Fantastic Redfishing!
Capt. Butch Rickey
June 12, 2012
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report
Week Ending 5-5-12........... Fantastic Redfishing!
This workweek began on Thursday with my first trip with Mike Antinori, of Natick, Mass. It was a day full of challenges, and fun, and a persistent blacktip shark. It was already blowing that morning when we left Castaways. I wasn't in the forecast, but it was a good 20 mph. We made our way out to the fishing grounds and set up with the east wind at our backs. There was nothing doing at the first stop, but at the second spot a short hop away we found good redfish action. That's when the shark showed up; as soon as the first one was on the stringer!
Through the morning of fishing Mike broke off one redfish on the hookset, and had the bail pop open on another one, and I had the hook break off a spoon and another redfish broke the hook off a brand new DOA jig. We had plenty of hits, and lost far too many fish, for sure. But, we had a good day of fishing and catching redfish. I didn't keep a tally of the fish. Mike was a great guy to fish with, and really enjoyed the Ultimate and the fishing.
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Friday was a textbook great day! I had been commissioned by Jonathan Tipples, a great chap from England, to teach him how to fish in his back yard, which was the area around Buck Key. That was right up my alley.
I met Jonathan, his wife, Jane, and son Robert that morning at their house on Starling Lane, with rods, tackle, and computer in tow. The first order of business was classroom work. We spent some time showing Jonathan the areas we were going to fish later on Google Earth, which he had already discovered to be a great fishing tool. Then, I fired up Tides and Currents and we spent some time going over understanding tides over some hot coffee. I guess it was around 9 AM when we went out to his rental boat and loaded up. It was an 18 ft. center console with two baitwells, a new 140 HP Suzuki, an 8 ft. (Hang Out With Your Wang Out) anchor, and a new 80# thrust trolling motor.
Once we cleared the no wake zone in Wulfert Channel, we were on our way to the first stop; a place I named Long Bar. We pulled in and Jonathan set the stake at my command. It was a very cloudy and overcast day. Perfect for tossing topwater plugs. Jonathan decided he'd tie one on. I got up on the front deck and cast my jig into a hole I've dragged untold numbers of redfish from over the years, and it was immediately eaten. Fish on!
I honestly don't remember if it was Jonathan or Robert I called to the deck first, but I'm pretty sure it was Jonathan, who was busy tying a topwater on to his line.
"What mate?"
"You're up!"
"You've got a fish, mate?"
"Of course I do! I didn't come to mess around!"
I think that's about how it went. And, it never stopped. I (we) could do no wrong!
Jonathan landed his fish, and went back to his topwater lure tying. I cast again. Boom! Redfish on!
"Robert! Front and center!"
"You've got another one on?"
"Yes! Get up here and bring this red in!"
And, that's pretty much how it went for the rest of the time out there. Some of the hits came as soon as the spoon or jig hit the water, before even turning the handle! The blacktip shark that has been a real nuisance lately showed up for the feast. We put several redfish into the live well to protect them from being eaten by the shark. The well, was completely full of fish. I had to ask Jonathan if he wanted to keep catching redfish, or continue on with our plan to show him all of the fishing spots he'd seen on Google. He opted to move on.
But, it was pretty much the same. We could do no wrong, and nearly everything that hit the water was eaten. It went like that as we moved from spot to spot showing Jonathan all the great spots in his back yard. Jonathan and Robert looked at each other in amazement more than once, over what was happening. I don't know. Perhaps they were thinking, "This is too easy!" But, it's not. I've often said that fishing the tidal inshore flats is like working an algebraic formula. If one piece of the formula is missing, you will not get the correct answer. In this case, you will not catch fish!
We had all the pieces of the formula, and had a great time. Around noon Jonathan asked if I'd been to the Waterfront Restaurant lately. Well, that's one thing I can't do in the kayaks, and I was more than ready to take a ride to St. James City. Jonathan instructed me to take the helm, since he was sure I hadn't forgotten the way. We released our "under protection" reds, and took off. I had the Bahamian conch, and Jonathan the calamari. We had them prepared the same, and it is awesome.
After lunch we headed home. We did stop at one spot to see if the snook might be biting, but we were on the falling tide, and there was no interest. We called it a day, and it had been a good one, for sure.
Target Species:
Redfish and snook
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