Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida
Capt. Butch Rickey
August 5, 2007
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fort Myers Weather Forecast, FL (33908)
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FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 8/04/07
by
Capt. Butch Rickey
The week began with my first trip with Chris Turner, and his ten year old son River, of Chesterfield, Missouri. Is that a cool name, or what? We had agreed that in the interest of time and catching more of the bite, we'd fish plugs. There was a slight breeze blowing when we left Port Comfort, and I set my sights on a creek in Ding Darling. But, by the time we got there the breeze was gone, and it was still dark. The first thing we heard as we approached the creek mouth was the loud pop of a snook slurping something on the top. What a wonderful sound it is. The second thing we heard was the sound of our hands slapping noseeums. They found us very quickly. We heard repeated pops from snook and trout eating on top, but in the near dark, couldn't be sure exactly where they were. We cast topwater plugs for as long as we could stand it (ten minutes), and succumbed to the fiery bites of the noseeums. They were really eating River up, and he was miserable. We left without a hit.
Before we arrived at our next spot, the breeze had returned. But, I wasn't going all the way back there. We were at a beautiful little spot that has been giving me redfish and snook on plugs for the past few weeks. But, after working it over hard with two different topwater plugs and a silver spoon, we were again hitless!
We moved on, and at the next spot we would have the perfect presentation scenario; the wind at our backs and the current in our faces. Chris put the first fish in the boat; a nice redfish caught on jig. We had a few other hits that didn't connect, and had to settle for that one red. There were plenty of fish there, though.
SUMMER FISHING FUN!
I wanted to let River feel the pull of inshore grouper and jewfish, and figured they would play on the weak tide we were fishing. But, by the time we got there the wind had shifted to north of west, and the only way we could fish it was parallel to the rock structure they hold in. That meant that once the fish hit, we would not be able to pull them away from the rocks. That's a good deal for the grouper, and was a bad deal for us. And, predictably, out of seven big hits and hookups, we landed one small jewfish. The rest cut us off in the rocks as quick as we could blink! We moved on.
To that point of the morning, I had really been trying to get some snook and redfish on the line for Chris. But, when you have a kid on a charter, you really have to fish for the kid. It was time we did that, and I moved us out in front of Regla Island to drift for trout, ladyfish, mackeral, bluefish, and whatever would bite. I quickly found birds working bait, and although I couldn't see any fish busting, knew they had to be there pushing the bait up for the birds.
Sure enough. They were. We had a great bite from ladyfish and speckled trout, and caught plenty of each. Although they weren't big, we did catch 3 keeper trout, and a nice bluefish. By around 10:30 River was wearing out, and had caught plenty of fish. Chris told me we could call it a day and head home. We were back at the dock early. It had been a good day that began slowly but ended well.
SUMMER FISHING FUN!
SUMMER FISHING FUN!
Tuesday was to be the first of two days of fishing with my old friend Charles Ruston and his family, with my buddy Capt. Rey Rodriguez as the second boat. I was to take the girls shelling on the first day, and Rey was to take Charles and his son Philip fishing. But, I had no more than gotten the Talon launched, and it began to rain. Hard! And, there was lightning. Capt. Rob Mody's queued up the radar on his phone and the picture wasn't good. There was tons of weather streaming in off the gulf. With safety as our first concern, we all canceled and went home.
As Tuesday progressed, the weather forecast for Wednesday degenerated. By the time Wednesday morning came, the chance of storms was at 70%, and I called Charles and Rey and canceled to try again on Thursday. It rained nearly all day long. The only problem with having to make that call was that Rey was booked on Thursday. I would have to find someone to take his place. I called Capt. Pat Burns, who shares the distinction of being my age, making us the two second oldest guides in this area. Pat was able to sign on for the trip, and I was confident that he'd show Charles and Philip a great time.
When Thursday morning dawned, I don't think any of us could believe the radar was actually clear. The rain was all up around Sarasota. The front was apparently pulling up to the north. But, the tradeoff was that we had a brisk southwest wind. It would keep us cool, and let us actually get to fish around the mangroves, but would foil my shelling plans for the girls. I had planned to take Charles's wife Debbie, daughter Mallory, and friend Morgan, up to Cayo Costa, where the shelling is as good as it gets in these parts these days. It's a long run, but the shelling is usually great. I knew without looking the gulf would be churned up with an onshore wind of some 15 MPH, and the alternate plan was to go to North Captiva and land at the narrowest part of the island back in the corner of Foster Bay, where you can almost throw a baseball across to the gulf.
We took off into the rising sun, leaving Pat, Charles and Philip to begin their fishing in Punta Rassa Cove. Upon arriving, I was surprised at just how angry the gulf was. It was rough and white-capping. But, I anticipated that days of onshore winds and no one on the beach would have plenty of shells deposited there for my girls to collect. The shelling was OK, but surely not what I expected.
At around 9:30 the first squall came on shore. I was back at the boat chillin while the girls shelled and enjoyed the beach, and the unseasonably cool August day. I could see it quickly brewing over the water, and hope the girls were paying attention. But, I don't think they noticed until they felt the first raindrops. They scrambled to collect their things, and ran back to the boat. I got ready to launch as quickly as I could, and blasted out of the small hole we were parked in. But, it was already raining. But, the rain was not my concern. Lightning was my big concern, and it appeared the a northward path would get us away from the building storm the quickest. We headed to Safety Harbor, where we sat until the weather had cleared and I was sure we were safe.
We decided that with shelling done, we'd head in the general direction of the Waterfront Restaurant, and do a manatee watch along the way. We stopped at a spot where there always seem to be manatees this time of year. But, of course, that's when you're not looking for them. We had a porpoise there, but no manatees. It was time for lunch.
We called Pat to let him know we were heading to lunch, and he said they'd be along shortly. But, Pat and the boys didn't arrive until almost an hour later, and the girls and I had already had appetizers. We were hungry! Once the whole gang was there, though, it was a lot of fun swapping stories and enjoying a great lunch together. Everyone had a great day.
SUMMER FISHING FUN!
Boy, Friday morning came early, and we were back at it again. This time, Capt. Rey would be fishing with Philip, and his cousin Travis. Philip being Charles' son, and Travis being Charles' brother Don's son. Charles and Don would be fishing with me.
Initially, I though both boats would be fishing artificials, but that morning at the dock, once we had the fishing assignments made, the young duo of Philip and Travis adamantly stated they wanted to fish live bait. They wanted to catch big snook! Charles, Don and I agreed we would stick with lures, and our goal for the first part of the day at least would be to catch redfish on topwater plugs. It's the most exciting way to catch a redfish, but it ain't easy, folks! I've seen it take up to a half dozen strikes at a topwater plug for a redfish to finally connect. Most anglers don't have the self control to keep working the bait through all that and wait until they feel the weight of the fish before setting the hook. So, most anglers miss their fish. Neither Charles nor Don had caught a redfish on topwater. If we could just get the fish to eat, they would have the treat of a lifetime.
We all bid each other farewell and good luck, and took off into the darkness, now being pierced by the light of a new day. I was headed to a spot I've fished for eons, and that has been giving up redfish and snook, and redfish on topwater plugs. We rigged and went to work. We worked that spot over very well, and when we left the water had a foam head on it from all the topwater goings on! But, we never had a hit. Charles and Don did have a couple of swirls behind their plugs, but never a hit. I didn't want to believe it.
We moved on to the next spot, and the next, and the next. They all had two things in common. Each spot was so loaded with floating turtlegrass that we couldn't get more that two or three twitches out of our baits before they were completely fouled with weed. Each spot also gave us no hits. The fluids I was loosing to the summer heat were now being replaced with frustration. It was time to go to plan B.
I tied on Exude RT Slugs, and a TerrorEyez, and we went grouper fishing. I had never taken Charles and Don inshore grouper digging before. It's one whole lot of fun when they're hitting. I tossed a TerrorEyez to the cover to show the boys where to cast, and was immediately hit by a small snook. I swear! Every time that happens it seems to be the kiss of death on the fishing for the rest of the day.
We worked the area hard, and caught the snook, a few trout, a lizard fish, and I think a small jack, but the grouper and jewfish we were after just weren't playing. I couldn't help but think to myself that they'd probably be banging live pinfish had we been fishing live bait. We moved on.
We'd gotten a call from Capt. Rey earlier, and he had the boys on snook on the beach at Cayo Costa. I was shocked that he'd even gone out there, as the gulf was so rough the day before I would have thought it would take at least a day for it to settle down and become fishable, again. We did learn later at lunch that it was pretty bouncy out there, but do you think two young teenage boys cared? Nadda! Rey told us that it was so bouncy and the current so strong that he couldn't keep his anchor in place. Na! I don't think us old duffers would have been too happy out there!
But, the point was that knowing that the boys were catching some snook, I was feeling awful that we were catching very little on our plugs. So, it was time to just try to get pulls on the end of our lines. The first flat we hit which has been good to me in the recent past, was slow. We caught a few small trout and ladyfish, but just didn't find the action I was looking for. We moved on.
I first ran north scanning the glass slick waters for any signs of activity; diving birds or fish busting bait on top. We found neither. The weather change that followed the several days of rain with the passing front, seemed to have predictably turned things tough. High pressure was now built in. We tried a couple of spots based on experience, but had little action. Finally, I settled on an area that has been very predictable over the years; giving up ladyfish, speckled trout, some grouper, mackeral, and bluefish. We were finally on a bite. It was a trout bite, and the fish were for the most part, small. But, that's been the norm since the red tide wiped out so much of our trout stocks last fall.
It doesn't take big fish for fishermen to talk trash. It just takes fish! Now, we were catching, and talking trash back and forth and having a blast. As another good customer of mine always says; It's about the bite. We caught a bunch of speckled trout, and had a few doubles and triples, and caught a few ladyfish, as well.
After Rey's snook bite ended he took the boys to see if he could find some redfish for Philip and Travis. He came up empty, as well and finally rendezvoused with us. He was ready to get out of the heat, as were we. But, we had to mess with him and the boys for a little while by refusing to leave our trout bite. Finally, though. We were all pretty much over-cooked from the August heat, and the Waterfront was looking mighty good.
We had a great lunch, and us old guys had a great time listening to Rey and the boys recount their great morning adventure of catching a couple of dozen snook. They were totally stoked! They'd had a great time with Rey, and were still enjoying a prolonged adrenaline high! I think Charles, Don, and I, got as big a kick out of listening to the boys recount their adventures as we did with anything.
Once we were back at Port Comfort we stood around for another hour or so chatting about fishing this and that, as if we'd mysterious and suddenly developed some immunity to the sun. But, we were having fun. Finally, time dictated that we break up the fun, and as we said our good-byes, Travis gave Rey a big hug. Rey whispered something to him which we'll not be privy to, but it was a very special moment, even for me as an observer. I've been there many times. It's a very powerful moment for a fishing guide. To know that you may have forever touched a young man's life is very special, indeed. Philip followed.
It was as if none of us wanted this brutally hot day to end. We continued to talk about our passion, and we hugged, shook hands, and talked more. As we finally broke ranks, I couldn't help but wonder to myself what a non-fishing observer watching us might have been thinking. He might be wondering what in the world we were doing. Then I thought about how sad it was that this observer might never know the joy of spending a day on the water with good friends and family, enjoying the best that nature has to offer. Whether the fish are biting, or not, is of little importance.
I have been inspired by a good friend and customer of mine, Dave Adair, to add a little something extra to my fishing reports that I think all readers will enjoy. I'm going to be including pictures received from my customers on a regular basis, as long as I am receiving them. Leading off the pack this week is my buddy Dave Adair, who caught some beautiful stripers recently near his home in Cincinnatti, Ohio.
SUMMER FISHING FUN!
Also deserving a big mention is my long time friend Mark Lucas, who was just down a few weeks ago. This big snook is the reward for being patient and waiting on a bite on the Sanibel Pier. Way to go Sparkie!
SUMMER FISHING FUN!
Be sure to check out www.BestFishingBooks.com Books and gifts for fishermen from my friend Jim Dicken!
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