Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
March 24, 2002
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 3/16/2002

by

Capt. Butch Rickey

It was a full week that started out slowly, but improved as the days passed and the water warmed.

Monday brought a stiff east wind, tough bait, and tough fishing for Eric Czech and his father, Dick, from New York City. Lots of throwing around the causeway yielded nothing until we finally scored one net full of threadfin herring. They're good bait, but very hard to keep alive, as they're much more fragile than the shiners we normally use. Ultimately, I was darned glad to have them.

But, the same thing that made bait tough was probably responsible for having the fish in a real funk. We saw lots of snook, lots of big snook, but they just weren't buying. As I told Eric, we guides don't knowingly fish where they ain't, but sometimes Mother Nature just shuts them down, and there's not a darned thing you can do about it. It was one of those days. We fished half dozen spots all loaded with snook, but only managed to boat three along with a flounder. Of course, there were some snook and a flounder missed, but it was just a really tough day. Eric and Dick were great though, and took it all in stride. We ended the day licking our wounds at the Waterfront Restaurant!

Tuesday, the wind was around from the southwest at 10 to 15, and bait was much easier for Steve Winnick and his son Rob, of Edrina, Minnesota. We loaded up with shiners on the second span of the causeway, and were already doing better than the day before. My hopes were high that the fishing would be better, too.

Well, Rob and Steve fished hard, and although it was still a slow day by our standards, it was much improved from the day before. In our travels the boys boated around 8 snook, 2 trout, and a flounder. And, it was a great day to be on the water with a high of around 82. Compared to the day that was to come, it was a great day!

Wednesday is a day I'm not likely to forget. Paul Richardson and his son probably won't either. We began, as always, trying to catch bait. We weren't having much luck around the causeway, so I decided to anchor and chum on the slack tide. After all that blind casting, we loaded the boat with big, beautiful shiners in two throws.

We went up into the Sound fishing, and the day went about like the day before. Fishing was slow, but the Richardson team boated 6 or 7 snook, a couple of trout, and a couple of ladyfish. The problem came on the way home. In order to tell you the story, I must also tell a story prefacing what happened, and hope it won't bore you.

About a month previous, I noticed my 150 Yamaha making a ticking sound at idle speed. I immediately recognized it as wrist pin knock. Alarmed because the motor had always been the backup motor, I took the Yammie back to Craig Wildasin, of OMC in Venice, to check it out. I was also ready for a lower unit service.

In the yard at Outboard Motor Connection (OMC) I explained to Craig Wildasin what I was hearing. Before even listening to the engine, he immediately pulled the cover off the motor and said he wanted to check the oil pump. Craig wiggled the throttle linkage a time or two and went into an absolute rage! "Who in the hell put this water pressure gauge on this motor?" he screamed. Smith Marine in Ft. Myers, I explained. "Why?" He proceeded to explain to me with a lot of expletives deleted that the tube that runs from the head to the instrument on the console had been routed right through the path of the oil pump lever that delivers oil to the engine. He showed me plainly how the tube was stopping the travel of the oil pump metering lever at about 1/3 travel, which means that the engine was not oiling properly at much above low Rpm's. Craig was furious. He told me that I had a ticking time bomb, which I had already figured out. He told me the motor could run a week, a month, or a year. There was no way to know. He said I might as well use it until it failed. It took exactly a month for things to come apart. A perfectly good motor that should have given years of service was reduced to rubble through a careless error. Fortunately, it happened on the way home, and we were only a few miles away at Picnic Island. My good friend Capt. Rey Rodriguez towed me in.

Thursday was supposed to be the first of three days and two boats with Mark Hatfield and his family and friends. Here I was without a boat. I made arrangements for a friend of mine to cover for me, and I was off to Everest Marina to see my friend Mark Rackay that evening. Mark is a great guy, and puts guides ahead of everyone else, whenever possible. He promised to have my spare Yamaha mounted and ready to go by the end of business on Thursday, barring any unforeseen complications.

He was true to his word, and at 5:30 Thursday evening I was at the shop picking up the boat. They had run into a couple of problems, one with the oiling system, and one with the wiring harness, but had delivered. Mark suggested I install new plugs, and I had rebuilt my trolling during that day, and had not had a chance to test it. By the time I got everything done, it was dark, and there was no time for a sea trial. It would have to be done in the morning.

I was to meet Mark Hatfield and crew at 8:30 AM on Thursday morning. I was predictably pensive about being down to the wire with my boat, and put her in the water at around 6 that morning. I figured that if she didn't perform properly, that might give me time to find someone to take my place at the last minute. I was delighted when the engine lit after sitting for nearly a year, and when I gave her the throttle at the mouth of the river, she jumped out of the water and ran beautifully. Thank God! So, I just headed on over to Picnic Island to catch bait. Bait was plentiful, and beautiful, and by the time my number two guide John Shearer called, I had enough bait for both of us.

Back at the dock Mark made the assignment of he and his brother John and their sons to me, and their friend Ron and his son to John. Ron wanted to go for big snook; not something you do with four in the boat that includes a couple of young boys. So, John headed up the river to some of his favorite big snook haunts, and we headed up into the Sound where I hoped I could find fish suitable for the two boys.

We did find pretty good action, but predictably many of the fish were missed, primarily because of striking the fish before the line is tight to the fish. But, I think everyone had fun trying to learn the techniques we use here, and the boys did manage to boat 7 or 8 snook, a couple of nice trout, a couple of founder, a ladyfish, and 3 jack crevalle. Back at the dock, Ron was very happy with his trip as he had caught 3 nice keeper snook. It had been a good day for both boats.

It was now Saturday morning, and the last of the three trips with Mark Hatfield and his gang of fishermen. I told Mark it was my day to do two anglers, so he elected he and his son. I figured I could do things a bit differently this day with two anglers, and wanted the trip to be more for Mark's benefit. After catching bait at Picnic, we were off on what was a great day of fishing. We went to the north end of the Sound and fished potholes, and had some very good action. By quitting time the Hatfield father/son team had boated a 26.5 inch redfish, a big flounder, 2 ladyfish, a bunch of trout including 3 keepers, and nearly a dozen snook, all but one of which were keepers to 29 inches. The number two boat had done well, also.

It was a trying week in many ways, with blown motors, schedule changes, slow fishing, tough bait, but we made it work in the end. As you read, the fishing improved as the week progressed, and I look for it to really bust loose next week.

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