Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
March 5, 2005
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 3/5/05 by Capt. Butch Rickey

This was one of the toughest weeks I can remember in a long while. It was a week of tough tides, and lousy weather, and those two factors conspired to make things very slow.

Sunday, I met my good friend Dr. John Hitt at his dock at 8:00 AM, eager to try out a new Stella 2500FB. It's the newly available model that is quite different from the 2500 FA, beginning with the all magnesium body and side plate. I was anxious to see how it would fish.

We had a falling tide until around 11:30, then a slow crawling incoming for the rest of the afternoon that would only move just over 6 inches over 6 hours. Tough tide. We headed down the river to the Sanibel Causeway in hopes of finding bait as quickly as I had the week before. It wasn't quite as easy, but in about six throws we were loaded up, and on the way to our first stop.

It was a spot that will have moving water even on the slowest tides, but even there the movement was almost imperceptible on the falling water. We managed only a few fish, including a nice snapper and a snook or two.

At the second stop it was more of the same; slow fishing on slow water. We managed some trout, a flounder, and a snook or two, once the slow moving incoming tide began to move. It was just tough fishing.

We moved on trying other spots, but the results were the same. We finished the day with 4 snook, 4 trout, a snapper, and a flounder. No keeper snook. John observed that it was one of those days that makes you remember and appreciate all the great days gone by.

It was more of the same awful tides on Tuesday for my old friend Bob McGuire, of Line Lexington, PA, and me. The falling tide through the whole morning only moved .2 feet, and the afternoon incoming was only .6 feet! In addition, it was once again the day after another front passed. Because Bob had never been in the Maverick, I decided to use her, and see what Bob thought of her. He love's the Talon!

Again, I went for spots that would give me some water movement because of what I call the "funnel" effect. Generally, those will be small passes between mangrove islands, points of mangrove keys, canals; any place where the water gets squeezed down into a smaller path will tend to accelerate the water to some degree.

The highlight of the day came right after we arrived at a spot just as the water began moving on the incoming tide. Bob hooked a monster of a snook on the light Stella 2500FA/St. Croix Legend Tournament combo! Typical of large snook, she tried to jump, but couldn't. But, as Bob fought here we got some great looks at her as she came to the surface and rattled her gills. I was coaching Bob in double-time, remembering a huge snook he lost last spring, and how disappointed he was. But, the sense of urgency one must have when fishing for snook on light tackle around heavy cover is the hardest thing to teach in our brand of fishing. And, the tricks I teach for "man-handling" large fish with light gear are forgotten between fishing trips and in the adrenaline filled excitement that overwhelms one after seeing such a fish on the end of his line.

After repeated efforts by Bob to turn the fish without the benefit of the forgotten tricks, and without that "kick-butt" urgency, the hook pulled with the fish very close to the boat! Bob, who is always such an easy going guy whom nothing seems to bother, uttered an expletive that is hereby deleted! He was shaking with excitement, and visibly disappointed. We both were. It was a beautiful fish, and the tail was a good 12 inches across! It was in the 20 pound range.

All we could do was celebrate the fact that he "almost" got that one, and review the tricks and techniques for putting extreme pressure on such a fish, getting it turned, and keeping it turned. It was still a happy and thrilling moment for both of us.

Everything after that fish was melodramatic. And, we were never able to get another big female to eat. Bob missed several other snook, and managed to land two, along with several very nice speckled trout, and several really nice fat flounder throughout the course of the rest of the day. It was a slow day of fishing that was forever imprinted into Bob's mind by that big female snook that got away!

After the passing of another major cold front it was time for a second trip with Monte West, and his son R.J., and daughter-in-law, Holly. But, I had one problem. I had taken the Talon down to Danny at Fowler Marine to service the lower unit, and repair and non-functioning fuel gauge. The Yamaha 150 Saltwater Series has been not wanting to shift into reverse on those cold winter mornings, and I thought perhaps there might be saltwater intrusion into the lower unit, and it would be good to have it checked. As it turned out, the lower unit was fine, but near the end of the day, Danny discovered that the shift cable outer housing had fallen apart at the engine end, even though it was protected by a cover, and was indeed the culprit. He had to order cables, and the Talon wasn't available for my Friday trip with the Wests.

I had to drive across town once again to get all the gear I needed to fish with the Wests, and move it to the Maverick. I also had to tell Monte that I couldn't imagine trying to fish a party of three anglers from the Maverick. It's a great little skiff, and well built, but it just ain't a Talon, folks, and doesn't have the room. But, it does get great fuel economy, and will likely be my choice for the long runs to fish on the beaches for snook during the summer. Monte decided to gracefully opt out, so that RJ and Holly could go fishing.

So, Monte ushered RJ, and Holly down to the dock to meet me on Friday morning. Holly is gorgeous 32 year-old girl who is Hawaiian/German in heritage, and reminds me very much of my daughter. RJ and Holly have been married three years, and have a beautiful two year-old daughter named Lucy. They're still honeymooners! They were quick to tell me that every time they go out with a guide or charterboat since they've been married, they've been skunked! Well, I assured them we would be having none of that skunk business!

It was still 53 degrees when we left the dock around 11:00 AM! The front had brought more much needed rain to us, along with cold temps and a strong north wind. We also had the worst tide of the week to this point! Can you believe it was a tide that would move 1.1 feet over a full 15 hours!? That's less than an inch per hour. It doesn't get much worse than that. In addition, the cold fronts almost always shut down the bite for at least two days, or until the wind manages to swing back around to the east!

We headed to the second span of the causeway to begin our search for bait. There was none! We headed on to the flats at Picnic Island. I was sure I could at least catch pinfish there, and my plan was to explore all my spring redfish spots, which only requires pinfish. We did get pins, but no shiners. We moved on to the power lines, and after casting around half of them, we had two shiners for our efforts. It was time to go fishing.

I ran up the east side on Pine Island to about Demere Key, and then cut across the Sound to the flats at Foster Bay to keep the wind at our side. Once on the flats near Charlie's Pass we put out our cut and live pinfish. We fished our way around the whole area, and never had a take! I couldn't believe it.

We moved on and fished some great flats that always have lots of redfish moving in this time of year. Nothing. In frustration, I decided to switch our attention to trout in the potholes. We fished a favorite hole of mine that is always full of outsized trout, with only two hits, and both were missed.

I moved on once again, and decided to run the flat and look for reds before settling down to fish. I found a nice school, and sat down on them, feeling sure we could get at least a few of those reds to eat. But, it was more of the same. We actually did get one red to bump one of our baits three times, but she never actually ate the bait. I joked that it was probably a male, and wouldn't commit, but the fact was that Mother Nature had conspired to shut things down.

It was getting late, and the thought of a long, cold ride home would be colder the longer we waited, prompted us to get going. RJ and Holly were also beginning to think cocktails would be tasting good, too. So, we headed in. The fat lady had sung, and she was way off key. We were skunked! I'm sure it's happened to me before in my near twenty years of guiding, but I can't remember when. If any of you out there reading this were the victim of a skunk, kindly remind me thereof!

As we approached the dock, I told RJ he didn't have to pay me. He balked that he certainly would. I then suggested that he give himself a good discount, and he said something rather profound to me. RJ asked me if I charge more than my usual amount when we really tear the fish up! Of course, I responded in the negative. He then told me that I should not consider discounting my fare for a slow day, either. Words of wisdom from a wise young man!

We had a great time in spite of the horribly slow fishing, and RJ and Holly vowed to be back next year. They were wonderful people, and we had a lot to chat about, and oddly enough, a lot in common. Since we boated no fish, I got Monte, his wife Sherry, RJ, Holly, and little Lucy together for a picture at the ramp before they took off.

Well, as you can see it was indeed a tough week, but a tough week with great people who love to fish equals a great week. Tides next week will be much better as the week progresses, so I expect the fishing will turn back on as long as we don't get any more cold fronts.

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