Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

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

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 6/14/03 by Capt. Butch Rickey

I ran four trips this week, and weather was again a factor in that most days we had storms brewing just off the beaches, and an onshore wind that made it impossible to get out to where the main body of snook is. Bait also seemed to all but disappear this week. It got very tough all over according to the other guides I've spoken with.

My guests on Tuesday were Karl Schertek, and his friends Helmut and Karl, all of Austria. We had been forced to cancel for weather in the previous week, and were fortunately able to reschedule. We had a good tide, at least according to the charts, but the never seemed to move very well on the flats. Bait was still good at Kiesel's flat on Tuesday, but as we caught bait we watched big storms brewing just offshore. I wanted to get outside to fish the beaches for snook, but I opted for safety and decided to stay inside.

Quite possibly every bait we tossed was hit by a snook. However, the snook were in that strike to kill mode, and most of the hits weren't even detectable. You only knew the snook was there when you reeled the shiner in and found that tell-tale scaled midsection that only a snook bite can make. We fished hard in a lot of different great snook holes, and only Karl managed to catch a nice snook that weighed in just under 6 pounds. That fish hit him hard and took off like a rocket, and I think it startled Karl. He did a great job of fighting it to the boat. We did get into a great trout bite, and made the best of that while it lasted. The boys also caught a jack crevalle and a catfish.

Although we didn't get the snook action we were looking for, we did catch some fish, and I had a great time with my new Austrian friends. I have noticed that Austrians seem to be among the most polite and thoughtful people I've even known. Karl, Karl, and Helmut were certainly no exception.

Wednesday, I was back with Dave Adair for our second trip. He brought along his brother-in-law, who's name I couldn't remember at the end of the day because I was so exhausted. I apologize to him for that. Anyway, being a bass fisherman, he had little saltwater experience, and none with snook other than what he had gotten with Dave there at the Sanibel Sonesta docks.

We headed to Kiesel's for bait, and really loaded up. I'd guess we had a good 400 pieces of bait. We headed to Redfish Pass to see if we'd be able to get outside, and although it was bouncy, it wasn't real bad. We headed to the Stickbeach, and for most of the morning, were the only boat in he area.

From the time we tossed the first bait, it was pandemonium. The snook on he beach were in a feeding frenzy. We caught them three at a time during the times that I joined the boys, and two at a time when I didn't. We tried to keep count, and never had to throw the first bit of chum, and every single bait that was cast was hit. The boys landed some very nice fish up to nearly 9 pounds, and of course, lost several very big fish. Of course, there were lots of fish missed, but that's normal for snook fishing. Although the action was too intense for us to keep count, it's very certain from the amount of bait we had, and the rapidity with which we caught the fish, the boys boated at least a hundred snook!!

I think the word Dave used to describe the day while we lunched at the Waterfront was "unbelievable"! That was the first time in two or three years that I've had anglers put together a 100 snook day, and my hat is off to them because it's much easier to do with three anglers than with two. Dave and I put together two great trips during his visit this year, and I look forward to his return if he can talk his wife into coming to the area again next year.

Thursday morning there was lightning to the south as I readied the Talon in the dark. There were storms on radar, but I couldn't tell exactly where they might go. I met Lou Faltus and his son Brian at the ramp at 6 AM. I was happy to finally meet Lou, as we've been talking back and forth via email for years. A family event in our area was finally going to allow us to fish together.

As we headed across the water toward St. James City, we met a wall of water coming onshore, and quickly ducked in at the Waterfront Restaurant. Of course, they weren't open, but we hid under the eves and watched it rain like crazy for about an hour. Once we were sure it was out of our way, we headed on up to Kiesel's flat. Bait was tough. Man, was it tough. We chummed and threw the net until I was blue in the face, and barely had enough to fish with. We certainly would do no live chumming. I heard that evening that some of the guys didn't get any bait! I guess we were lucky.

With the wind coming from the south/southwest at nearly 15, I knew we'd not be able to get outside without being beaten up. We'd have to find some fish inside. When you're talking snook, that means finding the much lesser resident population of snook that don't migrate with the main body of snook during the summer. Putting together big numbers of snook on the inside during the summer can be very hard. The fish you do catch, though, are often quality fish.

We began at one of my favorite snook holes. I hadn't been there in a few days, but it had been hot when I had fished it. We caught two or three nice snook, and a trout and a jack crevalle there. We moved some distance for the rest of the trip. We found a few more nice snook to 6 pounds, and found a school of reds just before the tide was about done moving. I quickly set up on them and began chumming. We caught half dozen or so of the bronze torpedoes to 11 pounds. Great fish. It doesn't take but a few nice reds and snook to make a great day of fishing. We finished the day with about 6 reds and 6 snook, a trout, a jack, and a catfish thrown in to not only make the West Coast Slam, but to make a Trash Can Slam of sorts.

Friday was my first trip with Don Jay, and Lee, his lovely wife of 42 years. They now live part of the year in Cape Coral, and part of the year back in Tennessee. We headed straight to Kiesel's flat for bait, since I've at least been getting bait there. It's been tough, but I've talked to friends that have been all over and found little or no bait. I worked for it, and was exhausted when we finally had enough to fish with, but we did have bait!

At the first stop Don caught two or three nice snook, and lost a couple, if memory serves. I say that because this was the last day of the week in the heat, and I was brain fried. From the first stop we went across to Redfish Pass and attempted to go outside. There were 4 foot rollers out there, which the Talon handles very nicely at speed, but I knew we'd not be able to stand up once we got to where the fish are. We turned around, and came back inside.

At the next stop we managed to catch several nice snook, and Lee got her first snook. Later, I ran a flat with the flaps down and motor tucked under looking for redfish, and found a big school. We circled around and fished the school, chumming with live and cut bait. We literally had big redfish swimming right by the boat! Can you believe we only got one of those fish to actually eat a bait, and it managed to twist itself off Lee's hook right near the boat! It was a biggin!

So we ended the day back at the Waterfront Restaurant from whence we'd come. We had caught some nice snook, and lost one big red. Don said he was pleased with the trip, and that of course, pleases me. It was an unusual week in that I was with new customers all week. But, I've said many times and say it again. The best part of being a fishing guide is all the great people you meet, and friends you make. This was a banner week!

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