Friday morning I met Larry Lessard, who is a neighbor, and has been doing my yard and lawn trimming for some time, now. He's a very nice guy, but I've never had the opportunity to spend any time with him, and I was looking forward to this trip.
We left the dock shortly after 7 AM, and headed off toward Kiesel's flat as the first light of dawn cracked the horizon. It was a beautiful morning. When we got to Kiesel's there was one other boat in the area working on bait, and bait flipping everywhere. The incoming tide was already underway for a couple of hours, and running hard. I've noticed a profound increase in current strength on the east side of the Sound adjacent to Blind Pass since is has been reopened.
It didn't take long to load the well with great bait. The first toss was mostly threadfins, which is mostly what was flipping on top. But, with the chumming the threadfins thinned out and all but disappeared, and shiners and pinfish came in their place. The bait was a good mix of small to large, but the ballyhoo were conspicuously absent. We were ready to fish.
Our first stop was a good one for Larry. The first cast found a snook on the end of Larry's line. He was amazed at that, and asked how it could be that easy. In the next hour Larry caught several nice jack crevalle and a trout or two. By then the tide was high enough to have the fish on the move to other greener pastures.
From there we headed north to a pothole that I expected to find full of trout. Indeed it was, and Larry and I caught trout on every cast on both shiners and jigs. The hole was also full of ladyfish, which proved to be a bit easier to catch on jigs than on live bait. We put several in the well to use later as redfish bait.
We left those fish biting to go in search of redfish. We were two thirds of the way to a Slam for Larry. But, our next two spots, both of which have been very productive redfish spots over the last couple months, gave us goose eggs.
We made another move which put us further ahead on the tide. I carved a ladyfish and made a long distance cast with it. It hit the water and kept on going. Redfish on. Larry was pretty thrilled, and definitely impressed with the fight of that redfish, which ultimately measure just under 28 inches. She posed for a picture or two, and was released to fight another day.
We finished out the morning in that area, and finished with another 27 inch red, 5 or 6 smaller redfish, and a snook or two. Actually, we weren't finished. A big blacktip shark had showed up and upset the neighborhood, and we were at the top of the tide. The two things conspired to slow down the bite temporarily. It was around 11 AM, and as I explained to Larry what was happening, he said the morning had far exceeded his expectations and that he'd had a total blast, and was ready to hit the Waterfront Restaurant. So, off we went.
We were there well ahead of any crowds. There was an interesting item on the "Specials" menu called BBQ Ribs "Fred Flintstone". Larry opted for that, while I not being much of a beef eater, went for the cold seafood salad, which is awesome on a hot day.
When they brought our meals, we were both shocked. Julia presented Larry with this BBQ rib of monstrous proportions, with meat that was falling off the bone, and an aroma that screamed at you this was the best tasting thing you ever put into your mouth. Well, Larry allowed me a taste, and my God was it good. I resolved that if J.D. still had it on the menu the next day, I was going to indulge myself. He promised me he'd save one for me.
It was a great day topped off with fabulous food, which made it a perfect day. Larry and I decided that we would make it a yearly thing.
I was at the ramp an hour early Saturday morning to beat the big rush. I had a much anticipated trip with an old friend, Kevin Shimp and his bride of one year, Kathleen. Kevin and I first fished together back in 1999, and have been friends since. He's an avid angler, and a very skilled one, as well as a past president of CCA. We had a trip planned at this time last year, but a big front passage and whopping big barometer gave us cause to cancel. There was no way the fish would have eaten.
This would be my first time to meet Kathleen. Kevin told me that although they had done OK with snook in the past year when they'd fished inshore, they had hardly seen a redfish. He wanted to get Kathleen a redfish.
We headed right back to Kiesel's flats for bait. Again is was everywhere flipping. Kathleen volunteered to do the chumming. She's an OB/GYN doctor, and that chum didn't bother her in the least. And, being Kevin's wife this was nothing new to her. She knew what to do. And, it didn't take us long at all to load up with bait. The bait was mixed again, with plenty of nice sized shiners, and the ballyhoo were back. We were ready to fish in under an hour.
The low tide was an hour later making the first stop potentially much better than it had been the day before. I was expecting a good snook bite. But, instead we caught several nice trout and a jack crevalle that Kathleen thoroughly enjoyed. The snook just weren't interested. We moved on.
I went to what I thought was the same pothole Larry and I had fished Friday. But, it was earlier, the water was very dark with tannin, and the sun low, and it was hard to see. When I finally found the pothole, I had the feeling it wasn't the same hole, as there are many in the area. But, it was a moot point because we had trout action from the first cast. I wanted to keep Kevin and Kathleen busy catching fish while we waited on the tide to flood some, and that we did. Finally, we decided it was time to go stalking redfish.
By now, the boats were appearing everywhere you looked, and several areas I had in mind were already occupied with boats close enough to where I wanted to fish to keep me away. I headed north to one of my favorite flats, where I had found tons of redfish the day before, but wound up not fishing them. I knew the fish would be there, and they were. But, they had us on permanent ignore! We couldn't get a wiggle from a redfish, but did catch a trout and a catfish on the cut ballyhoo.
Kevin told me I had to warranty ten redfish to get paid! I figured I'd better get on some fish that would eat pretty quickly, and headed to where I'd scored the day before. The breeze was perfect to allow us a set up to fish snook along the edges and redfish out on the open flat. I was quite amazed there were no boats in the area.
We began with live shiners out for the snook, and cut ballyhoo and cut pinfish for the redfish. The first fish were snook, but to my surprise the reds weren't interested in the cut bait. I switched two rigs over to weighted popping corks with small bait underneath, and that when things began to really pop. For the next two hours or so we caught redfish and snook on free-lined shiners and shiners under corks. I think the suspended baits took the day. Kevin was steady teasing me about getting those ten redfish every time we caught another. We were catching a lot more snook than redfish, but we wound up the morning with nearly 30 snook, and I believe the official count on the redfish was 9. We were the benefactors of some great topwater hits, especially from the redfish. The shiners tethered to the corks caused them to instinctively come to the top when the redfish stalked them, and in order for the reds to get them at the surface they have to roll on their side and attack, and it often take them several attempts before they actually get the bait. It makes for a great visual show. Of course, the snook put on a good show as well, but you can tell the difference. The reds seem to move a lot more water when striking a bait near the surface.
We waited through the tide's end and caught a few more fish on the first of the outgoing, but by noon we were all famished. Kevin and Kathleen had driven to the Waterfront for dinner the night before, and had seen a couple of those Fred Flintstone ribs pass by. I was ready. And, when we arrived at the Waterfront I was relieved to see "Fred Flintstone" on the board. When I was finally able to dive into it, all I could think was, "Yabba Dabba Doo!"
It had been a wonderful day with Kevin and Kathleen, and they seemed to me to be as perfectly matched as any couple could hope to be. I can't wait until next time.
Now I have to share a quick story/email with you. It is of young Dominic Zedde, who caught a 35 inch redfish on a recent pilgrimage to Sanibel in October. He's only six years old! What a great fish for Dom. What a story.
Butch: Yeah, I know my brother John would love to get back out with you so I am hopeful I can work out something out with him when we make our annual pilgrimage to Sanibel next year. The red was over 35" long, but having grown up with sisters and having been married as long as I have, I learned long ago not to guess weight even when prompted! He was a brute though, even more amazing is that he was caught on a kids fishing pole with I guess no more than 6# test and a closed face reel. I attached a pic of Dom with his little pole retrieving his gold spoon just prior to this guy hitting.... Feel free to use the pic, as I know Dominic will be thrilled that he was on the same report his uncle was on a couple years ago..... I know that in these are tough times a quality guide like you will weather the storm. It is a true testament to the type of guide you are! Jerry.
Thanks so much, Jerry!