Cool Waters and Hot Bites!
Capt. Butch Rickey
March 16, 2014
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report
Week ending 2/8/14...........
Trout fishing is the hot ticket in this cool water!
On Monday, the third, I met my friend Tom Olson, of Madison, Wisconsin, along with his son, Andy, at the Bruning place for an 8 AM launch. It looked to be a beautiful day, and we were fishing in front of a front, instead of behind one. The water is still unseasonably cold, though.
We headed around the north end of Buck Key and back south on the outside to our fishing grounds. I took us to one of my favorite areas on such a low tide as we had that morning, and we were immediately on a hot bite. It lasted for a good long time, too. While Tom and Andy were busy there, I moved off to a nearby hole to see if I could did up a redfish. To my chagrin, there was nothing doing there. I went back and joined the guys until the bite finally slowed. We'd all caught a bunch of trout, and were well on our way to be limited out on trout. We also had lots of ladyfish and a few jacks in the hole.
Finally, the bite slowed and we moved off a good distance to some holes that usually give up big trout in the winter time. We did find our fish there, and took 6 nice fish from the first spot right away. Tom got the best fish at 22 inches, but she was fat, and had to go 5 pounds. We worked that area until the tide flooded enough to move the fish out of the holes, and then moved on.
We would spend the last stage of the incoming tide to see if we could find a redfish, or maybe even a snook. We couldn't draw a hit. I paddled along the edges of our spot to see if I could even get eyeball to eyeball with anything. I did a lot of looking, and only saw two redfish, and two large female snook laid up. They were warming themselves, and not the first bit interested in eating.
Finally, it was time to head in. We took the very scenic mangrove tunnel through Buck Key on the way home. Andy had never been in a mangrove tunnel, and really enjoyed the ride through it. The tunnel is a great way to end a day of fishing.
Back at the dock I filleted our three limits of trout after the boats were tucked away on the trailer and ready for the ride home. It was a good day, given the constant barrage of cold fronts we've had this winter. We caught too many fish to count!
Target Species:
Trout
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