Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
November 17, 2004
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 11/13/04 by Capt. Butch Rickey

It was a great week, and the whole week was filled with old friends and good fishing. Good tides and good weather for most of the week were definitely a factor.

First up on Monday was my old friend Roland Hartich, who is now living in Indiana. Roland owns Villa Adele which is featured at the bottom of each fishing report. It took damage from hurricane Charley, of course, and he has not been able to find anyone available to take care of repairs. So, he did the next best thing and brought Kevin, his cousin by marriage and a craftsman, down to help get things back in order. He wanted to reward Kevin with a fishing trip once all the work was done. As it turns out, it was the only slow catching day of the week, but we still had lots of fun.

Bait had been good at Picnic Island, and that's where we headed. We had lots of big pinfish, and the shiners are finally beginning to get big enough to cast! We were still under a big dome of high pressure from the previous front, and I guess that was the straw that broke the camel's bite. We fished hard, and hit a lot of great spots, but the fish just weren't interested in eating. During the first half of the morning Roland and Kevin only managed a couple of speckled trout until Kevin tangled with a beautiful snook that quickly had him tied up in the cover. I instructed Kevin to get out of the boat and go after the fish, knowing that if he could get the line cleared from the snag before it parted, he had a great chance of landing that fish. He was able to get the line cleared, and the fish once again took off. Kevin worked him in and toward the boat, and as he stood at the bow of the Talon and swung the fish around for me to land, lost his balance. Kevin fell forward over the bow, and dropped the rod, at the same instant I was grabbing for the leader. The tip of the bouncing rod unloaded, the hook came out of the snook's mouth, and she slowly swam away. The irony is that from where Kevin had fallen over the bow, he was staring right down at the big snook about 14 inches in front of his face, and had to watch it swim away. He was heartbroken, but his adrenaline was really pumping. We saw lots of big snook that morning, practically everywhere we went, but it was nothing doing on getting them to eat.

I had hoped that I could get a good redfish bite going on the later part of the incoming tide, but they were lockjawed, as well. There were plenty of fish, but in spite of our chumming and efforts the boys only managed to catch three nice redfish. Oh, it was enough to fulfill their goal of putting some fish on the table, but a very slow day for this area at about a fish per hour. Still, Roland and Kevin seemed quite happy with the day.

My long-time friends Alan and Pam Warren were in town from Tampa to fish with me Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. They had their fishing plans foiled several times because of the train of hurricanes that came marching through Florida beginning with Charley on August 13. We all knew this was probably our last shot at some really good fishing before the onset of winter.

Tuesday morning started off breezy for Alan and Pam, and stayed that way. It wasn't enough to be uncomfortable, though. We got great bait at Picnic once again, and were off. I told them of all the fish I had found the day before, and suggested we revisit some of those areas to see if the fish would eat.

We began by fishing our way down a string of potholes where I had found lots of snook the day before. There was no doubt the fish were there. I chummed with live shiners, repeatedly, but we only managed to get a pop or two from the snook. They still weren't interested. The Warrens did get three speckled trout from the holes, and finally, Pam got a nice keeper snook.

From there we turned our attention to redfish on a nice flat in the same general area. Again, I knew the fish were there, and just hoped that I could get them to eat. Fortunately, after some chumming and setting the baits, we had a bite emerge, and over the next couple hours Alan and Pam boated 13 nice reds weighing up to 10 pounds. It wasn't a raging bite, but just the right pace to keep us busy. By the time we landed a fish, took pictures, and got the lines and baits redeployed, another fish was ready to bite. Alan shares my love for catching redfish, but I think Pam would take snook, given her d'rathers. I think she was mighty happy to be catching some nice redfish, though.

So, in spite of our north wind and high pressure, we managed to put together a pretty good day. We capped the day off with a great lunch at the Waterfront Restaurant, then headed back to the ramp to clean fish and boat.

Wednesday morning Alan, Pam and I, were shocked to see that we already had a bad wind blowing as the sun came up. I knew it would only get worse as the day warmed. And, it did. I made the decision early to stay on the east side, as the wind was howling from the east/northeast. By the time we got bait at Picnic Island and headed to our first stop, the wind was blowing 25, and we learned upon returning home that evening, the wind had been gusting to 35!

Even more amazing was that the fish finally decided to eat, on a day when I figured they would be totally shut down. We caught fish everywhere we went, and although I wasn't able to stick to my original game plan, it was a great day of fishing and fun. We began with a couple of flounder, and couple of snapper, and a snook, and throughout the course of the windy day Alan and Pam managed a couple more snook, 10 nice gag grouper, 8 big speckled trout to around 4 pounds, and 10 redfish, for a total of 35 fish.

By the time we were ready to head in the wind was unbearable, and the Sound was very ugly. My back was giving me fits, and I decided to run in calmer waters no matter what the consequences. We stopped for lunch at the Waterfront, as much as a reprieve from the nasty wind as to eat, and then tackled the second leg of the trip home. At the dock I ran into a guide that said it had taken him almost an hour to make the 6 mile or so ride from York Island, home.

Of course, Thursday Alan, Pam, and I, met at the dock expecting more of the same. I was sure it would once again howl, and the wind was already up. But, by the time we had bait in the well, I decided to go to the area I wanted to fish in case the wind kicked as it had the day before. But, by the time we got to fishing it was looking like it might actually turn into a beautiful day. And, it did! Both the fishing and the weather were great. We began our quest chasing snook, and at the first stop Pam and Alan put a good 10 snook into the boat, including 2 keepers.

By the time we'd done that the water was getting about right to chase redfish, and we moved a short distance to a good looking flat. There, we were treated to a much better redfish bite than we had the day before, and in the next half of the trip Alan and Pam boated 21 nice redfish. It was a good bite, and a good time, and the perfect ending to our great three days together. It can't get much better than that.

Friday was reunion time for me and my old friend Bo Mack, who I hadn't seen in several years. He was down from Connecticut, for a convention, and ready to sneak in a day of fishing. It was great to be out with Bo, again, as he is always fun and makes for lots of laughs. This would be his first trip in the Talon, and it looked like we would have a great weather day.

I had decided that since the pattern of the day before with the Warrens had been so good, I would repeat that pattern. We had definitely established that the fish were there. So, after a quick stop to catch bait at Picnic Island, we were off to hopefully catch some nice snook, and finish with redfish.

The tide was about an hour behind the previous day, and although it was coming in, the snook weren't in an eating mood. We worked the same area, and although we had some good hits and caught 3 or 4 snook, we did miss quite a few good hits that should have been fish. I knew it was just a matter of time before the fish ate well, but the tide was fast getting right to chase redfish, and there were boat coming into the area from everywhere. We had boats all around us. My friend Capt. Rey Rodriguez came into the area, and I urged him to fish the shoreline that I had just fished, feeling confident the fish would soon be ready to eat. He did, as we headed on to the redfish flat, and he and his party were able to catch some nice snook before later joining us on the flat for reds.

After Bo and I got to our redfish flat and began chumming, we had a very hot bite for the first half hour, or so. We had 6 nice redfish in the boat in no time. But, for what ever reason, the bite slowed. Oh, they kept eating, but not with the voracity that we'd first experienced. We were also plagued by a changing wind direction that blew us off the fish, and a couple of porpoises that seemed to herd the fish into a small area against the shore. Bo and I kept after the reds, and by the time we had finished the tide we had boated at least 20 of the bronze beauties.

As I had expected, it had been a great day with Bo. Back at the ramp, Bo decided he wanted to leave the advance deposit he'd made to the Hurricane Fund in tact, so that he would always have a fishing trip in the kitty. He also said that the November convention was going to be a regular thing from now on, so I hope to see him in March and November of next year.

Thanks to Roland and Kevin, the Warrens, and Bo Mack for making it a great week. And, thanks to Alan and Pam for the great after hours fun we had together. We've got a front moving through the area even as I write this report. It's a day late, so the big blow will probably happen tomorrow, Monday, from my old friend John Hitt. It would foreseeably ruin the next couple of days for fishing. We'll see what mornin' brings.

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 11/06/04 by Capt. Butch Rickey

It was a week of poor tides, and only two days booked. November is usually not a very busy month, anyway. But, weather claimed one of the trips, leaving me just one great, fun day with my old friend Bob McGuire. I used the rest of the off days to catch up on things like fishing reports!

Monday dawned to a bad southeast wind. It was howling! I had to use the anchor to hold the Talon in position while we caught bait at Picnic Island. Fortunately, bait came pretty easily, and we were soon on our way.

My plan was to quickly catch bait and try to get on a good flat somewhere while there was still enough water to fish for redfish and snook. The fish weren't in exact agreement with my plan, but we managed to make it work. We had a tough bite, but through the course of the morning Bob managed a half dozen redfish, and half dozen nice snook to 8 pounds, and one nice trout for the West Coast Slam. It wasn't a great bite, but Bob caught some quality fish. And, Bob is great to fish with, and is always happy with whatever is going on. He just loves to be out there fishing!

I had a multiple boat trip booked for Friday, but Mother Nature had other ideas. It was raining when I got up, but the radar showed only a very thin line of frontal light showers. It should have been gone quickly. But, it wasn't. Apparently, as the sun rose, the heating helped build the rain into something heavier. The front was on top of us, and I knew that once the rain passed the winds would kick. I was also pretty sure that as she always does, Mother Nature would shut down the bite. That, coupled with a very poor tide, mean very slow fishing. I had to tell all the guys the way I saw it. A couple of them thanked me for being honest, and they decided to put the trip off until another time, leaving us to go home empty-handed. Better that than customers with a bad taste in their mouths from getting beaten up, wet, and not catching.

So, that was it. But, next week is booked solid, and the tides are much better. So, hopefully, there will plenty of fishing stories to tell.

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