Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
April 28, 2002
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 4/6/2002 by Capt. Butch Rickey

I ran three trips this week, and the rest of the week was dedicated to maintenance. Here's how it went!

First up on Monday was Paul Kropf, of Traverse City, Michigan, his son-in-law Thad, and friend Rob. We had a pretty good southwest/west breeze blowing at around 15 knots, and were looking for a high of around 88. Hard to believe it's the first of April.

We left the dock at 7:30 AM, and headed straight to Chino Island in search of bait. The bait came fairly easily, but with a really slow tide, I figured the fishing might be a different story. The general rule is, no tidal movement, no fishy!!

Well, the boys didn't slay 'em, as they say, but they did miss a lot of hits, and managed to boat 2 nice redfish to 30 inches, 7 or 8 snook to 25 inches, and 6 trout to 5 pounds. We had a great time, and that wasn't bad for a really poor tide.

Tuesday, with nearly identical conditions for my old friend John Sitzenstatter and his friend Chuck, of Benus Point, New York, it was a different story. The wind was a bit higher at 20 from the southwest. Bait was great at Chino Island. But, instead of the slow bite I expected, John and chuck were treated to a great snook bite. Yes, I did a lot of chumming, but the fish ate. We lost track, but they put somewhere between 15 and 20 nice snook in the boat, as well as 2 redfish, and 2 trout. The icing on the cake was that John put an eleven pound snook in the boat. His best ever, and he told me later, one of the best fish he'd ever caught. Folks, an eleven pound snook on light tackle around the mangroves is quite an accomplishment!!

When we got back to the dock I cleaned the fish at Shack Baits across from the ramp. Much to our surprise, John's big snook had no less than 22 shiners in it's stomach!! If you don't think chumming those fish works, think again.

Wednesday, my last work day of the week, was even better for my first time customers Larry Nemeth and Bob Lassonde, of Lambertville, New Jersey. Again, with nearly identical weather conditions, and an even slower tide, the fish broke all the rules and ate well.

I think Larry and Bob must have thought they'd died and gone to fishing heaven when we got into the fish. For the better part of five hours we sat in the same place and the boys caught fish after fish; snook, redfish, and trout. By the time we were done, Larry and Bob had boated at least two dozen redfish, 6 trout to 5 pounds, and a good dozen snook to 29 inches, including several keepers. What a day! We had a ball.

I must mention that Thursday I spent having my tandem axle Boatmaster trailer gone over by the crew at Boatmaster. Many thanks go to Joe Isley, John Craft, and the rest of the folks at Boatmaster for getting me in and out of there in the space of one day. They were jammed, and busy as hell, but they made room for me on the one day I had available to deal with my trailer, which was in bad need of attention. I had lost a wheel, due to my own negligence, no doubt, and all the tires needed replacing. They replaced my wheel, hub, bearings, etc., replaced all my tires, and bled the brakes, and got me out the door that evening. Thanks again, guys.

And, that's the way the week went. The fishing continues to be very good, and I believe it will continue to be.

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