This was an abbreviated work week, and a very tough one. Beside having a lot of wind to deal with again for a good part of the week, the fish have just been absolutely not interested in eating. The worst is that I, nor anyone I've talked to, has a good idea why!
My week began on Wednesday with Emmett Lawler, his son, Brad, and lovely daughter-in-law Amanda, of Franklin, Tennessee. After the good fishing of the previous week, the fishing on Wednesday, and for that matter the rest of the week, blind-sided me like a sucker punch from George Foreman!
We headed to B span flats, where I'd gotten plenty of great bait for the last few weeks, to find that bait was very tough. We got enough for a day of fishing, but it wasn't easy. From there we headed to the power lines to catch some ladyfish, to use as redfish bait. But, we managed only one trout and one ladyfish there. Boy, things were really shut down!
We headed on up into the east side of the Sound to find more of the same. At the first stop, a place that is just full of snook and other fish, we couldn't buy a bite! I was shocked. We pulled up stakes, and headed further north to a key that I love to fish this time of year because it has so many snook on it. Again, we were denied any fish. In disbelief, I headed on toward another favorite snook and redfish spot that almost always gives me good fishing. But, again we were denied. We did actually have two snook on, and missed them both. I guess that was moving in the right direction.
At this point I headed on further north, frustration setting in, and any illusions of conserving fuel falling overboard. We settled on a small key that is usually loaded with snook in all the holes around it. But, again we drew a goose egg!
Emmett, Brad, and Amanda were just great, and very patient with the lack of a bite. They weren't in the least bit discouraged, and kept on pitching those baits. Finally, at the next stop even further north, we hit some snook action. Emmett, Brad, and Amanda caught four or five snook, and missed a couple before the bite quit as quickly as it had begun. We worked the area over well with free-lined shiners and pinfish under popping corks, but couldn't draw any more action.
IS IT SUMMER, YET?
We headed back south, as the tide was pretty much done and the fishing over for the day. We settled on a small key that I love to fish for redfish. There are plenty of snook there, too. The snook lay up close to the shoreline, and the reds lay just off the shoreline in a trough. The final fish of the day came when a nice redfish smacked Amanda's bait, and she brought it to the boat. I was sure happy to see that redfish!
IS IT SUMMER, YET?
I'll tell you, were it not for having such great folks in the boat, I would have been a very trying day as a guide. But, Emmett, Brad, and Amanda were very patient and understanding with the situation, and as experienced anglers, took it all in stride. We had a great time being out there enjoying all that there is to enjoy.
Thursday was another tough, but fun and interesting day with Chris Coile, and his good friend John. Chris had specified that there would be no bait involved, and that he would fish fly only, and that John would fish artificials. I'm usually reluctant to mix fly fishing with any other fishing, but something about Chris told me it would be fine. I also usually catch bait for fly fishing trips, so that I can chum the fish. But, that would not be an option on this trip. In fact, as I chatter with a couple of guides that morning as I waited on Chris and John, they told me that as tough as the bite had been I didn't have a prayer of catching anything without live bait to chum.
The first thing I noticed when Chris and John arrived was that Chris had two flyrods both rigged with tandem flies. I had not seen that before, although I have used similar rigs with lures for more than twenty years. I imagined that the second fly must make it very hard for the caster to roll out a nice, tight loop. And, figured that if he had both rods rigged that way, he must be very good with the long rod. And, HE WAS!
Boy, was he a good caster. We stopped at a pretty spot in Matlacha on our way to the Sound. I tied on a Top Pup for John, and Chris grabbed one of his tandem rigs. On about the second cast, Chris had a mackerel double. That was pretty cool. In the next few casts he caught more mackerel, and several mangrove snapper. John couldn't draw a strike on the Pup, so I changed him to a Mirrodine. But, the result was the same. After going for some time without a hit, we moved on.
The wind was once again howling. I seem to remember it howling well into May last year! We moved on up into the Sound on the east side and settled on a great snook hole. The wind made things very difficult, but with Chris' casting ability you'd have thought it was a calm day. We fished some beautiful shorelines and small keys, with not much more than a couple of mangrove snappers on the fly, and a Mirrodine sacrificed to the mangrove Gods. We moved on.
I moved to a different area, hoping to find better results. And, actually we did, although you wouldn't have known it from the fish count. First, I hooked a redfish, and promptly lost it because I was running my mouth. I just don't seem to be able to get this multi-tasking thing down. Then, John lost another better redfish on a gold spoon because he brought the rod way behind his body and dropped slack to the fish before it was hooked well.
We fished hard, and fought a hard wind, and I couldn't get over Chris' command of the flyrod. He could cast from any position, in any direction, and rarely made a false cast. If I thought I could get more folks with Chris' casting ability, I would actively pursue more fly trips. Chris certainly didn't need any instruction on fly casting, but John needed a little help with his spin casting. I gave him a quick version of my BarHopp'R casting clinic, and Chris and I quickly noted a marked improvement in his casting distance and accuracy.
As we fought the wind and conditions for the rest of the morning, John connected with a snook on a gold spoon, and Chris caught another snapper, as I recall. John and I both had lots of bumps on our spoons from the redfish that were there, but just didn't want to eat. They were just curious!
IS IT SUMMER, YET?
Once the tide was done, we headed home. It was howling at a good 20 MPH, and we had to run right into it. Chris also has back problems, and decided he wanted to stand behind me in front of the poling platform in order to be able to cushion shocks to his back. But, after riding for a while, and wicking the Talon up to 50 or so, he asked me to stop so he could sit down. I think he was surprised at how the Talon took the chop once at speed.
It had indeed been a tough day, but we'd actually caught more fish that I would have thought. But, the bonus was that Chris and John had really enjoyed the day, and told me that they had learned a lot. It was certainly an enjoyable day for me, and it's always nice to share the boat with guys my age.
With an improved tide and wind forecast for Friday, I was hopeful that things would be much improved. But, the wind forecast turned out to be pure fiction, the bait was scarce, and the fish were lockjawed for my first trip with Jason Erb and his good friends Matt and Mike, of Union Bridge, Maryland. But, in spite of the conditions, it turned out to be a fantastic day for the boys before it was over!
We began our morning looking for bait at B span. But, bait was scarce, and we only managed a couple of dozen shiners. There were pinfish galore! We moved to a different part of the flat, but there was no bait. We moved on to Tarpon Bay, where we were again skunked. And, out to the middle grounds where things were no different. By now, it was blowing so hard that I had to put down a conventional anchor along with the Power Pole just to stay in one spot. We tried to fish the flat near the Mail Run Cut, and then moved to the flat near the power lines, but couldn't come up with another shiner.
I decided we'd wasted enough time trying to catch bait, and wanted now, more than ever, to put a couple of ladyfish into the well. We moved off to the deeper waters near the power lines and went to work tossing TerrorEyez. Talk about tough! We could hardly buy a bite. But, Matt managed to put one big, beautiful trout into the well, and missed a big ladyfish, and I managed to put one small lady into the boat. It was nearly ten o'clock, and we didn't have a whole lot of tide left to fish. I wanted to make it count. We headed to an area that I have fished often over the years with great success, but that I haven't fished much in the last few years. Something told me on this day it was time to fish it. I guess it was that gut thing, again!
Well, we found what we were looking for! Action! We didn't have a hot bite in terms of numbers, but it was a good bite in terms of quality. First, Matt stuck an 8 pound snook. After a great fight, he brought her aboard for pictures. Yes! She's bleeding in the picture, but we worked on her, and she swam away no worse for wear.
IS IT SUMMER, YET?
Then, Jason did battle with a beautiful 10 pound, 32 inch snook. After pictures and high-five, she swam away to do battle again another day. Matt dominated the day, though, catching more snook and a nice redfish in that spot. I think he won all bets the boys had going!
IS IT SUMMER, YET?
IS IT SUMMER, YET?
Once the action slowed there toward the top of the tide, we moved to another spot a mile or so away and gave it one last try. The boys were rewarded with another snook and a couple more redfish. And, a day that had all the hallmarks of being a stinker, turned into a great day. It wasn't a day of big numbers, but certainly a day of good fish. The boys were happy, as was I. And, after a weekend of hopefully decreasing winds, we get to go out Monday and try it again.
IS IT SUMMER, YET?
I'll tell you. Jason, Matt, and Mike were a blast to fish with, and told me that if they hadn't caught a darned thing they would have been happy just to be on the water. I got the feeling they'd been bitten by the Florida snook fishing bug, and can't wait to get back out there with them on Monday. I know it will be a blast with them.
Be sure to check out www.BestFishingBooks.com, Books and gifts for fishermen from my friend Jim Dicken!