Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida
Capt. Butch Rickey
December 11, 2007
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report
FLORIDA FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 12/08/07
by
Capt. Butch Rickey
I managed to get out just once this week, with my long-time friend Aly Ward, who has just completed her move to Fort Myers, and is now officially a Floridian. Aly's son Dan was in town, and she wanted to get him out for a day on the water including a little fishing, a little sight-seeing, and a little visit to the Waterfront Restaurant.
Aly and Dan didn't want to get up early Wednesday morning, as they were travel weary. So, we met at the ramp at 9:30 AM. With the late start and a tide that would come to a stop at around noon, we went straight to some potholes to see if we could jig up some speckled trout, just to have a little action and fun. The first few casts were ignored, but soon we were catching lots of trout, nearly all in the 12 to 14 inch range. They were eating my old standby, the Bass Assassin on a 1/4 oz. Cotee jig.
That action lasted until Aly and Dan were talking about lunch. We decided to use the last little bit of tide to see if we could catch a redfish. I re-rigged three rigs with different spoons, and we went to a great spot not far away. We worked that spot hard, as well as another spot nearby, but couldn't get a redfish interested. As we eased away from the area, we did get eyeball to eyeball with a nice red. They were there, but already on recess.
Time for lunch, but with a twist. As I took off for the Waterfront, my Yamaha went into alarm and shut down. Thinking I had picked up some debris, I let the motor idle until the alarm silenced, and took off again. But, with the same result. That probably meant an oil problem. Dan and I removed the engine cover to discover the oil tank down below the alarm threshold. I filled the small tank and topped off the big supply tank in the hull. We got to the restaurant without further incident, as well as back to the ramp. We had to cut our trip a little short, but it was beautiful day in December, and a great time. Aly was just loving the contrast between December in Florida and December in New Jersey.
A trip to Fowler Marine the next day uncovered a small filter in the main tank that was so fouled that it would hardly flow oil. It had reached the point where the flow wouldn't keep up with the demands of the motor. Danny had it taken care of in no time.
This is a great time to tell you about a wonderful father/daughter fishing team that I have the good fortune to call my close friends. The father is my fishing buddy Bubba Baker. His daughter Shelby is the multiple IFGA world record holder, and is barely in her teens. She's quite the angler, and is really making a name for herself fishing Junior Division tournaments. What follows is a recap of Shelby's recent accomplishments, as written by Bubba.
Butch,
The following attachments are the photographs I was talking about....The images of the Permit is her Record....The Permit is the Junior Girls IGFA World Record Permit....It bottomed out a 30 LB IGFA Certified Boga Grip, so the fish was actually over 35 pounds....Unfortunately the IGFA will only recognize the last indicator on the device which is 30 LBS....So she is recorded in the IGFA with a 30 LB Permit for the IGFA World Record....On the same day she pulled in a 23 and a 25 Pound Permit...They were caught on structure off of Fort Pierce in about 25 to 30 feet of water.....This catch was April 2007...
FROM MY FRIENDS!
Shelby also took Second Place in the Junior Division of the Flats Masters Tournament in June 2007....She weighed in a 6.55 Pound Redfish caught on a Gulp Shrimp on a Jig Head in Pine Island Sound....First Place was only a couple more ounces....If only the Red had eaten a little better for breakfast....
FROM MY FRIENDS!
Shelby took First Place in the Maverick/Hewes/Pathfinder Owners Tournament in September held at the Breezy Palms Resort on Islamorada in the Keys....This was a two Day Tournament and was a points Tournament all Catch and Release....The First Day was a Bit slow due to weather problems, but she put some points on the board with Several giant Mangrove Snapper, a couple Nice Gag Grouper, and some Trout...These were caught near Manowar Bank off Flamingo....
FROM MY FRIENDS!
The Second day dawn a better day, but we had only about a two and a half hour window with the tide to fish a few certain Mangrove Keys off Flamingo....Shelby and I decided that she should fish artificials so that she could amass the most points....I set her up with Gulp Swim Baits and Gulp Shrimp....For the first 30 minutes it was a bit slow and then pandemonium....In the Next two hours Shelby fought and Boated over 14 Redfish that exceeded the 18 inch Minimum for the Tournament.....Two of the Reds exceeded 31 Inches.....They were all caught on the Gulps using a very slow presentation.....Shelby lost a few Reds to the Mangroves and a couple Reds were taken by Sharks right at the Boat....It was sad to loose the fish this way, but the sight of a Blacktip or Bull Shark taking the fish in clear water on two feet deep was exciting.....
FROM MY FRIENDS!
One of the Bonus Point Categories in the Tournament was the Most unusual Fish taken in the Most unusual way....One item should be noted before we continue with the Story....All of Shelby's outfits were set up with either 10 or 15 Pound Power Pro and 20 to 25 Pound Fluorocarbon Leaders that were only about 2 foot long....We were using Jig 1/8 or 1/16 OZ Jig Heads to fish the Gulp Baits....Shelby suddenly received a huge strike on one of her outfits that nearly spooled her in a matter of seconds....I was forced to retract the Power Pole and chase the Unknown Fish with the Troller on High.....After a protracted fight and chase we finally sighted the monster....Monster being the optimal word....Somehow Shelby had hooked an 8 to 9 foot Bull shark using a Gulp Bait on a Popping Cork that was floating far from the boat with only wave action to cause movement....Additionally, the jig somehow was hooked in the very corner of the sharks mouth and the skin had not parted the line....I was not about to boat the Shark...I came along side the shark as it swam and marked spots on the side of the boat to estimate the length and then grabbed the leader to make an official catch and allowed the fish to break off and swim away.....
FROM MY FRIENDS!
After catching a few more Reds the Tide stopped and so did the fish....It was time to run back to the Dock and turn in our score sheet to the Tournament Officials.....We were later informed that Shelby did not need the Shark for Bonus Point because the Reds basically Blew away any other competition....She won the Most Unusual Catch Bonus but did not need it...She even had more Points than the Adult Winner.....
I sent a couple of additional images to show a little of how the boat turned out....We call it "Shelby's Dream!"
Isn't that great? What a fishergirl she is!
Things are still very slow, but I do have two trips on the books for the week ending December 15th. Looks like the weather will hold and let me get them in.
Thanks to everyone who sent in pictures. Remember to include details of your catch, or a short report if you will, when sending in pictures. And, remember, for my customers only! Check out the fantastic products from G. Loomis at American Legacy and get back to me with anything you're interested in.
Tight Lines!
Be sure to check out www.BestFishingBooks.com Books and gifts for fishermen from my friend Jim Dicken!
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