Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
February 11, 2006
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR WEEK ENDING 2/11/06 by Capt. Butch Rickey

Between the seemingly constant barrage of cold fronts and the very poor tides this week, I didn’t get on the water until Friday. At 45 degrees, it was a cold morning to be on the water, and the reports I heard from other guides who had been out and tried to fish were discouraging to say the least. Word on he dock was that even trout were hard to come by.

I met my old friends Bruce Boardman and Bill Holland, feeling confident that I could put them on big trout, in spite of the reports. All of our trips to this point had been good ones in terms of catch, and last year Bill and Bruce caught more and bigger trout than they had ever caught. They said if was their best trout day, ever!

We headed into the Sound noting that it was an extremely low tide. I would have to put the wheels and flaps down, and the engine up as far as possible to try to get to the first pothole. As we made our approach across just inches of water, I wondered if this would be the first time I wouldn’t make it. As we glided to the edge of the first hole, I knew it wouldn’t be.

But, it because immediately apparent that it would be a very tough day. Nothing would bite. We moved to another hole. We caught a trout or two finally, but they were just a fraction short of the slot. It’s unusual to seen small trout in the holes we were fishing. They typically run 2 to 5 pounds, and average around 3. After working a number of prime spots very hard, I decided it was time for a complete change of neighborhood. We moved several miles to new territory, also known for big trout and redfish. We worked a long series of holes, and then another, and another. Nothing. It was unbelievable for me. The fish were just totally lockjawed.

We picked up and moved, again. I came to rest at a pothole that sits right on the corner of a mangrove island and gets good current flow. It turned out to be the only bite of the day. Pretty quickly Bill had several outsized flounder and Bruce had a 4+ pound trout in the boat. And, then it was over as quickly as it had begun. We had at least met the objective of four fish to take home, the boys had set at the outset of our trip.

It was getting late on the tide, and we decided we’d go and give reds a try. Most of the fish we had seen that morning we laid up and sunning, and weren’t the least bit interested in eating. I expected no different from the reds. We worked about a quarter mile of shoreline where redfish are almost always hanging out. I felt sure they would be there from so many years of seeing and catching them there. But, they greeted us exactly as I had anticipated, with their fingerish little fins in the air to us! We didn’t have a bite.

It was getting late, and the tide was well past done by now. Feet and backs were tired, and Bruce had company coming in a three o’clock. We headed home with some of the biggest flounder I’ve see around here in a long time. At least the boys would be eating good that night.

The coldest weather of the season is expected on Monday; in the 30’s. Yikes! I hope that’s the last of the cold fronts that make it this far south. The weather is supposed to begin a warming trend after the front. That would be nice, as I have a fairly busy week ahead.

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