I ran two trips for the week ending September 29th. Different tides, but both were great, and with old friends I've known and fished with for years.
First up on Monday, was my old friend Willy Van Der Vorst, who vacations here this time of year on most years. This year Willy brought his lovely new wife Corene. Willy is a blast to have in the boat, as he's a natural comedian, and he has plenty of jokes to tell, too.
We began at a spot I love to fish on the first of the incoming tide. The fish let us know they were there, but weren't real interested in playing. Willy and Corene did hook several fish, but as I recall all by one or two got away.
I decided to push further north than I had in a while, both in hopes of finding a better bite, and also to let Willy see some backcountry he hadn't seen before. I stopped on a beautiful hole that's typically full of snook. The fish were there, and bumped and scaled some of our baits, but we couldn't get a hook in one. We moved on.
At our next stop I was looking for both snook and reds, and it usually produces both. Early on Corene had a good hit that she missed. Investigation of the shiner revealed a poor critter that was skinned up from one end to the other, as only a redfish can do. Willy and Corene missed several other fish that were most likely snook, but did get one other snook to the boat. But, Willy wanted some fish to take home.
It seemed there were birds working bait everywhere as we traveled. They were schools of what are usually ladyfish, mackerel, jack crevalle, and a few small trout most of the time. It can be fast, fun action. But, I opted not to stop for the sure thing in favor of continuing our quest for fish for the well. We headed for Foster Bay to a great little spot there that always gives up snook and keeping size reds. But, as we approached I could see there was a boat close enough to where I wanted to fish that I couldn't get to my spot without bothering him.
I settled on a spot I hadn't fished in some time. I figured that with the tide near full high it should have fish. It did. Both Willy and Dorene lost nice snook right at the boat, but we still didn't have anything to eat. I moved to another spot nearby, and that was the charm. We were immediately on a good redfish bite. We put a limit of reds in the well quickly, and let a couple get away, and then as quickly as it began, it ended. The tide had quit running. Willy and Dorene were ready for lunch at the Waterfront, as was I.
FALL FISHING BEGINS!
florida fishing reports
As always, the Waterfront food and service were awesome. We had a great time rehashing the morning and telling jokes. It had been a tough, but good day.
fishing pole
My second trip was on Friday with my old friend Dave Adair, of Cincinnati, Ohio. This would be the last trip out of Port Comfort Marina. Dave was on the dock and ready to go by the time I got out of Punta Rassa Cove and around to the Sanibel Sonesta dock. We had a falling tide for most of the morning, which generally means pass and cut fishing for snook. Dave left the call to me. He just loves to fish, and we've had some awesome trips over the years.
As we headed to our first spot in Redfish Pass, we ran across a big feed going on out in front of St. James City. I asked Dave if he wanted to stop, and he was all for it. Once we got into the quiet mode we had fish busting all around us. We caught ladyfish, big Spanish mackerel, jack crevalle, and a few trout on nearly every cast. Lost a few hooks, too! If I had intended to fish reds I would have kept several ladyfish, but we were on a snook trip. Boy, if I'd known what was coming I certainly would have kept a bunch of them.
Not far from our destination the Yamaha went into overhead alarm, and shut down. That in itself isn't unusual, as there is so much crap floating in the water out there that can hamper the flow of water into the pickups. Once I cleared the alarm and went to take off, I realized I was missing on at least one cylinder. But, off idle all the cylinders lit and we were on our way. I'd deal with it later as long as she would run at RPM.
Once we got to our spot there were a couple of guys fishing from the shore, and one other angler in a boat fishing the patch of ground I wanted to fish. We fished nearby until things cleared out. We didn't see any catching going on, but that didn't bother me. It didn't look to me like the angler was getting his baits close enough to the beach to catch the snook.
Once we got on the spot, snook began busting all around. I knew they were there, but it was good to see them up and feeding. A well placed bait was immediately devoured. But, then came the problem. We discovered that we had two porpoise hiding in waiting for our releases. We were catching snook one after the other, and no matter what we tried to do, the porpoise had the sonar to know when we'd released the fish, and the speed to run it down. We watched in anguish as they devoured snook after snook. I wished I had a well full of ladyfish I could use as decoys.
Dave hooked into a big snook shortly after we arrived. Dave is a very good angler, but that big female got the better of him and got away. He was bummed. But, there would be other opportunities. He got plenty of snook and a few jacks mixed in for fun. And, there was a tarpon in the area that rolled up on my bait once and scared it to death, but didn't eat it.
FALL FISHING BEGINS!
florida fishing reports
Dave hooked into another big snook, and another great light tackle battle was on. Of course, they use the strong current to magnify their power, and even a five pound snook gives you a fit on light gear. But, Dave won that battle and landed a beautiful snook that rang the bell just short of ten pounds. She was just a hair under the 33 inch limit. But, our dilemma was that we didn't want to kill that fish, whether for dinner for us or for the porpoise. She was definitely a breeder. So, taking no chances we put her in the well to release once we were done somewhere close by, but hopefully out of harm's way. We did figure out that we could move the boat close in to the bank and release our fish, and most would be able to avoid the porpoise, but we didn't want to chance it with this one.
FALL FISHING BEGINS!
florida fishing reports
Once the tide was done, it reversed it's flow almost immediately. We hung for a few minutes and caught another fish or two, but the action was soon over. Once I cranked the Yamaha, I still had my miss. We moved about a mile inside the pass near a shallow edge, and released our snook, and smiled as she swam slowly away after clinging to my thumb for a while.
We headed back across the Sound to see if we could find some more action on the last of the outgoing tide. The tide was barely moving when we got to our spot, but we did manage to catch a few more small snook. Oddly, once the tide began to move in, the fish didn't bite. We decided we'd go have lunch at the Waterfront while the tide was in transition, and hit another spot or two after lunch.
After lunch we stopped at a couple of spots where the water was up pretty well, and moving. But, we couldn't get anyone interested in our baits, other than mangrove snapper. We called it a day, and a great day it had been. We'd had a great bite for most of the day, and ended with seven different species. And, it was the first time Dave had fished here with me at this time of year. This trip was a side to a business trip Dave had made to Miami the day before.
fishing pole
Well, that's how it went. Although the next week will be slow, there is more going on in October than there has been through the summer.
Be sure to check out www.BestFishingBooks.com, Books and gifts for fishermen from my friend Jim Dicken!
