Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
January 22, 2005
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 1/22/2005 by Capt. Butch Rickey

Not a lot to tell again this week, as I only had one trip. This has been a slow January.

Friday, my friend Ed Regan, of Georgetown, South Carolina, and I got together for an teaching trip that we were forced to cancel while I was sick. Ed has not been happy with his production of fish, here, and was interested in learning about winter pothole fishing for trout. Although it was a pretty good tide, the low was early in the morning long before we were able to get on the water, and already coming in hard by the time we got to the first flat. In addition, that early in the morning it is very difficult to see the targeted potholes. There was not a whisper of air moving, and the water was slick, and the cloud cover made visibility very poor. I actually couldn't find a series of potholes I fish regularly this time of year, although I trolling motored all around the area.

So, the best I could do was show Ed around the area well, and teach him what to look for and how to fish the potholes. Once we were done with that area I headed across the Sound to another area to familiarize him with that, but our visibility problems continued. Ed had said that he wanted the emphasis on learning instead of catching, but noted that he wouldn't mind catching a few for dinner.

At the third area we found a good trout and flounder bite, and Ed put some very nice fish into the boat. Along with our limit of trout (8 fish) Ed also caught 4 or 5 flounder, and missed a couple more. We kept 3 of those tasty devils, which Ed later allowed me to keep to make sashimi. Yumm!

Once the bite slowed there we moved on to another great winter pothole where we again found some beautiful, trophy size trout, much to the chagrin of some other nearby anglers who were snook fishing in water too cold to catch snook.

We finished with showing Ed where to stop for some winter grouper action, and headed back to the ramp. Once there I cleaned the fish, and then gave Ed a lesson in one of the most important elements of fishing in inshore waters; understanding the tides and how they affect fishing.

It was a fun day with a great guy. We even ran into an old customer of mine on the water, which made the day more interesting .

Next week will be fairly busy if this cold front that's bringing the coldest weather in five years doesn't get in the way. Stay tuned.

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