Great Times With Friends Old and New!
Capt. Butch Rickey
August 16, 2013
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report
Week ending 6-15-13......
I had several trips booked for the week, but had to move one trip for weather. So, I wound up with two for the week.
Monday, Kevin Duffy, who I've been kayak fishing with since I made the move to the kayaks, was up for a day of skinny water fishing, and for the first time he had his 16 year old son Kenny with him. Kevin is a jewel of a guy, and is an avid outdoors man, and angler. I love fishing with him.
Kevin's wife delivered him and Kenny to the launch site that morning, and we quickly got the three Native Ultimates ready, and were on our way. It was breezy and overcast, which went a long way toward keeping us cool, but made visibility very poor.
We made a pretty good run to a favorite hole of mine that usually has good redfish, trout, and ladyfish action. I was looking for all three. I was hopeful we could stringer a ladyfish or three for redfish bait later. Young Kenny quickly struck first blood, when he hooked and landed a beautiful top 'o the slot redfish. He did a great job of handling the fish, and it went on the stringer. We managed one ladyfish, and that was it.
We moved on to an area that has been very good for snook of late, but couldn't raise a bite. Perplexed, I moved us to another nearby flat that is always rich with redfish (snook, too), and again there was not a fish to be found. It was time to make a big move.
I parked Kevin at a place I really like to fish, because you never know what's going to slam your lure. One cast can yield a nice snook, and the next a nice red. I briefed him on how to fish the spot and moved on with Kenny. We set up shop about a quarter mile away.
After fishing his spot for a while and catching a big redfish, a trout, and a jack, Kevin came and joined us. I parked him on the spot where he got his first big snook, and they've certainly been there. We finished up the day with several snook, and two nice redfish went home with Kevin and Kenny.
It was a great time with Kevin and Kenny. Considering the conditions, which were exaggerated by lots of floating seaweed in the water that made it hard to fish, we had a pretty good day. And, to my mind, any day out with Kevin is a great day.
Even though I knew it would be a tough day, I was really looking forward to fishing with Jim Cromer again, whom I'd fished with twice the week before. He's a really nice guy, and an avid angler, both spin and fly. This time he would have a long-time friend, Barry, with him.
As you've ready already, seaweed has been a major problem, especially for those of us casting lures, and has even made it hard to run using the trolling motors. We also had a high tide at 3:00 PM, which can be pushing the weather envelope in the kayaks. Our tide was a big one, but understand that during the summer months, that by no means means a strong tide. The low tide had only gone out half way, which is typical for summer tides. It was a 1.1 ft. low. Our high at 3 PM, was 2.3 ft., which means that we only moved 1.2 ft of water over a 6 hour period. Certainly not a horrible flat-line tide, but not a great tide, either.
We soon saw the writing on the water, and knew it was going to be one hot, tough day. There was no air moving. The water was like a mirror. Beautiful to look at, but hell to be on in the summer. Because of the conditions, I decided to change my game plan a bit. We began with fishing some potholes, hoping to find some redfish and trout. We did manage a few undersized trout, but that was it. We moved on.
We went to a favorite area of mine, where the previous week we had caught some great snook, including the monster that Jim's friend Charlie saw toss the hook right at the side of my boat. Well, we had a number of hits, but couldn't find a fish aggressive enough to get a hook in to.
I left Jim and Barry at that spot working it hard, while I went to a nearby area to see if I could find some redfish schooling as the tide covered things up. The first fish I found was a huge snook laid up in the shallows. She didn't spook, but just slowly moved away. Then I found a pod of four manatees, including a calf, and got some video of them. Shortly afterward, I found the first redfish, and if you look closely in the video montage, you can see him swim across a sand hole in front of me. Shortly after that I found the Mother Load, or so I though, and called the guys in. But, the redfish wouldn't eat. It was a good day for an eco-tour, though.
By this time the weather was building to the southeast, and I deemed it prudent to get a little closer to home in case it suddenly flared up on us. Along the way I stationed Jim at a spot where we'd had good action for a while the day before. He didn't have a hit. I anchored Barry at another of my favorite big snook spots, feeling sure he would tangle with a few good snook. Well, he did hook one fish, which broke off, and it was very likely a big snook. We got several other snook including a 25 and a 31 inch fish.
Yes. It was a very hard day for catching, but it was a great day of fishing and enjoying nature and cementing new friendships. And that's what fishing is really all about.
Target Species:
Snook and redfish
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