A Full Week of July Temps in May!
Capt. Butch Rickey
August 5, 2012
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report
Week ending 5-26-12............
This was the first week in a while that was full, and that I didn't loose a day or two to weather or something else. And, it was hot like July!
First up on Monday was a trip long time coming, with my lifetime friend, Ellen Hennigan. We aren't really sure how far we go back, but somewhere in high school at Ft. Myers Senior High School back in the early sixties, or maybe even junior high! She and I were surrogate brother and sister to the Clan McDaniel, and Jim McDaniel is my closest friend to this day.
Ellen and I had been trying to get together to fish for some time. She and her significant other spent years professional bass fishing until he passed away unexpectedly about ten years ago. She hasn't fished since, and I wanted to get her back on the water. I knew if she would just get out there it would be great therapy for her. We planned this trip months ago, and had to reschedule several times due to weather. She's local, and there's no reason to take her out there on a nasty, windy day. Plus, she'd never kayak fished, and I don't like to take first-timers out on windy days.
We finally got our day. I knew based on the previous week we would probably be fighting the islands of floating turtlegrass, and perhaps water clarity issues, but it was going to be a nice, if not hot day, and we decided to go for it. The main objective was to get out on the water and have fun, anyway. Fish would be a bonus. We were on the water at around 8:00 am, and on our way.
Ellen took to the Native Ultimate and the trolling motor like a duck to water, and was grinning for most of the day. And, she showed her metal once we got out on the fishing grounds and indeed found it all but impossible to fish but for the turtlegrass floating everywhere. She IS indeed a fishergirl. She fished hard. She never let up. She took all the grass in stride, and kept on fishing. She had three redfish on, but they all got away, and she also lost a snook. Lure fishing for reds and snook is far different from bass fishing. Especially when spoon fishing, and that was about our only option with all the floating grass. You have to set the hook hard, and multiple times with light gear, to get the barb buried in old leatherlips' mouth. If you don't they are sure to gain freedom before you can get them to the boat.
I managed 3 redfish and 3 snook in the tough conditions while hunting fish and showing Ellen they were there to catch. Ellen had a blast, and so did I. Even though she didn't get a fish in the boat, she was glad we went. And, we will go again.
*
I had an instructional trip scheduled for Tuesday, with David Burdge, of North Ft. Myers. I had talked to David quite a bit prior to this trip, and could tell he was a really nice man. He wanted to learn how to fish here, as he'd had little luck on his own, and catching wasn't the primary goal. We decided to meet at the local McDonalds at Summerlin and San Carlos, have breakfast, and use their wi-fi to teach David about using Google Earth and Bing Maps to find fishing spots in unfamiliar areas. We met at 7 o'clock. I was already there with my laptop set up, trying to get connected to their wi-fi, with no luck. After several trips to the counter and bad information, I finally learned that it was down, and that was the conclusion I had already come to by troubleshooting. So, I taught David about tides, how to read them, etc., using Tides and Currents, from Nobeltec Software. It's the best.
After a couple of hours, we headed out to the Lovers Key ramp to launch. Our time on the water was somewhat abbreviated, and we were greeted with a major case of lockjaw. We got bumped, but the fish were in a snit, and just weren't interested in eating. We finally did get a few bites right at the top of the tide, and lost 2 redfish and a snook before they could be landed. It was a learning trip for David and a lesson in humility for me. We had a good time, though. And, made a date to get together again for breakfast and go over using Google Earth and Bing. They are very useful fishing tools.
*
The bite was noticably better Wednesday, back fishing out of Castaways Marina with Randy Meredith, from Marietta, Georgia. Randy had spent a lot of time snook fishing here in his younger days, when he'd some down to visit his great uncle and aunt on Sanibel. There were no limits back then. He wanted to come and visit his remaining great aunt, who is now 90, and do a little fishing. He's a Native Ultimate owner, and brought it down with him.
What is normally a fantastic time of year to fish, had been very hard because of the floating seaweed. I just hoped we could make it work and put some fish in the boat. I met Randy at the Circel K near my fishcamp at 8 AM, and we were off to see what the day would bring.
We got to our first spot as the tide began to move. The seaweed was still with us. It was immediately obvious that Randy was both a skilled kayaker and angler. He likes to stand up and fish. I've generally only stood up to pole across waters too shallow to paddle, and to locate my pothole, or whatever I'm fishing. I've been reluctant to stand too much for fear of spooking the fish. But, I learned this day that in the kayaks, even standing, you're not a threat to the fish. We had snook and redfish all over the place, and they didn't even spook as I came close to them. I had a redfish follow my lure right to the end of my rod. He stopped. I dropped it to the bottom in the grass, he stood on his nose to take a look at it, but didn't eat it. He just lolly-gaged away. I'll be standing up a lot more now that I know the fish don't perceive me as a threat.
Randy struck first blood, when he hooked and landed a beautiful 27" snook on a silver "Secret" spoon. It was not an easy day, but we finished the day with 5 reds, and 1 broke off, 3 snook, and a ladyfish. We were experiencing July heat in May, and we tossed in the towel a little early. It was brutal.
*
Thursday, I had a fly fishing trip with Fred Marsteller, of Stone Mountain, Georgia. Fred also owns and fishes from a Native Ultimate 12. We met at Castaways at 9:30, and were soon on our way to our fishing adventure. Once we were at our first stop, I was up and looking again, to verify that I was on fish, or not. We were on fish bigtime. They were literally all over the place. Now, to catch them.
Fred and I both fished hard. It's m job to find them and show my customer that they can be caught. Catching these fish on fly is no easy task, and requires long casts. The fish weren't too interested in eating the fly. The seaweed made my lure of choice again the spoon, because I could at least keep it clean long enough to get it in front of a fish. We fished hard morning and into the first half of the afternoon. We got 3 reds at our first stop, and broke one off. There were plenty of hits on the spoons that bent down the weedguard, but didn't connect. They just weren't aggressive at all. At our second area we got 4 redfish, a trout, lost a red, and broke one off. It was hot and tough, but we did get some fish.
*
What had began as a tough week of fishing, and continued tough, would finish as a tough week of fishing. This would be my third trip with Art Herriott, from Miami, and second trip with his son Greg, who lives in Texas, but is working on a large project in Las Vegas. The first time I fished with Art and Greg was back in May of 2010. Last year Art and I fished for the first time in the Ultimates. Art and Greg are both seasoned anglers, laid back, as nice as they come, and great to fish with.
Out on the flats the redfish were everywhere. Literally, everywhere. And, lots of snook, as well. I did most all of my hunting and fishing standing in the Ultimate, and was continually surprised at the number of redfish that were there. But! They weren't interested in eating. We got lots of bumps and bent weedguards on our spoons, which removed any doubt they were there, but they just didn't want to commit. Must have been a bunch of males, I guess. It seemed a SKUNK was imminent, but Greg killed the skunk at the end of the day with one lone redfish. Damn! That was it.
In spite of the near non-exsistent bite, I was blessed with anglers who measured their day on its merits, instead of just on how many fish were caught. In fact, I was blessed with friends who did so all week long. For Art and Greg, it was exactly what a day of fishing should be; a day of father and son enjoying and sharing a day together on the water.
That was it. A tough week of catching. A great week of fishing. And, great friends, old and new, to share it with.
More Fishing Reports:
