Weather Makes For More Tough Fishing
Capt. Butch Rickey
May 9, 2014
Pine Island Sound - Saltwater Fishing Report
Week ending 3/29/14..........
I managed to get two trips in this week. Weather was again a factor.
The first trip was on Thursday, with Pete Codevilla, of Longmont, Colorado. We had a very early incoming tide. We were on the water at 7 AM, and I soon had Pete parked on an edge looking for speckled trout. I moved on to another spot to see what I could gin up. I got on a trout and ladyfish bite, and let Pete know. He had bagged two keeper trout, but elected to come join me, since the action is usually non-stop there where I was, if there was action at all. The action was short lived. We only managed half dozen or so trout and ladyfish, there.
We moved on, and I parked Pete on a great spot that has most always given me redfish, trout, and flounder. We were hoping to see some redfish. I went to a nearby hole in search of snook. Pete caught one redfish on a spoon. I got a couple of hits, but didn't connect. After fishing the area hard, we moved on.
We went to a spot that I really like to fish, especially for redfish. They're nearly always there, and you can get eyeball to eyeball with them. I got one redfish hit that didn't connect, while Pete on the other side caught a couple of jacks. I got one on a topwater plug.
We took a detour through a mangrove tunnel on the way back to Port Comfort. It had been a very hard day of catching. When the trout and ladyfish won't play, it's not good. The redfishing has been poor here through the winter and into spring. Pete was good with it, but I felt badly that our production had been so low, and refused his tip.
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I fished with another great guy, Tucker Dahl, of Edina, Minnesota, on Friday. We fished Estero Bay, which I really like fishing. Our forecast was for a 10 to 15 kt. Breeze, but what we were dealt was pushing twice that. Estero Bay is a small bay with two ICW channels, and several passes feeding it. It gets very strong currents on the good tides. But, when you've got that strong current and that much wind blowing against it, it gets butt ugly. That's what we had, and it was a tough day to be on the water. We had a lot of chop, and it was rough enough to put enough water in the Ultimates to kick on our 1300 GPH bilge pumps numerous times throughout the day.
We started our day at a great trout spot, but there was no bite at all. We moved on to a spot that has a mixed bag of fish that hang on it, including snook. We did catch some ladyfish, but that was it. They were very hard to hook, for some reason. At the next spot we did catch one snook, and lost a redfish. At the next spot there was nothing. At the next several spots, which are very good redfishing, normally, we couldn't buy a bite. When the tide stopped it was definitely time to head in. There was just no bite at all.
After Tucker and I said our goodbyes, I was finishing up tying the Ultimates donw for the trip home, when a local boat guide pulled his rig down to the water next to me to pull his boat. He had just finished his trip. I noticed that he cleaned no fish. When he got out of his truck he turned to me and asked, "Did you catch anything today?"
"One snook and some ladyfish." I replied.
Target Species:
Anything That Will Bite!
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