Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
September 17, 2005
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR WEEK ENDING 9/17/05 by Capt. Butch Rickey

If I had to choose a title for this week's report, it would be "Red Tide In The Morning, Redfish Take Warning!" Although the red tide was awful here this week, the fishing for redfish was very good. I'm amazed, as the Sound has been covered with floating carcasses, and the ramp has been a stinking, disgusting mess for most of the week. Wednesday, there were so many dead fish piled up on the ramp that getting boats in and out of the water was very difficult indeed. The decaying fish flesh covered the ramp with a slimy, stinking mess, that denied our tires traction. It was precarious. Backing down the ramp to put our boats into the water our tires just slid in the goo as we tried to stop, and trying to pull out boats out of the water at the end of the day our tires just spun in the mess. Perhaps worst of all, even after a thorough and relentless hosing of the old fishing van, it still smells so bad that you can't stand next to it. It's just disgusting. I guess the rotting fish flesh gets into the pores of the vehicle where water cannot reach, and the result is an awful odor that won't go away.

On to more pleasant things. The fishing, believe it or not, was good.

Dave Tomala, who I fished with for the first time last week, decided he'd had so much fun the first time around that he wanted to go out again. We met at 6:30 Wednesday morning, and headed straight to Flamingo for bait. Bait was good, with a mix of pinfish, shiners, and threadfins of all sizes. We had plenty of good-size shiners for fishing, as well as tons of small guys for chumming.

Dave and I had spent our last outing snook fishing. I thought he might really enjoy catching some redfish, so I decided on a spot not far from where we caught our bait that is usually pretty hot this time of year. Man, was it hot! From the outset we were on fish, and they were hungry. They were eating everything we threw at them, but showed a preference for the big live shiners and live pinfish on a free-line. Before we were done Dave caught some 3 dozen redfish, 2 snook, and a couple of snapper. That would have been a great day in itself, but we had plenty of time left.

The next stop was nearly as good. From the time I tossed live chum and watched the ensuing carnage, we were on fish. There were snook and redfish all over the area. Before the fun was over Dave had bagged another 10 redfish and 10 snook. What a day. I think his two trips will live in his memories forever.

I had a last minute cancellation from my customer for Thursday. So, I decided to invite my long time friend and customer Russ Hubbard over for a day of fishing and R and R. He was eager to accept. But, that morning he was a bit under the weather, and the stench of dead fish wasn't helping matters. We headed straight to Flamingo, where we managed to get plenty of bait, although it wasn't as good as the day before.

Knowing the reds would be right where I'd found them the day before, I headed straight back to the spot. The reds were there, all right, but they weren't nearly as willing to eat. Russ only managed to boat 15 reds, 2 snook, and 2 snapper, there. I think if he'd had his choice in the matter he would have curled up on the rear deck and gone to sleep. He was feeling very bad.

Once the action slowed, we took a boat ride to an area that almost always holds reds. But, the area was like a desert. There were no signs of life; no jumping mullet, no porpoise, no nothing. I did manage to catch two redfish while Russ rested on the after deck.

We moved on to a spot in Matlacha, where I hoped to find some hungry snook. We found snook that were more than willing to bust our live chum, but not very willing to eat our hook-bearing offerings. We only managed two more snook. We were nearing the noon hour, and had lost what little breeze we had, and it was suddenly unbearably hot. We decided to head for the ramp. We had kept a couple of fish for dinner, but I released them at the ramp because I didn't think I could tolerate the unbearable smell of rotting fish long enough to clean them. I hope that wasn't a death sentence to those fish.

I was really looking forward to my Friday trip with Allison Ward and her brother Bill. I had fished with her and her Uncle Bill a couple of years ago. We'd had a wonderful time and lots of laughs, and had stayed in touch. She's a really sweet, fun gal, and I was really wired about seeing her again. She had given me a wonderful compliment, saying that she had fished with a guide on the island, and that it just wasn't the same. I hoped that in this red tide mess we had going on I could live up to her expectations.

We were to meet at 7 AM, but Aly and Bill were a bit late. Seemed they'd had a brush with the Sanibel Police. They were very nice, and had only issued her a warning, but had delayed our start. Aly and I greeted each other with a big hug and a kiss. Bill said he'd take a rain check!! Aly looked great, and it only took a few minutes to realize that brother Bill had a very quick, dry sense of humor. I knew we'd have fun regardless of how the catching went.

We headed to Flamingo, chatting all the way. We agreed that it was the best time of the day; seeing the sun rise over the horizon. At Flamingo, the bait wasn't all that cooperative. We got plenty of pinfish, but only tiny shiners. I made a move to deeper water, and after some ado, we got some great bait chummed in and safely into the well. Time to fish!

I knew the reds would be right at the spot where I'd caught them for the last two days, but we were now on the full moon, and I wasn't sure what their appetites would be. We had a tricky northeast breeze; tricky in the sense that it made it hard to fish this particular area. I made several moves and adjustments as we fished. We had an immediate bite, and both Aly and Bill missed a number of fish. But, they put a limit of redfish into the well, as well as catching a snook and a couple of snapper. Try as I might, I just couldn't get the redfish to turn on. In fact, they turned off. So, we moved on.

I decided on a spot that I hadn't fished in quite a while, but that almost always has redfish present on a good tide, and was perfect for the prevailing breeze we had. We made a long, quiet approach, and our action was immediate. We were delighted to catch snook, redfish, and trout at that spot. In fact, Aly and Bill Slammed twice there.

We made one more move, not because our action slowed, but to see if we could catch a few more snook before the tide stopped. Actually, we caught a few more redfish, but that was OK. We ended the day with a pretty good catch of a couple dozen redfish, 2 or 3 snook, 2 snapper, and 2 nice trout. Not a bad day, but considering the conditions it was an excellent day. And, we'd had a blast. Bill and Aly were both a hoot, and we had lots of laughs. What more could you ask of a day on the water with friends?

We topped the day off with a trip to the infamous Waterfront Restaurant, which Aly had heard so much about. I'm sad to report that although the food was great, we waited a very long time for it to arrive. It was the first time in all my years of taking customers there that things weren't right. But, hey! Who can be perfect all the time?

When we arrived at the ramp I was pleasantly surprised to see that someone had cleaned up the dead fish, and I decided to clean our fish at the station on the dock. I hated to see the day come to an end. We parted the same way we had met that morning; with a big hug and kiss. And, I know that when Aly returns to the magical islands she loves so much, I'll see here, again. Can't wait!

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