Making A New Friend In Estero Bay
Capt. Butch Rickey
August 13, 2011
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report
Report for Week Ending 8/6/11
Only one trip again this week, but considering the tide and conditions, it was a good one.
My trip was on Friday, 8/5, with a great young man, Danial Veitia, from Miami. We had a horrid outgoing tide all morning long. I had warned Daniel that the fishing would be great, but the fishing very likely tough. On the plus side we had a nice little breeze going that kept us cool for most of the day. Dan was fishing from his own boat, a 14 ft. Hobe. He's a very experience kayak angler.
Our original intent was to launch from Castaways on Sanibel. But, because of weather considerations, and the tide, I asked Dan if he would mind fishing Estero Bay. He'd been there before, and was good to go.
We met at the ramp at Lovers Key at 6:30, and were soon in the water and ready to go. I figured our best chance of a descent bite would be first thing in the morning as the tide began moving out, and while it was still relatively cool. I was right.
We made our way to our first stop, which wasn't too far away. Once there, it was obvious that the water was still full of turtlegrass, and that working anything other than spoons would be difficult. Dan put a redfish and a jack in the boat there, and I got a snook and several reds. Then, it was over!
We fished our way east with little to show for our efforts. But, we were having fun. With the weather looking pretty good, we decided to make a run to the east side, to an archipelago of mangrove keys, to see what we could find. I'd never fished them before, but had wanted to explore them. Dan was all for doing some exploring.
Once there, we went to work. By this time the water was pretty low, and it wasn't the optimum time to be fishing there. But, it was the optimum time to learn what was there and know what it all looked like when it was covered by a good high tide. Dan scored 3 redfish, and me one. It was a beautiful area, and I can't wait to go back there on a proper incoming tide.
We headed back across to the west side and stopped at another spot I'd never fished. The outgoing tide was about done, but I did get a jack crevalle, and I think Dan got a catfish. We finished the day with 8 redfish, 2 jacks, a snook, and a catfish. Not bad considering the tide we had to fish. We had a great time, and I made a new fishing friend.
Target Species:
Redfish and snook
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