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Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida
Capt. Butch Rickey
January 19, 2003
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report
REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 1/18/03
by
Capt. Butch Rickey
Winter just refuses to let go of her grip on Florida this year. It's been another week of cold, windy weather for the most part, and the fishing is still very slow.
My friend Marc Denton and I agreed to delay our trip a day in favor of temperatures that were forecasted to be much warmer on Thursday. But, by the time Thursday arrived, the error was apparent, and we still began the day around 40 degrees. There I was all layered up in undies and long johns with a heavy jacket and a hat with earmuffs, and Marc shows up again in shorts!! Wow. His lifelong friend Manny was in winter clothes like I was, though.
We decided to fish a long, deep slew where I have regularly found big redfish layed up in previous winters. aI hadn't been to check on them yet this winter, and thought it would be a good plan. The tide was so low, though, I wasn't sure I could get the Talon across the single digit inches of water to the hole. I told Marc that if I got hung, it would be a long wait.
Well, we went for it, and made it in fine. We fished the eight mile long hole from one end to the other without so much as a look. Some other guide, whom I didn't recognize, came in downwind from me, and ruined my plans. Seems it should have been obvious what I was doing there, to me. I won't even enter the area if there is already a boat there. So, we went out and fished the deeper edge looking for some trout, but never had the first hit there, either. Man, I was getting worried.
We went to another series of holes that always produce great winter trout action, and even they only gave up a few fish. Finally, I decided to work the shore of Long Cut, and hope for the best. We found trout holed up in two areas. The first spot the trout were descent size, and we managed to get a couple more keepers to go with what we already had. The second spot was full of smaller trout, but hey, at this point we were happy to have something, anything pulling on our lines. We wound up catching a bunch of them and waited until we knew for sure it was over before going to lunch.
in all the times Marc and I have been out, I hadn't realized that I'd never taken him to the Waterfront Restaurant for lunch until Marc dropped me a pretty strong hint he'd like to go. We had a great lunch, and Marc and Manny said it definitely lived up to all the stories they'd read.
Folks, business and fishing are horrib ly slow, at least in this area. Bare with us, and support your local guides wherever you are, as I'm sure everyone is having a tough time making the business work right now. Hopefully, soon there will be better weather and plenty of trips to tell you about. Until then......
Tight Lines!
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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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