Hot Trout and Cool Tunnels
Capt. Butch Rickey
February 28, 2014
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report
Week ending 2/1/14.........
Weather was again of course a factor for part of the week, but I did get to keep two dates with Shane Loveless, whose wife Lori bought him a trip and a learning seminar with me for Christmas. Any woman who gives her man a fishing trip with a guide is aces in my book. And, Shane is a really cool, fascinating guy, and retired military.
Our plan evolved into giving Shane a seminar on Thursday at T.P. Hoolihan's, in N. Ft. Myers, which would cover understanding tides, weather and pressure centers, how to use Google Earth and Bing Maps to explore and find new fishing spots, along with a casting clinic which included tips on distance and accuracy casting, and man-handling large fish on light gear. Then, on Friday we would fish.
We met at 11:00 on Thursday, only to find that the restaurant didn't open until 11:30. They were nice enough to let us go grab a table and sit down and get my computer set up. We were hungry, and decided to eat before trying to get serious about teaching and learning. The foot there has been very good the two times I've been there. Once I had some fuel in my tank, we proceeded with the instructional part of the day, and finished in the afternoon out in the parking lot going over tackle and casting. We were ready to fish the next day.
Shane and I met the next morning at Port Comfort Marina, to fish Punta Rassa Cove. It's a great place to hide and fish when the weather is nasty. We had a forecast of overcast, rainy, breezy, and cool all day, and it looked that the weather boys would deliver on that one.
We began fishing along a channel drop where the fishing is usually good on the low incoming tide. But, we saw little action there, and moved on. At our second spot we were on the bite I wanted, and had a great bite on trout and ladyfish. We stayed with that action until it was over, and moved on in hopes of finding some reds or even a snook. I didn't get eyeball to eyeball with either. We finished the day with a ride through a mangrove tunnel near Connie Mack Island.
Shane loved the Ultimate, and said he'd learned a lot and really enjoyed our time together. I know I certainly enjoyed the time with Shane. He's a great guy that I want to keep in touch with, and perhaps explore some of my old stomping grounds of three decades ago with him.
Target Species:
Trout
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