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Lots of Wind, and Lots of Redfish

Capt. Butch Rickey
April 25, 2012
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

Week ending 3/24/12.......

When the week began I had a full week of four trips and Friday in my Florida Master Naturalist class. But, weather once again cause schedule shuffling and juggling, and I wound up running only two trip.

The week began with Jerry Rinehart, who is an experienced kayak fisherman. We fished Estero Bay. And, for the first time in my twenty plus years of guiding, I failed to take pictures or make notes of the trip, and I had a problem with my GoPro video camera, and none of the videos were usable. Now, a month later, I have no memory of how our trip went. I apologize to Jerry and to my readers. This has never happened before, and it's worrisome to say the least.

Tuesday was supposed to be my second trip with my old friend Martin Wenick. But, 23 mph winds had us opting to reschedule for another day.

Wednesday, I was scheduled to fish with Jack Cook, father-in-law of my long-time friend and fishing buddy Kevin Shimp. He was over from the east coast, and Kevin arranged for him to get out for a day of redfishing with me. But, lots of wind forecast for Wednesday had me scrambling to get Thursday open. My life-long friend Ellen Hennigan and I were to fish Thursday. Being the kind spirit she is, and local, she was willing to let Jack have her day, and we rescheduled.

So, Jack and I hit the water Thursday morning. We still had wind blowing to 20 mph, but it wasn't going to get any better. We were going fishing! We launched from Castaways Marina, and headed out onto the flats around Buck Key. The bite was slow early on, but that was no surprise. We did get some trout, ladyfish, and a flounder as we waited on the tide to come in.

A move to different turf didn't yield the results I expected, but we did get a couple of nice trout as the water continued in.

As the water got higher we made a move that I was sure would put us right in the middle of a school of redfish. And, it did. Jack and I had a blast catching redfish after redfish until the top of the tide. We had some doubles, as well. Most of those fish fell for gold spoons and the DOA CAL 4" shad in gold and red.

As the tide neared full high, we made one more move to see if we could find some snook, and we did manage to catch three linesiders before the switch was flipped off. It was a good day, and Jack and I had a great time.

Friday, I sat the fourth of my Florida Master Naturalist classes. I highly recommend it to all.

Target Species:

Redfish and snook

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Top Florida fishing guide, Capt. Butch Rickey has fished the waters of Pine Island Sound around Sanibel, Captiva, and Pine Islands, as well as Charlotte Harbor, Sarasota Bay, Terra Ceia Bay, and southern Tampa Bay, for much of his 65 years. He now offers guided kayak fishing trips, as well as sightseeing and bird watching tours anywhere that can be reached by kayak from southern Tampa Bay to Estero Bay.

Contact Info:

BarHopp'R Kayak Fishing
11520 E Palm Drive
Ft. Myers, FL 33908
Phone: 239-628-3522
Alt. Phone: 239-633-5851
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