Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
January 21, 2006
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR WEEK ENDING 1/21/06

by

Capt. Butch Rickey

My week began on Sunday with my good friend Dr. John Hitt. We’d elected to cancel our Saturday trip because of the approaching front, and it turned out to be a very good decision. It was like a tropical storm the whole day. John and I both knew that would be the kiss of death on the fishing the next day, but were willing to go and try to make something happen against the odds.

The temperature that morning was around 48. I know! Doesn’t sound that bad, but on the water in Florida, 48 is cold. Worse, the water temperature was bouncing between 58 and 59, and the wind was north. We decided that under the circumstances, we’d stay close to home instead of running up in the Sound. I was sure the wind would really kick before the morning was over.

We fished our hearts out; John with his magic white curlytail jig, and me with me Exude RT Slugs. We fished what had been our “go-to” spot at Punta Rassa, and John caught two trout. One was a nice keeper. But, we never had another hit after that. We fished the area up closer to the causeway, and then went and fished for quite a while in Punta Rassa Cove, all to no avail. Everything was lockjawed. We finally agreed to toss in the towel.

The forecast was much better for Monday, and my new customer who shall remain nameless so as not embarrass him. The winds were to be calm and the temperatures back up to moderate. My customer was coming down from Sarasota, and we had a wicked low tide early, so I had given him a 9 AM start time. I was done with preparations early and at the ramp around 8 AM. Nine o’clock came and went. Ten o’clock came and went. I figured that if he’d gotten tied up in traffic because of an accident on I-75, he would be along eventually. I patiently waited until noon, and figured if he wasn’t there by then, he wasn’t going to show. I had a deposit, and couldn’t imagine why I didn’t at least get a phone call.

I wanted to know if the fish were back in an eating mood, so I hopped into the Talon and headed north into the Sound. I headed to what seems like an endless series of potholes, and in my first ten casts had two limits of keeper trout (8 fish) to the boat. I kept a limit for my dinner, and continued to fish for the fun of it, and to see if the fish were all around.

At around 1:30, my cellphone rang. When the caller identified himself, I asked him where he was, and explained to him that I had waited on him until noon. He told me his trip was supposed to be on Tuesday, and I assured him that he was wrong. I had already checked and double checked the night before when I didn’t hear from him. I thought that was a bit unusual, but he had told me he was a real detail person, and I figured he must have felt confident he’d have no problem using the directions off the website. He was reluctant to believe he’d gotten it wrong, but I have since sent him a copy of the confirmation emails. We tentatively rescheduled for Friday.

The trout were in every hole I fished, and by the time I’d fished for two hours I’d caught around 30 very nice trout, by myself. Mission accomplished. I headed home, wishing my customer had not gotten his days mixed up. I think we could have gone right on catching fish for hours!

The next day he called to tell me that he was a go for Friday, but when I told him he had forfeited his deposit for Monday, and that he was starting over, he changed his mind. That’s too bad. Friday, I decided to put the Maverick in the water and give her some exercise. I launched at ten o’clock, and went to another series of potholes that are usually full of outsized speckled trout this time of year. The fish are typically 3 to 5 pounds. Those are nice trout! But, on the two previous times I’ve checked them this winter, there have been no fish. I knew that eventually the fish would stage there, and I wanted to know when.

Well, I was pleased to find that almost from the first cast the fish were there, and they were eating. They were beautiful yellow-mouthed trout, and every one of them were between 3 and 4 pounds. I caught trout out of every hole, and on the third hole, a hookup with a feisty 4 pound trout that came to the surface and raised cane, spooked a big school of big reds out of the hole. I would never have known the reds were laid up in there, as they hadn’t eaten my jig, and I’d already caught several nice trout from the hole. There were probably 40 big reds that disappeared into thin air. I continued to catch those big trout on my light tackle, and just had a blast. I kept thinking about my buddy John Hitt, and how much he would have been enjoying these fish, as we have so many times in previous winters. I put all the fish back, leaving them for John to catch in a few weeks.

I headed to another series of potholes nearby to check on them. There was nothing doing. I didn’t get a single hit. So, having found what I’d gone looking for, I headed home knowing that if my customer who had missed two trip read this fishing report, he’d be wishing he hadn’t. They were two days of great fishing.

The weather is supposed to be very good for most of next week. Hopefully, that will give the water a chance to warm up a bit. The closer it gets to 70, the better the fishing will be. Tune in next week.

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