Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
December 2, 2003
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR WEEK ENDING 11/29/03 by Capt. Butch Rickey

It's Thanksgiving week, and a week with much to give thanks for. Four trips, old friends, new friends, and good fishing to name just a few. It was a good week.

I met my good friend Dr. John Hitt at his condo dock Sunday morning at 6:30. We wanted to get a jump on the traffic, and the tide. John struggled to keep his 22 ft. Coastal on step as we negotiated the new, and quite ridiculous in my opinion, 25 MPH speed zone the whole river has become. For one thing, very few boats are actually equipped with speedometers, and even fewer are anything resembling accurate.

We headed straight to Picnic Island, where we were able to load the big well with shiners and pinfish in 4 throws of John's 8 ft. net. After a quick washdown, we were off to find some trout in the potholes. The challenge would be getting to them. We had already challenged John's big boat a few weeks earlier, and knew we could get it pretty shallow. But, on this morning we would be shooting the flat on a -0.6 ft. tide! This was uncharted territory for John and his Coastal. As we approached our chosen area, John and I trimmed the nose down with the tabs, and raised the big Yamaha on the tilt control until the prop was about to blow out. With our speed at about 35, we ran onto the flat and right to our hole. John did a great job of putting the boat down just feet from the hole. We weren't exactly floating, but with my big butt out of the boat, we were able to ease her into the hole and get the position we wanted to fish it.

The hole was good. We caught lots of beautiful trout up to 5 pounds, a nice keeper snook of around 28 inches, and two ladyfish. Once the action slowed at the first hole, we moved to the second, where we managed to catch 2 gag grouper, 1 snook, 1 trout, and another ladyfish. On to the third stop we managed only 3 small snook. After making a serious move to another area, we were in the fish again. At the first stop John got one redfish and 5 snook, including 26 and 28 inch fish. Finally, at the last stop of the morning, we got into our favorite fish, big reds. It was only because we had ladyfish in he boat, too, as the redfish weren't the least bit interested in shiners or pinfish, cut or live. But, they like our ladyfish, and John put 10 beautiful reds in the boat, capped off with a blacktip shark about three feet long. It had been a great day.

Monday was my first trip with Dr. Chris Fredericks, of Charleston, South Carolina, who is a long time friend of my good friend and customer Dr. Vic Weinstein. Chris had heard a lot about me from Vic, and I hoped I could live up to his expectations. We headed straight to Picnic Island for bait, and were loaded in two or three throws of the net.

We got to our first stop about half hour before the bottom of the tide. We managed to catch about a dozen trout before the tide stopped, but the surprise was that we caught none once the tide began moving in. I had expected a good bite one the water began to move.

At the second hole we managed 6 to 8 snook, mostly small, but again did not find the action I was looking for. We moved to another hole not far away where Chris managed several more snook and 2 gag grouper. After moving to a hole several miles away we again managed several more snook. At the last stop that morning we found redfish. Fortunately, we managed to catch 6 of the big brutes and miss another on live and cut pinfish, as there were no ladyfish in the boat as a backup.

All in all it was a pretty good day. Chris was really impressed with the pulling power of the snook, grouper, and redfish. We had some great and very enlightening conversation, and he said that I had certainly lived up to his expectations. Whew!

Tuesday morning I was back at John Hitt's dock at around 7:30. We had decided to leave a little earlier than we had first planned so that we could stop at Shell Point and catch some ladyfish. We rigged up a couple of rootbeer TerrorEyez on light rods, and had a good time for about 45 minutes, catching a fish, cleaning the mess out of the boat, catching the fish, cleaning the boat.... Yes, they're as nasty as they can be, but they're a blast to catch, and they're great bait. After a short run from there to Picnic Island, we loaded the boat with shiners and pins in four throws of the castnet.

We were now sitting on a dead low of -0.7, and weren't sure if we could get onto the flats and to a pothole, or not. I decided to introduce John to a nice little grouper hole while we let the tide move in a little. The hole was great, and John caught 10 gag grouper before the action slowed. They are incredibly hard fighters in the shallow waters, and as with snook, you can never be sure the fish is yours until it's in the boat.

At the next stop we had great trout action, and John put a good 20 quality fish into the boat. But, there were also snook there, and John also caught two nice keepers. At our next stop, hunting for redfish, we caught another 2 snook, including another nice 28 inch keeper. We couldn't get a redfish to eat, not even the ladyfish. We had watched a weak cold front pass over us as we fished that morning, and it seemed that once it did, the fishing was pretty much over. The redfish were everywhere, but wouldn't touch a bait! At our final stop John managed several more small snook, and finally the elusive redfish that gave him the Slam. With that, we called it a day.

After a couple of days off for Thanksgiving, I was back on the water Friday with Jon Waitz, and his son Dan, of Ann Arbor, Michigan. This was a trip I had been looking forward to for a long time, as Jon had booked in April, and had been trying to fish with me for at least a couple of years. Because of scheduling, we had not been able to get together. This was another trip that I especially wanted to go well.

We had a falling tide all morning; a tide I don't like fishing. But, I knew the water would be a zoo by the afternoon hours, and we also had a big cold front on our doorstep. The wind forecast was for 20 to 30 out of the southwest!! I couldn't' count on even getting to do an afternoon trip. So, we left the dock at 6:30, and my plan was to go and get bait quickly and try to get on a redfish flat for a few reds before all the water left.

We got our bait, and it only took three throws. By the time we got to my chosen flat, the water was already getting pretty low. The Talon was barely floating. The redfish were there; all over the place. We could see them pushing, but they weren't spooked. They were full, though. We threw everything we had at them, and never got more than a wiggle or two on our baits. I worked my way toward deeper water, chumming and fishing as we went. But, we never had a strike.

It was time to move on and change strategies. I moved to a hole about a half mile away looking for snook action. The snook weren't eating, and I had just commented to the boys that I often find trout in the hole when the first one took a bait. It was a nice trout. Jon and Dan caught around a dozen before they left us. The biggest was 3.5 pounds.

We made a major move to another nice trout hole that often gives up snook. The action wasn't fast and furious, but we sure caught some nice fish in that spot. The boys got three keeper snook, including 26, 28, and 29 inch fish. Very nice snook. They also got another dozen or so nice trout to 3 pounds. Once the action slowed there, I took the boys to the grouper. They were blown away that these grouper that are only 16 to 20 inches could pull so incredibly hard. They put 6 in the boat. By the time we headed to the last spot, the wind had begun to kick as had been advertised. We managed another 4 small snook to top off our day, and headed for home. I was also concerned that I might have to sit in line for an hour or longer as I had done so many times in the past when I had worked holidays.

It had been a great trip. Jon and Dan were both very good students, and great anglers. The caught on quickly and made the hits we had count. They were also great guys, and a lot of fun. They were more than please with the results of the trip, and vowed to return soon. I sense I made some great new friends in Jon and Dan.

That's how it went. The fishing hasn't been spectacular, but it's been pretty darned good. Let's hope this big cold front doesn't upset the applecart too much.

REPORT FOR WEEK ENDING 11/22/03 by Capt. Butch Rickey

The Talon did get her bottom wet on Monday morning, as I had a new prop to try out on her. My good friend Capt. Butch Boteler had passed along the results of a mutual friend's experimenting with props on his Talon F-16, and I had a brand new Mercury Offshore 4 blade 23 pitch prop that was promised to be perfect. At first, I thought it might be too much prop for the Yamaha 150, but she seemed to pull it well to about 5,200 RPM, and that's as fast as I've ever gotten a Yamaha 150 to spin. The boat runs really nice with the prop on. It seems to really fly at top revs, and cruise at a nice 40 around 4,000 RPM.

Wind, weather, and a sad looking calendar combined to give me one trip to talk about this week. It was on Friday, and the second day after the passing of the first good cold front to make it this far south this fall, and I knew it would be a tough day. But, this time of year, once the fronts begin to push south, you could wait until next spring to get that perfect day.

This trip was with Tom Iversen, of St. Louis, who fished with me along with Dr. Joe Sandza a couple of weeks ago. We had a fantastic day. Joining Tom were his good friend Gale Hill, and his future son-in-law Steve, both of St. Louis.

Our wind was still out of the north/northeast at 10 to 15, more toward the 15, I'd say. The skies were that special hue of blue you get only when you're sitting under a big bubble of high pressure with not a cloud to be seen. It's pretty weather, but tough on fishing.

I decided to stop at Picnic Island for bait, thinking that if I found none there I would work my way north into the Sound. The tide had just begun to move in, and it didn't take long before I was sure I had seen a flash in the murky water. The sun was just breaking the horizon, so it was hard to be sure. I threw the net and got our first load of shiners while Gale continued to put out the chum. Three throws later we were loaded with all the bait we'd need for the day.

We headed to one of my favorite trout/snook holes on the low tide expecting to have at least a great trout bite, but it was not to be. Oh, the boys caught a handful of trout, and we had lots of bait hit and scaled the way only a snook can do it, but we never got a snook to actually hold on long enough to get tight to it. Actually, most of the snook hits the boys never felt.

We moved from there to a sure-nuff snook hole and were immediately into a pretty good bite. We had everything from 13 inch yearlings to a 30 inch beauty, and Gale had the hot rod. I teased him a lot about how he was fighting the bigger fish, but he was a great sport and did a good job. After he watched me chum the hole a number of times, and saw the snook blow up the baits, he admitted that he couldn't imagine why we had caught so much bait, but now understood. Gale and Tom caught a good dozen snook there, but Steve only managed one small.

We moved to another sure-nuff snook hole that I hadn't fished since the cold of last winter. I'm sure the snook were there, as I did see several hits on my chum, but the only fish caught was a nice gag grouper that really amazed Tom with it's pulling power in shallow water.

From there we decided to give the redfish a try, and moved to a nearby flat. I began my chumming routine knowing full well the fish were there, because they always are on that stage of the tide, and they love the area. The wind was making it difficult to manage four lines, and the redfish didn't want to eat. We had three fish pop our cut-bait rigs a couple of times each, but they wouldn't go ahead and take it. They'd get almost tight and drop the bait. We had no hits on the live baits under popping corks. I figured the reds would eventually turn on, as they almost always do if you're patient, but the boys elected to move on and try to find some action.

We moved to a great snook area about a mile away and immediately had to contend with gulls trying to steal both our chummed shiners and the ones on our hooks. They can absolutely ruin a fishing trip and they're almost impossible to get away from. Once they find you have live shiners in your well, your boat is marked for the rest of the day. The best remedy is to make a scarecrow out of one of them, but that's not PC in today's world.

Anyway, we managed to catch a few more snook moving from hole to hole until the tide was done. By then we were all starving, and ready for lunch. We headed to the Waterfront Restaurant to top off what had not be a great day, but had been a good day on the water despite tough conditions.

Last week I opened a court of my customers and readers to give me their opinions about a no-show and forfeited deposit issue from that week. I couldn't believe all the emails I got from you folks out there, and I was pleased to see that not one reader or customer of mine took Kristen's side. Everyone, to a man, was firmly in my camp. And, as many of you predicted, the $50 deposit that was supposed to be forthcoming, hasn't come forth. I'm really tempted to cut and paste the text from some of your emails and send them to her, but I doubt she'd put herself in the position of reading them. She would be shocked to see what other fishermen think of her behavior. Oh, well. Thanks to everyone who took the time to write, and reassure me that I was on the right side of the situation.

Next week I have a full calendar beginning on Sunday with my old friend John Hitt. We have another front expected in on Monday, so it's anyone's guess how the weather will be once that happens. There should be a full week to report on next week, though, God willing.

REPORT FOR WEEK ENDING 11/15/03 by Capt. Butch Rickey

The big story this week is again wind. It's been blowing for the better part of two weeks, now. Looking at the beginning of the week, I had three trips to run. However, by the end of the week that was down to one trip.

My first trip on Monday was to be with a couple of gals from the east coast. The girl that booked the trip apparently copied my address down wrong, and sent her 1/2 of what was to be a $100 deposit to the wrong address. She again sent it via Fed Ex, and I received her $50 on Saturday. However, I didn't receive, and still haven't received the deposit from the other lady involved. On Sunday night, it was looking like it might be very windy on Monday. Because one of the ladies involved was in her 90's, I send an email letting them know we could reschedule the trip if they had another day they could go.

I didn't hear back from her either via phone or email, so I was up Monday morning, spent my hour and a half getting the boat ready and in the water, and then waited. They didn't show up. I waited until 9:30 before pulling the plug on them. By the time I had the Talon cleaned up and put away, I had done the better part of a day's work.

Late that afternoon I got an email from the younger lady saying she had emailed me, but it had come back to her. She sent a copy. The copy quickly showed she had sent the email to the wrong address. Well, folks! I'm a reasonable man. I was quite willing to reschedule the trip. But, her error cost me a day of income and nearly a day of work. My position is that she forfeits her deposit, and I want to see the other $50 that was promised to have been in the mail. I have yet to receive it, so obviously, it wasn't.

As you might expect, she is less than happy, and I am the bad guy in her mind. So, what do you readers think? I am perfectly willing to have a court of my customers tell me what THEY think.

Tuesday was a fantastic day. It was my first trip with a really great 26 year old young man from Chicago, named Wesley Davis. it was Wes's first ever guided fishing trip, and he had been wanting to fish with me for some time. I wanted Wes no only to have a great day, but wanted to give him a sample of the different fish and techniques that we use here. I brought a full rack of Shimano Stella, just to put some icing on his experience.

We loaded the Talon with bait in four throws at the Marker 34 bar, and were ready to begin his day. There was a boat on the flat where I had planned to fish first, and I didn't feel I could get to where I wanted to fish without disturbing the anglers there, who were on the pushpole, so we moved on to Plan B. At that stop we caught snook, gag grouper, and trout. A good start.

As things slowed there, we elected to move on to another snook hole. There we caught lots of small snook, a jack, and a ladyfish. A couple of the snook were descent size, but no keepers. We hit another spot without much action and then switched gears to redfish. We had a great mixed bag of fish to our credit, but we needed the red for a Slam, and I wanted Wes to experience the dogged pull of the bronze torpedo.

We got to our redfish spot not long before the top of the tide, and it wasn't long before we had the first fish on. Wes was thrilled with the pull, and ultimately, the size of the 9 pound red. Wes caught 3 or 4 more, plus a nice snook at 26 inches, and ended the day with a nice blacktip shark to the boat that was nearly 4 feet long. It had been a great day with more than two dozen snook, the reds, the shark, 3 gag grouper, a couple of big ladyfish, a jack, and a trout or two caught.

The best part was that Wes was a great student, and a skilled angler. He caught on quickly, and needed almost no coaching. He was much harder on himself than I would have been, but had a great time.

Friday was a blowout with winds gusting well over 20 knots. What's new. I guess winter is just around the corner.

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