Fishing Report for Pine Island Sound to Sarasota Bay, Florida

Capt. Butch Rickey
March 18, 2000
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

FISHING REPORT FOR PINE ISLAND SOUND FOR THE WEEK ENDING 2/26/2000

by

Capt. Butch Rickey

The fishing this week was kind of hit or miss. There are lots of snook and trout around. The snook are big, the trout are mixed. The redfish are starting to show up, too, but the trout are the only fish that are willing to bite with any authority. We had another front come through over the weekend, and although it wasn't a big weather maker, it did have it's usual affect on the fishing.

My friends Dr. Bob Rose and Fred Orkin were back for another go at it on Monday. We had a very strong 20 knot northeast wind, signaling the passing of the front and building of high pressure, and it's usually the kiss of death on the fishing. Although it was tough trying to catch bait around the causeway with that north wind blowing, we did manage to get plenty for a day of fishing. The question would be whether we could get anything to eat the bait or not. I stuck with fishing spots that I knew held lots of fish, rather than fishing areas I hadn't fished in a while under poor conditions. I told Bob and Fred I'd be surprised if we could get much going with reds or snook.

We started in one of my most productive trout and ladyfish holes. The hole usually has lots of slot fish in it, and most days has ladyfish, as well, which are deadly redfish bait once they're steaked out. Although Bob and Fred did catch nearly two dozen speckled trout to 18 inches, the ladyfish were gone, or at least refusing to participate. I headed to another of my favorite areas for big trout and redfish. We did see a couple of redfish, but only got one to hit, and that hit was missed. With nothing doing there, we were off to feed the big snook that have been holed up on a great stretch of mangrove shoreline for a good two months, along with those 5 and 6 pound trout. It was the same story, though! We managed to draw six good strikes, but only one snook was put into the boat. I don't think it was such much a matter of the boys missing the hits as it was the fish just not hanging on long enough to get tight on them. It's what I call the "pop and drop", when they do that. Snook can be all but impossible to catch when they're playing that game.

I'm going to be seeing Bob again in early April, with good tides and probably good weather, and I think he's going to once again be blown away at how good the redfish and snook fishing can be here.

What a difference a day can make after a front! Rob York, of Macomb, Michigan, was ready for a trip with his father-in-law, Frank Russio, who was an admitted neophyte. Yep! This was Frank's first fishing trip. Actually, folks who are new to the sport, whether male or female, usually make the best students. They don't usually bring any bad habits to the table, and pick up on what I'm teaching quicker that anglers who are experienced, but not at our kind of fishing.

After catching a good load of threadfin herring at the third causeway span, we were off to a trout hole to let Frank get familiar with open face spinners, and hopefully catch his first fish. We did both. Frank, although probably feeling inept, actually did just fine, and picked up on the nuances of spin fishing pretty quickly. Rob and Frank caught about a dozen fish on jigs before I thought it was time to go chase snook.

Our first stop for snook was our last! The bite was on. I counted at least 20 fish on, but many of them were big fish, and the battles were quickly lost by my inexperienced snook anglers. That's OK, though. I explained to Rob and Frank that even us experienced old snook fishermen can expect to bat around 500 on close-quarters snook in heavy mangrove cover. They landed 6 out of 20 snook, batting nearly 300, and that's about average for most folks the first time out. Plus, Frank got his biggest fish, a 7 pound snook. Although all the big ones got away, it was a great morning of snook fishing that offered up lots of fun and excitement. We had a good time.

By Wednesday morning the wind, still at 15 to 20, had worked it's way around to the east. Steve Opaleski and his friend Dale, were in from Clinton Town, Michigan. Although Steve was up for whatever I thought best, he wanted to try to get in a little flyfishing. I wasn't real optimistic about his chances to flyfish.

Dale got the nomination to take the helm while I threw the castnet. With a strong east wind and a strong outgoing tide, boat handling wasn't easy. In addition, bait was real tough, and it's very hard for the pilot to hear me over the sound of the motor. I know Dale probably wanted to shoot me before it was over, as he was having a tough time trying to give me what I needed to catch bait. He finally relinquished the helm to Steve, and we finally made one good strike of bait. It would have to be enough. I was absolutely exhausted from throwing the net time after time and coming up empty, and everyone's nerves were on edge, I'm sure.

The trials and tribulations of a tough morning of bait fishing were soon forgotten as we got into speckled trout at the first stop. I like to start out with trout when possible, as a warm up session before putting my customers on big snook or redfish. The snook are fast, smart, powerful, and most unforgiving of any angler error or hesitation, and you don't even stand a chance if you're not at least familiar with the equipment and have some idea of what to do when the big linesiders strike. After Steve and Dale boated around 20 trout, I figured we needed to get to our snook hole before the tide slowed down on us and we lost any chance at a good bite.

We were not only greeted with a good snook bite, but a good bite from the big yellow-mouthed trout, as well. Shortly after arriving at our hole, the boys were treated to a spectacular display of snook power and speed. I pitched a bait out to the mangroves right of the boat. The bait was hammered on top almost immediately. I burned the reel as I reeled to the fish trying to get a tight line. The line literally screamed through the water as the fish covered probably 40 yards of shoreline to our left in the mere blink of an eye. I came tight on the fish, just as she jumped only inches from the mangrove roots. It was big. I wanted Steve to feel the power of that fish. I down and dirtied her two or three times and literally jammed the rod and reel into Steve's. "Pump! Reel! Pump! Reel!" I bellowed, but Steve pumped one time and stopped at the top of the lift. I think he was overwhelmed at the pull at the other end of the rod. The big snook blew him up right there. She cut him on something she found off the bottom. After seeing what that fish had done, and feeling her power for just a few seconds, Steve was in adrenaline overload. He was vibrating! Those are good vibrations, though. I think Steve mumbled about that fish's speed and power the rest of the morning. Steve and Dale hooked 12 more snook, and half dozen big trout. They lost every one of the snook battles, but put some big, beautiful trout to almost 6 pounds in the boat. We had a good time. Steve and Dale learned a lot, I hope, and they were great sports about the whole thing. They were now graduates of BarHopp'R snook fishing 101!

On the way home that night I dropped BarHopp'R I and her Boatmaster trailer off at Boatmaster. Thursday morning bright and early my wife Jean was scheduled for surgery, including a lumpectomy and taking of her lymph nodes from under her right arm. I canceled my schedule from Thursday through the next Wednesday to be with her, and it was the perfect time to lay the trailer up for some service. I had experienced repeated problems with the disc brake system on the trailer, and owner Joe Isley had promised the last time around that they would replace the system with a heavy duty disk brake system the next time I had problems, even though I was now out of warranty. Although the brakes had been a pain to that point, praise must be given to Joe Isley Sr., his son Joe Jr., and John and Ty back in the shop. They have always made every effort to solve my problems and get me back on the road. And, isn't that what it should be all about? What good is it to own the best, if there's no service after the sale. Well, folks, Boatmaster builds the best, and in my personal experience, and those that I've heard about, they do their level best to provide the best service long after the sale. That says everything you need to know about a company.

Jean was in surgery early the next morning. The surgery went well, but we would have to wait until next week for the pathology report to know if the disease had spread to her lymphs, and if they had gotten all the tumor. For the third week now, the emails have been pouring in from friends and customers around the country offering best wishes and prayers for Jean and me. As I told my friends John and Martha Hitt, there are so many good people praying for Jean now, that God must surely have an ear ache! Thanks to each and every one of you.

FISHING REPORT FOR PINE ISLAND SOUND FOR THE WEEK ENDING 3/4/2000

by

Capt. Butch Rickey

As most of you regular BarHopp'R readers know, I spent most of the week home with my wife, Jean, who had surgery last Thursday. She was really sore and slow moving, particularly from the incision under her right arm, where they took her lymphs. After a week off, I did get back on the water for Thursday and Friday of the week.

Thursday I fished with Jim Miller, who has a place on Pine Island. His son David, both of whom I've fished with before, bought his dad this trip and prepaid it long ago. I believe it was for his birthday. Jim brought along his grandson. I picked the boys up at the Waterfront, then headed to the Picnic Island flats to catch bait. The bait was beautiful.

Although the wind was out of the northwest at around 15 knots, we had a good bite all day long. The problem was getting the fish hooked. I've had many of you tell me at the end of a trip that now you could understand when I write about folks having such a hard time with the hookset. I'm sure that anyone who has been there and done that on the BarHopp'R can empathize and relate to how different this light line fishing with no weight really is! I mention this in everyone's defense. It really is hard to get the knack of waiting on a tight line in one day's fishing, and Jim and his grandson sure had their problems.

But, they had a lot of fun trying and missing and letting them get loose. Sometimes, trying to get a good snook to the boat on light tackle is tantamount to trying to catch a greased pig with no fence to keep him caged. Although the Miller team only boated 3 snook, 4 big trout to 5 pounds, and a couple of big jacks, I heard young Miller use the "Awesome" word several times. We finished the trip back at the Waterfront for lunch with Jim's wife, and other grandson, Mike, who had flown in that morning, too late to go fishing. It was a fun day. Jim is a super nice fella, and his grandson was a very nice, well mannered young man, and a delight to have along.

Friday, the wind was back to the west at 15 for most of the day for Ed Wells, of Richmond, Vermont, his two sons Dillon and Silas, and his brother Gary. I thought we might have another good bite, but that turned out not to be the case. I worked hard at manufacturing a bite for the Wells boys, but the fish just didn't want to play. Even the bait was tough! As always, there were plenty of missed opportunities, but if the fish had been in a mood to eat, there could have been many more. Most days I can get something going, but this wasn't one of those days. The boys ended the day with 3 snook and 3 nice trout. They were great guys and didn't let the slow bite dampen their spirits.

I guess I'm guilty of having too much faith in my ability to get a bite going. Someone once said he'd rather be lucky in fishing than good at it. I guess I should have relied on luck more than I did experience and knowledge of what works that day.

Next week if a full week, so their should be a lot to report on, barring any weather complications. It's March, and it's windy even when there's not a front on us, but we're still having our share of fronts come our way. For the most part they aren't weather makers, but can still screw up the fishing.

More Fishing Reports:

• All Reports by Capt. Butch Rickey
• Pine Island Sound Fishing Reports
• Southwest Florida (Cape Sable to Boca Grande) Reports
• Florida Fishing Reports
• Browse All Fishing Reports