Hot Redfish and Big Trout Action in the Sound!
Capt. Butch Rickey
December 6, 2012
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report
Week ending 12-01-12.......
I ran two trips this week, and I'm here to tell ya that the fishing out of Castaways has finally busted loose. Gone are the dead floaters and the nasty water, as well as the stench that hangs on the red tide air.
Tuesday, I fished for the second time this month with my friend Don Marano. We had a good tide, a good weather forecast, and all the rotting fish were gone from the ramp. We had a negative diurnal tide that morning around a -0.5 ft. Perfect for fishing trout, redfish and flounder in the potholes. And, that's where we would begin our day.
It was overcast as we began our voyage to the flats, and I was having visions of topwater strikes running through my head. But, as we approached the area we would fish I spotted redfish tailing along the edge of the flat where it dropped off to deeper water. It's been a long time since I've seen tailers on that flat, although we catch plenty of redfish on the higher part of the tide. Don and I couldn't resist making some casts to the tailing fish, although if I'd imagined I'd find tailers out there, I would have been armed with some hand-picked shrimp. There were quite a few to throw at, but they were very spooky. Our tide was coming in hard, now. We moved on in to the flats, crossing over water barely two inches deep to get there.
Don and I went to work on the potholes, but the overcast sky made them nearly impossible to see. I parked Don on one of the larger holes that were a bit easier to find, and went to explore smaller holes nearby. Don drew first blood with a couple of nice trout on topwater. I lost a big one, and had a few blowups, and managed to boat a couple of trout and a nice flounder. Before we knew it the water was getting up on the flats and it was time to make a move to see if we could find some hungry redfish.
The reds were there! Don struck the first two on his floating lure, and both of them managed to get loose right at the boat. He wasn't hitting them hard enough to get the barbs buried in old "Leather Lip's" mouth. The fish were near 30" long. The third fish he hit, Don made sure he had the hooks buried. It was another brute. He fought it to the boat, and when he went to lift it into the boat, the rear hook separated, and the fish swam away. Upon later examination I could see that the stainless steel wire that holds the rear hook had broken! I also let a couple get away, but we finally settled down and caught some nice redfish. Time flew by. The bite quit. I suggested to Don that we make a run to another flat and see if we could find another redfish bite.
About twenty minutes later, we were again on redfish, and some beautiful bonus trout. Don was still catching on TW, and I was catching on spoons and jigs. Once that slowed, Don and I each moved to different spots where Don got one more red, and I got two.
It had been a great day, with some beautiful redfish and trout caught. The day finished with the wind around to the south. I commented to Don that the only way to get a south wind in this hemisphere is with a front approaching from the north. But, I had seen no forecast of an approaching front, and the forecast for Wednesday was the same as it was for our Tuesday; east wind at 8 MPH, and a high of 80. I was puzzled.
*
Wednesday morning I met Chris Tagert and his brother-in-law Matt Kutta at Castaways at 6:30 AM. I had been there getting the boats ready for a while, and was painfully aware that we had a good breeze from the north. My suspicions were confirmed. We had indeed had a cold front pass through over night, but it brought no stormy weather. A front is a front is a front, though, and I wondered if it would kill the bite.
It was very overcast as we made our way to the fishing grounds, and I knew that finding the potholes early would be impossible. So, I changed my plans, and took the boys to begin our day in a different area. As we approached the area, I again spotted redfish tailing along the edge of the flat. Great. The boys would get a chance to take some shots at them. Chris and Matt were equipped with topwater plugs, and I had a spoon. We had a quick casting clinic, and then the boys got to take some shots at the tailers. The water was so shallow that the weeds were fowling their hooks most of the time. I took a shot at one with my ¼ oz. Spoon, and was immediately eaten. Problem was, I immediately broke off while setting the hook. To my amazement that Power Pro parted like rotten mono. I checked the line and there were no signs of nicks. I decided to pull test the line, and it parted with east. I couldn't believe it. All the years I've used Power Pro, I've never seen it wear out like that. I kept checking the line very few feet, and it kept popping. Finally, after about 30 feet, the line wouldn't break. I think the line was fatigued from my constant hard casting. My philosophy in casting lures is that every cast should be your best cast. I cast long and hard.
The tails didn't last very long, and we moved to the hole we had gone there to fish. We spread out and went to work. To my chagrin, nothing was biting. We moved on to some distant potholes. I parked Matt on the first hole, and Chris and I moved on to some holes nearby. Visibility was near zero into the water, and a heavy fog rolled in off the gulf and visibility anywhere was zero. We were socked in for a while. I think it was on us for about an hour and a half before it lifted.
Soon, Matt was on the radio telling us he had missed two nice reds on his topwater lure. A little later Matt radioed that he had caught a couple of nice trout. Chris and I weren't hitting anything, so we went and joined Matt on the big hole. I managed a couple of trout and lost a flounder and trout before we decided to move on. The tide was coming in hard in spite of the north wind.
Another move put us in the middle of redfish. At first, I and Chris were catching, and Matt wasn't. I was using spoons and jigs. Chris was on topwater, as was Matt. Chris was on my left, and Matt on my right side. I suggested that Matt moved around to the left side of Chris, which he did. Matt managed to let 2 or 3 reds get away, and finally struck pay-dirt with a nice red of around 25 inches. Chris broke one off, and lost my Yozuri topwater plug. Something failed when he struck the fish hard. There's a lot of sharp stuff in that shallow water, and you never know what can happen. Not five minutes later, I reeled in and had red Power Pro hanging on my jig. I pulled in all the line, and Chris's redfish was gone, but the Yozuri was there in tact. I got my lure back. What are the odds?!
I think each of us lost at least three redfish, but we ended up with about ten caught, plus our trout. It was a better day than I'd figured it would be looking at the weather conditions when we began. Chris and Matt were great to fish with, and I think they had a great time. I sure did!
Pine Island Sound Fishing Forecast:
Very good on the good tide days!
Target Species:
Redfish and trout
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