Fishing was about as hard as it gets this week. For me, at least! The red tide lingered, the fresh water continues to come down the river, and I actually heard the media interviewing some business owners on Fort Myers Beach this week who said that this had been the slowest summer in memory. I did manage to get in two trips that were a lot of fun.
The first trip on Monday was with Chris Ford, of Apopka, Florida, and his good friend Dan Kolinski, of Cape Coral. I was at the ramp and in the water around 5:30, even though I didn't have to pick Chris and Dan up until 7 AM at the Waterfront Restaurant in St. James City. Parking! Or, the lack thereof! By the time I left, there were only two other trucks there; both guides. One just scouting.
As I rode along in the cool morning air, I couldn't help think of how glad I was that I hadn't sold the Maverick. The Talon is still in the shop with fuel tank issues. It could be a while. I think Dan and Chris were a bit disappointed that they weren't going to get a flight in the Talon, but at least we were able to get out on the water in style.
We headed up the Sound to the bar at marker 32. There were threadfin herring spraying everywhere as bird and predators worked on them from high and low. I hoped there would be some shiners underneath. We began chumming in the heavy incoming current, and I did managed to catch enough to fish with, most of which came on two of my throws. Most of the rest of the network yielded threadfins and pinfish. Finally, I proclaimed it time to go fishing. I had a place I wanted to be at the first of the incoming tide.
The water was not yet moving when we arrived at our first stop. You'd have thought we'd have caught nothing. But, as it turned out, we caught the only fish of the day right there. The boys caught probably a dozen plus snook, but they were all what I call training snook. They were probably not much more than a pound a piece. But, as the boys noted, they were still fun on the light St. Croix/Stella combos they were using. We also got one very nice mangrove snapper, which rode around with us for the rest of the day before being released at the dock.
Oddly enough. Once the water really got going, the bite ceased to exist. Nothing would eat. That is in contradiction to the laws of nature, and I really think it gets back to the thing of the fish not wanting to spend a lot of energy capital in the oxygen deprived water. We moved on, and the day became a hunting trip.
As we moved on north in the Sound we found redfish on the flats, and north of Demere Key we found lots of big snook and more reds laid up in shallow potholes. Gang! You know something is wrong with the fishies when snook will allow you to get right on top of them and still won't give up their turf and move. And, that's just what they did. We also had reds single-filing right across the front of the boat fairly regularly. We hit them on the head with shiners, threadfins, shrimp, and pinfish, and they just gave us the fin. The big fin(ger)!
There's nothing more frustrating in all of fishing than being all over fish that refuse every offering. But, anyone who's half way serious about fishing and has fished a lot, has had to endure the humiliation dealt by lockjawed fish. The best we managed the rest of the day was catfish and a big stingray, as I recall. We did manage to break off one big red on a piece of cut bait, but that was it.
Dan and Chris were very patient with the situation, for which I thank them. They were also great fun, and I really enjoyed the day with them. They did promise to come back and give me a chance to show them how great the fishing can be when all the conditions aren't working against us.
After spending the morning at the VA Clinic on Wednesday, where I learned that I am officially beginning to decompose, I was back on the water on Thursday morning. My angler was a very interesting young man from San Diego, California. His name is Dang Nguyen, and he was born in Saigon, Viet Nam, in 1974. He and his mother escaped Saigon two days before it fell. Among other things, Dang mates on an offshore charterboat that does long distance trips out of San Diego. He's quite a fisherman, and had some great stories to tell.
We were away from the dock early, and at our bait destination off the second span of the causeway before the sun was up. We never managed to get the bait chummed up in big numbers, but we chipped away at them for about an hour, and when we were done we had some beautiful bait. It was the best bait I've seen in a while. We weren't loaded with several hundred baits, but we had plenty to fish with as long as we did little or no live chumming.
For the rest of the day things were very tough, once again. Our first stop was on a big school of ladyfish. We caught a number of them and put three or four in the well for possible use as bait later in the trip. Dang told me he was more interested in trying to catch a variety of our species than he was in catching a bunch of any one species, so we quickly moved on. Our next spot yielded not a hit. Our third spot gave us some hits, but no takes. At the fourth spot of the morning we got on a trout bite. They weren't big trout like we see during the winter, but they were all slot fish. But, Dang was ready to keep moving and hunting for different fish. Off we went.
SUMMER FISHING FUN!
We moved on north, and at the next spot we found snook, but we could only get two of them to eat. But, at least they weren't the training snook of earlier in the week. We fished several more spots without so much as a look. The water was getting low, and I feared that my inexperience with the Maverick could get us stranded somewhere if I wasn't careful. Our first attempt to launch was unsuccessful. I found a larger pothole, and we were just able to get launched from there.
SUMMER FISHING FUN
We headed over to Redfish Pass, to hopefully fish the last of the falling tide. But, the north wind which had settled in after another early season cold front had passed through the day before, not only was contributing to the general lack of interest from the fish, but had the water around the pass all kicked up. And, of course there was the proverbial dimwit anchored in the middle of everything that didn't help matters. Seems there's always at least one boat that doesn't know, or chooses to ignore the etiquette of fishing the Wall. As we fumbled around in the waves trying to figure out how to make something work, Dang did get to see his first manatee. So, all was not lost.
I suggested that we go to the Waterfront Restaurant and have lunch on the slack tide, and then perhaps try another spot or two afterward. Dang was agreeable, and we were soon enjoying soft-shell crabs, Corona, and lemonade. Once we were back on the water, we fished two more spots, but it was obvious that the fish were not going to cooperate. We called it a day. And, although it had been another tough day of catching, it had been a great day of fishing, and Dang assured me that he had seen his share of days like that in the past.
Thanks to Dan, Chris, and Dang for their patience. They were all great guys, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with them, even under tough circumstances.
We've got some better tides coming up next week. Hopefully, I will have the Talon back by the time I'm scheduled to fish, again, and the conditions will have improved. Stay tuned.
NOTE: Again this week, I added more items to my Fishing Stuff For Sale page, including some flyfishing things. The page includes everything from Shimano Stellas that are perfect, to old collectibles, some of which are perfect, and many that aren't. There are some great rods, both inshore and offshore, old bamboo flyrods, and more. Take a few minutes to check it out.
I've also added a new page Cool Non-Fishing Stuff For Sale,which includes collectibles, electronic items, and other stuff. Check it out!
