Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
January 9, 2005
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 12/25/2004 by Capt. Butch Rickey

The week began with the coldest weather we've seen here in several years; near record temperatures. My old friend John hit and I decided to forego fishing on Monday, in favor of Tuesday, with over 15 degrees more on the high end, even though we started the day in the high 30's. We were both surprised to see the surface temperature knocked down so far in such a short time. The water in the river was 58 degrees. That will shut down most of the snook fishing until we get some warmer weather.

I told John about the redfish and big trout I'd gotten into on my last trip, and he was all for going to check to see if we could get into them, again. We headed up into the Sound, and decided to stop at Chino Island and fish the cut there since there was virtually no boat traffic, and I figured the fish hadn't been run over, yet. Wind and current kept me very busy, and we only had one strike, but it was a beautiful 21 inch gag grouper, that was ferocious on our light tackle. From there we headed back toward St. James City to the canal , trying to pitch our lures along the bank as we went, but the wind in our face and strong current at our stern made boat handling tough. We didn't see any action until we got to the same stretch of water I had scored in previously. Just like that we were catching beautiful speckled trout. I'm not talking about the little guys you catch drifting on the flats. These were running 2.5 to 4 pounds each, and were very frisky in the cold water. We also saw lots of snook, and knew we were among them. Finally, John must have hit one of the cold snook right on the head along the edge sunning itself, as the fish blasted the Rattletrap as soon as it hit the water. Hold in one! The fish inhaled the lure, which is unusual, but John put her in the boat, and she was just a hair under the 26 inch keeping limit. Of course, the season is still closed to harvest, so it was a moot point. Pictures and release! The icing on the cake was that it was the first fish on John's new Stella 2500. That's a proper break-in!

We caught a couple more snook, for a total of three, which was three more than either of us expected. We also caught a good 25 to 30 very nice trout, and the grouper, which made for a very good day, albeit a cold one. John and I were layered up to the point that we looked like a couple of Michelin men, but we had a great time. We were ready to do it again on Wednesday, knowing it would be a lot warmer before the day was over.

Wednesday morning John and I decided to do a little exploring, and do something different. We began our day in St. James Creek, but as fishy as it looks, we could find no fishies! Only seaweed. We moved on and decided to fish the full length of Long Cut with jigs and Rattletraps, to see what we could dig up.

We hit pockets of ladyfish and trout as we went along, catching lots of fish. Finally, we got into the trout heavy near the north end, and caught fish after fish until we were close to the top of the tide. I knew that the tide would still be running in Matlacha, and wanted to show John some new turf closer to his condo, so we headed to Punta Blanca Creek to see if we could dig up a snook. Although we didn't get any snook to eat, we again got into some quality speckled trout and big ladyfish, and caught bunches of them on John's favorite white curly-tail jig and Rattletraps. All in all it was a good day, with lots of fish, and lots of fun.

I watched the weather report for Thursday with great interest, as another cold front was approaching, and there was lots of rain and weather over the Florida panhandle. I had my first trip with Tim Lameroux, of Jenison, Connecticut, and his two daughters. I was concerned about the weather, primarily because of the girls. I didn't figure they'd be too keen on getting wet, or dealing with lots of wind all day.

I woke up early Thursday morning and went right straight to the computer to check the radar. To my surprise lots of rain and storms were building right off the coast. But, the weather people were calling for rain in the afternoon. Perhaps they knew something I didn't. By the time I got to the ramp it was drizzling. Once Tim arrived with his oldest daughter Amy, we discussed the weather and fishing options, and they decided they wanted to go for it. Cool. We headed off into the drizzle.

The first stop, one of my favorites for winter trout, was a dud! Zero! Zip! Nadda! At the second spot, not far away, Tim and Amy got into the speckled trout. They were small at first (training trout), but as we fished the size improved. We hopped a short distance to another good winter spot, and got into bigger trout. I had hopes we could hit a snook on the head and get it to eat, but the water at 59 degrees, with absolutely no sunshine, made the prospects as dim as the weather. Once the action slowed there, we headed to a canal where I've been on good big trout action along with some snook. The trout were there, and were the nicest of the day, and we saw some huge snook, but by that point the weather was quickly degenerating into a wet, nasty day with thunder in the distance. It was around 10:30, when we decided to toss in the towel.

I ran slowly at first, trying to keep everyone comfortable, but after seeing balled up inside a jacket and talking to Tim, we decided to go fast and get it over with. Boy, rain really stings at 50 MPH! Back at the dock we saw that everyone had reached the same conclusion; time to go home. Tim and Amy said they were happy they had gone, even though we were cut short, and that they'd had a great time. That's all that matters.

Friday morning, during the wee hours, I was repeatedly awakened by the rain. I figured my last trip of the year, appropriately with my good friend John Hitt, was a wash out. The alarm pierced the pitter-patter of the rain at 5:30, and at 5:31 I was looking at Intellicast on the computer. It appeared the rain was clearing the area and moving off to the south. I got ready, and headed to John's.

It was 70 degrees when we left the dock, but the weather degenerated as the day progressed. The fish weren't interested in eating. The combination of the near full moon, and the passing of the front had served to shut their appetites down. It was dark and foggy. We figured it was perfect conditions for topwater fishing for trout. We managed to catch a few at each of several stops, but the bite was slow. Jigs weren't working any better. We went from place to place catching a few here, and a few there, but never really got onto the action we were looking for. The Rattletraps weren't working any better in the deeper water, either.

I don't mean for it to sound like it was awful out there. We actually caught lots of small trout and ladyfish, and also caught some very nice trout, probably as big as four pounds. But, the fishing wasn't what we're accustomed to. OK! So, we're spoiled! As the morning progressed the wind increased and the temperature decreased. It was getting downright uncomfortable, and the fishing was tough. None of us had really dressed for a foggy, wet, dank day. We decided at around noon to head home, knowing that the next time John and I met we'd be putting beautiful keeper trout into the well to take home for dinner.

It's Christmas Eve. It's time to be with family, friends, and those we love. Merry Christmas to all my dear friends. I'll talk to you in January.

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