A Dreadfull Slow Bite In the Second Week of April!
Capt. Butch Rickey
April 12, 2009
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report
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 warned me was a real character. We debated canceling the trip because of wind, but with the last forecast calling for 20 knots, and no optional dates, we decided to go.
It was already blowing pretty hard when we left the dock, and once we were on the B span flats we found the wind and current doing some strange things. We had a heck of a time getting the bait to gang up enough to catch it. It was scattered, and hard to catch. But, we finally caught enough for a day of fishing, and by then I was about to drop.
Our first stop was a place I love to be on the first on the incoming tide, and the lower the water the better. But, the tone for the day was soon set when all we could get out of there was one nice trout and baits scaled by cantankerous snook. We moved on.
Our next stop was a little better, but it was obvious it was going to be a tough day for catching. Jim and Charley managed to land one snook, a keeper snapper, and several jack crevalle. They also missed a number of good strikes, and there were plenty of scaled baits, too. Once it slowed, we were on the road, again.
We decided to see if we could score a redfish, which would give us the Slam on a very hard day. We took up residence on a beautiful redfish flat on the east side of the Sound and went to work with some ballyhoo we'd caught. The boys did manage another nice jack crevalle and a speckled trout of about 5 pound, but we just couldn't get a redfish to eat. We tried some other spots in search of redfish, but the only thing we could get to eat was catfish. That's usually a sign that the tide has quit moving, and it in fact had.
It had been a hard day of catching, but Jim, Charley, and I had still had a great time. Charley was as Jim had said, a lot of fun, and so is Jim. We proved that you don't have to slay 'em to have a good time.
The forecast for Tuesday was awful, with winds over 30 knots. I was to run a trip with a friend of mine, and the customer had booked each of us independent of one another. I decided, as did he, we'd have to cancel the trip, but I never even heard from the customer!
Wednesday, my friend Erick "Rick" Hubbs, of Cape May, New Jersey, was up, and brought along his friend Gregg. The front had passed, and the forecast oddly enough was for relatively calm winds. I wasn't necessarily buying in to that forecast.
We headed off to the B span flats in search of bait. Once again, it was very tough, but we finally got enough to fish. Again, I was just worn out.
Our first stop turned out to be the best one of the day, as the lockjaw continued. Rick is a seasoned and skilled angler. But, Gregg had never been fishing in his life. The upside of that is that Gregg brought no bad habit to the boat. The downside was that he was totally unprepared for his first fish of the day, which was a big snook. I hate when that happens. There were not smaller ones first with which to teach him some of the snook secrets of the trade. Of course, the big snook immediately blasted right under the mangroves and cut him off!
Loosing that snook was a bummer, but we did manage to catch some fish at that first stop. The surprise was three very nice flounder, which went into the well. Rick had a goal of feeding the gang with our catch. Gregg did get one smaller snook from that spot.
After that first stop things got really tough. At our next four spots we got only scaled bait and missed hits. We just couldn't get the fish to eat. We decided to see if we could find a redfish that would eat.
I headed across the Sound to North Captiva, and as luck would have it I ran right into a school of reds. They were big ones. We quickly put out cut ladyfish steaks right and left, and a shiner down the middle. We fished our way across the flat like that, moving the distance of a cast each time. We never got a hit! The fish just wouldn't eat.
We moved on and hit three more spots. The first two gave us goose eggs. Rick boated a snook, and Gregg lost a very nice trout at the last stop.
Back at the ramp we were pleased to find that our three flounder actually filled up a large zip lock bag. Rick informed me Friday morning on our second trip that the flounder had done the job. In spite of the very slow bite Rick, Gregg, and I had a great time. And, Gregg did very well for someone who had never fished before.
Thursday was another hard, hard day for catching. We had somewhat of a reprieve from the wind, but it counted for nothing for my friends Dr. Bob Bilsbury and his friend Harry. We had fished together back in March of 2007, and had a hard but good day. We'd also canceled a trip last week because of weather, so I was happy that we were able to get out. Bob and Harry are a couple of sweethearts, and a lot of fun.
We went straight to the B span flats again for bait. It was a bitch. But, it had been all week long. But, with Bob's artful chumming, we got enough to fish with. We didn't have a lot of extra for chumming, but then again, the birds have been so bad it's been hard to chum, anyway! We were ready to take on the day and the fish.
Our first stop, full of snook and trout this time of year, was your basic dud. The boys bagged three mangrove snapper and marveled over the fact that snook can scale bait after bait without ever moving it.
At our next stop, where I've been scoring keeper snook every time I've been there before this week, the boys managed some very nice jack crevalle, 1 snook, and 1 gag grouper. Then, it was over. Then it was spot after spot with not so much as a hit, but plenty of scaled shiners. Finally, with the wind nearly south, I decided to end the day with a shot at redfish in the McKeever Keys. We didn't get our redfish, but Bob did get one more snook to end the day.
It had been a hard day, indeed. But, we once again proved that you don't have to catch a lot of fish to have a good time fishing.
Friday, I was back with Eric Hubbs, who's company I really enjoy. He was looking for a day by himself to just relax, and let come what may. I was looking to put him on action! But, for action we'd need bait, and with Rick chumming we did as well as I've done with bait all week. We were ready to take on the fish.
I took Rick to a favorite snook and big trout spot that I don't fish very often because of the manatee zone and the time it takes to get in there. But, Rick was interested in getting some big trout for dinner, because his wife had never had trout. This place is full of big snook, and big trout. We fished this spot hard, chumming as we worked the shoreline, and managed 2 trout, 1 flounder, and lots of scaled baits. We didn't get our big yellow mouth sow trout, and didn't get a keeper snook. But, the spot is beautiful, and I know Rick didn't want to leave. But, I was determined to get him on some fish, and I dragged him out of there.
By this time the wind was really up, and the Sound a mess. I didn't really want to do a lot of traveling farther away from the ramp. We settled on a favorite spot of mine for snook on the incoming tide. Over the years it has given me some awesome snook action, and some very large snook. But, on this day it wasn't giving us anything. We did see some anglers nearby catch two small snook using the same baits, which was very frustrating.
By this time it was getting late into the tide. I decided to go to the Wulfert Keys, where we could get out of some of the wind, and see if we could find some redfish. I hadn't been in the Wulferts in years simply because the whole thing is manatee zone. Worse, it's soon to be a no motor zone as part of the Blind Pass restoration project. Ain't that just grand?!
I picked a patch of shoreline that had nice reliefs in it, and put the wind at our back. When I'm looking for reds in the bushes, I like to put my baits into reliefs in the shoreline, so that I can get my baits back to where the fish are on high water.
I put out a sliced and diced threadfin herring, a sliced and diced live pinfish, and had Rick tossing a live shiner toward the nearer mangroves. Well, it didn't take long before we had a rod bent. Rick took it, and a few minutes later put a beautiful 25 ½ inch redfish into the boat. I can't remember the last time I was so happy to see a darned redfish!
OK! So, now we knew they were there. The question was now, could we get some more of them to eat. And, the answer was, yes we did. We fished cut shiners and pinfish, and Rick kept getting his live shiners scaled by snook. We caught half dozen beautiful redfish, and had one double hookup just as the tide was coming to a stop. We had considered for a moment leaving the redfish to try for a snook, which would give Rick the Slam. But, I think we were both happy with our decision to stay with the redfish.
Now, it was time to go home. The wind was out of the southeast at full tilt of 24 knots. But, the Talon has the uncanny ability to run right up the gut of a strong wind like a boat half again its size. The ride home wasn't bad at all.
Dried pelican poop on the cleaning table, and oohs and ahs from folks on the dock told me there had been few fish and perhaps no redfish brought in. Rick and I had stuck with it, and turned a very tough day into a pretty good day. And, somehow that trip with Rick seemed to turn a very tough week into a good week. I know I sure like fishing with him.
Pine Island Sound Fishing Forecast:
Next week we're back in to a period of poor tides as the week goes along. We might be able to catch some fish if the weather behaves. If not, it's sure to be another tough week of catching.
Target Species:
The Slam!
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