Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
June 24, 2001
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING JUNE 2, 2001 by Capt. Butch Rickey

My work week was shortened to three days by the Memorial Day holiday, and a no-show. The first day back at work was a very tough one.

Tom McFadden, and his four year old son Jake, and fourteen year old son Nick, over from Orlando, were first up on Tuesday. We had an absolutely horrible tide all day long, but I decided that the afternoon part of it was marginally better than the morning half. So, we left the dock at noon. We ran into real problems trying to get bait, what with the water not moving to carry our chum away, and the sun being directly overhead. We finally did get enough to fish with, and were off.

The fishing was tougher than the bait gathering! The fish just wouldn't eat no matter where we went or how much live chum I threw at them. The McFadden boys did manage to catch 3 snook to just under 26 inches, but that was it for the afternoon. It doesn't get much tougher than that, and I'm sure that a factor I haven't yet mentioned was the constant pounding the fish got over the long holiday weekend.

Wednesday, I was scheduled to fish with Ken Kingon, of Bonita Springs, for the first time. Our meeting time came and went, and no Ken. I had no way to reach him from the ramp. I waited for an hour before tossing in the towel. Later that day I sent Ken an email inquiring why he had not kept our date, and he responded with an embarrassing "I forgot". It's too bad there aren't more Ken Kingons in the world, because he assumed full responsibility for his forgetfulness, and sent me a check for the full amount of the trip. Now, folks! That's an honorable man! Thanks to you, Ken.

Thursday was a great day for Pete Lersner and his ten year old son Alex, and me. It was hot with light breezes from the east/southeast, and the tide was much improved from previous days. We gathered bait at Tarpon Bay without too much ado, and were off fishing.

The choice of where to fish was a good one, as Pete and Alex managed to catch a jack crevalle, a gag grouper, 2 nice snapper, and a good 25 snook. They missed many more snook during the bite. One that action was over we went to a different area to try to redfish, but only managed to get one to eat, along with a trout for the West Coast Slam. Pete and Alex caught on quickly and we had a great time.

Friday, the first day of June, I had a three boat trip with my long time friend and fishing buddy Ted Sparling, of Sarasota. Ted is a very successful builder in Sarasota, and was rewarding his crew for a job well done on a recent project. What began as a trip for nine guys, wound up being six by fishing day, so my other two guides Captains Rey Rodriguez and Norm Weston, had two anglers each. Ted's main man, John, accompanied him. Of course, for this trip we had a little friendly competition.

With these damned Manatee zones everywhere now, we are having to change the way we fish. Now, we are forced to pick an area and hope like hell it works, because the days of hopping from spot to spot in search of eating fish are all but gone, at least for now. We made a good choice, and by the time we were ready to meet the other boats back at the Waterfront Restaurant just after noon, we had boated a 5 pound jack, a grouper, 2 nice snapper, 3 nice trout to nearly 5 pounds, a good 25 snook, and 3 nice redfish to about 7 pounds. Oh, yes! We smoked the other guys! We all had a good time recapping the days events with the other anglers, and enjoyed a great lunch. Unfortunately, Rey was having motor problems, and had to get back in to have things checked out, and couldn't join us.

Well, that's how it went. The good tides nearly always bring better fishing, and that was certainly the case for this week. The fishing should remain pretty good through next week, I think.

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING JUNE 9, 2001 by Capt. Butch Rickey

What should have been a full work week was once again abbreviated by mechanical problems and dealing with mechanical problems.

Monday was my first trip with Frank Losito, his son, of Acworth, Georgia, and his brother-in-law, Gary. We were blessed with nice weather, a good tide, and a moon that was almost full. I wasn't sure how it would go. Fishing the full moon can be very tough.

We headed to Tarpon Bay for bait, and after a little moving around, found plenty. We were soon off to the first hole of the day. The first area we fished was good, and the boys boated a good 15 snook, and missed many more opportunities. They also caught 3 trout. From there we headed to a nearby flat to fish for redfish, and the boys boated 6, but missed quite a few, too. It was a good day, and lots of fun.

Monday afternoon, my good friend John Shearer came over and swapped lower units on my two Yamahas, putting the good unit off Barhopp'R I on to BarHopp'R II, so that I would have a skeg in the water and the steering that goes with it. I had Tuesday set aside to take the lower unit to Action Welding to have a new skeg welded to the unit, and was to pick it up late the same day.

Wednesday morning, I met my good buddy Russ Hubbard at the ramp ready for the first of two scheduled days of fishing with he and his son David. Once the boat was in the water, I couldn't get the engine down from the fully trimmed up position that John Shearer had put it in to change the lower units. Damn! Apparently, the hydraulic system was low on fluid, but I didn't know that then. I couldn't get a screwdriver to turn the release screw to let the motor down, so we had to cancel our trip, and I took off for Smith Marine. I called Russ around noon and told him we were patched up and a go for Thursday.

Thursday fishing, beginning with bait, was pretty tough. We chummed all over the Tarpon Bay flats and just couldn't get any shiners going. I tried out on the flat and in close to the bar, and everywhere in between, believing the bait had to still be there, somewhere! We never managed more than a handful! So, we headed up to Chino Island, and were loaded up in two or three throws. We were finally ready to fish.

We began with some mangrove fishing in the backcountry, which I don't think we'd ever taken Russ' son David, now twelve, to do. The bite was way off, probably because of the summer doldrums setting in, but Russ and David managed to catch 8 snook and a couple of trout. After the bite slowed we headed out onto the flats to try for some redfish, and did manage to catch 3 fish to 27 inches. Not an awesome day, but we did get some descent fish, and Russ and David did get the Slam.

Friday was my first trip with Roland and Shannon Hartich, who currently live in Berlin. Roland is from Austria, and Shannon is from Indiana. They were a very nice, and interesting couple. We left the dock at 7:30 and headed straight to Chino for bait. As we gathered shiners, a storm was steady brewing just to our north. I wondered if it would send up packing before it was over.

Once we were baited up, I headed back a little south to Sanibel, to fish in the backcountry. The storm kept brewing as we fished, and there was a lot of booming going on almost overhead. I kept listening for buzzing rod tips, and watching for line that would not lay down, but we stayed out of harms way, and the storm lived and died pretty much where it had been born. Through the course of the morning, Roland and Shannon caught a dozen or so snook and a snapper. We headed to the flats to try for reds on the last of the tide, but the redfish weren't buying, and we never caught the first one. Back at the dock, Roland asked if I had a day open the following week, which I did, and we made a date.

And, that's the way it went for the time I was out there. The snook action in the backcountry was pretty good, but reds have gotten very tough as of late. The redfish will likely remain tough until the end of August, when they will probably turn on. Everything will slow down as we get into summer. Summer fishing is an early morning game, beginning at first light, and usually over by 11:30 or so when the water really starts to cook. It doesn't matter what the tide is doing during the summer months.

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