One Great Trip In A Week Of Blow Outs!
Capt. Butch Rickey
February 21, 2013
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report
Week Ending 2/16/13......
This week was pretty full, and supposed to be a busy one. But, as is so often the case the in the fishing business, Mother Nature had other ideas. My first trip was on Tuesday, with my friend Tom Olson, and avid angler and kayaker from Madison, Wisconsin. He's a great guy, and a very interesting man. Fun to fish with.
By this time I was looking at the weather reports with disdain. I could see that the second half of the week was likely to be a blowout. The forecast was for 90% chance of storms, lots of rain, and wind. And, I was supposed to believe the forecast for Tuesday, 8 - 10 kt wind? Red tide has been in the area for some time, now. And, most of the fishing reports I'd gotten from others weren't very good. I hoped that the approaching cold front would be the trigger that made the fish eat, although they may not want to.
I made my morning stop for supplies and headed out to Sanibel, where I picked Tom up at Casa Y'bell. We headed on out to Castaways, and were there around 7:30. By 8 AM we were launched, and on our way to the flats. We still had around an hour of outgoing tide, and I wanted to try to fish some of it.
The wind was already up, and well past the forecast speed. So much for that. It was still southeast. After a half hour or so of travel, we took up residence on our first spot, The wind had us fishing it at a different angle that I normally would, but still allowed us to fish the edge. There were no bites within the first ten minutes, so I told Tom I was going hunting. I would call him to me as soon as I found a bite.
I fished my way across the flat, working the edges that normally produce great trout and redfish action in the winter time. But, nothing was doing. I figured we'd gotten there right at the lull of the dead low tide. I kept working my way toward my ultimate destination, working spots that I often skip. But, the conditions convinced me that I needed to pass up nothing that was good cover.
Finally, I got to the spot that I was almost sure would hold fish, and enough time had elapsed to allow the tide to begin running. I was on fish immediately. They were very nice trout along with redfish. I called Tom after the second big trout. By the time he arrived I had caught five big trout and reds on five casts. It certainly looked like we had a bite on. I parked Tom right next to me, and once he was catching fish, I moved on to my next spot.
There was a guide boat in the area, that had been perhaps an eight of a mile away. He'd been pretty stationary. But, after we arrived and began catching, he began working his way toward us. He never bothered us, nor we him. Finally, we were about as close as we dare get to each other, and I moved off to an area that was upwind and behind him perhaps a hundred yards. There, I was immediately on fish again, but this time there were some nice size redfish in the mix. I got on the radio and told Tom, and he pulled his anchor pole and began the short ride to me. The guide boat left. Once Tom was situated off my starboard side, we caught some nice fish.
The wind had swung around to the south as anticipated, and was pushing the water in fast, now. The tide was quickly at a half-way point, and the bite seemed to taper off to nothing. The wind was relentless, and building, and I told Tom I thought we ought to finish the day closer to home in case the wind continued to build. We had to run right up the gut of it to get home.
Once at our spot, I could see that we had several boats in the area, and that the water was not quite to the level at which the fish would eat. I told Tom that it would probably take about half an hour or so, and the fish should eat. We stayed on our spot and cast. There was a couple on a technical skiff a ways off my starboard side and behind me. He was a bit deeper than we were. When I saw him catch a nice trout, I knew it wouldn't be long. And, it wasn't. Within minutes we were all catching. The bite was on. It was almost all redfish, although there were several trout mixed in. There appeared to me at least two schools on the flat, as the biggest fish was 26", many were 21 to 22", and there were a couple of puppy drum, too. We caught the fish on spoons and DOA CAL jigs, both paddle tail shad and the 5" jerk bait, in Arkansas Glow and Stark Naked. We had some double hookups, and right toward the end, the angler in the skiff, Tom, and I had a triple hookup. Tom finished the day with another nice redfish, and at that point it was pushing three o'clock. We had a 30 to 40 minute ride, and a bunch of fish to clean, and besides, the tide was out of gas. It was about over.
Back at Castaways we drew the typical admirers when they saw the fish come to the table. One guy was a very animated Coon Ass Cajun, and those were his words. Not mine. He was looking to put together fishing for seven anglers.
It had been a great day with Tom. The red tide wasn't a factor, other than having to smell it, and we didn't have to do that for long. The wind cleared it out. We caught plenty of fish; 26 redfish between the two of us, and we didn't count all the trout we caught. There were plenty though, and the only problem with the trout was catching fish small enough to be in the slot and keep. Yes. Most of them were over 20 inches.
Wednesday brought some rain and the threat of a lot, and gusty conditions. My long-time friend Dale Grantman was to fish with me on Wednesday, but was down with a bug, and had been for a week. We'll reschedule when he's better.
It rained all through Wednesday night and all day Thursday, and brought not 1 inch, but nearly 3 inches of rain. The forecast was the same for Friday, and Ed and Marianne Brill put off their trip until the following week, on their last day here. Don't you know it didn't rain a drop all day?!
Pine Island Sound Fishing Forecast:
Uncertain!
Target Species:
Redfish and Trout
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