Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
March 15, 2003
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 3/15/03 by Capt. Butch Rickey

The week began with very poor tides, and predictably tough fishing. Yet, we had some great trips, lots of fun, and caught some nice fish. The catching improved as the tides improved. Bait has been great. It was an unusual week in that every one of my customers this week were new customers. I can’t remember the last time that happened.

First up on Monday was Tony Ronci, of Point Claire, Quebec, and his friend Harry. We met at ten o’clock. I had worried that bait might be a problem, so I went out at around 8 o’clock to see if I could catch bait. By pickup time, I was loaded with beautiful shiners, and we were ready to fish.

We decided to hit the Waterfront Restaurant for an early lunch after hitting a hole or two with no action. We figured that by the time we had something to eat, we’d have at least a little movement in the tide.

After lunch we headed up into the Sound in search of fish that would eat, but the water was laying absolutely still. Inshore fishing is totally tidal, and this is the toughest condition to fish. Harry and Tony worked hard, as did I, and we managed a few nice fish, although not great numbers. The boys caught a couple of big trout to 4 pounds, a nice jack crevalle, one nice redfish, and 3 snook, including two keepers of 29 and 32 inches (if memory serves), which gave them the West Coast Slam on a really tough day. It had been a tough day, but we had a lot of fun and proved that it’s not just about catching.

Tuesday was my first trip with Jim Sherry, and his cousin, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We had a small movement of the tide early, and decided to meet at 6:30 to try to take advantage of that. The trick would be getting bait quickly.

We headed straight to Picnic Island, and had barely began to chum when the water began sparkling with bait. What a wonderful sight. We were loaded and gone in two throws of the 10 ft. net. There were probably 14 boats on that flat chumming when we arrived, and they were all still there when we left. There was so much bait there I couldn’t imagine that everyone wouldn’t be getting it easily.

We were one of the first boats into the Sound, and we settled into one of my favorite snook holes. The snook didn’t want to eat, but the big speckled trout that had taken up residency there, did! The boys caught loads of big trout running 3 to 4 pounds each.

Once that action slowed we went looking in earnest for snook. We only found three that would hit the bait hard enough to be caught. But, there were lots of instinct strikes where the fish doesn’t want to eat and doesn’t hold on to the bait. There’s never any mistaking that the fish was there, and you can even tell with certainty what kind of fish it was by the way he signs the bait with his mouth. There’s not much you can do when the fish won’t hang on except keep trying and hope for the best.

Our best fun was probably with the big jack crevalle. I saw big snook cruising around the edge of a large hole we were parked next to as we fished a shoreline. I thought it odd that they would still be in the hole with the water as high as it was, but they were there. So, I took up position on the hole and began chumming it with live shiners. Before you know it, baits were being blown out of the water with vicious strikes. We pitched our baits on the site of the strikes expecting to hook big snook, but the feeding fish turned out to be big jack crevalle of around 8 pounds. Boy, are they fun on light tackle. We caught probably half a dozen before they moved on.

We ended the day with a great lunch at the Waterfront Restaurant, rehashing the days events.

Wednesday was my first trip with Chris Sentimore, and his neighbors Dave and XXX, of Gibson Island, Maryland. These three guys were a hell of a lot of fun right from the beginning, and of course had a pool going for first, biggest, most, etc., fish caught.

We headed to Picnic Island for bait, and there were twelve boats there chumming when we arrived. A little chum and two throws later, we were washing down the Talon and headed to the first hole, leaving the others behind.

Once again the snook didn’t want to eat, but the hole was full of trout and the occasional jack crevalle. It appeared early on that Chris would walk away with all the honors, and the cash, as he had the hot rod. He caught lots of beautiful trout, had the first fish, the most fish, and got an 8 pound jack which seemed it would be the heaviest fish of the morning. The others caught trout as well, but not like Chris. But, the day was still young.

We headed further north into the Sound, and did find some snook that would eat, but the real action came late in the morning about an hour before the finish of the tide. We pulled up to a beautiful spot where I have caught many snook, and many large snook as big as 20 pounds. It’s also the site where many bigger snook got away. From the moment the first bait hit the water, pure snook hell broke loose for well over an hour. Everyone caught snook, great snook, but Chris lost his bid for big fish to XXXX, who got an 8 pound, 32 inch snook, along with others. I’m not sure how many snook the boys caught, but we had 6 keepers in the catch, and everyone was just amazed at how much power and speed those fish have.

We finished a great day with a great lunch at the Waterfront, where the guys continued to rehash the fun of catching all those snook. It had been a great day. The boys kept two snook and two trout to take home to their families. They had never had the pleasure of tasting either.

The last trip of the week, on Friday, was with Joe Fulton and his uncle Bob, from Michigan. I picked him up at the Waterfront just after 6:30, and headed to Picnic Island for bait. There were twelve boats already there. I pulled up in three feet of water just off the edge and assigned Joe chumming duties. It took a little longer, four throws to be exact, but we loaded the boat with shiners, washed up, and took off, leaving everyone still there chumming.

At the first stop we managed about four snook, a bunch of big trout, and a jack crevalle or two. Not the snook action I was looking for, but it’s not wise to leave fish to find fish, so..... At the second stop, it was more trout action, but not great. I headed further north into the Sound in search of snook, but we didn’t find much action. The last stop was the charm, though, as we found plenty of snook willing to eat. There were already two boats in the area. We pulled up about a hundred yards from one on our starboard side. I began chumming.

It wasn’t long before we had snook busting the chummed shiners. And, of course, Joe and Bob were catching snook. It seemed that every time I chummed the snook would turn on for a few minutes, and then quit. So, I kept chumming, and Joe and Bob kept catching, and the other two boats nearby kept watching. I’m not sure exactly how many snook we caught, but I’m guessing it was 15 or more. Joe and Bob got three keepers to 29 inches, and along with all the big trout to 4 pounds, a couple of jacks, and a couple of ladyfish, it made for a great day.

As we left the last hole, the boat nearest us asked what we were using for bait, commenting on all the snook we’d caught. I told them we were using shiners, and they replied they were, too, and couldn’t understand why they weren’t catching fish. I told them the fishing was over for the day.

I explained to Joe as we motored toward launch water, that we had actually stolen their fish! Yes, and I don’t apologize for that. They were fishing with shiners, but they weren’t working them with chum. I chummed the snook hard. I told Joe that I’ve seen snook charge from as far as a hundred yards away to come and eat a bait. We literally chummed the fish away from those boys, and caught them. I’ve done the same thing with redfish on the flats many, many times. I’ve also had it done to me, and that’s part of the learning experience.

Well, that concludes the report for the week. We’ve got great looking tides next week, and I expect some great fishing. Stay tuned!

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