Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
November 6, 2002
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 11/2/2002 by Capt. Butch Rickey

To say the fishing this week was great would be an understatement. It was awesome, and got better as the week progressed. Read on.

First up on Tuesday was my buddy Bryan Thomas back for his second trip. With a front knocking on our doorstep we had a 20 knot southeast wind. We headed straight to Chino to catch bait, and before I could get the Power Pole down, Bryan and I both heard the unmistakable sound of a big jack attack. They were trashing bait on top like crazy not far from us. I told Bryan bait would wait, and we headed toward the jacks with the trolling on full throttle. We had a ball catching speckled trout, several jacks, and several ladyfish on topwater plugs. Finally, we decided we’d better go catch bait and get after the snook and redfish, and we had the well full in two throws. We had a falling tide all morning long, and I wanted to get onto the flats and try to catch some fish before the water and fish disappeared.

The first stop was the best one, where Bryan caught several redfish and probably 10 snook. We crossed the Sound and hit several other holes, but only managed a couple more snook. All in all it wasn’t a bad day considering the tide and conditions. We had a good time and Bryan got another Slam.

Thursday was the first of two trips with my old friend Dr. Ron Kolata, of Cleveland, Ohio, who I fish with several times a year. Ron is an avid, rabid angler, and loves to fish. I love to fish with him. We had a slow moving tide that would crest about the middle of the morning. I knew we’d have water on the flats for most of our trip, and hoped I could hit the fish on the head with enough bait to make them eat.

Oddly, the wind was calm, and the front seemed to have stalled. It was a beautiful morning. I talked with a fellow guide at the dock while waiting on Ron, and he told me that the bait had disappeared from Chino. I was reluctant to believe that for a second time in as many weeks. We headed straight to Chino for bait. Why go anywhere else when bait is so good here, right? We were loaded in a couple of throws!

We headed to one of my favorite snook areas, knowing we had a good tide, and expecting good action. We weren’t disappointed. We had steady action, and Ron boated at least a dozen snook and a dozen redfish over the next several hours. Once the action subsided there we headed back to Chino Island for trout. Ron boated several trout, a gag grouper, a couple of ladyfish and a couple of jacks, there. It had been a good day of fishing, and we capped it off with our usual lunch at the Waterfront Restaurant. But, as good as the fishing had been on this day, Ron couldn’t have possibly imagined what was to come on Friday.

Friday. A perfect tide. A nice breeze from the southwest. Moderate temperatures. Seemed like a perfect setup to me. Ron and I wasted no time getting bait at Chino and heading to our first fishing hole. Right from the first cast the action was crazy! I don’t think we threw more than a half dozen baits that didn’t get eaten either by a snook or a redfish for the entire morning. It was as close to fishing mayhem as you can get. Ron was obviously in his glory. I was, too. What a day. By the time the smoke cleared and we decided it was time for lunch, Ron had boated 22 redfish, 1 nice trout, and as closely as we could count about 50 snook! It just can’t get any better than that.

I don’t know how long this great fishing with last, but the tides are good into the first part of next week. I look for good things to happen, again.

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