Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
April 1, 2005
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 4/2/05 by Capt. Butch Rickey

Seems like we haven't been able to get through a week this March without stormy weather and time lost. That's the way the week began for my first of what was to be three trips with Brent George, of Raymond, Ohio. We knew by Sunday night we had a big front coming in once again, but didn't know for sure when to expect it. Monday morning I checked the radar at around six o'clock and the front was right on our doorstep, with lots of rain and embedded storms. We decided to cancel the trip, and hope for better weather later in the week.

Tuesday morning it was clear, breezy, and back in the 50's for my second trip with Joe Trad, and his sons Phillip and Joe. Joe had not joined us last year when we fished, and Phillip had grown about a foot in a year's time. Amazing. I warned Joe that it would probably be tough fishing because of the passing of the front, and because of the slow moving tides we faced all week. They're the kind of tides that just lay for most of the morning, and then crawl for the rest of the day. They're good high tides, but because they're beginning from a higher point than on a good strong tide. Usually, by the time we've cycled through a week of such tides they combine to make one long fifteen hour tide for a day or two. Those are even harder to fish.

Joe and the boys weren't dissuaded in the least, and we headed out for bait. The ramp was a zoo, and I barely got a place to park. I knew the heavy traffic on the water would be another obstacle to overcome. As we left the dock and cleared the Sanibel Causeway, I could see that both Tarpon Bay and Picnic Island were covered with boats, all trying to get bait. Wanting to stay away from the crowds, I opted to try for bait on a flat a bit farther north. One other boat came in not long after we arrived. We had to move once before we got any bait chummed in, but eventually were able to load the well. We were ready to fish.

Joe told me he needed to catch enough keeper fish to feed a bunch of family, so we began the trip with trout fishing to try to make sure that we got their dinner. At the first stop, we had a great trout bite on the live shiners, and Phillip had the hot rod. He was catching them one right after the other while Joe Jr. watched and wondered why he wasn't getting bites. Eventually, Joe Jr. did get the hang of it and wound up catching the biggest fish, as his dad watched with a big smile from the back of the Talon.

With the well full with two limits of nice speckled trout, we were off to see if we could find some snook and redfish that would eat. Although we did get some snook hits, they were being their usual persnickety selves, and were just killing the bait instead of eating it. The boys never got one actually hooked. The redfish were very tough, as well, but we did manage to boat two nice fish, one of which added to the creel, and missed another.

It had been the tough day I had predicted except for the trout bite, but we'd had a great time, and I'd really enjoyed messing with the boys. Phillip got to take the helm of the Talon for a while, but decided I'd better take it back when I sped her up a bit. It was great to see Joe and Phillip, again, and to me Joe Jr. I imagine by next year Phillips will be as tall or taller than me!

Wednesday, Brent George and I were ready to try it, again. I explained to him that their had been lots of long faces at the ramp on Tuesday, as the fishing was great, but the catching was very tough. Brent wasn't the least bit concerned, and said that he was mainly in need of therapy in the form of rest and relaxation on the water , and would like to keep two or three fish for dinner. I figured that would not be a tough order to fill, but sure wanted to put some fish into the boat, and maybe get Brent the West Coast Slam.

Hearing talk at the ramp of great bait at Picnic Island, I decided to stop there and check things out. We were on the last bit of the falling tide, and the water was moving pretty well, making it hard to get the bait bunched up tightly. But, Brent and I loaded the Talon up without wearing me out, and we were on our way.

Again, I thought the best plan was to fill Brent's dinner order first, and make sure we had that done. The first stop took care of that, and we shifted gears to snook and redfish. But, the fish were tough. They just didn't want to eat, and the ones that did bump a bait were only bumping to stun or kill it. They sure weren't taking the bait.

Finally, at a spot I hadn't fished in a long time up in the middle of the Sound we caught a redfish. It blasted the bait twice on top of the water before it finally ate it. We were two thirds of the way to a Slam for Brent, and there were big snook cruising back and forth in front of us. They didn't even seem to mind our presence, but they weren't about to eat anything, either. Finally, we gave up on them and moved on farther north.

As I approached the spot I could see two guys in a boat drifting in the general area for trout. I knew they wouldn't bother us, nor us them, as we quietly motored in on the MinnKota. It didn't take long before Brent had his first snook in the boat, and the Slam completed. He caught several more there before the bite came to a stop.

We moved on again, and tried to put some more redfish in the boat, but just couldn't get them interested. We moved on, again to a spot that I only fish on the higher tides of spring and summer. With a little chum we found another snook bite there right at the tail end of the tide. Brent caught several more snook there before things shut down.

It was finally time to call it a day. I had been a fun day from start to finish, and Brent and I shared a lot of laughs. We parted hoping that the weather would cooperate for our Friday trip to take his wife and son shelling and sightseeing.

Thursday morning the wind was already up out of the south with the approach of yet another cold front. This was my first trip with Frank Cheverie and his friend Paul, from The Villages, Florida. I explained to Frank and Paul that the fishing had been tough all week because of the confluence of poor tides, heavy boat traffic, and the passing a big front on Monday, but that I had hopes that the front approaching might signal the fish it's time to eat regardless of the other conditions. Frank and Paul weren't the least bit worried about how many fish they caught, and were more concerned about just enjoying the day and having fun.

We headed over to Picnic Island where there were myriad of boats all chumming for bait. It was around nine o'clock, so I expect some of them had been at it for a long time. We set up and began chumming with Frank doing the honors while I prepared to throw the net. I couldn't see bait flashing below us, but sensed that they ought to be there, and made the first toss. Bingo! Beautiful bait. After two or three more throws we had way more bait that we would need, even if I tossed a lot of them as live chum. It was a good mix of shiners, threadfins, and pinfish. Before leaving I invited a young guide who was within shouting distance to come in on my bait, since he appeared to be having trouble. He thanked me and said he thought he had enough for a short trip.

The boys and I headed up into a choppy Sound to see if we could find some fish. But, they were tough, at first. Frank and Paul weren't interested in keeping a bunch of fish. Only a couple for dinner, so we went to work right away looking for snook. We found lots of them that would smack our baits and knock the scales off, but not eat. After hitting a number of spots with the same results, I decided to see if I could get a redfish bite going some place.

I chose a spot that I only fish on a good south wind that drives the tide way up. It's a mangrove shoreline with lots of reliefs in it that allow you to get baits back beyond the front edge of the mangroves. Of course, you have to be able to cast very accurately to be successful. I began by cutting up some of the dead and dying threadfins and spraying them along the shoreline. We switched from our initial live offerings to cut threadfins, and it wasn't long before we had the first hit. As I recall the boys missed the first several good hits because they were still wanting to strike instead of reeling tight so that the circle hook could do its job. But, the fish kept biting, and soon Frank and Paul found their rhythm, and were catching redfish. It was the first time in all the years I've fished that spot that the fish were small. What we call "puppie drum". But, they were biting and we were having fun, and nobody cared that they weren't the usual 6 to 10 pound fish. In the mix was a trout that went nearly 5 pounds. It was the biggest Frank had ever seen. She was fat and full of roe. I kept the fish out in front of the trees for a pretty good while before they were full. It had taken a lot of chum to get them out from under the mangroves, and I suspect we filled them up.

We moved on, and turned our attention back to snook. The next two spots were the charm, and Frank and Paul both caught some very nice fish. They were treated to some big explosions and some fast runs as only snook can do them in the shallows. Frank got the best fish of the day, and it was a great way to end the day. We went home with big smiles, and even the wind had laid some so that the ride wasn't bad at all until we got past the causeway and into the open water at the mouth of the river. Once again it had been a great day on the water with a couple of great guys.

I was shocked that I was able to get one of the last parking spaces at the ramp on Friday morning at around 8:30. Brent George and his wife Marla, and son T.J. were to join me for a day of sightseeing, shelling, and lunch at Cabbage Key. I was in the Maverick, given what gas prices are, and we were going to cover a lot of water. She also needed to get out and stretch her trim tabs.

After introducing me to Marla and T.J. we were off. I began by heading up the river and then hanging a left at the channel to Miserable Mile, where there are almost always porpoises playing. Oddly, there were none around. We headed across to Tarpon Bay where more often than not you can observe both porpoise and manatee in their natural environment. We didn't see a thing. We left through a small cut on the north side of the Bay, and had to get out and walk the boat across the shallow sandbar, since I couldn't get on plane and run in the giant manatee zone. Marla and T.J. had fun getting in the water.

We headed on up the shoreline of Sanibel following along the manatee buoys to Wulfert Channel, and back into Roosevelt Channel. We idled the several miles down the narrow channel so that the Georges could see all the beautiful, and still damaged home along the water. How different it all looks, now.

We headed on up the shoreline of Captiva, across Redfish Pass and into the Charlie's Pass flats. There were no boats around so I ran slowly, carefully dodging the downed trees and limbs that litter the water. Just as I was exiting Foster Bay I slammed a large chunk of tree I didn't see until it was too late. The Yamaha was still running fine, and pushing, and nothing seemed to have fallen off, so we kept on going up to Captiva Pass. We crossed the pass and headed on up the inside of Cayo Costa to Cabbage Key. I figured we could arrive around 11:30, and just beat the big noon rush. Brent and I continued to be befuddled by the total lack of porpoise thus far. It seemed as if they had all disappeared.

Although there were already lots of boats and people there, we were seated immediately. We had a nice relaxing lunch with lots of laughs and good conversation for dessert, and were back on the water again at around 1:30. We continued on north since we were almost to Charlotte Harbor at that point, and made a swing around Patrico Island and headed back south on the Pine Island side. We ran along slowly and zigged and zagged through the backcountry.

I stopped at Demere Key so the gang could see one of the most unusual homes in our area, for sure. The home and guest house are all finished in conch shells. They also have exotic birds like peacocks, and it's a beautiful and unusual little piece of paradise. We STILL had not seen a single porpoise!

Heading on south, I finally spotted a porpoise working a school of fish just south of Flamingo Channel. We stopped, and as we tried to keep a close, but safe distance, I explained how the porpoise would chase down fish and slam them with their powerful tails, sometimes sending fish 10 to 20 feet into the air. As I explained, the got to witness the spectacle for themselves three times. It's really a cool thing to witness.

But, the porpoise didn't like our presence, so we moved on south. As we exited the channel at Chino Island and skirted along yet another manatee zone, we spotted a small herd of porpoise working fish. We again stopped to watch until they seemed to grow weary of our presence and disappeared.

We began the final leg home into some pretty bouncy water. There were big boat wakes and a hard chop on the water from the 20 knot southwest wind. The Maverick handles the rough stuff better than most skiffs its size, but we did get some spray over the side a time or two. Once we got past Miserable Mile again, the rest of the ride home was pretty smooth.

Brent and Marla told me that this day, and our day of fishing on Wednesday, had been the highlight of their vacation. That surely made me feel great. I told Brent that since I had not had to catch bait or do any of the usual guide duties, I didn't want him to pay me the usual $400 I charge for a 3/4 day of fishing, and that $300 would be fine with me. He insisted that he wanted to give me my usual fee, but when I got home I realized that he had done much more than that. I didn't get to thank him at the ramp, so I'll do so, now. Thank you, Brent. It was a great two days!

And, that was the week. It began with a front, and will end with one. As I sit writing this another front is approaching and due in here in the wee hours. But, although it will cool off a bit, the weather on the other side of the front is supposed to be beautiful.

I have a full week again next week, so stay tuned. Tight Lines!

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