Two Good Days As A Front Moves In!

Capt. Butch Rickey
January 20, 2013
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report

Week ending 12-29-12...........

I had two trips this week, and they were fish and fun filled.
Thursday, I fished with one of my oldest fishing buddies, Russ Hubbard. Those of you who have read my reports for many years know that Russ and I go way back in to the 90s. Russ came over the first time from West Palm Beach as a customer, but left a friend, and we've been good friends ever since. He usually stays here with me at the fish camp when he comes over, and of course we have a good time off the water as well as on.
We drew a very windy day, but we didn't let it stop us. Russ needed some decompression time on the water, and we were going in spite of the wind. We had an extremely low tide of -0.5 ft. at 8:00 AM, that was pushed lower by the strong easterly wind. It was a pothole fishing day for sure. The chain blocking the ramp at Castaways was still up that morning, and we had to lift the boats over it to get launched. Russ has been cursed with a life of back problems, and I didn't know until around noon that day that he had lifted his end incorrectly, and had suffered with spasms all morning long.
The first couple of spots we fished produced nothing. But, the water was not moving at that point. We kept moving and fishing spots that offer great winter trout fishing. Russ loves catching the "Mighty Sea Trout," and is very good at it. We finally hit pay dirt at a pothole I discovered decades ago on a tide that few boats could have ever gotten to. My customer caught large trout on every cast for literally hours. It was insane trout fishing. We didn't have a wild bite like that on this morning, but the fish were there, and eating, and we filled our stringers. We also pulled one big redfish from that hole.
Finally, with the tide at 0.5 ft. the action slowed as the fish began to move out on to the flats. We moved on. At what would be our last stop, we bagged another nice 26.5" redfish, and it was then that Russ told me about his back being in spasms. The muscles in his lower back just knot up tight, and he takes muscle relaxers to try to tame it. Sometimes they don't work.
"Let's call it a day, Butchie. We've got what we came for!" I could hear the frustration and pain in his voice. We headed in with our bounty and it was just striking noon.
It's always fun to come in to the Castaways Marina with the beautiful redfish and trout we catch out there. It's especially fun during a holiday week when the place is full. We were elevated to near celebrity status by all the guests who saw us taking our fish up to the cleaning station. It was a perfect ending to a great day with a close friend. That's the joy of fishing.

It's Friday morning, and another cold front was knocking at our door. It was very cloudy, for my second trip with Mark Robinson, of Seattle, Wisconsin. Mark and his wife Jennifer, fished on December 29th, last year, and it was a very cloudy, overcast day then, too. Jen wasn't a happy camper. She was out there to get sun, not to fish. When she saw the weather report for our Friday, she opted out. I met Mark at the local Circle K, and he rode out to Castaways with me. That gave us a chance to chat.
Cloudy days make for comfortable fishing, and often good fishing. But, the kind of fishing we do on these extreme low tides is very visual. People often ask why I don't use a GPS. Well, I do have one in my Pelican box, but I don't usually need it to find the holes I fish. The problem is that when there is no sun, or the water is very murky, you can't see [where] to throw your bait. Pothole fishing success is very dependent upon being able to see where the bait needs to be presented; right along the edge of the hole. That's where most of the fish will be, with their noses to the tide. You just have to see, and a GPS can't see that for you.
So, given the conditions, I would have to change my strategy to fish spots where seeing is not as important. I chose an area where the edge of the hole was actually dry land. That we could see in spite of the overcast. Mark quickly had a nice redfish on. But, the line parted at the leader with the fish at the boat. It appeared that the leader knot had been cut on something sharp, and there's plenty of that in these waters.
Mark boated two more redfish, and a trout, but the trout were being stubborn. We moved on after the redfish action slowed. At our next spot we found a pretty good redfish bite. Mark and I both caught reds, but the trout that are usually sharing the hole, were nowhere to be seen. At this point we had caught 11 redfish, and a trout, and had been drizzled upon several times. The weather appeared to be degenerating, and the front moving in on us, and we decided to head in as we watched the threatening sky move ever closer.
It had not been an easy day, but it certainly was a good one, with some good fish. Mark told me he'd really had fun, and I certainly had as well. My apologies to Mark, though. I totally forgot to take pictures or videos.

Target Species:

Redfish and Trout

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