Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
May 15, 2001
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 4/7/2001

by

Capt. Butch Rickey

With Monday as a scheduled day off, and Friday canceled by the customer, I fished a three day abbreviated week. Here's how it went.

Tuesday morning I met Rick Stobbelaar, and his friends Gordon and Jerry at the Waterfront Restaurant in St. James City just after sun-up. It was a pretty windy morning with east/southeast wind blowing at 15 to 20. When the wind is east....... We headed back across to Tarpon Bay to find bait, and caught plenty in an hour's time.

From there we headed up into the Sound to start our morning fishing for trout. We found plenty, but the big trout wouldn't eat, and most, if not all the fish were undersized. Along with the trout came 3 catfish, 5 ladyfish, and 3 jack crevalle, the biggest at around 8 pounds. Rick was pretty impressed with the way that jack fought, and thought he had something much larger. Later in the morning we managed a snook, but most of the action was early. We had a good time, but it certainly was not a banner day!

What a difference a day can make. Wednesday, things were different for Jay Panozzo, his dad, Jerry, and his best friend Phil. We headed straight to Tarpon Bay once again for bait, and found all we needed. We followed the same plan of attack as the day before; starting off with trout early in the tide, then graduating to snook when once the tide was up some.

At the first stop, we had a bonanza of big trout, and caught a load of them. The boys also boated 4 big flounder, 2 jacks, 1 ladyfish, and a catfish. Later, we turned our attentions to snook, and put 9 in the boat. The boys had the usual problems getting into the grove of setting the hook on a really tight line, but they did just fine, and we had a lot of fun.

Thursday morning, I met my friend Brian Studebaker, his wife Jennifer, and her dad, Tom, from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, at the Sanibel Ramp. I think it had been a couple of years since I'd last fished with the Studebakers, and it was good to see them. I had a feeling it was going to be a good day. We had a good tide and the weather was beautiful.

We were off to catch bait in short order, and got plenty of nice shiners. Soon afterward, we were turning those shiners into nice trout. In the next couple of hours the Studebakers caught a good 30 nice trout, a flounder, a ladyfish, and a couple of jack crevalle. Once the bite slowed, we turned our attention once again to snook. This time, though, I headed up into the north part of the Sound where the water is clearer in hopes of finding snook that would actually eat.

Our first stop was our last stop, as we had constant snook action for the rest of the morning, and boated 21 or 22 snook, and lost more, including some big ones. I think Jennifer had more fun than the boys, and it was the perfect way to end the week. It was a great day.

We've got pretty good tides next week, so if the weather is good, I anticipate that the fishing will be, too. Time will tell!

FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 4/14/2001

by

Capt. Butch Rickey

The weather has greatly improved in April, and this was a week of summer-like temperatures and weather. I even dared to put my winter duds away for the year.

My old friend Harald Tolrian, from Germany, was first up this week. Harald stays in Cape Coral with his family each year, and usually rents a boat for a week and fishes. He and his son Daniel catch mostly catfish. I thought Harald would bring Daniel with him this year, as he is now ten, but Harald says he's got one more year to wait. Harald always brings me a dozen or so of the wonderful German beers that you can only get by going to the towns where they're brewed. This year, he really shocked me when he presented me with a beautiful pewter beer stein with "Capt. Butchie" engraved on it. What a wonderful gift.

Harald and I got started at 8 AM, and headed to Tarpon Bay for bait. Bait was plentiful and large, and we were soon off to the first stop. We started with trout fishing since Harald wanted to make sure he had something for the fridge, and found plenty of them. He kept four nice fish. I didn't get a count of how many we caught. After the trout we turned out attention to snook and redfish, but they weren't in a cooperative mood. We managed 2 snook and 1 redfish, which gave Harald his Slam. For the last part of the trip, I took Harald up the river and showed him how to catch the abundant ladyfish there. We caught a few. It is always good to see old friends, and Harald and his family are certainly among the best.

Tuesday, I was scheduled to fish with Jeff Oglevee, who I had done a kayak trip with a couple of years ago, and who was forced to cancel a guide trip with me last year because his back was messed up. I found out Sunday night that I would have some personal business to take care of on Tuesday that had to be dealt with, and arranged with one of my good friends to take Jeff our in my absence. I didn't have any way to contact him, and wanted to make sure he was not robbed of his day on the water. When I finally talked to him on Monday evening, he seemed quite OK with the change, and I assured him that he would be with a great guide. Less than an hour later, however, he called the guide and canceled the trip, leaving me looking like an idiot. This guide had turned down several opportunities to fish that day in order to help me with Jeff.

Wednesday was reserved for another old friend, John Sitzenstatter, of Benus Point, New York. Guiding sure can be frustrating, sometimes. We had a nice day with southerly breezes and temps in the low 80's, and I just couldn't get anything going for John and his friend. We had good bait, and everything seemed right for a good bite, but we only managed to catch 1 trout, 2 snook, 1 redfish, 1 nice snapper, and a jack crevalle. I couldn't even find trout that would eat for John. Very frustrating, indeed. With those few fish, he did get a Slam, though.

What a difference a day can make! Thursday was my first trip with R.J. Trottier, and his sons Tim and Adam, of Washington, DC, and it was a great day. We left the dock at 9:30 and headed straight to Chino Island for bait. The wind was still south/southwest at around 15. Bait was the best I've ever seen at Chino, period, and was beautiful. It didn't take long to load up.

We began with trout. Trout are the easiest to get the hang of, and it gives the customer a chance to get used the techniques and equipment. After catching a few nice trout, we went for snook, and managed to catch 3, and lose one. For the finale, we went for redfish, which have been unpredictable so far this year. I was happy to be able to manufacture a redfish bite. Although it wasn't a terrific bite, the boys managed around a dozen nice redfish. Everyone Slammed!

Friday was my first trip with Steve Schweitzer, and his son Adam, of Cincinnati, Ohio. Steve has a place here and keeps a boat here, and wanted to learn how to catch our fish. This would be primarily a teaching trip. We had a really poor tide, and I explained to Steve that it would be a good day for teaching, but probably not for catching.

We headed to Chino to teach Steve the fine art of chumming up bait, and throwing the castnet. Both of these activities are a must if you're going to catch much here. Steve was eager to learn, and we soon had more bait than we knew what to do with. The bait was thick. It was so thick, that I had caught all we needed in a couple of throws, and began teaching Steve the art of throwing the net, he was still catching plenty of bait with each of his throws as much as an hour later. Steve learned quickly, and managed to get the net open pretty well in each of about five throws. I think he was a bit surprised at how much work throwing the net actually is, though.

After the bait instruction part of the trip, we turned out attention to where and when to fish, and what kinds of cover to be looking for. We didn't do much actual fishing for a couple of hours, as there was a lot to talk about and show Steve. I familiarized him with pothole fishing, fishing around mangroves, fishing in cuts, fishing around oyster bars, and fishing in the open flats. We did catch a few trout while we were learning.

For the final part of the trip I offered to teach Steve how to fish in his own back yard. He was agreeable. I took him to a flat right close by where his vacation home is, and showed him how to chum up redfish using a variety of different baits, including shiners, pinfish, and ladyfish. The reds were tough, but assure him that if he would practice what I'd taught him, he would be able to catch redfish just about anywhere the congregate. We did catch 3 beautiful reds up to 12 pounds, lost one, and caught 2 stingrays.

That was our day. Steve was very pleased with what he'd learned and caught, and seemed eager to get out there and apply his newfound knowledge on his own. And, that was the week, too. Next week brings some very poor tides, so I'm expecting fishing to be tough on that basis, alone. Time will tell.

FISHING REPORT FOR PINE ISLAND SOUND FOR THE WEEK ENDING 4/21/2001

by

Capt. Butch Rickey

The week began on a sour note with poor tides, and evolved into bad weather with the coming of yet another front. It ended well, though.

Monday was one of those days us guides would rather forget. I knew from the outset it would be a tough day, but I wasn't prepared for just how tough! The unlucky fishermen were Bob Cassell, and his son Bobby, and daughter, Emily, ages 14 and 10 respectively. We headed straight to Chino Island for bait, and got plenty without too much ado.

From there we went all over the place fishing, chumming, fishing, and by late in the trip we had one small trout and a few catfish to show for our efforts. I was totally frustrated. My last stop was a redfish hole in Wulfert Keys I hadn't visited in a long time, but hey, nothing else was working. As I pulled up to the spot, Bob noticed that there was a bird hanging upside down by some fishing line, that appeared to still be alive, as it was twitching occasionally. From the time I pitched the first bait up into the mangroves we had action, and the first fish was a small red. Unfortunately, that was the only fish the Cassells managed to drag out of there, as the rest of the hits were missed or broken off. I became exasperated! Once the tide was done, we went in and freed the bird, which was in really bad shape with a torn mouth and wasn't able to fly. I doubt he made it.

Back at the ramp Bob told me he thought I was a bit tough on the kids, and I probably was in my frustration. I broke a rule of guiding that is very hard to learn in the first place; if the customer isn't upset about not catching fish, the guide shouldn't be! I apologized to Bob then, and apologize to him publicly here and now.

Tuesday, I had a party of four including Chris Neggers, and his friend Chuck Evans, and Chuck's boys Danny and Keith, ages 15 and 10. The tide was marginally better than the day before, but the wind was from the northeast at 15, and I expected another tough day. I dreaded to think it could be a bad as Monday.

We headed once again to Chino Island where we found great bait, and were soon off to the first hole of the day. Thank God, the hole was full of beautiful, keeper sized trout, as it was supposed to be. The boys caught bunches of them, and kept 6 for the cooler. They also got one ladyfish, which we kept to use for redfish. Once the trout bite was over we headed to a good redfish flat and I began the chumming process. The fish have been on one day and not the next, but we did manage to catch 2 redfish before calling it quits. We all had a great time.

Tuesday night a cold front came through. It wasn't a big weather event, but brought lots of wind and cooler temperatures. Wednesday morning, I met Dr. Keith Kirby, of Savannah, Georgia, at the ramp, and advised that we cancel and let me find him a guide for later in the week. Most of the other guides had already canceled, and I'm sure we made the right choice.

Thursday was cool and windy for Joe Worthington, and his young sons Matt and Joe, who were down from Connecticut. The tide was slightly better, and again, I figured the best chance of steady action would be pothole trout. After catching bait at Chino again, we were immediately on the trout for most of the morning. Joe and the boys caught a load of them, and kept 4 for the cooler, along with a nice founder, and later a snook. It was a pretty good day considering a front had just passed, and we had fun.

The week ended on a high note with Scott McLeod and his sons Don and Scott, and a Friday morning of pretty good fishing. After catching bait, I decided it was time to go and check the beaches for prespawn snook and spawning trout. We spent pretty much the whole trip out there, and caught a ton of big, beautiful speckled trout, a half dozen snook, and even a redfish for the Slam. The McLeods were a fun bunch, and got into the groove quickly, and we had a great time. Scott has since sent me a nice letter which you should find in the Testimonials section of this site.

So, that's how it went. It began horribly, but ended well.

FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 4/28/2001

by

Capt. Butch Rickey

This was the week of the new moon and great tides, but the great bite I expected to go along with that was slow to materialize.

The first trip of the week was with Dana Anderson, of Ft. Myers, and his new friend Rich Vanderpels, who is just moving here from >>>>>. Dana has been an email friend for at least a year, and I almost felt like I knew him, already. Although Dana has been fishing offshore for some years, his experience on the flats inside is very limited, and he wanted this to be primarily an instructional trip.

There was a pretty strong breeze from the east. We headed to Tarpon Bay for bait, and had plenty in just a few throws. If only the fishing were as easy!! We headed first to an area of potholes to teach the boys about potholes, what to look for, and when to fish them. The water was already high enough to have the fish out of the holes, so it was a lesson, only. Next we covered snook and the kinds of places to hunt for them. We managed to catch half dozen or so. At the end of the trip, as the tide came full high, we covered redfish, and how to chum them up on a flat. We started on them kind of late, but managed to catch 3 or 4, and lost one near the boat. All in all it was a productive day, and I think Dana and Rich went home confident they could turn their new knowledge into fish in the future.

It wasn't nearly as windy Tuesday for Patti Crocker, and her good friend Cathy Rodgers, of Gainesville, Florida, who are veterans of many guided fishing trips around the country. I believe this was their first guided trip in our area, though. The girls fish a lot in their native waters, and catch small reds, but Patti told me she'd never caught one big enough to have to put back. I wanted to put them on some nice reds!

The breeze was strong enough out of the southeast first thing in the morning that I figured fishing outside would be very uncomfortable. We'd have to get it done inside. We got bait at Tarpon Bay again, but it wasn't as easy as the day before. We were off to hunt for snook, first. Man, I don't know where they're at, unless they're all outside already, but we only caught one snook all morning, hitting hole after hole. We didn't get any hits on our live chum, and I was not able to see any fish.

As the tide pushed the water up, I figured it was time to turn our attention to redfish. I positioned the boat on a good flat and began chumming with live and cut pilchards and pinfish. We put two rigs out with cut pinfish on them, and two rigs out with live shiners. It didn't take too long to get the first action, and we had our first nice redfish in the boat. We had lots of hits on both baits, with quite a few misses. By the time the tide was done, the girls had boated 4 nice redfish to 27 inches, Patti's biggest red, missed about 8 more reds, caught a trout for the Slam, and several stingrays and catfish. Yeah, they like the chum, too. Patti and Cathy will be back to try their luck again on Thursday...

Wednesday had long been reserved for one of my favorite fishing buddies, Russ Hubbard, who has become a very good friend over the last few years. He brought along Jeff Stevens, who is a veteran of several BarHopp'R trips, too, and one heck of a good guy who loves to fish. Russ loves to bring "new guys" for me to "break in", and the new guy this time was Jeff's little brother, Scott, who's one mountain of a man.

We left Punta Rassa at 8:30 headed for Tarpon Bay and bait, which had been great the day before. But fishin is fishin, and that includes catching bait, and the bait was sparse. So, we headed to Chino, where bait had been great until the previous front had come through. Happily, the bait was plentiful and beautiful at Chino, and it didn't take long for us to load the well and head for the first hole.

We headed for the beaches to see if we could find some snook and trout action there. Although we didn't find the often intense action on the beach, we did find steady action and good fish, and my trio of friends put 10 to 12 snook and a dozen or more big trout into the boat before we decided to head back inside for redfish. Jeff doesn't need coaching at this point. Scottie got into the grove very quickly, and Russ usually helps me with guide duties as much as he fishes, bless him! Back inside on a good flat, it didn't take long to have some nice redfish sniffing out my live and cut chum. Russ, Jeff, and Scott put at least 12 to 15 nice reds in the boat, and even let me catch one. I didn't know how to act!!

So, we had multiple Slams, and had a great day. We finished the day off at the Waterfront Restaurant, and I was glad the boys insisted on going because I've been just too busy to take the time for a while. Back at the ramp, after the fish were cleaned and we had said our good-byes, and I had run off to the restroom, Russ stopped outside the restroom and hollered, "Butchie, you're the greatest!" Damn! Russ sure knows how to make my day!!

Thursday morning, Patti and Cathy were back for a repeat performance. They will be here for another week, yet, with a boat of their own, and I wanted to take them out and teach them how to fish the beaches for snook, trout, and mackerel. A front had passed through during the evening hours on Wednesday, and the wind had moved around to the northeast overnight. I figured that would allow us to get outside if the water wasn't too bumpy from the night before.

We left the dock at 8:30, and headed straight for Chino Island and bait from Punta Rassa. The bait didn't come to the first spot I anchored on, probably because I was a little too deep. But, I saw pelicans diving not far to the north of us and made an adjustment, and we soon had all the bait we could use. We were off to Redfish Pass. We fished until noon on the outside, and the girls boated a dozen or more beautiful trout and 3 snook. We decided to head in to try for some redfish action, and had a pretty slow, bumpy ride back.

Once inside and chumming on the flats, we had a slow reception. We caught one small redfish immediately, and I thought we would have plenty more, but there was nothing. I figured, well, if the reds won't eat, we'll work on snook for a while, and try again later. The girls caught a couple more snook, and then we moved to a different part of the flat, and began our chumming all over, again. This time, the results were different. The reds came to us, and Patti and Cathy caught probably 10 of them, as well as a couple of big rays. All in all, it was a pretty good day. The girls kept 3 nice redfish, and four big trout. They had adapted well to our style of fishing, and had tried hard to execute what I was teaching them.

Back at the ramp I spotted a very pretty gal walking out the dock with her husband, and was sure I knew her. It turned out to be Dave and Anne Kerschner, who had just flown in, and had come down to the dock to see if I might be around. We're fishing Monday, God willing and weather permitting, and I was tickled that they came down to look me up.

Little did I know that the wind kicked something awful out of the east through the night, and was still howling Friday morning when my friend Bruce Heintzman arrived with his friend Dr. Steven Powell and his son Tommy. We elected to fish, but I knew it would be one tough, nasty day!

We headed to Chino for bait, and with Tommy chumming, we were loaded to the gills in two throws of the net. With the wind blowing so hard, I figured the best place for us to be was on the outside, which would be lee shore. Besides, the fishing had been fairly good outside. We headed for the beach. Unfortunately, my suspicions were correct, and the bite was very slow. It was also very hard to keep the boat in fishing position with the combination of wind and current we had. The boys only managed a couple of snook and maybe half dozen nice trout.

We headed back inside around noon to see if we could scare up some reds, but once at the flats, realized that the wind had held the tide back a bunch, and there was not enough water on the flats to bring the reds. I poled across the whole flat we were on without seeing any sign of life other than a stingray and occasional mullet. I advised that we call it a day and adjust the price accordingly, and everyone was agreeable. It had indeed been a tough day.

As I write this I'm listening to a weather report for the coming week, that is currently predicting rain for the first couple of days next week. That could be a problem.

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