Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
February 10, 2007
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR WEEK ENDING 2/10/07 by Capt. Butch Rickey

FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 2/10/07

by

Capt. Butch Rickey

Another slow week this week, but that's about to change. According to reports I heard from folks who managed to get in a trip earlier in the week, fishing in the backcountry was very hard. That last big cold front that came through left bluebird skies and nights in the 40's. That combination has really sapped the energy out of our water, and pushed the water temperature into the 50's. So, the best shot at just catching something has been ladyfish, mackerel, and small bluefish off Sanibel. The tides were pretty good through the first 3 days of the week, but by Thursday were transitioning to weak tides that made even fishing off Sanibel poor except when you could catch a push in the long, slow tides.

My trip was on Friday, and at least by then the days were beginning to warm into the 70's, or so they were saying. It was a great day to be out, and it seemed everyone was! But, the tide stunk all day long. My friend Sonny Stelmak, of Stafford, Connecticut, and his son Sean had drawn a great weather day, but a tough day to fish as it turned out.

We elected to fish the afternoon portion of the all day tide hoping that we could find some fish up on the flats, particularly reds. Sonny likes to take home a fish or two, and has been hooked on redfish baked whole on the grill since he first tried one. I knew I could put Sonny and Sean on the fish. I just didn't know if they would eat.

We began at eleven o'clock and decided to run out off Sanibel to see if we could find some action of the dead water. There was hardly a whisper of air moving, and the water was lying dead still, and I actually had to use the trolling motor to set up a slow drift! I had the boys jigging pompano rigs tipped with shrimp. Not only did we not get a hit, there was no sign of life anywhere within sight. No birds. No baitfish. No fish. Nothing. I suggested that we could have fun NOT catching fun in more beautiful surroundings. We headed into the Sound.

When the tide is barely moving I look for places that will accelerate the flow. Places like shallow bars that get flow from deeper water, points, and cuts. Our first stop was one such spot that has been hot. But, today it was not. We donated a lot of shrimp to sheephead, but only managed to catch two of them. There were no trout, reds, or snook to be found.

I decided we might have a better chance of putting some trout in the boat fishing some great potholes on the Sanibel side. So, off we went for a nice boat ride. Upon arrival on the flats the water was so clear that were it not for the reflection off it, you'd swear there was no water there. Beautiful to look at, but makes fishing harder. If you can see the fish, they've already seen you! I saw a big trout in a pothole as we were coming off plane, so I knew there were some around.

We used the MinnKota to make our final approach to our first pothole and get the wind at our backs. I got Sean going with a live shrimp under a popping cork, and Sonny and I tossing Exudes. It wasn't long before Sean's cork disappeared, and the little Stella began to scream with delight. Well, if that was a trout is would be a world record! The fish made several good runs against the Stella's drag, and we kept seeing flashes of bright silver in the clear water. But, the fish was a long way out, and we couldn't make out what it was. I thought maybe a pothole snook, but with the water so cold I just couldn't believe a snook would have eaten. So, I speculated that it was a redfish that was a new arrival on the flats from out in the gulf, and hence the bright silver we were seeing. But, once Sean finally began to win the battle and got the fish closer to the boat, we realized it was a pompano. A big pompano! As big as I've seen. First part of the meal accounted for!

WINTER FISHING FUN!



We moved from hole to hole. Sean's shrimp kept getting nibbled to death by the little bait stealers, which is why I resist using shrimp unless nothing else is working. I had 6 or so bumps from trout, but they were curious instead of hungry. We were skunked on the trout.

We were finally getting enough water on the flats to look for redfish, but our time window was closing. The tide, slow as it was, would be done before five o'clock. Time to re-rig and go! I saw some reds push as we made our approach, so I knew they were present. But, I knew that anyway! The challenge would be hitting a few on the head and getting them to eat.

We kept Sean at the ready with a shrimp under a popping cork, and Sonny and I beat the water to a froth with silver and gold spoons. Finally, just before the tide took its dying gasp, it happened. Bam! What a hit. I quickly passed the rod to Sonny, knowing we had a very nice red on that silver spoon, and reminding him that the spoon was barbless. Sonny landed the fish with no problem, and dinner was now in the well. But, something was fishy.

WINTER FISHING FUN!



Redfish caught in cold water are usually in very good shape after being caught and require no resuscitation. We had been having trouble keeping the big pompano alive, and the only way we could was to keep the pump running on the baitwell. That should not have been necessary in a 40 gallon well with no company except a few shrimp. When the redfish went into the well, it went belly up. I worked with the fish, and it wouldn't come around. But, as soon as I turned on the pump, she did come around. That tells me that beside the obvious problems we had out there, something is wrong with the water. I'm suspecting there may be some red tide present, but don't know that for a fact, and haven't had time to research it. Boy! That's all we need. Another round of red tide.

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