Two Out of Four Ain't Bad!
Capt. Butch Rickey
February 9, 2010
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report
It was another pretty full week cut short by bad weather. I had four trips on the books, but actually got to run two of them. Even though the fishing was tough, the trips were great fun.
After bad weather Monday and Tuesday, my friend Martin Wenick was up on Wednesday. Martin is a super guy my age, and is very easy going and laid back, and great to have in the boat. Martin wasn't too concerned about the state of the fishing (catching), and said he was fine with anything that would put a pull on the end of his line.
Given that, I decided to see if the ladyfish were on the shelf at Shell Island, up the river. They're always fun to catch, and we would put a few in the well for possible use as redfish bait later. The fish were there, and Martin and I had a blast catching them for more than an hour. They were right on the break point where the water falls from about two feet into the deeper water up to about eight feet. I am able to use the Power Pole on the hard bottom, as it will find enough of an irregularity in the hard rock bottom to grab hold of and keep us in our fish. Once we'd had enough, we headed on toward the Sound.
Martin wanted to catch enough keeper trout for dinner for he and his wife, so that would be our next stop. I settled on a large, deep pothole in hopes that we'd be able to talk a few larger trout off the bottom of the deeper, warmer hole. I had actually bought shrimp that morning, fully expecting things to be very tough in the cold water. I rigged Martin with a popping cork and live shrimp, and I tied on a Gulp shrimp under a cork. Martin caught trout after trout, but they were all well under the slot limit. But, he was catching! I only managed one trout on the gulp, but it was a nice keeper of around 18 inches, and went into the well. We were half way to a good dinner. We were pretty much socked in with low cloud cover that just didn't want to go away. Also, the potholes that are usually such great trout fishing in the winter time, were all full of seaweed from the big blows, and nearly impossible to find, or fish. I decided to finish the day trying to find a redfish with our ladyfish for cut bait.
After hitting a few more spots with no action, we decided to feed ourselves, and then come back out and fish some more after lunch. We burned a hour and a half at the Waterfront Restaurant enjoying a great meal, and were ready to have another go at it.
We headed to a flat that would have descent water on it with the low and falling tide. We set up camp and went to work. We never found a redfish that would eat, although I had them right in front of the boat when we stopped. They just weren't interested in eating. But eventually, Martin did catch another big trout on a ladyfish steak, and then finished up the day with a shark of about 4 ft. that gave him a great fight, but cut the line on something sharp on the bottom before he could land it. We decided to end the day on a positive note, and headed for home.
It had been a great day with a great guy, and we'd managed to stay pretty busy. Our two keeper trout were all Martin needed for a nice meal or two for he and his wife.
With another big weather event coming on Friday, Thursday would be the last/only descent weather day of the week. I had already moved Bobby Mullis, his wife Carol, and life-long friend Gary, from Tuesday. This was our last shot at getting in a day on the water. Bobby and Carol still hale from Selbyville, Delaware. Gary retired to Cape Coral a few years ago. Gary and I share a friend, offshore Captain Hank Vankesteren, who operates the Ruffinit. Hank is one of the best, and is a truly good soul. He put Gary in touch with me. Thanks, Hank!
Well, before everyone was even in the boat, we were laughing and cutting up, and I knew that no matter how the fish acted it was going to be a great day. Bobby and Gary, being life-long friends, were like a well rehearsed comedy act. And, Carol was right in the middle of it. She was a hoot the whole day long.
We made our way up the river to the ladyfish grounds to start the chilly day. It was pretty breezy as we were now under the influence of the next approaching front. The water was lousy with ladyfish, and the guys were catching them on virtually every cast. Carol worked hard on her casting and jigging techniques, and was right there with them in no time. We caught fish and carried on. What fun. Finally, my gang was ready to try something different, and we moved on.
We turned our attention to trout but fished a different area than we'd fished the day before. There were plenty of trout at that first spot, but again they were all under the slot limit. Still fun, though. The gang caught a bunch of them before we moved on in search of something different.
There were plenty of undersized trout at our next stop, as well. We didn't fish it long, as we decided we'd at least try to convert some ladyfish steaks into redfish. We hit a couple of great redfish flats, working them with spoons while we let the ladyfish sit and send out olfactory signals. But, neither worked. Before it was over, one of the guys hooked into something that was fast and furious and all over the place for a few minutes. I did get a very quick glimpse of it down in the water, but it wasn't enough of a glimpse to identify the fish. It was fast and hard pulling though, and eventually parted the line. I'm betting it was another shark.
It was time to head to lunch. We were all ready, and as is the norm, the Waterfront never disappoints. We spent a pretty good while there eating and laughing and carrying on. I swear, by the end of the day my cheeks were sore. It was a day I'll never forget, with folks I'll never forget.
And, then the monsoon came!
Pine Island Sound Fishing Forecast:
Looks like more of the same!
Target Species:
A pull on the line.
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