Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
March 1, 2001
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR THE WEEKS ENDING 2/3 AND 2/10/2001 by Capt. Butch Rickey

Because it's been very slow, and I only ran one trip during the week of February 3, I decided to just do a consolidated report for the two weeks ending February 10, 2001. That trip was with my old friend Bob McGuire. We began the trip at noon to fish the incoming tide, and had a strong 20+ knot southeast wind blowing, that I tough was help improve the bite. We skipped the ladyfish up the river in favor of chasing snook and trout. We had some great bait that my good friend Capt. Rey Rodriguez gave me at the ramp after he had finished an exploratory trip with his friend Chris Rush.

Well, Bob and I went all over the place trying to get something going. We managed to catch 2 undersized snook, 4 nice trout, a flounder, an snapper, and a sheephead. All that great bait, and nothing would eat it. Boy, was I wrong about the bite. It was another TAD! Bob is a great guy, and takes everything in stride. He knows how fishing can be, and values the time on the water. He has seen the very best our area has to offer, and has seen the worst.

I'm beginning to understand and appreciate what folks of the Catholic faith must feel at confession. That's what these last couple of reports have felt like.........confession of my unguidely sins! I'm not sure I'm getting any absolution, though.

I got up Monday of the second week ready to meet Bill Owens and his buddies, and take them for a day of meat fishing for trout. But, I heard the sound of sprinkles on the roof. I queued up the computer radar image, and sure enough, the band of light showers that had been plaguing the Tampa area for days had finally pushed south. I thought I'd go ahead an meet Bill at the ramp and let him make the decision to reschedule our trip, or fish. But, the decision was made for me when I got into the tow van and turned the key. The solenoid wouldn't even rattle! My battery was beyond dead. And, I had just driven it the day before. It seemed clear the fishing Gods were telling me it was not a day to fish, so I called Ed. Fortunately, he was able to reschedule for Wednesday.

Tuesday, I had my first trip with Dr. Ed Sessa, a pediatrician from Schenectedy, New York, his dad, and his good friend Lynn, also a pediatrician. Lynn's son was also to join us, but had taken very ill and was in a local hospital. He would be OK! The weather was passable with a northwest wind at around 10, and the forecasted high around 70, but the guys soon found that they were a little under dressed for the very nippy early morning Florida air as we headed up the river to ladyfish country.

For the first time in memory, the spot didn't produce ladyfish. Oh, the fish were there, and we caught one, but they just refused to bite anything. After spending probably more time than we should have trying to catch some, we headed back down the river to the causeway to scout for bait. I already had 6 dozen nice shrimp from the Bait Shack across from the ramp as backup. At the bridge I ran into two of my guide friends who had both been throwing the net for going on three hours, with barely a bait in the well. I made the decision right there to go with the shrimp, and not waste a lot of the best part of the tide chasing bait we probably wouldn't catch.

We headed up the Sound in search of trout. We found enough to keep the boys busy, and predictably they missed a lot of hits. The popping cork fishing and long casts were all new to them, and it takes time and practice to get it right. The motley crew caught a dozen or so trout, but only 4 of them were keepers. It really left me wondering what happened to all the big trout we've been catching. At least they had enough for dinner. We capped the day with a great lunch at the Waterfront Restaurant. I hope I'll get the opportunity to take them out again under more favorable conditions.

Wednesday, I was ready for another attempt at getting Bill Owens out with his friends Jake and Bill. Bill is a great looking 82 years young, and hales from McHenry, Illinois. He let it be known that they were meat fishermen, and wanted plenty of trout. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem this time of year, as we have plenty of big winter trout around, some going as big as 8 pounds. We headed up the river for some ladyfish action, and to put a couple in the well for bait. It took a few minutes to find them, but once we did, we had a good bite, and quickly put 3 in the well. After catching a few others, along with a small jack crevalle, Bill, Jake, and Bill were eager to move on to trout. First, I wanted to check on bait.

We headed back up to the causeway. There I ran into my second cousin Capt. Sean Middleton, and Bruce Ringsmuth, who had both been throwing the net since before daybreak, with nothing to show for it. With that news, I was really tempted to say to hell with bait again, and go with the shrimp I had in the well, but the tide was just turning, and I decided to make a few throws. With Jake at the helm, we actually caught enough shiners and pinfish to fish with. Frankly, I was surprised.

As we headed up the Sound, I asked Bill if he wanted to give a snook hole, or two, a look along the way. He was agreeable. We couldn't get a single snook to look at our baits, but did catch small redfish that was just under the limit. With nothing doing on the snook once the water was moving well, we headed to some of the finest trout holes the Sound has to offer. We fished hard, and hopped from hole to hole, and couldn't even get a hit, say nothing of missing a hit. We finally caught one trout. I was baffled! Why were these holes, which are always full of nice trout, not producing? We managed a couple of flounder, but only one was big enough to keep. We went to a totally different area to see if we could find some redfish. There were so many boats on the flat that I just turned around and headed to the next area. With the weather warming, and the sun out, boats were coming from everywhere. It was like a weekend afternoon.

We made our final stop at a place that usually has redfish and big trout on it this time of year. It was time to chunk up the ladyfish and see if we could attract a red. After a few minutes we got a good solid redfish strike, but it was missed because the angler got to anxious. A little later something began bouncing another line. I knew is wasn't likely to be a red. It wouldn't commit. I explained that sometimes the fish, especially trout, will eat the bait and lay right where they are with it, sunning. After a couple of more wiggles, I decided it was time to test my theory. I reeled and reeled until I was tight, then struck. Sure enough, the fish was there. I passed the rod, and a few minutes later Jake reeled in a beautiful trout of about 5 pounds. That was the last fish of the day. The tide, and bite, were over. We headed to the Waterfront to lick our wounds. Back at the ramp I apologized for my inability to find them fish, but I had the feeling that Bill wasn't in the forgiving mood.

Yes, the fishing has been slow, and I'm believing that whoever it was that said they'd rather be lucky than good at fishing might have been correct. But, on the subject of catching as opposed to fishing, and measuring the quality of a trip in terms of fish in the boat, instead of the overall experience, I want to share something that a future customer recently shared with me.

Capt. Jeff Tropf, who recently booked March 29, with me, wrote, "When a new client questions me about my charter fees and the number of fish ... my reply never waivers .. Yes it's a lot of money, but you can't put a price on a good time with your family, and if you are going to spend the trip concerned about the number of fish you are catching against the cost of the trip, I recommend you not go, take your family out for a nice fish dinner, and spend the balance on what you would have spent on something tangible like T-shirts, golf, ... ." I thank Jeff for sharing that we me. It was encouraging to read after coming out of confession, and I think it's the only attitude with which to approach a charter!

I spent Friday with my fishing bud, "Fishoholic Dave" Latimer, playing with my favorite toys. We met at the Cockroach Bay ramp, and didn't think we'd even be able to get out of the basin the tide was so low. We headed down to the Port Manatee area, where Dave quicly caught a keeper red on a real expensive rattling spoon he procured somewhere. That fish turned out to be the highlight of the day, fishwise. We fished our hearts out, and saw lots of big redfish, trout, and tons of sheepies. We even found a big school of reds ganged up in a big pothole, but didn't catch one. We caught tons of small ladyfish back in a cut in Bishop's Harbor, and later a trout and a flounder, but that was it. But whether Dave and I spend 3 hours aground, or really spank 'em, we always have a great time together. This day was no different. Dave wears his title "Fishaholic Dave" very well. He's an obsessive, compulsive fisherman. The kind I love to fish with! And, it was a beautiful day to be on the water.

Now, I want to run something past you readers. My good friend Danny Earnest, of Atlanta, recently emailed wanting to buy a BarHopp'R tee shirt for his wife Ally for Valentine's Day. I don't have shirts or hats for sale, but Danny suggested I do a little inquiry of you folks to see if there would be interest in having shirts and hats available. So, if you'd actually buy a shirt or hat were they available, please let me know. Perhaps I'll have some made and keep them on hand for current and past customers.

The weather is warming nicely, now. I'm betting that with a couple of weeks of warm weather, if we can pull that off, the fishing will bust loose. Stay tuned.

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 2/17/2001 by Capt. Butch Rickey

Well, we've gone from and extended period of extreme low temperatures to an extended period of extreme high temperatures. We've been well above average for a couple of weeks, now, and the fishing is heating up as well.

First up for the week was Jim Cowee, one heck of a nice guy that I fished with back on January 12th. This time he had his wife Carol along, and her friend Barbara. We had a beautiful day with a light east wind and the high to be in the mid-80's. We left Punta Rassa at ten o'clock and headed up the river to do the ladyfish thing. The girls caught on pretty quickly and caught lots of ladyfish, a jack crevalle, and a puffer.

With enough ladyfish in the well to make a late day run at the reds, we headed out to find shiners. After some throwing around the causeway, we headed up to the Mail Run Cut. Some chumming and about three throws of the net had us stocked up on shiners.

Jim and the girls wanted some fish to take home, which meant trout fishing, for sure. We took our shiners and hit some of my favorite trout holes with great success. Oh, everyone missed a lot of fish, but still managed to boat a couple of dozen or more nice trout. We kept six for dinner.

Late on the tide, we went to a flat and tried for redfish. The water was absolutely filthy with floating seaweed to the extent that we couldn't keep our baits clean long enough to get a bite, yet we managed four hits, but no reds in the boat. Never mind. Jim and the girls were a blast, and we had a lot of fun.

Tuesday was my first trip with Great Lakes charter captain Mark Koch, of Loose Canon Charters, in Huron, Ohio. We left the docks at eleven o'clock and headed up river to Cattledock Point for ladyfish. The ladyfish were there, and Mark and I caught plenty. We kept three for redfish bait later in the day.

We headed back out to the causeway and caught beautiful bait on the third span in three throws of the net. We headed up into the Sound for trout, first. Although our hook setting technique is exactly opposite than what Mark is usually teaching his customers, Mark caught on pretty quickly and put lots of big trout into the boat, along with one snook. He earned that snook, too, as the threads on the handle shaft of the Shimano Sustain stripped (not because of the fish) and he had to wind the fish in by turning the reel rotor by hand.

As the tide rose, we headed to the redfish flats to see if we could chum up a few. The water had cleared up nicely, and I had a feeling we'd have a descent bite. We put out four rigs with chunked ladyfish on them and waited. It didn't take took long before we got action. The Daiwa Emblem Z 2000 reels I use hold about 80 yards of 10 pound test. I routinely cast most of that line off the reel with a steak of ladyfish on the hook. It very effective because the bait is out there on the fish, and the fish don't know we're there, because we're so far away. But, that long cast creates problems for the untrained angler. It takes patience to get all the slack and line stretch out of the line before striking the fish. Most folks just have a hell of a time getting it down. Capt. Mark was no different. But, he did manage to boat one nice red of about 6 pounds of about 8 strikes. That fish was good for the Slam.

I can tell you after a day of fishing with Mark, that he must be a great guy to go on a charter with, and would recommend him highly. He's easy going, fun to be with, and loves kids. If you're going to be in his neck of the woods, you should book a walleye date with him.

Wednesday, I had another captain, an ocean master with a long history of going to sea and fishing, Bill Liggett, of Seattle, Washington. Bill is a long time visitor to Pine Island, and did some of his growing up there. But memories fade, and things change, and Bill was looking for a little help and tutoring on how to catch some keeping fish from his small skiff.

I picked Bill up at the Waterfront Restaurant at eleven o'clock, and we headed up the river for ladyfish. To my great surprise, we only caught one ladyfish on several drifts. They were there, but just not interested in eating, probably because the tide was coming to a standstill. We took our one big ladyfish and headed back to the causeway for bait. After some fruitless effort there, we headed back to the Mail Run Cut. Some chumming produced quick results, and in several throws we had plenty of bait.

Bill had complained that he had not caught a keeping trout from his skiff since he'd been here, so the first order of the day was to teach him how to pothole fish for trout in the winter. Bill was very pleased with the size and quantity of trout he caught, and caught a couple of nice jacks, as well.

Once the time was right, we headed to a nearby flat to try for redfish. As I poled the BarHopp'R onto the flat, I stopped at a pothole that is usually full of big trout and suggested Bill cast a bait into it. He did, and the shiner was immediately inhaled by a big winter trout. After landing the fish, he cast the same, half dead shiner back into the hole, and it was immediately eaten again by another big trout. After landing that fish, Bill tossed the now stone dead shiner back into the hole, and yes, it was again eaten by another nice trout. Hi biggest trout of the day was 4 pounds.

We could have sat there and caught trout for the rest of the tide from those potholes, but I wanted Bill to have a crack at a redfish. I poled on. Once on my spot, I cut ladyfish and chummed, then put out four rigs. Four ladyfish steaks in the water are as good as chumming, and are sure to get noticed if there's a redfish, or even a snook in the area. Pretty soon, we had our first action. By my count we had 10 good hits, 8 misses, one red to the boat, and another that cut the leader on something out there on the bottom. But, Bill also landed a beautiful 27 inch snook. I figured it was a serious contender for the fish of the week spot on this fishing report.

So, Bill also got his Slam, and said the trip was a great success. He said he'd learned a lot, caught his most and biggest trout ever, his first snook, and would have never figured out the ladyfish technique for redfish. He was happy, and so was I!

After a day off, I was back out on Friday with Dr. Jerry Matlen, and his good friend Paul, of Birmingham, Michigan. Jerry and I did a couple of days snook fishing a couple of years ago, but his big ones got away. I knew Jerry would want to concentrate on snook, and I also knew we had a lousy, slow moving tide that would not be good for the snook bite. But, when I met Jerry and Paul at seven o'clock Friday morning, I was encouraged by a south wind blowing. A front was approaching from the north, and expected late Saturday. Perhaps the south wind would make the fish eat.

We headed to the causeway looking for big snook baits, but even chumming, none were to be found. I threw the net more than I care to around the second and third spans and caught three shiners. I headed to Picnic Island and tried there with the same result. Nothing but pinfish. So, I headed once again to the Mail Run Cut, and sure enough, there was plenty of nice bait there. Now, don't you know that if I'd run all the way up there first, there would have been no bait!

That was our last struggle of the day. We headed up to an area called Flamingo, and anchored on a deep water spot, and from the time the first bait went out, we had plenty of snook action. They weren't big snook, but it was way more action than I had anticipated under the conditions, and we were happy for it. Jerry and Paul boated about 13 snook, and one big jack crevalle by my count.

From there I fished a spring pattern, which was basically fishing mangrove shorelines. In the first stop Paul got a nice 27 inch snook, and a 26 inch snook. In the second and last stop, Jerry beat Paul and everyone out for fish of the week with a 28 inch snook. These fish were not very heavy for their length, as they've just come out of the rivers and creeks where there has been nothing to eat during our harsh winter. It looks like the snook are coming out with a good appetite and a bad attitude. That's great!

Paul had to be back at the dock fairly early, and after spending more than two hours catching bait, we didn't get a full day of fishing time, but the time they had was good. Paul was a newcomer to fishing here, and of course, to snook fishing, and really had a blast, and I think Jerry was pleased with his snook.

So, it looks like things are busting loose. The front that is approaching is not a strong one, and won't drop our temperatures much. But, it might make for a couple of windy days.

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