Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
April 16, 2004
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 4/10/04 by Capt. Butch Rickey

I saw red all week long; redfish, that it! But, with each day that passed, I had more company on the flat.

After having Monday off, I was on the water Tuesday with my old friend Harold Tollrian, and his son Daniel, who were back to visit from Germany for the first time in some three years. Harold didn't look a day older than when I last saw him, but Daniel at 13, had grown about a foot!

We headed to Tarpon Bay for bait, and it didn't come easily. In fact, it seemed to get tougher each day of this week! Once we had enough to fish, we were off to the first snook hole of the day. The snook didn't want to cooperate, but the boys did manage to catch several nice speckled trout. At the second stop we saw lots of fish, but caught none. The third stop was the charm. Harold and Daniel caught about 8 snook, including 3 keepers, and Daniel got the best one at 30 inches.

Once the snook slowed down we went in pursuit of snook and redfish in a different area. Harold caught a beautiful 5# speckled trout, and both Harold and Daniel caught keeping redfish to 26 inches. Both the boys got their Slam! As fishing here goes it wasn't a stellar day of catching lots of fish, but it was a good day of quality fish, and we had a ball. We fish again next week.

Wednesday, it was my old buddy Bill Meyer, of Centerreach, New York, back for some "hopefully" great action. Last time or two I was booked and had to arrange for Bill to fish with friends. I hoped I could give him a trip as good as our first one, which was an awesome redfish day. But, we began with having a hell of a time getting bait. With the spring break and Easter weekend upon us, the flats at Tarpon Bay looked like a Disney parking lot every morning. I think all that chumming and pressure on the bait is simply taking it's toll. Anyway, after a lot of work, and way longer than I wanted to throw the net, we had enough to fish with, and were off.

The tide was already coming in, and the low had not been very low, at that. I decided to go and see if we could get on some early redfish action. I think we actually got on the skinny water before the fish did, as it was slow at first. Then we managed to catch a few snook, then some beautiful trout, and then some redfish. Chumming seemed to really turn them on. The fish went crazy! We had an awesome bite, and by the time it was over Bill had caught 6 trout all over 4 pounds, 6 snook, and some 40 to 50 redfish! Slam! Slam! Slam! Once I knew I had the fish really going well, I waved a guide friend of mine in to join us, who was a couple hundred yards away having to watch Bill and I have so much fun. They also caught plenty of redfish. It had been an awesome day, and it was great to see Bill, again.

Thursday, I decided to do something different for bait. It was my first trip with Mike Siegelski, his son Connor, and daughter Lauren, of New Egypt, New Jersey, and I didn't want to spend a lot of time catching bait. It was the first day of a big snook tournament, and there were 68 boats competing! Also, the Easter traffic was already horrific! I was concerned about finding descent places to fish that weren't already full of boats.

Bait was easier at Picnic Island than it had been at Tarpon Bay all week, but not great! As soon as I thought I had enough pins and shiners for a good redfish bite, we took off. My strategy would be to find a good spot and park on it, and try to make it work, even if it meant being there before the fish were ready to eat. Ultimately, it was a good strategy, even though we did have to wait a while for the fish to eat. Once we got them going Mike and the kids had a blast catching one redfish after another, often two and three at a time. By the time the tide was done the gang had caught 3 snook and some 35 redfish! The fish were eating everything we offered them, which was sliced and diced pinfish and live shiners. Great fun! And, the Siegelskis were just great. We have a shelling trip scheduled for next Monday.

Friday, I met my good friend John Hitt at his dock at 8:30 AM, thankful that I didn't have to deal with the craziness at the local ramp on Good Friday. But, we still had to deal with all the traffic on the water. We began our search for bait at Picnic Island, again, but with little luck. We chummed several places, but had only pinfish and one shiner for our efforts. It was nearly the same thing at Tarpon Bay, but we did manage to catch some shiners. An absolutely flat tide was also hampering our efforts. Thankfully, we had stopped in the river and caught one big ladyfish, and knew we could turn that into as many redfish as we could cut steaks! We had gotten on the bait pretty late, and I think it was just tired of being beaten on!

The strategy for Good Friday seemed obvious; go back to the scene of the previous day's great fishing, and get there as early as possible and wait. Hopefully, we could be there long before the tournament boats or other guides. We were! We had to wait a while for things to happen, but as John learned long ago, patience is so often rewarded on the flats, if you will just exercise it. We had been catching reds and big trout for some time before several other guide boats showed up. Good news travels fast! The three boats that parked next to us literally chummed our fish away from us, but John and I had already had our fun, and were about to call it a day, anyway. We had a bag of frozen ladyfish steaks we could have used to easily foil their efforts, but there was no point in being greedy. We caught a few more big reds, enjoyed watching a very skillful lady angler catch some nice reds in the boat closest to us, and went home. John and I didn't keep count of what we caught, but John boated several big speckled trout, and plenty of redfish to 10 pounds. The day began slowly, but ended with a bang!

Friday night we met Harold and his lovely girlfriend Karen, and Daniel for a wonderful dinner at the Prawnbroker. It's a wonderful place, and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't been there. We had a great time rehashing our trip and just having fun eating and drinking the wonderful food and spirits. What a great way to end a great week! I just wish I could have gotten Harold and Daniel on the crazy redfish action we had for the rest of the week! Well, maybe next week.

There's a big front on the way, that could ruing things for at least the first half of the coming week. Time will tell. Stay tuned.

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 4/3/04 by Capt. Butch Rickey

Although not as bad as last week, it was still a very windy week, and the tides were poor for the first couple of days. But, great customers, hard work, and reasonable expectations made for some great trips.

First up was Joe Griffin, and his good friend Bill, of Indianapolis, Indiana. Joe and Bill drew the worst tide of the week, and it was tough fishing. Fortunately, bait was pretty easy, and it wasn't long before we were at the first stop of the day fishing for big trout. The trout didn't want to play, though, as we only caught one, and the snook were lockjawed, early.

Eventually, I decided to chase redfish. I knew I could get right on the fish in big numbers, but didn't know if they would think about eating. We made our approach to the flat on the trolling motor, and began chumming at the first sign of fish. I saw the school make a big push right in front of me, and they were right where they usually stage on that particular flat. It didn't take long to have the first strike, and it was a big fish for Joe. It blew his mind, as it took off for parts unknown, the Stella 4000 drag screaming against the big fish pulling through the 15 pound Power Pro. Joe was just amazed at the power and size of that fish. It turned out to be 12 pounds of bronze torpedo! Quite a fish for Joe's first redfish. Soon, Bill had one on, and it was the same surprise. His fish was 11 pounds! But, that was it. The fish shut down, probably because the tide was about done.

After waiting long enough to be darned sure the reds were done, we moved to a favorite snook hole, where to my surprise, we found some action. I had not been hopeful that we'd see any more action, because the falling tide was non-existent. But, Joe and Bill were treated to the run and jump of a half dozen or so snook before things ground to a complete halt. It ain't over till it's over, but it was definitely over. We headed home with a Slam under our belts, and the first of all the species for Joe and Bill. The boys had been a ball to fish with, and we'd had a great time.

Wednesday, it was my old friend Dan Rathka, who lives down in Naples, and his best friend Phil Mollica. We had a front on our doorstep, and the wind was around to the west. That opened up some spots that I hadn't fished in a while because the wind totally dictates where you fish when you're shiner fishing. Bait came pretty easily at Tarpon Bay, and we were soon parked on the first snook hole of the day. The fish were there, and turned on. We were all getting hit regularly, and regularly taken to the cleaners. They were kicking our butts in this close-quarters spot. I think I hooked the biggest fish of the day, and would estimate just from my experience with big snook and by the horsepower she had, that she was around 30 pounds. I back that up with the fact that I found 7 snook all over 35 pounds dead in that spot many years ago after a freak hard freeze. I was shocked. Anyway, the fish hit my shiner with such a vengeance that even when I grabbed the spool of the Stella 4000 FA, full of 30 pound Power Pro, I couldn't stop it with my bare hand! It was like hooking an old Packard passing by at 55 MPH while you're bridge fishing! Eventually, she got far enough back into the mangroves that even putting the rod all the way in the water wasn't enough to keep the line away from the sharp stuff. The big female won that one! But, we all caught snook, including two keepers, and a number of smaller fish. We also got a nice trout, and a small redfish, getting the Slam out of the way early. Perhaps the most exciting fight of the day was the first fish Dan hooked, which we thought was a big snook. Dan did a great job of turning and steering the fish out of the bushes, and it turned out to be a big 7 pound jack crevalle.

After fishing a few other spots without much happening, we decided to go take another shot at the big redfish. Dan has caught them with me more than once before, but it was Phil's first time. Boy, was he surprised at how they pull. But, again we only managed a couple of ten pound fish before the clamed up. It was OK, though, as we had been on big fish nearly all morning, and had enough in the well to feed the gang that night. And, Dan and Phil had been great fun, and kept me laughing most of the morning.

The front passed through Wednesday night, and Thursday morning, I attempted to get to Tarpon Bay to catch bait before picking up Rob Bierman up on North Captiva. But, the wind was vicious right out of the northwest, and the Sound was butt ugly. I lost my pushpole four times trying to get to Tarpon Bay it was so rough. As good as the Talon rides in the rough, it was just too nasty. Once at Tarpon Bay, where to my surprise, there were two other boats chumming for bait, I called Rob and told him it just wouldn't be possible for me to make the long ride to get him, and then take him home again, in such rough water. We rescheduled for Friday. When I finally got home, I took the pushpole off the Talon. I rarely use it, anyway.

It was still very windy Friday, but at least the trip was doable. I caught bait by myself at Tarpon Bay, and was on the phone to Rob at 6:55 to let him know I was on the way. He didn't know for sure whether we were fishing or not, until I called. I had plenty of bait, but I knew it would be a very tough day of fishing with the passing of the front. But, Rob and his father-in-law, Ralph, were ready to go, as they had not managed to catch anything other than ladyfish and jacks on their own.

Even though the tide was very low I decided to check on my redfish school first instead of later in the tide. The reds were there, and we got busy trying to pull them in to us. In what seemed to be a filling of our quota for the day, we had two fish eat rather quickly. Rob and Ralph each got big reds of 12 and 11 pounds, and that was it. They wouldn't bite any more. Go figure! I kept working on them for a while, not wanting to face the reality of two fish being it, but it was. They were lockjawed! We also got a big trout or two on the same flat.

We moved on and turned our attention to snook. We found the snook on the next stop, and they were willing to eat. We spent the rest of the tide at that stop, and Rob and Ralph managed to boat around 8 nice fish, and of course, missed their share, too. So, we had gotten the Slam on a very tough post-front day, and caught some nice fish. We'd also had a ball. I took the boys back to Safety Harbor staying close to the shore and out of the wind, and then made the long ride home. I was glad we had been able to make our trip, as Rob and I had a trip planned last year, and family matters forced him to cancel at the last minute.

On Saturday, I had my first trip with Mike Trazzera, of Absecon, New Jersey, and his uncle Pete, who now lives in St. James City, on Pine Island. I knew as I made the trek across the Sound to St. James that it would be a big wind day, and that the fishing would be tough. It's always tough for at least two or three days after the passing of a front. Our efforts would be further subverted by bunches of boats fishing a local tournament. I met Mike and Pete at the Waterfront Restaurant, and we headed across the Sound to Tarpon Bay for bait. Bait came quickly, and even though we were one of the last of a dozen or more boats to show up, we were one of the first ones gone.

My first choice spot to fish early on the tide already had a tournament boat sitting on it when we went by. I had to go to Plan B. Plan B is a great snook/big trout hole. The snook were there, and killing our baits, but were not eating. Fortunately, we had an abbreviated trout bite, during which Mike and Pete caught a dozen or so very nice trout. Most were around 3 pounds! We fished several other spots in search of snook action, but to no avail. We changed gears.

I headed to the flat that had been giving me those 2 big reds each morning, fully expecting to catch at least our allotment. But, it was not to be. The fish were there, for sure, but not about to eat. I gave them probably more time to change their minds than I should have, but they just weren't interested. Finally, we had to move on.

We turned our attention back to snook, and fished a number of great spots. We got lots of kill strikes, but nothing serious enough to get a hook into. I decided to make a major move to different ground, and it was there that we managed to shake a few snook loose. Pete got a nice keeper of around 29 inches, and Mike got to sample the run and jump snook action, and they loved it. But, it didn't last long, as we were on the top of the tide. Once again great customers and sticking with it had made for a great day!

In terms of numbers it was a tough week. But, all of my folks caught some quality fish, and had a great time. I'm reminded of what my new friend Bill Cruickshank of a couple of weeks ago said about fishing. His words of wisdom were, "Fishing is like sex! When it's good, it's VERY good! When it's bad, it's VERY good!" Man, ain't that the truth?!

We've got some great mid-day tides next week, and the weather is supposed to be back into the 80's. We'll see how it plays out.

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