Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
November 7, 2000
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 10/7/2000 by Capt. Butch Rickey

Sunday was the second day of fishing in Flamingo with my buddy Rus Hubbard. Monday was a travel day. If you haven't yet read the story about our trip to Flamingo, check it out in the Articles section. Since I'm working this coming weekend and the tides during this week are so poor, I scheduled Tuesday through Thursday off. That only leaves one day of fishing to talk about in this report.

Friday's tide was the best of the work week, and that sure wasn't saying much. It was high first thing, then going out for the rest of the morning. We also had a 15 knot northeast wind blowing, which doesn't do anything for the fishing. Kevin Bressman, his brother Paul, and friend James Puckett were down from Orlando to try their luck. I knew our best shot at reds would be early, so we were off to the river to catch ladyfish at 6 o'clock. There were plenty of ladyfish to catch, and even though the boys missed many it didn't take too long to put 5 in the well. Trout and gafftop sail cats also love the DOA Terroreyez we were throwing, and we caught 5 nice trout, and 6 cats.

We headed to the flats in hopes of finding some redfish that were still hungry, but I knew it would be tough. A slow bite doesn't give my customers much time to master the long, tight line hookset, and it does take time for most folks to get the hang of. I don't recall now how many reds were missed, but the boys managed 3 reds to 9 pounds, and 1 snook. It wasn't what I wanted to see them catch, but we had a great time just the same. We finished the day with a fabulous lunch at the Waterfront, which is finally reopened after a three week shutdown to rebuild their seawalls. God did I miss having lunch there!

As the week ends the weather folks are talking of a large Arctic cold front heading this direction, that could be bringing record cool temperatures. We've got a week of good tides ahead of us, but an early season cold front could make things difficult. Stay tuned!

FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 10/14/2000 by Capt. Butch Rickey

That front I mentioned last week showed up on our doorstep on Sunday. Although it was a dry front, it brought lots of wind, and record cold temperatures. It didn't help the fishing for most of the week, either.

The work week began with me working a rare Sunday. Rod and Judy Heflin were over from Miami with Judy's 75 year old dad, Ken. Rod had signed my guestbook earlier this year, and I just didn't have the heart to turn him away. That big front had actually already passed through, but the worst of the winds were not yet upon us. We were looking at north wind of 10 to 15 knots, and a rising barometer. The forecast for the day was horrible; 20 to 25 knot winds by afternoon. Our tide was still early, and I wanted to get out there as quickly as possible. I still had some steaked ladyfish left over from my trip with Kevin Bressman, and elected to skip catching fresh ladyfish, and instead, catch shiners and pinfish. I figured it couldn't hurt to have a little bit of everything on board with the front on us. So, we headed straight to Chino Island for bait, and had the well full in three throws.

Out on the flats, things were not easy. I did get a bite going, but not a good one, and of course, as first-timers, the Heflins had their share of missed hits. They did manage to put 4 or 5 nice reds into the boat, and lovely Judy got her very first snook. It was a nice one, too. We had a great time with lots of laughs. We finished the day with great food and conversation at the Waterfront. The forecasted high winds spared us.

But, by 1 AM Monday morning, the sound of tree limbs beating against the side of the fish camp woke me from a deep sleep. Damn! It was howling! The wind kept waking me through the rest of the night. My trip for Monday was with my good friend and BarHopp'R regular, Bob McGuire, of Line Lexington, Pennsylvania. Bob had long talked of getting his 75 year old dad, Bob McGuire Sr., down here for a fishing trip. Bob was concerned that he may not have many more opportunities to fish with his dad, and was really looking forward to this trip. Dad doesn't like to travel, so getting this trip to happen took some doing. I was afraid that the near gale force winds, rough waters, and falling temperatures would force Bob to cancel.

I was up early, readied the boat and gear, and was at the ramp early. I couldn't believe it was blowing so hard in early October. This was weather typical of the heart of winter. I left the boat on the trailer, loaded and ready to launch, figuring that Bob Sr. would elect to stay high and dry. But, when Bob and Bob pulled into the ramp, they were surprised to see the boat still on the trailer. I didn't have any alternative days, and neither did the boys, so we were going fishing!

I knew that trying to negotiate the Sound, or catch bait would be murder. I also understood that this trip was for Pop. I suggested to Bob that we just try to keep something pulling on the end of his line, if that was even possible in these conditions, figuring that Pop wouldn't care as long as he was catching something. Bob quickly agreed. I knew that there were plenty of big jack crevalle and ladyfish up the river, as well as trout and catfish. I was pretty sure we could catch some of those, so up the river we went; slowly into that terrible wind and a hard, sharp chop.

In 25 knot plus winds, it didn't take long to make a drift. We must have been drifting at 15 knots! But, each drift was very productive. For the most part, I just tried to stay with the birds. The turns and gulls would gather as if from nowhere when the fish began pushing baitfish to the surface. We couldn't see the baitfish, but the birds could. We would get on the upwind side of them and drift through, catching as we went. The birds would disappear almost as quickly and mysteriously as they had appeared; into nowhere. Then, almost magically, they would appear a short distance away as the fish drove the bait to the top again. Bob Sr. was having a big time. So was Bob Jr. But, I think I was having the best time watching the two of them. At times we had swells that were 3 to 4 feet to negotiate from the side. But the big cat is much more stable than a vee hull boat, and even Bob Sr. found it possible to fish while leaning against, and sometimes clinging onto the polling platform.

By around eleven o'clock we were growing weary of fighting the conditions, and had decided to head to the Waterfront for hot chocolate, coffee, and an early lunch. I knew we could get there running mostly along the lee shore, without getting beaten too badly. Before we got a quarter mile, I saw more birds working, and knew from where they were they had to be working jacks. We decided to stop one more time, and catch a few. Bob Sr. quickly hooked a monster of a jack that gave him fits. After a protracted battle, and lots of talking to that fish, he brought a jack of probably 10 pounds to boatside. He was thrilled with that fish, and talked about it for the rest of the trip. We once again headed toward the Waterfront with 30 plus ladyfish, 20 plus jacks, and a big bull ray under our belts. The folks at the Waterfront were shocked to see us arrive via the water.

Over lunch we all decided that we were happy with our decision to fight the weather. We had made a great day out of a real stinker. The forecast was for several days of more of the same, and I knew that some of the week's trips were in jeopardy.

The first casualty was the trip for Tuesday with my old friend Tom Ross, of Tampa. We had scheduled two trips, the one Tuesday as a boys day out for just Tom and me, and a trip the following week to take the family shelling. I had prodded Tom into bringing the Van Staal reel his dad had given him, and challenged him to a fishing duel against my Shimano Stellas. I knew Tom would go home wanting a Stella, but he called me Monday night and canceled. He wasn't up for fighting that much wind and cold. I couldn't blame him, and knew we'd play hell trying to catch any redfish or snook in that kind of weather. In retrospect, though, I'm betting Tom wishes we had fished!

By Wednesday morning, the winds were down to a gentle 20 knots, gusting higher! Still pretty miserable. Bob and Peggy Smollen, of Cape Coral, had decided to wait until that morning to make the call. They have lived in the area for about a year, but have had little success catching fish. This trip would be instructional as much as anything, and I reasoned that we might as well go and make the best of it. They could still learn the hows and wheres, even if the fish didn't want to cooperate. We went for it!

My friend Capt. John Shearer was also fishing. We decided we'd use a little teamwork to get bait in the boats. John was going to catch shiners, while we went up the river for ladyfish. We had plenty of ladyfish action, and put 6 into the livewell. It turned out that John had trouble finding bait. I tried calling him once we were full on ladyfish, but his phone wasn't on. So, we headed up to Chino to catch our own bait. Although there were plenty of pinfish, we soon found that the weather had pushed all the shiners out, and we didn't catch the first one. John finally called and said that he'd been all over, and finally found bait up on the causeway flats. We met John at the first set of power lines and exchanged some ladyfish for shiners.

We were ready to first do some snook fishing on the bottom part of the incoming tide. I headed to a great spot I hadn't fished since last spring. The snook were there, and out of about a dozen hits or more, Bob and Peggy boated a good half dozen. The hard wind at their backs, and current rushing their baits back at them, made the fishing challenging to say the least, but they did well. We left the snook biting to chase redfish, once the tide level was right.

As we rounded the backside of Chino Island, we ran into my cousin Terry Middleton, who appeared to be headed to the same area as we were to fish the reds. Once we were both anchored, Terry chummed hard with shiners. We did a little chumming with ladyfish. Nothing! We both moved up a couple of times, still without a hit. I elected to try a different area, and left Terry and his party still chumming. From the time I got anchored and put the first baits out, we had redfish action. Again, the fishing was very tough for the Smollens in such wind, with so much line out, but they managed to boat 7 of the 12 reds they had on the line.

We headed to the Waterfront for lunch and a reprieve from the wind once the bite quit at the top of the tide. Bob and Peggy were a lot of fun, and they were glad they had decided to make the trip in spite of the big wind. So was I. Back at the docks, one of the fisheries folks was quick to tell me that we had brought in more fish than anyone else that day.

Not much had changed by Thursday morning. Oh, it was supposed to warm into the low 80's, but it was still blowing at 20 knots right out of the northeast. The big high pressure had apparently decided to toss anchor right on top of us. This was the fifth day in a row of north winds. But, Dr. Dave Kerschner, his drop-dead gorgeous wife Ann, and fifteen year old son, Joe were at the ramp with bells on at seven o'clock. This weather was beautiful compared to the cold and snow they had left behind in Ohio.

We headed up the wind and up the river to catch ladyfish. We found plenty, but Ann and Joe had a tough time trying to land one. Dave quickly mastered the technique of reeling like hell through a straight rod, then jerking them into the boat like a commercial tuna fisherman does with his Calcutta pole. Dave quickly had 6 big ladyfish in the well. He also hooked and landed a beautiful 8 pound jack crevalle, that gave him a terrific light tackle battle, and a big 20 inch speckled trout.

From the river we headed to Picnic Island for shiners and pinfish. Bait was plentiful, and we had a well full in no time. We were ready to go snook fishing for the first part of the tide.

It was a real chore trying to keep the boat in position with the wind coming from one direction and current from another, and keep up with my three anglers, but we managed. Ann got her first snook, Dave caught plenty, and Joe got the biggest at around 28 inches. In all, they landed a good 20 snook, and missed half that many, at least.

We finished the day trying to catch redfish on the flats. Not long after setting up on the first spot, the wind ripped my anchor loose, and we had to move and start over. I was able to get a bite going, but this part of the trip proved to be the real challenge for the Kerschners, as it nearly always does for everyone. We had 10 fish on, but they only managed to boat 3 reds to 24 inches. We got our Slam! Of course, we capped the day off with a great Waterfront lunch. Back at the docks, a Korean man came over and inquired about my rates saying that he'd been there watching all morning, and that we had brought in more fish than anyone else he'd seen. I did see some other nice fish come in, but that's always nice to hear.

Once I pulled the BarHopp'R from the water and parked to unload her, I found that I had picked up a couple hundred yards of someone's fishing line in my prop. It was trailing way down the parking lot behind the boat. It appeared to be 100 pound test or more, and I couldn't imagine who could be stupid enough to leave all that line laying out in the water. It was so wrapped up in my prop that it took me a good hour to get it unraveled enough so that I could get the prop off, and finish pulling it from around the shaft. By the time I was able to actually get the distance bush off, I realized that the line had also gotten into the seal and destroyed it. It was already five o'clock, and I knew right then there would be no fishing Friday.

I had no contact number for Ken Johnston, my Friday party, so I had no choice but to arrange for someone to take my place and meet him at the ramp at 8:30. Capt. Kevin Holley, who always does a great job, was able to oblige, and has since told me that they did very well. I haven't heard from Ken, yet.

So, at Kevin's urging, I took the boat down to Ft. Myers Marine Friday morning, where Kerry, the service writer, was very helpful, and had me turned around in about three hours. The bill was a bit more than I expected for a seal replacement, but they had gotten me in and out quickly, which was the most important thing. Everything was once again ready for action on Monday morning. This was to be my fishing duel with my bud, Tom Ross.

So, that's the way it went. I managed to get in four of six scheduled days. The week must have set some sort of record for continuous days of wind in October, and we in fact did blow away some long standing low temperature records. I hope that will be the last we see of winter, until winter!

FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 10/28/2000 by Capt. Butch Rickey

My God, what a fantastic week of fishing! BarHopp'R customers put 20 snook, 4 big trout, 4 big jacks, 2 snapper, and over 120 redfish into the boat this week. Read on to find out who caught what. The hunt for reds in October is on!

Actually, Monday morning broke with more big northeast winds blowing as a result of yet a second winter type front passing through a couple of months early. My customers were BarHopp'R newcomers Andy Lutkoff, of Realty Executives of Ft. Myers, and his life-long friend Thom Messina, of Total Concept, Inc., a web design company in Cape Coral. Andy called me Sunday night concerned about the wind. I explained to him that things wouldn't get any better during the week, and that I had no alternate days. The decision was to go and try to make the best of it.

My day always starts at Shack Baits, a full service bait, tackle, sandwich, and rental facility right across from the Punta Rassa ramp parking lot. I don't know why it's never occurred to me to mention this place before, but it sure deserves mentioning. They were there for quite a while before I realized it, and you local readers may not realize there's a first rate tackle store there, even now. They've got about everything the fisherman could want. They custom make killer sandwiches by advance order, or while you wait. They're usually open by 6 AM, which is early enough for most of us. They also will save you some money on ice, as they sell it by the 5 gallon bucket instead of by the bag. The staff also offers some nice touches like parking when the ramp lot is full, and they will put you in the water and park your rig for you. When you come in, a cell call will have your tow rig in the water in a jiffy. Now you can't beat that. There have been many businesses come and go at that location, but no one has ever offered such a full service fishing store as this. They deserve to make it, and with help from tourists and locals alike, they'll be around for the long haul.

As I loaded BarHopp'R I in the Shack Bait parking lot Monday morning, I cursed the wind under my breath! It was blowing 20 and gusting higher. Small craft advisory in effect. I was ready for a tough day. Andy, Thom and I headed across the chop to Picnic Island, hopefully to catch bait. Fortunately, we were able to quickly gather plenty of great shiners and pinfish. The shiners would be primarily snook bait, while the pins would be redfish bait.

The tide was low starting out, so I elected to hit a snook hole that I like on the low incoming tide. The fish were there, but probably because of the high pressure and wind, they weren't in a mood to eat. We caught 2 snook and a trout. As the tide flooded, we headed to a nearby redfish hole. I began chumming with live shiners, chopped shiners, and chopped pinfish. I was holding my breath, hoping that the fish accept our invitation to lunch.

Well, it didn't take long to get our answer. We soon had a great bite going. Out of a good 30 hits, Andy and Thom put around 20 reds into the boat. The biggest was 9 pounds, and most of them were slot fish. Needless to say, we had a blast. Although I'm sure they didn't think so while they were fishing, Andy and Thom had a much better than average hookup ratio for first-timers. We rapped the day at the Waterfront, where we heard that only one other guide had been in, and had gone fishless. Andy has since sent me one of the nicest email letters I've received. It is posted in the testimonials section.

My good buddies Scott Gibney and Chris "Vinnie" Venezia flew in from New York early Monday afternoon to spend Tuesday and Wednesday hunting for the October reds with me. They were going to meet us at the dock at 3 PM. I knew Gib and Vinnie would be shocked and concerned when they got off the plane and got slapped in the face by the wind. I told Andy and Thom, both originally also from New York, to tell Gibby and Vinney that we hadn't caught anything all day when they met. Problem was, I didn't see them sitting at the picnic table when we came in and cleaned our fish, so when we tried to sell them a story of doom and gloom they weren't buying!

Monday evening, I prepared the boys salmon sashimi with my secret pepper vinegar and soy sauce dip, followed by broiled spicy redfish and grits. Yes, my New York buds ate grits, and loved it! We spent the evening consuming adult beverages, reliving past trips, and plotting for the next two days. Tuesday morning seemed to arrive with all the surprise of a premature baby. Much too early. To make things worse, the front had really built in on top of us, and it was now howling at a steady 25. That's anchor pulling wind.

We headed to Picnic for bait, and surprising had great bait in short order. That much wind makes a castnet a handful to handle, but our well was full. With a nearly identical tide the plan was the same; to hit snook holes early then fish the reds on the second half of the tide. Our first snook hole gave us 7 snook, a 17 inch trout, and a 6 pound jack crevalle. Frankly, that was better than I had expected. Later in the morning the redfish were less cooperative, but we did manage to catch 6 nice fish to nearly 12 pounds. We were all happy we had pulled off as good a day of catching as we had under such tough conditions. We finished the day with lunch at my favorite place, the Waterfront Restaurant.

Tuesday night Gib, Vennie, and I went to the Seafood Center and Crab House for a fabulous crab dinner. Gib and I had Dungeness crabs, while Vennie had our native stone crab claws. I last saw Gib in the spring, but hadn't seen Vinnie in a year of more. I was stunned when I first saw him, as he has been pumping iron and has muscles on his ears. He looks great, and he's a big boy. Imagine me with less fat and even more muscle (LOL) and you've got the idea. Well, I guess it takes a lot of fuel to run a body like that, cause Vinnie ate two orders of crabs and all the fixins, and looked like he might go for three. We finished a great day watching the World Series. Oh yea, these boys were more than just mildly interested in the outcome. I crashed and burned in the fifth inning.

What a difference a day makes! Wednesday morning the wind was down to around 15 and gusting. Almost calm compared to the two previous days! I had a feeling things would bust loose a bit. The plan was the same; snook early, redfish late. Bait was great at Picnic Island, and it wasn't long before we was a fishin! We did about the same on the early tide, with 5 snook, 2 nice mangrove snappers, and a jack. Once we made the move to the redfish, I was surprised to find none of them accepting our invitation to lunch. Conditions were perfect! I was torn between waiting them out and moving on. My gut said to move on and look elsewhere. Almost immediately after sending out the first chum, the bite was on. We had a good feed, and Gib and Vinnie put at least 20 of the 30 or more hits they had in the boat. It was what the boys had come for, and we all had a hell of a good time; them catching, and me leading the orchestra and watching them make the music. Vinnie got a 12 pounder, Gib a 10, and all the rest were in the slot! I had the Shimano Stella's on board, which make wonderful music, and that made the fish even more enjoyable.

It had been a great two days with good friends. Having them at my fish camp made it even more fun. Fishing with friends also gives me a chance to let my hair down and relax a bit.

Thursday was a makeup trip with George Layton and Ron Hunter, of Bradenton. They are the fellas who had to go home after my shift shaft broke at the ramp not too long ago. George and Ron had anticipated this trip for a long time, and expectations were high. Another disappointment was out of the question.

We caught plenty of beautiful whitebait at Picnic, but the pinfish were conspicuously absent. I headed up to Chino, where a month earlier there had been tons of pinnies, and sure enough, two throws and we had all we could use.

The morning started slowly with only 3 snook in the boat, along with a trout and a big jack. But, one of the snook was around 28 inches, and George quickly demonstrated what I knew would be true; that he was a skilled angler. The snook had every advantage because of our position relative to the mangroves, but George won the battle.

Once we turned out attentions to redfish, all hell broke loose almost from the first cast! The reds went crazy feeding on our shiner and pinfish offerings. They didn't care what we were putting on the plate, they were ready to eat. George was like a little boy turned loose with a credit card at Toy R Us! He proclaimed his glee with hysterically funny sayings I'd never heard before like, "I'm having more fun than a three tailed monkey in a fruit tree!" Ron's angling skills were a little rusty, and I'm sure he thought I was picking on him, as he got most of the coaching. Of course, Ron is a retired military man used to giving orders rather than responding to them, and I think he kind of took exception to my coaching, at least at first. But, as the mayhem went on, Ron began firing shots over my bow, and from there on we had fun with each other. How did George and Ron do? George kept count, and of 45 redfish on the line, they boated 37! We had a total blast, but boy was I glad when it was over. They wore me out! We of course, crawled into the Waterfront to recuperate. There, recounting the day, George told me that it was the most spectacular day of fishing he'd ever had.

Ah, finally Friday arrives, and I'm about shot. But, I've got to get through Friday. The weather was looking good, and the tides were still great! I wondered if I could pull off one more magical day of redfishing for Tom and Jeannie Joseph, of Manatowish Waters, Wisconsin. Jeannie's mom was raised on Captiva, as was I, back in the 30's and 40's, and still has a home there. Tom and Jeannie often vacation there, and Tom has been on many guided fishing trips here.

We started the day with two bait stops; Picnic for shiners and Chino for pins, as on the day before. Again, we fished snook early. We had quite a few hits, but the fish were still in a bump and run mode, and we only boated 3 snook, a trout, and a jack. I turned my attentions to the reds a little earlier in the tide than I usually do. It was a good move.

Once again we got a raging bite going. I could tell by Tom and Jeannie's comments and reactions that they had never experience such a day of fishing. They couldn't even put a rod in one of my bow mounted rod holders after casting before the reds were on the bait. It was bent rods from start to finish. This was Tom and Jeannie's first time at this style of light tackle fishing, and it was very different for them. It took them a while to adapt, and break their old habits. But, but by the time we were done, they had tangled with nearly 60 redfish, and boated 26! They were nice enough to let me catch another 4 reds on my two Stellas. How sweet. Again, except for one or two outsized fish, every single one was in the slot! We left the fish biting and in the hands of a guide friend who had joined us, and was catching them on spoons. We ended the day at the Waterfront filling our tummies and resting our sore arms.

What a week, huh! The tides next week aren't nearly as favorable for my style of redfishing, but I'm hoping I can pull off a few more days of great fishing. Probably within another month, the reds will be moving offshore to spawn, and it will be time to turn my attention to snook and big trout.

FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 11/4/2000 by Capt. Butch Rickey

Last week, BarHopp'R newcomers and regulars alike enjoyed a fantastic week of redfishing, with lots of other fish thrown in, too. It seems incomprehensible that the reds would disappear over the weekend, but they seemed to do just that.

My good friend and customer Dr. Ron Kolata was down for three days of BarHopp'R fishin Monday through Wednesday. He's a lot of fun, and loves to fish. Ron is great, because he's a no pressure kind of guy. Whatever happens is OK with Ron. I was looking forward to three great days with him. What I didn't expect was a slow bite on Monday.

Ron brought along a friend, John. John admitted to being pretty much a neophyte. I hoped we could get some crazy action going that would hook him on saltwater fishing the first time out. We headed to Picnic Island for bait, and once again got plenty of nice shiners, but had to run to Chino for pinfish. The pins are thick there!

On the first part of the incoming tide I took the boys to a trout hole to give John a chance to get familiar with the open face spinning gear. Trout aren't big fighters until they get to over 20 inches, and are relatively easy to catch. This particular hole is usually full of trout and ladyfish on a good low tide, but we only managed to catch a dozen or so before moving on to the first snook hole.

I wanted to check out one of my favorite winter snook haunts, which was fine by Ron. When the snook move in for the winter, they tend to be big bruisers; more than you can handle on 12 pound gear. The fish weren't there yet, as we only managed one snook and a jack crevalle.

As the water rose, we headed to what I was sure would be plenty of redfish action. I should note that there was plenty of floating seaweed everywhere we fished, and it made it almost impossible to keep a bait clean for more than a few seconds after it was in the water. I worked hard at getting a redfish bite going, but we only got 3 hits, and put 2 reds in the boat. That was it for the day.

Tuesday would require a change of game plan. Ron's lovely wife Pat came along Tuesday. She's a hoot, and although I don't think she even wet a line on this trip, I love having her along. We left Punta Rassa at 10 AM, and first headed out off the causeway for bait. We caught bigger bait there than we've been catching at Picnic, and were soon headed up the river. Ron enjoys catching ladyfish and jacks as much as anything, as do I, so I thought this would be the perfect way to start the day.

I was right! We had a great bite, and Ron and I had a blast catching and releasing ladyfish. We kept about half dozen to use for bait later in the day. We also caught a couple of nice jacks. I thought I might have to drag Ron away from those fish when it was time to move up into the Sound and chase snook, but he went willingly.

Our first stop was the charm. We had constant snook action for at least a couple of hours. Not only did we have action, but we had quality fish. Not long after arriving, Ron and I watched in awe as a behemoth snook slide quietly along the mangroves not 15 ft. away from us and slowly disappeared into the hole we were fishing. I pitched a large bait a short distance to about where I thought the fish should be. It was tagged instantly! I set the hook and stuffed the Shimano Stella 4000/Shimano V Rod combo into Ron's hands and instinctively began coaching Ron. Ron is not only an excellent angler, but listens to his coach. The big snook showed herself early and often as she felt the sting of the small hook. She tried to take Ron to the mangroves, but he masterfully steered her away. She then tried to fight it out in the deeper, open water, but wasn't able to gain her freedom there. That was when she made her fatal mistake! She was more than big and powerful enough to overpower Ron on 10 pound test at close range, but in frustration, she went around the boat and headed for the shallows. The water was barely deep enough to cover her back, and she lost her fighting advantage there. For her, it was the equivalent of being pinned on the ropes. Ron quickly had her at boatside where I got the BogaGrip in her bucket sized mouth and brought her aboard. I don't have to tell you how much celebration went on for the next couple of minutes at the sight of that snook that went just under 15.5 pounds. She was a beauty!

By the time the bite finally slowed there, Ron had put more than 25 snook into the boat, along with a couple of nice trout. He had caught several beautiful keepers in the 27 to 29 inch range, plus a small red! We had slammed in that hole!

We'd had plenty of action, and with more than 50 fish in the first two stops, our day was made. So, we decided to chase redfish again. We fished different areas than we had fished the day before, but with the same result. We didn't catch the first red. Did we care? Heck, no! We'd had our fun. We headed to the Waterfront Restaurant where owner J.D. Hollway had 20 pounds of fresh jumbo stonecrab claws waiting for Ron and Pat. Stonecrabs are Pat's main reason for coming to Florida. That's a pretty good reason, too.

Wednesday morning, Ron and his good friend Dr. Doug XXXX, who he'd taught in veterinary med school, left the dock at 10:30, with basically the same game plan, except for the redfish part. That wasn't working. We caught our bait first, off the causeway, then headed up the river for some fast ladyfish action. Although the action was good, it was a bit spottier than the day before. After a few passes, a couple of jacks, and a half dozen ladyfish in the well, we headed to snook country.

Our snook hole wasn't as hot as the day before, either, but warm enough to keep us there. We caught 2 nice trout and 15 or more snook there. We hit a number of other spots looking for more snook, without much happening. As the tide was in it's last stages, I decided to turn our attentions back to redfish, which was OK by Ron and Doug.

Out came the ladyfish. I chummed with the ends, shiners, and pinfish, and we launched ladyfish cannonballs far into the distance. It didn't take too long before we had our first action. We had 6 good hits that produced 2 nice reds in the boat. Yea, it takes a while to get the hang of setting the hook through 150 to 200 ft. of line! But, the fish of the day came on the last bait, and it was the last fish. I happened to be manning my Shimano Stella 2500 when the hit came. I thought it was a big red, and asked the boys if they minded if I catch a fish. They said to go right ahead. It was heavy and solid like a big red while it was way out away from the boat, but once I got her in closer, she began spanking the water with a big green tail, and I knew I had a big snook. The sure tip-off was that she didn't jump. Just like white men, big snook can't jump! As I worked her closer to the boat, she began to really sense that she was in trouble, and gave me a hell of a fight. But all the knots held, the line held, and although I was putting serious spool brakes on her, I managed not to break her off, and finally came alongside. She weighted in at about 14.5 pounds, and measured 35 inches. What a way to end the day! When it was all over, I felt guilty about having landed the fish.

So, that was how Ron and I spent our three days together. We had a blast, and caught lots of quality fish. We had amassed a total of 6 jacks, too many ladyfish to count, 16 trout, 6 redfish, and between 40 and 50 snook. Not a bad three days!

Thursday was the last workday of the week for me. I had a brand new customer, Greg Samuel, and his brother Ron, and son Scott, down from Jacksonville. They were unknown quantities, but I could tell that they were going to be a fun bunch, especially Greg, who Ron called "Sleepy".

After catching bait at the causeway, we headed toward the river. As we rode, I asked Sleepy if he'd rather go catch trout up in the Sound, which would give us a chance of putting some fish in the cooler while everyone was learning. He was more than agreeable, so I headed north through Miserable Mile.

Parked on one of my favorite trout/ladyfish holes, we found plenty of action. We caught more than a dozen trout, and too many ladyfish to count, along with one jack. The odd thing was that we didn't get any keeper trout. They were all just under the 15 inch limit.

As the water ripened for snook, we made our move. To my surprise, we were greeted with a slow, but steady bite, and we managed 15 plus snook to 24 inches.

Having found a few reds at the top of the tide the day before, we decided to try the same pattern again. We loaded our ladyfish cannons, and went redfishing. We had 8 or so good hits, and managed to put 4 nice reds to 28 inches in the boat. Sleepy, Ron, and Scott were great guys, and we had a lot of fun.

So, that's how it went. It was a pretty great four days of fishing. I'm going to take a few days off, and I'll be back at it again.

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