Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
March 27, 2004
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR WEEK ENDING 3/27/2004 by Capt. Butch Rickey

This week has to go down as one of the windiest on record, even for the month of March. We had wind gust to 35 MPH nearly every day, and steady winds at 25. It made getting to and from the fishing grounds a challenge, and made crossing the Sound a last resort proposition. We had tides with good height, but not a lot of strength, and the wind served to take what strength was there, away! It's amazing how the wind can move or stop water! So, the effect on the fishing was negative, and the fishing was tough all week. That said, I had some great trips with some wonderful people, proving once again that it's not just all about catching.

The first trip on Monday was with Sam Burgess and his younger sister, and his dad, Stephen. I apologize for my brain failing me after a week, but I can't remember Sam's sister's name. They were down from Woodbury, Minnesota, and were happy to be here in the warm weather. We were facing a descent tide, but a very tough wind.

We headed over to Tarpon Bay to catch bait, and had plenty within a hour, and were ready to fish. Problem was, the fish weren't ready for us. The gang fished their hearts out for the first couple hours without a fish in the boat. It was the old hit and run routine from the snook and the trout. Frustrated, I finally decided to go and see if I could get my school of big reds to eat. I knew they would be right where I had last found them, and it would be a matter of whether they were willing to eat our offerings, or not.

Once on the flat things improved many-fold when we got the first takedown. I had been chumming with live shiners, cut shiners, and live and cut pinfish. I had two live baits out under Cajun corks, and two cut baits out on each side a long way from the boat, and placed in the bow rod holders. Once we got the first big red on, I knew we would catch a few, but didn't know how long they would bite before they'd had enough or someone clueless came running across our fish.

Well, the answer was that the Burgess clan boated 7 or 8 big redfish, with the largest at 11.5 pounds, along with 2 beautiful speckled trout of 4 pounds each. Of course, they predictably missed some fish and there were a couple that got away with cut line, etc. But, those big reds all at 10 pounds or better and big trout made for a pretty good day of fishing, even if it did take a while to get going. The bait of choice had been steaked pinfish. The reds had been a blast for my gang.

Tuesday was my first trip with Joe Trad, and his young son Phil, of St. Louis, Missouri. Joe and I had been trying to get together for a trip for a good three years, and it was finally happening. I had hoped that the conditions would be perfect for a great trip, but that was not to be. It was blowing fiercely out of the northeast.

Things began predictably with tough bait. We finally got it after trying at Picnic Island, and then on to Tarpon Bay. It was so nasty I wanted to avoid Tarpon Bay, but I knew the bait was there. I also think that the northerly wind tends to stack the bait in there thicker than it might normally be. It took a while, but once we got the bait going, we got plenty. The next challenge would be to find fish willing to eat.

We fished a lot of great spots, and the boys fished hard. It's probably safe to say that nearly every bait they pitched into the waters got hit, but it was the old hit and run game once again, and the hits were impossible to feel, especially through such strong wind. Time and time again they reeled in their live shiners only to find them half dead and signed with that unmistakable snook bite that knocks the scales off the body but never breaks the skin!

The wind was so high and the Sound so rough getting to my schooling reds was not an option. So, we stayed with what we were doing. By the time the tide had quit moving, Joe and Phil had 2 trout weighing 4 pounds each, and 3 snook, including 2 keepers. Not a lot of fish, but quality fish. And, we'd had a blast in spite of the conditions. We took a very tough day and made the best of it.

Wednesday, the recipe was more of the same! Wind! Wind! It was my first trip with Alison Ward, and her uncle Bill Cruickshank. Ali had been planning this trip with her uncle for quite some time, and I felt almost as if I knew her before we met. She was really pumped about getting out of the cold weather still plaguing New Jersey, and catching some big fish. I was worried about making that happened under the conditions we were dealt.

We took off in the brutal wind and rough water and headed straight to Tarpon Bay for bait. The reward was that bait came easily, and we had plenty for fishing and chumming. We made our was up into the Sound and the first stop produce a few nice trout, and snook bites on nearly every bait they reeled in. It was more of the same. But, Ali was a lot of fun, and Uncle Bill was a real character with a wonderful sense of humor, and we were having plenty of laughs.

We moved to the second spot, and it was the charm. The snook were willing to actually eat a bait there, and Bill and Ali caught a good dozen snook and one more trout. Several were right at the slot limit of 26 inches, but we didn't attempt to stretch any for keeping. We kept some nice trout, instead. And we had fun.

I was concerned about the ride home in such a horrific wind. Bill is 78 if memory serves, and looks great and is in great shape. He runs every day and is sharp of mind, but he is a cancer survivor, and somehow miraculously survived numbers machine gun and mortar wounds during World War II. He is a survivor indeed, and tough, but I was worried about the rough ride home being a bit much for him. Well, it wasn't. He hung tough and never once flinched or complained, and was smiling at the dock about having such a great time. It was truly a great day with great new friends.

Thursday it was my first time out with Doug Campbell and his son, James. Doug was down on a quick getaway from his law practice in Tennessee. I explained the circumstances with the wind and gave him the chance to back out, but he and Jimmy were sports and ready to brave the conditions for a day on the water.

We first headed up the river to the ladyfish grounds. But, the wind blowing so hard had the tide slowed nearly to a stop even in the river, and the bite was slow. Jimmy managed to hook several fish, and had a few right at the side of the boat where they got off. We did manage to get one in the well, and I knew that if I could get to my redfish school, we could probably turn some of those ladyfish steaks into redfish.

From the river we went to Tarpon Bay for bait, which came easily. We were loaded up. In the Sound it was the same story as the days before, only worse. We couldn't get a hook in anything. There had been a lot of hits and a few snook missed, but we had nothing in the boat. Time was getting short on the tide, and I knew I couldn't wait any longer, so I decided to brave the nasty waters to get to my redfish school. I prayed they would eat!

There was one other boat on the flat, but not close to where I wanted to be. We made our approach from a long way out on the trolling motor so as not to chance bothering anything he may have going on. Turned out he didn't have anything going on, as we never saw them catch a fish.

I began my chopping and chumming routine, and put my usual combo of live and cut baits out. But, today we had that one ladyfish to use, and I knew that if the reds would eat anything, they'd eat that. Before we had our first hit, the guide (who shall remain nameless) had no compunction about starting his engine and driving around behind me within 50 yards, even though I did everything possible to keep from disturbing the fish on that flat. Totally uncalled for, and totally unprofessional. Unfortunately, that kind of conduct seems to be the order of the day with a certain group of guides.

Well, it wasn't long before we had a first strike. It came on the ladyfish, and it was a beautiful 10 pound redfish. Next we had a big hit on a shiner under the Cajun float rig. We missed several hits, and bagged one more 10 pound redfish, which gave us a chance to teach Jimmy how to pump and reel the big fish in. We also had 2 nice 4 pound trout eat our ladyfish steaks, and also had a big snook pick up one and run with it, then jump completely out of the shallow water and throw the hook. Jimmy was on the rod, and got a little ahead of the fish and dropped her slack. Now, she swims to fight again another day.

Again, it was a day of low numbers, but quality fish, and we had a blast. The last part of the ride home was very nasty, and we had to stop to retrieve my pushpole more than once after it was knocked out of it's brackets by the big waves. Was it worth it? Darned right!

It was a tough week. It was an unusual week in that it's the first one in a long while that was filled with all new customers. Usually, I have mostly regulars that fill my weeks. I want to thank all of you who were willing to brave the wind and conditions to fish with me last week, for your patience and your sense of adventure. Every single one of you were great, and I look forward to fishing with you all again in the future, hopefully, under a bit better conditions.

We begin next week with very poor tides, and who know when this wind will lay. We'll have to see how it goes.

REPORT FOR WEEK ENDING 3/20/2004 by Capt. Butch Rickey

It was a busy week highlighted with the renewing of old friendships and beginning new ones, but marred by a tragedy that cut Wednesday's trip short.

The week started on Sunday with my great friend Capt. Butch Boteler and I doubling up with Lloyd Williams, and his friends Blair, Austin, and Spencer, from Charleston, South Carolina. I had fished with Lloyd and his dad a couple of years ago while he was still in college, and remembered him as one of the nicest young men I had met in this business.

On that first day I fished with Lloyd and Blair, and Butch fished Austin and Spencer. We doubled up on the bait at Tarpon Bay, which always makes the bait catching more fun, especially when it's tough. We got enough for both boats, and even had enough to do some chumming. It was really blowing out of the southeast, so I decided at the last minute to just stay on the Sanibel side and fish, thinking the water would be smoother. We had a lousy tide to deal with, but I think the southerly wind helped to counteract the tide.

We stopped first at a snook hole that has been good lately, and the fish were there. We had good action and Lloyd and Blair boated 12 to 14 snook, including 4 keepers before things slowed down. There were plenty of misses, as well.

From there we headed to a great redfish flat where the fish have been schooling for several weeks, now. I've not failed to find them there since I first found, but I haven't always been able to talk them into eating. Well, I found them again, right where they usually like to play, and they were willing to eat for a while. Lloyd and Blair had a blast fighting 6 of the big reds to the boat, and missed another 6. They were all running 9 to 12 pounds, and Lloyd observed that they don't typically catch redfish like that back home in the creeks. They topped the morning off with a big 4 pound trout, which gave them the Slam. Butch and his boys had a pretty good day, as well.

Monday, Butch and I were with Lloyd and the boys, again, but this time I fished with Lloyd and Austin, and Butch had Blair and Spencer. We doubled up on bait again, and had plenty in the boats within an hour, and were ready to fish. The tide was a bit better than on Sunday, but the bite was not. The fish weren't as willing to play.

That's probably not a completely fair statement. The guys had lots of snook hits, but the fish were not holding on, and were hard to hook. Often the strikes couldn't be felt, but the scales knocked off the bait was proof positive that Mr. Snook had been there. Lloyd and Austin managed around half a dozen, with several just under the limit.

We decided to retract our steps and try to get the redfish to eat again, as Austin had not caught one the day before with Boteler. I really wanted to get him some redfish. Again, I parked right on the fish, but they were having nothing to do with us. They gave us the fin! But, we did catch half a dozen big trout to 4 pounds. It was a tough bite, but we had a great time. We all met back at the Waterfront Restaurant to enjoy a great lunch and recap the couple of days of fishing.

The weather forecast Monday night for Tuesday was not real good. Chance of rain 60% in the afternoon. I hoped that I could get my first trip with Jim and Rhonda Calvin, and their son Jake, done before the weather set in. I checked the radar first thing when I got up Tuesday morning, and the only rain was a band of weather north of Tampa. I didn't figure it could be a factor before afternoon.

I met the Calvins at the ramp and we discussed the weather prospects, and they were hot to go fishing. I knew I'd like Jim from talking with him, and was looking forward to the trip with his family. We met Boteler at Tarpon Bay and doubled up on the bait, again. It was tough for some reason, and I was torn between making sure I had plenty of bait for a day of fishing, and wasting too much of what could be a day cut short by weather if we weren't lucky. I decided to go with just enough to fish with, since I didn't have a lot of faith that the weather would hold. I didn't like the looks of the sky.

We headed straight to a snook hole, and had great action from the first bait that hit the water. We had lots of hits, and lots of misses, and it began to rain less than an hour after we arrived at the first stop. We were getting soaking wet and cold, but we were catching snook. The Calvins missed several big snook, and it was obvious Jake was having a blast. I think these were the biggest and fastest fish he had caught in his 13 years.

Finally, everyone cold and soaked, decided they had had enough, and it was time to go home. We had heard several rumbles of thunder, and that's usually the go home signal for me, as it means lightning is around. I ran as slow as I could in the rain to try to keep it from stinging us too badly. Back at the ramp I cleaned on nice snook for the Calvins' dinner. It had been a nasty day cut short by weather, but we had all had a blast.

Wednesday morning it was howling out of the northwest with the passing of the front, and I was sure it would be a tough day for another outing with Tom Iversen and his good friends Jay and Bob. I was sure it would be a slow bite. And, I was afraid that bait would be even tougher. But, once we were set up with Boteler at Tarpon Bay and chumming, the bait came quickly and in good quantities. Hum. Perhaps the fish would also eat.

The boys wanted to make sure they had plenty of fish for the table, so I elected to try to get the food caught first with trout fishing. Keeping snook or redfish would be a bonus, and we could always put back some trout.

I decided upon a trout hole I hadn't fished in a while, but that nearly always gives up good trout and good action. The fish were there, and though they weren't on a wild feed, they were eating, and the boys were catching. Bob was having a little trouble getting the fish hooked probably because he was having a hard time getting used to the circle hooks. We were teasing him about that, of course, and had caught a couple dozen nice trout, and have 8 or 9 nice keepers in the well when my cellphone rang. When I answered Bob's wife asked for him. I joked that Bob couldn't catch a fish, but there was no laughter on her end. Only silence. I felt something was wrong as I passed the phone to Bob.

I could tell by the look on Bob's face and the bits and pieces I could hear from the cellphone that something horrible had happened. When he was done, Bob told us that somehow his 39 year old step-daughter who was visiting at his condo had fallen to her death. Details were skimpy. It was an awful moment. The fun and relaxation of a day of fishing interrupted by the most horrible of news. I think we were all speechless as I readied the Talon for a quick trip back to the ramp. Jay called his wife, Helen, to have her meet us at the ramp. Once at the ramp Bob and Tom disappeared in a flash. I pulled the boat and Jay joined me at the Sugar Shack to clean the fish and wait for Helen. While cleaning the fish, Jay told me that this was a doubly raw deal for Bob, as Bob had lost a son in an auto accident at age 17. My God! It's beyond me how one copes with such losses. Join me in remembering Bob and his family in your prayers.

My Thursday trip was with Bill Smith and his good friend from New England. I had fished with Bill and his kids two years before, and we'd had a date last year blown out by the weather. It looked like we had drawn a pretty good day.

We found the bait situation at Tarpon Bay just great, and we quickly loaded up with enough bait for three boats. I had seen my friend Capt. Rey Rodriguez at the ramp, where he told me he was doing a double. I called him and told him to call me before he went to catch bait for his second trip, as I was sure I would have plenty left for him to use.

I decided to fish the east side of the Sound first, but after more than an hour of fishing we had only one nice trout and one snook under our belts. The fish weren't interested in eating. Everywhere we went our baits were getting hit by snook, but we couldn't feel it happen. I was frustrated, but there's nothing you can do when the snook are doing that.

I decided to move to the west side and see if the fish felt any differently about eating. The first stop was the charm, and we spend the rest of the morning there. The snook were eating, and eating well. The boys had a blast with them, and even though they missed quite a few, as you always do, they still boated some 16 nice snook, including several keepers.

Once we were sure the tide was done and the bite was over I called Rey and told him to sit tight at the dock. I still had a ton of bait for him to use on his trip. We left the flats and headed home with smiles on our faces. It had been a great day.

Friday, I had my first trip with Ric Roberts, a local PE teacher. It was to be a teaching trip, and Ric was eager to learn all he could. I asked him if he wanted the emphasis on learning or catching, and he assured me it was learning. He was particularly interested in pothole fishing and learning about my methods of catching redfish out on open water. His redfishing had all been in the mangroves, and he was catching small numbers of small fish.

We joined Boteler at Tarpon Bay, and bait came pretty quickly. We didn't need a ton of it for just the two of us, but we made sure Butch had plenty for his party of three that I had referred to him. I didn't realize until we were out there on the water that the ladies I referred to him I had fished with back in 1997. They were Cindy Clark and her good friend Joannie, and another friend, Marie. We don't get to fish with lady teams all that often, and I had just that morning been bragging on the gals I had fished with back in 1997, and how Cindy had just whipped a bunch of big snook into submission. It had been so many years that I didn't remember her name or make the connection. I thought they looked familiar when Butch and I parked next to each other for bait, but didn't realize it was them until Cindy told me she had fished with me way back, and then lost my contact information.

Once we all had plenty of bait we went our separate ways. The negative low tide was perfect for introducing Ric to the nuances of pothole fishing, and I chose one of my favorites that has every characteristic that a good pothole should have. I taught him everything from how to make the approach to what to look for in size, location, current flow, etc. We caught a few nice trout, and moved on. I wanted to teach Ric about snook fishing potholes and how snook will stage in potholes near mangroves and bars and wait on the incoming tide to flood the roots and bars. I took him to a series of potholes in the crystal clear waters of the northern part of the Sound near some mangrove heads, and hoped the snook would be there and let us get close enough for Ric to see them, and for me to prove my point.

The snook were in the holes, and in spades. There were some huge females along with some smaller fish, and some redfish, as well. Ric was treated to a rare sight of so many big snook cruising around in those holes, and couldn't believe his eyes. Some of those fish were as big as your leg! Some of the fish had remained in one of the holes instead of spooking out, so we decided to see if they would eat. I pitched a bat full of chum, and several of the baits were immediately crushed. We tossed some baits into the hole, and caught one. Time to move on. I wanted to spend some time on the redfish portion of the trip.

We headed to one of my favorite spring time redfish haunts and made our way in to where the fish usually stage on the Minn Kota. All of a sudden, as if on cue, a school of probably a hundred or more fish pushed right where they were supposed to be. I knew we had a good shot at catching some of the big reds if they would only eat.

I began chumming with live shiners, cut shiners and pins, and some frozen ladyfish steaks. Within five minutes we had the first fish on. It had blown the hell out of a shiner under a Cajun cork, just as I had told Ric they would do. Ric's adrenaline was pumping, and he was excited. We didn't have a big feed going on, but we had the fish eating, and were getting a take down about every ten minutes. The hits were about equal on the shiners and the ladyfish steaks. We missed and broke off several fish; at least as many as we caught, if not more. The highlight of the redfishing came when Ric struck a big redfish with my favorite rig, a Shimano Stella 4000FA mated to a $300 St. Croix Legend Elite rod. As soon as the rod broke the plane of Ric's body behind him, it exploded into three pieces. Ric was shocked, but he still had the big red tugging at the end of the line. Together, we managed to clear the other lines and get the red to the boat.

Ric felt awful about breaking such a rod, but I assured him that the expensive lesson would certainly be the last rod he broke in this lifetime. Folks, hi modulous graphite like that found in the best rods made is wonderful stuff, but very unforgiving if you handle it wrong. Remember, as Ric surely will, to never touch a rod with a fish on anywhere but the handle, and never break the plane of your body with the rod when there's a fish on the other end.

It was a great day. Ric boated 6 big reds to 11 pounds, and missed at least that many, myself included. They were the biggest reds of his fishing career. He was a happy camper. When we were sure the bite was over, we met Butch and the girls at the Waterfront for a great lunch and conversation. It was a great day, and Ric assured me that it had be exactly what he had visualized. It was also the perfect end to a long week.

I have another long week in front of me. Hopefully, the weather and the fish will cooperate! Stay tuned.

REPORT FOR WEEK ENDING 3/13/2004 by Capt. Butch Rickey

There were five trips on the books going in to this week, but the mid-week trip was canceled due to bad wind, cold, and a guaranteed non-bite after the passing of yet another front. It was a week of very poor morning tides, followed by very slow moving afternoon tides, that combined to make catching bait and fish tough. Still, though the numbers weren't there, we managed to put some nice fish into the boat.

I was looking forward to my Monday trip with Tony Ronci with great anticipation, as Tony has been a good friend since we first fished together around this time last year. I really wanted to put him on a good bite. Actually, we had the best tide of the week to work with, but we were also cursed with a tough northwest wind at 25 that served to undo any tidal advantage. Still, we did manage a pretty good day with such conditions.

We first headed to Tarpon Bay in search of bait. Bait was tough, to say the least, but I had stopped at Shack Baits and bought an inexpensive West Coast 8 ft. net to help easy the heavy burden on my back caused by all the green slime on the bottom. I had forgotten how much difference there is between and 8 and a 10 foot net. The 8 foot net is like a toy by comparison. Very much lighter, and easy to overpower. But, it holds much less water and slime, and I didn't even feel tired after throwing it time after time.

Once bait was caught, Tony and I were off in search of hungry fish. We never really found a big bite in any one place, but just kept plugging along catching a few here and a few there, and by the time we were done Tony had caught a dozen snook including 2 nice keepers, and over a dozen big speckled trout to 4 pounds. Not a bad one angler day under such windy conditions. And, it was great to see Tony again, and spend some time with him.

Tuesday, I met my good friend Dr. John Hitt at his dock at 8:30. I was glad to see the wind was not as high as the day before. We headed straight to Tarpon Bay for bait, and although it started off slowly, we finished strong with plenty of bait for the two of us. Time to fish.

We headed to some potholes expecting to begin with big trout, but the tide aided by the wind was already high enough to have the fish out of the holes. We only caught one. We moved on, and switched gears to snook. We moved to an area where I've seen and caught many nice snook over the years, that not many folks know about. Not long after getting there, and after only a couple of fish, I saw a boat approaching that turned out to be my good friend Capt. Rey Rodriguez. I wondered why he was approaching, but as he got closer he asked me how I had found his fish! We had a good laugh, that we were both fishing the same fish and didn't know it. We shared the spot and had a blast catching and missing snook after snook, and razzing each other every time one of us missed a fish.

Once the action slowed there, John and I moved to an area not too far away. We were immediately on a good snook bite, and John boated a beautiful 9 pound fish. I called Rey and had John hold up the fish, and Rey quickly joined us for more action. The fun continued. John finished the day with over two dozen snook, including several keepers.

Wednesday was supposed to be my second trip with Chris Sentimore and his buds. But, the front had passed through over night, and it was now howling out of the north, and I knew in my bones the fish would not eat. I didn't have any way to contact Chris that night, so I went through the motions Wednesday morning, and got everything ready and put the Talon in the water. I was ready to go if they REALLY wanted to go, but I knew I had to tell them the truth of the matter, first. The boys arrived on schedule ready to go, but I quickly took the wind out of their sails when I explained the facts to them. The had a pow-wow, and decided they would go golfing on my advice. Chris vowed to be back next March.

Thursday brought more northerly wind, and a tough bite for my second trip with Ed Regan, and his great buddies Horst and Frank. I had fished with them first on February 19, and as I remember it had been a tough weather day. We had a hell of a good time, though. I had hoped we'd have a good day to fish the second time around, but it was not to be. Predictably, the bait and the bite were tough. We got bait at Tarpon Bay, but I really worked for it.

But, trying to get the fish to eat those beautiful baits was like inviting you to a smorgasbord as you exit the Outback Steakhouse. You're not going to be hungry, and neither were the fish! The boys were in great form, and we had lots of laughs throughout the morning. They fished hard, and had fun, and when we were done they had 5 snook to 28 inches including several that were just under the slot limit, and a three pound trout. It was a tough day, but we had fun, and they had snook and trout for the table.

Friday was my third trip with Bill Odell, who by this time I greatly admired. This was to be our snook and redfish instruction trip, and I had greatly hoped we'd draw a good weather day. But, the post front gremlins were still about. Bait, and fishing, were tough.

But, the fish Bill did catch were quality fish. He managed to coax 6 or 7 snook to the boat, including a 27 inch keeper. He also caught 3 and 5 pound trout, and toward the end of the trip we managed to talk a 10 pound redfish into eating a bait. Bill got the Slam on a really tough day. Bill is a fun and interesting guy, and a real fisherman, and I greatly enjoyed my time with him. He's in the process of buying a home in St. James City, and I look forward to his being my friend and neighbor.

We have some really tough tides coming up during the first part of next week, and we know going in the fishing will be tough. Let's hope the weather is warm, and the bait situation improves.

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