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Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
November 28, 2000
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 11/25/2000 by Capt. Butch Rickey

A workweek already shortened by the Thanksgiving Holidays, was reduced to one workday by the worst weather of the year, thus far.

Plans to take my friend Tracy Booth, of Ft. Myers, and her parents out for a day on Monday were squashed by lots of morning rain and wind. It was a miserable day, so typical of winter.

Tuesday morning, I met my old friend and BarHopp'R veteran, Mike Krug at Punta Rassa ramp with strong northeast winds howling. Mike had brought his older brother, Dan, along for his first BarHopp'R trip. It was cold and blowing, and it seems Mike has a knack for bring that cold and windy Chicago weather with him when he comes down. I had the boat loaded and ready to fish, but still on the trailer, as I wasn't entirely sure Mike would want to fish. I didn't have any alternate dates, and I knew the weather would be worse as the week wore on anyway, so we elected to make the best of a bad situation.

The wind was a good 20 knots when we left the docks. I planned to head up the river for some ladyfish, jacks, and trout fishing, mainly to get redfish bait, and to put some action at the end of Mike and Dan's rods. The ladyfish were there in spades, big ones, and we had a blast catching around 20 of the silver leapers. We kept a half dozen for redfish bait.

From the river we headed to St. James Creek, and were able to catch a good mix of shiners and pinfish on the flat in front of the creek. The bait never ganged up in big numbers, so it took a few throws to get enough bait, but we had plenty.

From there we headed up into the Sound for snook. We headed to one of my favorite winter snook holes that is surrounded by literally four inches of shallow water flats on the winter low tides, especially when there's a big north wind blowing. We had great action from the first cast. I was surprised, as the wind was blowing so hard that it was holding the tide back, and the water was barely moving. But it WAS moving. In about two and a half hours Mike and Dan caught 1 big trout, 2 rat reds, and 31 snook, that included several beautiful fish in the 27 to 29 inch range. They kept two snook for the cooler.

At around 10:30 we got a first hand illustration of just how powerful Mother Nature can be. The already horrific wind kicked suddenly a good 5 knots or more. It was enough to stop the tide, which was not scheduled to be high until around noon, dead in its tracks. The bite stopped immediately, too. Snook just don't eat when the water isn't moving.

We gave it another half hour to be sure, then headed to the Waterfront for hot coffee IVs. We had just had a fantastic day of fishing on the worst day of the year so far, with over 50 fish in the boat! Back at the ramp, I talked with a couple of other very good guides who had not been so lucky, and had only caught a fish or two all morning. We were indeed lucky!

All through that night, the wind never let up! I was awakened numerous times by the sound of tree limbs and shrubs beating against my bedroom wall at the fish camp. The limbwriting was literally on the wall. I knew that my Wednesday trip with Tony Kozumplik, who took his first BarHopp'R trip back in March, was in serious doubt. But, I got up, readied the boat, and was at the ramp when Tony arrived, but BarHopp'R was still on her trailer, as were most of the other guideboats present. The tide was unbelievably low because of the extended period of high wind, and I knew that there would be no fishing. Tony, his friend, and I chatted a while at the ramp, and made plans to try again this coming March.

Late that afternoon, I was on the way to Macon, Georgia, for Thanksgiving. It was great to get out on the road for the Holidays, but the interstate traffic was as bad as I've ever seen it.

So, that's it for the week. I hope Old Man Winter will move out of the way and let us fish next week.

More Fishing Reports:

 

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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