Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida
Capt. Butch Rickey
November 15, 2007
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report
FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 11/10/07
by
Capt. Butch Rickey
I managed to get in two of the three trips I had on the books this week. The fishing was good!
First up on Tuesday was my old friend Dale Grantman, and his good friend Dick Lori, of Urbandale, Iowa. This would be the second trip with Dale for Dick.
We left the dock at 6 AM and headed straight to the B Span flats, which are also called the Hump by some of the guides. That may be confusing for some, as the long bar between McKeever Keys and Regla Island is also known as the Hump, and has been for a long time. Bait was good, and it didn't take long to load the Talon with shiners and pinfish. We were ready, and I felt sure it was going to be a good day on the tide we had.
I wanted to fish the first of the incoming tide at one of my favorite places, although the tide didn't get that low. I wasn't sure the fish would still be there. But, they were. Dale and Dick managed 6 nice snook before they quit biting.
With the water moving pretty well, now, we moved on to a spot on the flats. We were probably there a bit early, but it has deeper water than many of the flats at that stage of the tide. Dick and Dale managed 2 snook, 2 keeper reds, and one big speckled trout before we moved on. It was looking like it would be one of those days when you couldn't get a big bite going anywhere.
We moved to another spot with deep holes around that often hold redfish. The boys quickly popped a nice 28 inch snook and 2 more keeper reds, and then it was over. It was a good stop, though.
The next stop was the charm, and wound up being the last stop of the day. I found the good bite I was looking for using mostly sliced and diced pinfish for bait. The boys caught another big speckled trout, another nice snook, and around 18 redfish before the tide came to a halt.
It had been a great day with a couple of guys I like a lot, and they'd had a blast! When my guys are having a blast, so am I!
I hoped that my first trip with Dr. Walter Scott, of St. Simons, Georgia, would be a good as the trip with Dale and Dick. But, it did start off slow.
After catching great bait at the Hump, we headed up into the Sound looking for redfish and snook. Even though the water was good and low at the first hole we fished, the snook didn't want to play. I was quite surprised.
Moving on, we stopped at one of my favorite winter spots while the water was low, expecting to find some nice trout and a snook or two. But, to my chagrin, all Walter caught was a lizard fish! Oops! Negative style points for that one.
At the next spot the water was not where I would like to have seen it, but Walter did manage to catch 1 redfish, 1 big speckled trout, and a couple of catfish. With the tide still in limbo I decided to see if there were any gag grouper staging in their winter holes. Once anchored, Walter was quickly slammed hard by what had to be a big gag or perhaps a large jewfish. He lost the contest in the rocks, and the fish got him all the way through a crevasse, and was still pulling against him from the other side! We tried the old grouper trick of letting all the pressure off the line and waiting a few minutes to see if we could sneak attack the fish and catch it by surprise. Several attempts failed, and it finally broke off. We did catch a couple of smaller gags before moving on.
Finally, the water was right to chase redfish along the edges. We made a move and went to work tossing cut pinfish and shiners. Although we didn't get the big bite I'd hoped for, we did get a descent bite, and Walter put around 10 redfish and 1 big trout in the boat before it came to a halt.
We made our last move to a spot where I hoped to find a good snook bite. We did get a short bite, and lost a few snook and landed 3. Once we were sure it was over we headed out to lunch at the Waterfront Restaurant to celebrate Walter's Slam.
At the Waterfront, we found J.D. was making his unbelievably good calimari dish. Walter was a big reluctant to try it as he said that every time he did it was tough and chewy. I promised him it would be perfect and delicious and the best he'd ever had. The Waterfront never disappoints, and Walter was quick to tell me it was the very best he'd ever had, and it was very tender. Anything that good has got to be a cardinal sin!
A front passed without a lot of weather Wednesday evening and I knew that would be all it took to shut down the bite for a few days. I rescheduled a trip with my friends Terry and Michele Ryan, since they live in Florida a few hours away, and have the option to pick better days. So, that was it for the week.
Be sure to check out www.BestFishingBooks.com Books and gifts for fishermen from my friend Jim Dicken!
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