Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
July 2, 2005
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR WEEK ENDING 7/2/05 by Capt. Butch Rickey

It was another active weather week, and a week of mostly poor tides. Our weather pattern reversed because of a cold front sagging down just to our north, giving us onshore breezes and night and early morning storms. It doesn’t take much of an onshore breeze to stir the gulf up enough to make fishing the beaches for snook impossible, or at least very uncomfortable. Unfortunately, that’s where the greatest aggregations of snook are during the summer months. Fortunately though, there are always some resident fish that stay behind on the flats and mangroves, and those are what we’re left fishing when the weather is goofy. The big numbers days are all but impossible, though.

After a couple of days off to celebrate my sixtieth birthday, I was on the water Wednesday morning with Bruce Cook, his lovely wife Nancy, and their son Ben, over from Port Orange for a convention. We’d had some powerful storms early in the morning around three o’clock, and the weather was unstable. However, there is no way to know what might develop when the weather is coming off the gulf. It can be clear one minute, and brewing storms the next!

I explained the weather, fresh water, and wind situation to the Cooks, and they were understanding and still looking forward to a day on the water. We headed straight to Redfish Pass, where I had been getting great bait before the last batch of rain and my days off. There was so much bait we didn’t even have to chum unless we wanted pinfish. Of course, we did.

But, we quickly found that something had changed since I was there last, and the bait just wouldn’t come. No matter where I moved to, or how much we chummed, we could only catch from one to half dozen shiners at a time. My back was acting up, and giving me severe stingers down my right leg that were almost unbearable, and I knew I didn’t have a whole bunch of throws in me. I was also concerned about the weather blowing up on us, and our early morning tide was already high and beginning to go out. It was time to try to catch some fish.

I decided to fish the flats around Buck Key for one simple reason. The golf course on the north tip of Sanibel has a lightning alert that can be heard for a couple of miles, at least. I know when I hear that, it’s time to run for cover. But, we were greeted with closed mouth fish that didn’t want to eat. Nancy was content to watch Bruce and Ben fish, and of course they missed some strikes, but it was a slow bite, indeed. We did manage to catch one redfish, and another nice one got away before we saw rain coming across the water right at us. There was no lightning at that time, but I asked the gang if they minded getting wet. I told them they only had a short time to decide to stay dry or get wet as the weather was fast approaching. They decided dry sounded good, and we took off for the closest cover, which is the tiki hut on the dock at the Green Flash restaurant on Captiva. We skirted most of the rain, but could see that there was more weather brewing all around us.

After about an hour we headed back out to the flats, but the tide was running off the flats hard and the weather was looking ever more threatening. Once it was obvious that the fish weren’t going to eat, we opted to head back to the safety of land. I was apologetic about the slow catching, but the Cooks assured me they had enjoyed the morning and that Bruce and Ben had learned a lot. I offered to help Bruce catch some bait, since he had his boat here, but the following morning the weather was threatening and he decided to stay in port, and Friday I had a two boat trip with a pickup at Pine Island, and wasn’t able to hook up with him.

After more early morning storms after midnight, there was lighting flashing to the north as I gassed the Talon Thursday morning. The weather was looking very active once again, and I wondered if we’d even be able to fish. This was my first trip with Paul Schmetzer and his son Nick. We could still see storm cells around us flashing lightning at 6:30, but it appeared to all be to our north and moving north. We decided to go for it.

I had heard that bait was almost non-existent at Picnic Island, Tarpon Bay, and Chino Island, and I knew it was gone from Redfish flats, so I opted to try the flats in front of Kiesel’s, or what used to be known as Kiesels. Hurricane Charlie blew the place flat! After getting properly anchored with the PowerPole, we quickly caught plenty of bait, and were off to try to find some action while the tide was still coming in.

The wind was almost south and the water was high, and I picked my first spot accordingly. It was a pretty good stop, as we had some redfish there. Nick soon figured out that he was not about to out-fish his dad. Paul quickly got the hang of using the circle hooks, and caught most of what bit his baits. I teased Nick about no jerks in the boat as he missed fish after fish. He did manage to catch 3 snook. Paul caught several reds and snook at the first stop.

We moved to an area about a mile away where we found some great snook action for a while. Paul had a great time with them and boated around a dozen before they quit. Nick mostly sat out and watched his dad. Paul said he was embarrassed about missing so many fish!

Once it was obvious the catching was over, we decided to head to the Waterfront Restaurant for lunch. We were still concerned about the weather, and could see it brewing as we ate, so we didn’t hang around. We ate and got going. We had done about as well as could be expected for not being able to get out where the fish are. Paul, Nick, and I had a great time.

I had a two boat trip with my good friend Capt. Rey Rodriguez as the second guide coming up on Friday. The weather forecast was for more of the same; possible storms and an onshore breeze. That would keep us off the beaches for yet another day. I called Rey Thursday night to discuss strategies for the following morning. My customer was Gary Hamm, and his good friends, of Middleburg, New York. I talked with him earlier that evening, and he told me that he had a couple of guys that were interested in tarpon fishing. I told him tarpon were about done for the year, and a real long shot, and that we’d probably be fishing for snook and redfish inside if the weather wouldn’t allow us to get on the beaches.

Rey and I picked up our guys at the Waterfront Restaurant in St. James City Friday morning at 6:30 AM. I got there a little ahead of Rey, and could tell immediately these were some great guys ready for a fun day. I loaded everyone up and headed out into the bay, and met Rey just outside the manatee zone. Two of the guys loaded onto Rey’s boat, leaving behind Gary and his good friend Matt. We headed off to Kiesel’s flat feeling confident that bait would come quickly. It did, and we were soon headed off fishing.

I had told Rey of our success the day before, and he had said he would fish the same area with me. But, along the way he and the boys must have changed their minds about chasing tarpon, and disappeared. Gary, Matt, and I went to my first spot, which we quickly figured out wasn’t going to work with a brisk west wind and the low morning sun right in our face. We couldn’t see well enough in the black water and bright reflection to fish. We moved on. I called Rey, and he told me that had decided to give tarpon a shot. Of course, they found lots of fish rolling in a hole behind Buck Key, and having seen them, just had to fish for them. They knew it was a long shot, as those fish are always hard to catch there. For some reason they usually aren’t in an eating mood.

At our second stop we got on some snook, and the boys were pleasantly surprised at their power and acrobatics, which was real fun on the high-end light tackle I use. We didn’t have a hot bite, but steady. That’s about all you get this time of year in the shallow, warm, dark waters. Our fun was interrupted by a very excited Rey calling me on the Nextel radio shouting, “Butchie, Butchie! We’re hooked up.” He was beside himself! His long shot had paid off. My boys caught somewhere close to a dozen snook as we worked spots in the area. Once the snook action slowed I took them to take a shot at redfish.

It took Rey’s boys an hour and fifteen minutes to land their tarpon. It was 50 pounds, and they were thrilled. But, of course, Rey wanted to get one for his other customer, and they were all for staying there with those fish and beating them over the head until another one ate.

At our next stop we had two good redfish strikes at the same time. Gary landed one, and the other one found something sharp on the bottom on which the leader parted. We had a redfish in the well. They’ve been hard to come by, and most of the guides I’ve talked to have not been catching them. I was hoping to catch a half dozen or so as I had done the day before, but time, tide, and a boater with absolutely no manners thwarted those plans.

The tide was done, and already beginning to move off the flats. I decided to run to the other side of the Sound to see if I could catch the tail end of the incoming tide, there. I picked a spot where I knew there would be good snook and redfish present. I didn’t know if they would eat. But, after a few minutes of soaking shiners, Gary’s line took off to the left like a shot, sizzling the water as it went. It really surprised him, and I knew it was the best snook of the day. I had been coaching the guys all morning about how to get a big snook into the boat, hoping that if they had a good fish eat, they’d have a shot at landing it. Gary did a great job of fighting the fish, and listened to my coaching, and brought her to the boat. It was the perfect way to cap off the morning. After pictures, we put out the baits, again, and it wasn’t but a couple of minutes before Gary had another nice snook on. It was supposed to be Matt’s turn, but it didn’t work out that way. The fish had blown Gary’s bait when it hit, and Gary instinctively got way ahead of it. I feared the fish wasn’t well hooked, and within a minute my fears were confirmed when she spit the hook. After a few deleted expletives from Gary, I explained why the fish had gotten away. He was not happy with himself. But, we had put together a pretty good day under the circumstances, and had amassed a total of around sixty pounds of fish in the boat.

We all met back at the Waterfront, and had a great time chatting and recounting the morning, and listening to the tale of one tarpon. Nope, they had not gotten another fish to eat, but were happy with the day. Just seeing all those fish playing on top of the water is thrilling! The boys vowed to be back as we said our goodbyes, and Rey and I look forward to that.

I’ll be back on the water for a full week after the holiday weekend. I’m sure hoping our weather gets back to the normal afternoon thunderstorm pattern by then. If not, it will be more of the same fishing inside.

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