Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
January 4, 2003
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 01/04/2003 by Capt. Butch Rickey

This week ushers out the old year and brings in the new. Nothing has changed since the last report, though, as the cold fronts just keep on coming, and keep our water temperature near or under 60 degrees. In fact, the water temperature at the ramp one morning was 57!! The manatee whackos have made it all but impossible to go up the river to fish from Punta Rassa ramp, with the addition of a new manatee idle zone the length of Shell Island! It takes 20 to 25 minutes to get through it at idle! That's not only absurd, but very hard on outboard motors. They won't be happy until they have us all off the water!

Monday was my first trip with Carter and Jan Harnden. I came to the ramp with hand picked shrimp and a large tackle bag full of lures. I was hopeful that I could at least find them some trout that would eat in the cold water. The low that morning was 42! We would warm to nearly 75, though.

We headed up into the Sound to fish potholes for speckled trout on the super low tide. We fished half a dozen spots, but only one of them produced any fish for us. We caught a good dozen nice trout on Bass Assassin jigs. As the water rose and began to cover the flats, we turned our attention to snook and redfish. I tied on silver Toni Acetta spoons which we cast along the edges of cover. Carter hooked two redfish. The first got away before we could get it into the boat. The second was a puppy drum about an eighth of an inch short of the slot limit. We didn't see any snook.

We wrapped up the day at the Waterfront Restaurant where Carter and Jan said the food definitely lived up to the billing I had given it. We didn't set the world on fire, but then neither is anyone else. We had a fun day, though, and the Harndens were just a super nice couple. I look forward to their return.

It was fitting that I finish the year with my great friend John Hitt, as I had begun the year with John, as well. I love to fish with John, and good or bad, we always have fun. We had already decided to toss plugs and lures again for trout. To my surprise, it seemed that no matter where we went we could only catch small fish. We caught a lot of them, but nearly all were small. We only had a few that might have made the slot, but trout season wouldn't open until midnight. John and I vowed to get back on the trout and catch some dinner on Thursday, if the weather would permit. Yes, another front was on our doorstep, and I had expected a good bite, but apparently the cold water kept that from happening.

Thursday, January 2, John and I were back at it. The front had brought some great early morning storms, but had been melodramatic as far as winds were concerned. Thursday was a beautiful day and trout season was open. We fished many of the same holes that had given us so many trout earlier, and that usually give up big trout. The bite was not good. We caught fish, but not what I had expected. We only managed three keepers. Nice fish.

With the trout not in much of an eating mood, I suggested that we turn our attention to redfish, thinking that one keeper would be as good as several smaller trout. John tied on a gold Johnson Silver Minnow, and I a silver one. We began working edges of holes, and immediately hooked a big trout on the silver spoon. Shortly afterward, John hooked a beautiful snook that once in the boat proved to be a nice keeper of 28 inches. She was not very heavy, though, probably from eating very little since our water has been so cold. She swam away happy.

A short time later, John had another snook in play on the gold spoon, and this was a real miracle fish. As John brought her to the boat, I grabbed the line and lifted her. It was then that we realized that she had bitten open the snap swivel and the open snap had found its way into her lip. The spoon was far back in her mouth, not attached to anything but the snook. John had landed the snook on an open snap swivel. I think that's the first time I've ever seen that happen.

John and I were pleasantly surprised that a couple of nice snook ate his gold spoon, and equally surprised that we caught no redfish. I guess if it was that easy to figure them out it wouldn't be that much fun.

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 12/28/02 by Capt. Butch Rickey

It's Christmas week, and there's not a lot going on between the holidays and cold fronts. I managed to run two trips, with two of my most valued customers.

My old friend Tom Ross brought his 6 year-old son Brett down from Tampa for his first trip in the shallow water. Tom said Brett had had a bad experience on an offshore trip, and he wanted this trip to be part fishing, part shelling, and all fun. He wanted Brett to see that he could go out on a boat and have fun on the water without getting sick.

We began the day with an effort to catch bait at the third span of the causeway. We managed to catch threadfins, some pinfish, and mojarra, but I really didn't expect much to eat them with the water so cold. We had a seriously low tide, and I knew a lot of beach would be exposed, so I suggested to Tom that we do the shelling part of the trip first. We headed to the beach at Cayo Costa, where Tom and Brett walked about a mile, and filled a large bag with great shells including many olives, angel wings, kings crowns, turkey wings, welks, pectons, and others. Tom was just amazed at the quantity and quality of the shells they found. He even found a part of a jennonia.

Happy with the success of their shelling excursion, we decided it was time to let Brett catch a few fish. Trout were the obvious target for the youngster. Tom and I did most of the fishing, though, as Brett seemed to be winding down. He did reel in a few. We caught 15 or so trout including a dozen really nice fish at the top of the slot and bigger. Most were caught on Bass Assassin jigs, but one big trout did crush my Stillwater topwater plug. We finished our day with a fabulous lunch at the Waterfront Restaurant in St. James City.

The day after Christmas my good friend John Hitt and I were out for the first of two days together to wind up the year. I told John that bait was all but impossible, and that even if we caught bait nothing was likely to eat it, anyway, and we agreed to fish artificials. John and I both enjoy fishing with lures.

We had one bodacious low tide, and I began with a run up to Demere Key, where we fished the large holes and edges. We caught a number of really nice trout there, but never really got a good bite going. From there we went south and fish some other potholes without much success. Finally, we headed in to Long Cut to see if we could jig up a snook or some trout there. We caught a few more trout for a total of a dozen or so, and John got one snook nearly to the boat on a curly-tail jig.

Yes, the fishing is tough right now. They all seem to have a case of cold water lethargy. We need a couple of good weeks of warm weather to get things back toward normal, but the cold front just keep on coming!

I want to wish all my customers and friends a most healthy, happy, and prosperous 2003. I look forward to seeing many of you again next year, and to renewing old friendships and beginning new ones.

Tight Lines!

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