Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
July 25, 2006
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 7/21/06

by

Capt. Butch Rickey

Since I was off last week for this reporting period, I wasn’t going to write a report. But, after considering how much fun I had on a fishing trip up in Sarasota, I decided to go ahead and do a short report.

I went bass fishing with one of my oldest friends on Thursday. John “Wolfgang” Franck and I go back to my earliest guiding days, and we’ve had many a fun fishing adventure together over the years. When I told John I was coming to Sarasota for a week he was quick to suggest we go bass fishing on one of the lakes that are near one of his rental homes. He told me stories of plentiful bass to as large as 11 pounds. I was ready.

I met John at his home that morning at around 7:30. He had English muffins going, and after a light breakfast and coffee we got everything ready, and loaded John’s paddleboat into the back of his truck. The lake was a couple miles away.

When we arrived at the lake John couldn’t believe his eyes. The lake level was a good 4 feet above normal. He was worried that the fishing might be severely altered, or non-existent. Putting the paddleboat into the lake and getting into it was a challenge, as there was no bank to stand on. But, we pulled it off without incident, and were soon pumping our way down the shoreline.

John’s favorite bait was a pink and purple worm rigged with a small bullet weight ahead of the hook, and I have to say it was deadly. The paddleboat wasn’t exactly easy to fish from, as you’re sitting with your knees high and a hard plastic ridge poking you in the back. And, the boat is not very stable. Awkward though it was, we had a blast catching, and missing bass. Of course, we were trying our best to keep up with each other, and did right until the end. John and I both missed a good 9 or 10 bass, and John boated 9 bass to my 8. But, I had the largest at about 4 pounds. It was a hoot, and John and I laughed and carried on right to the end.

Getting out of the little boat was about as precarious as getting in, but we did it without getting wet. John did have an anxious moment when the boat tried to run out from underneath him, but I grabbed his arm and he stayed dry.

For those of you reading this that like to bass fish, this is fun on light gear, and John has let me know that I am welcome to take my customers fishing on his lakes. So, if you’re interested in this let me know, and we’ll work out the details.

On the local front the red tide seems to be subsiding. The heavy rains we’ve been experiencing for the last few weeks seem to be diluting the algae, and the southwest wind may also be blowing it farther north, which won’t be good for the Charlotte Harbor area. I’m in the next week, now, and the fishing has been pretty good thus far. But, that’s for next week’s fishing report.

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