, is very much about fishing potholes. In this unseasonably cold winter, the deeper the better. But, it soon became apparent that the last big blow had literally filled what seemed to be every pothole in the Sound with what I call tumbleweed. It's a fine seaweed that rolls along in balls or clumps, driven by the strong winds and current. When it comes across a pothole, which normally will have a relatively clean sand bottom, it drops into the hole. If it blows long and hard enough, the potholes can completely fill up, and virtually disappear off the radar screen.
So, I found myself unable to find many of my favorite winter spots, and those I did find were basically unfishable. I did a lot of looking. We tried different techniques in the weed filled holes, but had little to show for our efforts. Finally, in frustration, I decided to head to the Sanibel side of the Sound in hopes of finding clean potholes there. At that point we had one trout in the livewell.
One the Sanibel side I found a boat in my favorite pothole, which was relatively seaweed free. It's a large pothole, and we were able to run to the upwind end and settle in. It was evident there were plenty of trout there, as we caught a handful, and I saw the other boat, also a guide, catch two or three. But, basically lockjaw was the order of the day. I kept thinking that surely as the sun got to mid-day position we'd get a degree or two of warming in the water and the fish would turn on. But, it just didn't happen.
From there I went to a chain of holes that I also love to fish during winter and early spring. They typically are full of trout in the 20's up to 4 pounds. We hit all those holes, and finally did get one nice trout for the well. Basically, it was more lockjaw.
It was early afternoon and the wind was fast building. Worse, Richard had lost his voice to laryngitis. He'd had a nosebleed first that morning. I had suggested to Richard earlier in the day that we postpone our Tuesday trip to the summer when he would be down with his brother, but he had wanted to fish in spite of the awful bite. But, once the laryngitis jumped him, he agreed that he needed to stay off the water Tuesday, because he had an important speech to give in Boston on Wednesday. We headed in.
It had been a fun day with a great guy, in spite of the non-existent bite. As most seasoned anglers do, Richard took it in stride. I just hope the snook fishing is not too off this summer.
After moving my customer for Wednesday to the end of the month, I was back on the water Thursday, for a three boat trip with Mike Canfield, his son Matt, father Bob, brother Bob, and brother Bob's two sons. I think I got that right! I commissioned Capt. Dave Gibboney and Capt. Pat Burns as boats two and three, and we would pair off with two anglers per boat. Mike wanted he and Matt to fish with me, which was great! I very much enjoy fishing with kids, especially father and son teams. Mike's basic goal was to try to keep something pulling on Matt's line. I figured we should be able to do that without too much trouble, but ultimately it proved to be harder than I anticipated.
Introductions done and boats loaded, we all went our separate ways. I asked Mike if a lot of ladyfish action would be a good start for Matt, and he was all for that. He said those New York tarpon are lots of fun. And, they in fact are! We went up the river to Shell Island to find the school. It took about a half hour to work our way toward the deeper water and get into the fish. They kept breaking the surface all around us. There were bazillions of fish there, and by the surface activity we should have been catching them on every cast. But, they just weren't on a strong bite. We'd get nicked on nearly every cast, and catch a fish every few casts. Not a wild bite, but still fun for Matt. We did manage a few double and triple hookups. We also caught two trout, and put one into the well. Finally, we decided we'd go and see if we could get on a hot trout bite.
Some of the potholes had cleaned themselves up a little bit since Monday. We fished shrimp and jigs under a popping cork, and jigs on the bottom. We caught some trout, and Matt missed quite a few as well, but the hot bite wasn't there. We moved to another hole nearby and managed to miss a couple of hits, and Mike caught one flounder. But, it was basically tight lips. We moved on. We were to all meet for lunch at 2:00 PM, and we had something more than an hour left to fish. I asked Mike if he wanted to go try for a redfish, giving him the caveat that they have been very hard to come by this winter. He was good to go.
I had two flats in mind, and several ladyfish in the well to throw for bait. Great bait. And, I hadn't even gotten to where I was headed when I stumbled upon a school of beautiful redfish. I saw perhaps sixty fish. God knows how many I didn't see. Fortunately, Matt, who was sitting, also saw some of them, so he knew I wasn't joking about the fish. I was feeling fairly confident we might catch some redfish. We quietly got way upwind of them, and made an approach. I re-rigged, and did surgery on a ladyfish, and put two rigs out. I also tied a spoon for Mike to toss around, hoping perhaps we'd find some other fish where we didn't expect them. We fished our way into the flat, and never had a take! All those fish in front of us, and arguably the best redfish bait there is, and not a bite.
It was time for lunch. I called Dave, and they hadn't caught much, but did manage to catch two redfish up under the mangroves in very shallow water. Way to go, Dave. I would not have expected to have a redfish hiding under the bushes in this cold water. I would expect them to be out sunning on the flats, or staying in the deeper holes in the creeks. I called Pat, and somehow he hadn't gotten the word we were going to meet for lunch. He was on the way from close to the ramp.
Pat and his crew were last to arrive at the Waterfront. He said that it was a pretty bumpy ride through Miserable Mile. The wind was building, and was probably over 20 from the northwest. The tide was still incoming there, and that make for a bad combination. By the time we'd had lunch it was pushing 4:00 PM. The wind was blowing pretty well. Even though the tide was now outgoing and moving with the wind, it was still a pretty wild ride through miserable mile. Not a ride you'll find at Disney, though. One thing is for sure. The kids love sitting on the happy seat when it's rough and rolly. I knew Matt was having fun up there.
Back at the ramp the wind, waves, and wakes off the cruisers was banging the boats on the dock. I decided to free the fish in the well, so I could get the boat off the dock and on the trailer before I lost a rub rail. Several others who were trying to pull were having a hard time getting their boats on the trailers in the wind and ramp surf.
Matt told me he'd had lots of fun, and that was my primary concern. The rest of the boys also said they'd had fun, but it certainly wasn't a typical trip for this time of year. We would usually be catching shiners and the snook would be hitting the flats with empty tummies by now. But, the water is still in the 50's. Rumor has it that there is bait down around Marco Island. I hope those little guys swim fast. What a winter.
Target Species:
A pull on the line.
More Fishing Reports:
