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Big Winds and Big Snook!

Capt. Butch Rickey
July 18, 2013
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

Week ending 6/8/13.......

I had several outings planned for this week, but the first tropical storm of the season foiled some of our plans.

I had planned a beach sight fishing trip with Jim Cromer, of Midlothian, Virginia, and his friend Charlie, on Monday. I knew as the tropical storm began to affect our weather, it would be mostly and exercise in futility as far as catching anything was concerned. But, we could still have some fun, learn the basics of beach snookin', and maybe get lucky.

I picked the guys up Monday morning early at their motel on Sanibel, and we headed to Blind Pass. The area is always full of snook during the summer months, both in the pass and on the beaches. But, with the stiff southwest wind feeding the storm, the beach surf was very angry, and there was no visibility at all. There was lots of undertow. We went ahead and went over the basics of beach snookin' and the guys fished for a couple of hours. Charlie actually got a snook, right adjacent to the jetty, and I was surprised at that. I think it made his day to catch that fish when the beach was so sloppy.

We decided to head on home after about three hours. It didn't make much sense to stay any longer.

Wednesday, Jim, Charlie, and I were back at it, again. This time was in the kayaks. We had 30 mph winds in the forecast, and it had rained all night long. But, we were not going to be denied. After picking the guys up at their condo, and a short drive to the north end of Sanibel, we were in the water and in the rain.

The tide was up well ahead of where it was supposed to be because of the southerly wind. I knew that if anything, conditions would deteriorate as the day went along, and the wind would gust higher and higher. We made our longest run, first, and would fish the tide back toward home as the day progressed.

We stopped at a nice pothole along the way to see if we could get some trout and ladyfish. We did get some nice trout to 18", but there were no ladyfish around. We moved on to our snook and redfish spot. I parked Jim at a great spot that usually has both species to catch, and sent Charlie on down to another spot maybe 150 yards away. By the time I got Jim settled in and briefed on how to fish the spot, I realized Charlie was way past where I'd told him to go, and the wind was carrying him. I got on the radio and told him to meet me, and went the short distance to where I wanted Charlie to fish. I knew he was going to be a few minutes and decided to test the waters.

The first cast of my DOA CAL stark naked jig was greeted with a crushing blow at the first movement of the lure. It took off as if I'd hooked a 442 while bridge fishing. It ran almost back to Jim on her first run. Finally, I got the brakes put on and started making a little progress with her. Charlie could see as he made his way toward me that I was hooked up. I felt awful because this should have been his fish to catch. I fought the fish as she made run after run, but eventually began to wind the battle. With Charlie probably no farther away than a hundred feet, and the snook right at the boat within touching distance, she tried to jump, and I got a really good look at her. She was every bit of 50 inches!! She had a head the size of a basketball! She was too big to jump in that water that was probably not even two feet under the boat, but she did manage to get her monster head out of the water, and shake it just like a tarpon does. The weight of the jighead and the tear in her cheek gave her freedom as the jig went flying. She was a big stunned at first, and just laid there at the top of the water. Charlie had seen the whole thing, and couldn't believe he'd seen a snook that big. She quickly regained her senses, and slowly ambled away to safety. It had been an epic snook battle on 8 pound Power Pro!

Knowing there were other snook there to catch, I got Charlie situated and instructed him on how to fish the spot. I moved on down a ways to another spot. We did bag another nice snook there at that area. She was 31". Two good snook was all we could muster, though.

We moved on to see if we could scare up some redfish to eat. I got the guys situated, and we went to work. Charlie did manage to trick a nice 24" redfish, to his credit, but Jim nor I could buy a bite. I was shocked, as the reds are always there when the water is right, and it was right. They also usually go on a big feed in front of a weather system like we had, but it had already been blowing out of the south for several days, and they may have already done their pigging out. We moved on.

Conditions weren't getting any better, and we were going to have to run right up the gut of a 30 mph wind, and gusting higher. I had told the guys to lock their motors straight ahead and put them on high and paddle, too. I probably should have used the radio in that wind, even though we were close together. I didn't realize until later and after a good laugh, they hadn't heard me. So, we took off. The boys weren't keeping up. When we got to our destination Jim told me that he was amazed that a guy ten years his senior could out-paddle him, seemingly effortlessly! He just couldn't believe I could smoke he and Charlie so bad......until, that is, he figured out I was using the trolling motor and paddling! We all had a good laugh. No way was I going to smoke those guys just on the paddle!

I sent Jim and Charlie to what over years and years of fishing the area, is the best spot to fish on a tropical storm south wind, or any really big high tide. I didn't think they could miss. I went to check out another area and to see if I could find a redfish bite.

I managed a fish here and a fish there. I got only one redfish to eat. I did manage a couple more snook, and lost another monster as well as a smaller one. The boys had lots of action, got a keeper red, and lost a of of fish, too.

It had to this point been a brutal day in terms of conditions, but we'd had a lot of fun. I was concerned that we might get much more than we'd bargained for, weather-wise, and recommended that we head in. The boys were agreeable, so we took our redfish and trout and fought our way back to our ramp.

Back at the motel, the guys invited me in to meet their families. Jim's lovely wife made us all some sandwiches, which we enjoyed as we recapped the day and discussed the different ways to prepare redfish. It really had been a tough day to be out in kayaks. That much wind makes anything and everything you have to do, much harder. Anchoring can really be difficult. I would not have even considered doing that trip if the boys were not seasoned paddlers and yak anglers. It was a challenging day, but we all agreed that it was a blast.

With tropical storm Andrea to our north our weather was still very unstable. We were in her feeder bands and there was a 70% chance of rain and storms for a trip I wasn't about to miss. My old friend Mark "Sparky" Lucas, of St. Anthony, Minnesota, was here on vacation for the first time in four years, since his wife, Dianna, has been sick. Mark and I have fished together for years, and have become good friends. He is a great guy, and an avid outdoors man. He does it all with a passion. After so many years of not being able to sneak down here on vacation as they had done every June, Sparky was way ready for a day on the water. The weather was not going to deny us, either.

The weather was already active when I got up, and I was genuinely concerned about thunderstorms. Specifically lightning! Sparky and I made our way to the ramp and I decided that we would try to get our fishing done relatively close to our launch, so that if the weather did blow up on us, we wouldn't be an hour away from safety. That was the plan, and we had a lot of weather close by.

We made our way out to the fishing grounds, and attempted to do some pothole fishing, but visibility was zero and the water abnormally high. We had to change our strategy. We had to work cover as the tide came in. All of our fishing in the shallows has a strong element of visibility involved. It's not enough to see the spot you're fishing, you need to see into the water well enough to be able to drop your bait where the fish will be. It's about long casts and precision. Most of our strike zones are narrow. More often than not, the fish you catch was pulled from the cover where you first cast, and decided to eat the lure somewhere along the way.

I parked Sparky on what is the best spot on the flats on a good tide, and I went to a nearby area. We went to work, fighting the elements and keeping an ear out for a lightning alert either from the nearby golf course, or from my own lightning detector. We fished hard and made it work. When we were done, we'd caught 5 redfish and 2 snook. Mark had a blast, and was enamored with the Native Ultimate. He uses a 16 ft. canoe for all his hunting, and just couldn't believe what a great platform the Ultimate is.

We cut our trip a bit short because I didn't like what I saw on the horizon. It was a good call. We headed back to Sparky's condo. I'd had dinner with Mark and his son Andrew and his friend Thursday evening at the Prawnbroker. It was an emotional reunion. Unfortunately, Dianne wasn't up to getting out. At the condo I got to see the boys again, but Di was shelling. We had a nice visit, and I took off in hopes of getting everything cleaned up and put away before the storms hit. I hated to say goodbye, but did so knowing I'd see Sparky again in July, on different turf.

That was how the week shook out. Lots of weather to fight, but it was a fun week with a great new friend, and a wonderful old friend.

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Top Florida fishing guide, Capt. Butch Rickey has fished the waters of Pine Island Sound around Sanibel, Captiva, and Pine Islands, as well as Charlotte Harbor, Sarasota Bay, Terra Ceia Bay, and southern Tampa Bay, for much of his 65 years. He now offers guided kayak fishing trips, as well as sightseeing and bird watching tours anywhere that can be reached by kayak from southern Tampa Bay to Estero Bay.

Contact Info:

BarHopp'R Kayak Fishing
11520 E Palm Drive
Ft. Myers, FL 33908
Phone: 239-628-3522
Alt. Phone: 239-633-5851
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