Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
April 24, 2007
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

REPORT FOR WEEK ENDING 4/21/07 by Capt. Butch Rickey

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What was to be a full week was cut short by the big front that came through last Sunday and blew Monday and Tuesday right off the calendar.

So, the first day on the water was Wednesday, with my old friend Dale Grantman, of Urbandale, Iowa. Dale and I had already canceled a time or two for bad weather during his winter stay, and we'd decided we were going to fish on this day no matter what Mother Nature threw at us. The conditions we had to fish were north/northwest wind, big high pressure, cold water once again, and a very weak outgoing tide until around 10:00 AM. I knew full well it would be a tough morning, and hoped we could get something to eat in the afternoon.

Dale and I headed to the B Span flats for bait, where we caught plenty for a day of fishing. But, there wasn't much catching going on after that for quite some time. We headed up into Matlacha Pass to try to find some moving water somewhere. The water at our spot was crawling along slowly, but it wasn't enough to put anything other than one nice spanish mackeral in the mood to eat.

From there we fished our way all around the east side of the Sound. We worked it hard, and had one snook to show for our efforts. I suggested that we go enjoy a great lunch at the Waterfront, and fish some more after that when the water would be up some. It was a good plan.

After lunch, we actually did manage to find some snook that would eat, and Dale managed half dozen, or so, and missed as many, too. Dale, who's getting up there in years, is a real trooper, and hung right in there until we found some fish. He about wore me out! But, we'd had fun together and enjoyed a great day out on the water.

SPRING FISHING FUN!



My Thursday trip was a first with Clay Ritchings, and his friend and coworker Tom. This was an unpaid trip I donated to the March of Dimes. Clay's employer had bid on the trip and won it some time ago, and Clay and Tom were the lucky ones that got to go fishing.

We had pretty much the same conditions to fish as the day before. We had a brisk wind out of the north, a big barometer, cool water, and a tide that was worse than the day before. I hoped we could find fish that would eat.

After again catching plenty of bait at the B Span flat, we were off to beat the fish over the head until they ate! And, we worked hard for several snook at Cork Island, and later for 3 nice redfish farther north in the Sound. We had plenty of scaled baits, and too many misses on a slow bite. Once the tide was getting up close to full high, I headed back south to a spot I love to fish on big water. There we found 6 more snook and 1 nice trout that would eat, which gave Tom a West Coast Slam! We ended the day with a dozen or so snook, the 3 redfish, and 1 trout.

SPRING FISHING FUN!



SPRING FISHING FUN!



Back at the ramp Alexa was there taking catch statistics for the state of Florida. She said she had interviewed some thirteen guides and the most fish reported to that point was 3! Suddenly, we were feeling pretty proud of our catch! We'd had a good time, and made the best of a tough fishing situation. But, with all the running trying to find fish, I burned nearly $60.00 worth of gas!!

Friday, it was time for my old friends Tom Smith and Jim Grady. I've been fishing with Tom and Jim for years, now. At some 20 years my senior, these guys are some tough old birds, and are a blast to be with. They're funny, witty, and keep me on my toes.

We began the day at B Span flat with bait. Tom did the chumming, and we wound up catching some of the best bait of the week. Step one complete! Now, if we could only get the fish to eat.

We headed to one of my favorite dead tide spots, and boy did we have a dead tide. I would be laying basically still until around 9:30. The fish were there, for sure. And, we even managed to get half dozen snook to eat. Of course, there were lots of scaled baits and a number of missed fish. They've been scaling them all week. We stayed there until the tide turned, and we knew whether there would be a bite, or not.

SPRING FISHING FUN!



Once we moved on we hit a wall. The next several spots drew only scaled baits. We couldn't get a snook or a redfish to eat. We worked them hard. We decided that since the fish wouldn't eat; we would! We headed to the Waterfront for lunch. I hadn't realized that in all the times Tom and I have fished together, we'd never made it to the Waterfront. It was high time!

After a great lunch we were back out there and at it, again. We fished close to home, and found good snook action at two great spots on the higher water and moving tide. We finished the day with a couple dozen snook, but the best part was that Jim got his first keeper snook in some time. He was very pleased with that, and I was happy for him, as he had let a certain keeper get away earlier. Friday turned out to be the best day of the short week.

SPRING FISHING FUN!



That's how the week went. Next week brings some very poor tides, and who knows what with the weather. Seems these late season cold fronts just won't go away.

Be sure to check out my new eBay Store BarHopp'R Fishing Finds!

And, be sure to check out www.BestFishingBooks.com Books and gifts for fishermen from my friend Jim Dicken!

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