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FLORIDA FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 3/29/08
by
Capt. Butch Rickey
Winter, spring. Winter, spring! Winter, spring. Winter, summer! I don't even know where to start with this report. The weather has been so goofy and the tides so poor, and the result is that it has been hard to catch anything this week. If it weren't for lots of great customers, this would have been a truly trying week.
Before I get to the report for this week, I have some unfinished business from the last week. I failed to get a picture of Don Everly, and his handlebar mustache that I couldn't even ruffle. Failing to get a picture of him was an oversight on my part, and a lot of you wrote and asked me to get one of him. So, here he is, mustache still in tact. I ran into Randy and Don at the dock Monday morning and got a quick shot before they took off.
IS SPRING FINALLY HERE?
The week began on Monday with Chris Sims and his lovely daughter, Brittany, of Kensington, Maryland. I had fished with Chris once before back in 2001, before I had the Talon. He remembered the old rough riding, wet, BarHopp'R. We were fishing right after another big cold front, and we had a 25 MPH north wind to deal with, as well as the lockjaw that comes behind the fronts. It was cold. I was happy to be in the Talon.
We headed to the flats at St. James Creek to catch bait. At least there, we could get out of the worst of the wind that was already howling. Of course, bait was not a sure thing, but with a lot of work we managed to put a couple of dozen shiners into the well. That was all she wrote. We'd have to really protect our bait, and hope that we could get a couple of dozen bona fide hits throughout the day.
We headed on into the Sound for see if we could find some snook action. Although the spot we fished was full of snook, they weren't very interested in eating. They scaled every bait we tossed at them, and Chris managed to catch four snook. Looking for more action, we moved on.
I settled on a trout hole, hoping that the tons of trout there would be a bit more cooperative. While they were more cooperative than the snook, they weren't interested in the shiners. I had to tie on jigs to get them to eat. I guess the shiners were just too frisky in the again cold water. We managed to catch a dozen or so before they quit. Brittany did catch a couple of fish, but was mostly content to sit and take in the beauty of the surroundings and enjoy the cool sunshine.
Wanting action and perhaps some dinner for Chris, I went a short distance to another great trout spot. But, it only gave up one big trout that managed to get away at the boat. We moved on.
At the next spot, still looking for speckled trout, we found some action and caught several nice trout, including two nice keepers. But, after catching a dozen or so, the action was over and it was again time to move.
Even with the north wind blowing we were finally getting some water on the flats. I wanted to see if I could put Chris on a redfish or two. I knew where they were. I just didn't know if they'd bite, and figured they probably wouldn't. At our next spot we mixed things up a little. We put out a live shiner, and a couple of cut pinfish rigs, hoping to entice something. First, Chris caught another snook on the shiner, and then had a redfish on, but lost it. That was the last we saw of redfish for the day. The big battles of the day came on a couple of large stingrays that ate the cut pinfish. A four foot ray has got a lot of pulling power, but Chris managed to get them to the boat so that we could break them off close to the hook.
Our tide was about done, and I wanted to give Chris one more shot at some snook action. I settled on a beautiful spot that I haven't fished much of late, but that has been very good to me over the years. It didn't take long after anchoring to get the first action. Chris caught a nice snook, and then what would be the final snook of the day, at about 5 pounds. Then it was over. And, as they say, when it's over, it's over. It was time to head home.
IS SPRING FINALLY HERE?
Although we had some tough conditions to fish, we had made fillet mignon out of dog food, so to speak. We had done all right, and it had been great to share the boat with Chris again after so long.
Tuesday was supposed to be spent with a great customer and old friend, Joe Trad, from St. Louis. But, I was unable to reach Joe either by phone or email, and still haven't. It's not like Joe to make plans and then not show up, and I am very concerned that he was caught in all the flooding and damage that had just occurred out there, and was unable to communicate or travel. I just hope he and his family are OK.
Wednesday was reserved for another old friend, Jim Turman, of Manchester, Iowa, who at this point is more like family. Jim is just a super guy, lots of fun, and laid back. He's OK with whatever is going on. I knew that whatever the day brought our way, we'd have fun.
The cold front had really pushed in here on Tuesday, bringing lots of wind and cold, and I knew it would be really tough out there for Jim and me. And, that fact was borne out quickly by the complete absence of bait. After trying several places without so much as a shiner, we opted to fish lures and get on with it. I just couldn't see wasting any more time chasing bait we'd probably never find.
We made our first landing in a beautiful place that's as good as any place to be on a weak falling tide. And, that's what we had for a while. We worked it over pretty well with an Exude RT slug and a Rattletrap. I caught the only fish there, a small redfish on the Rattletrap!
We turned our attention to trout, hoping that we could at least get a few of them to eat while they were laid up in the potholes. We worked a series of hole on the east side, and did manage to catch some trout, but probably not more than one keeper.
I wasn't thrilled with the idea of crossing the Sound in a lot of north wind, but wanted to try some great potholes that offer up big trout over there. The ride over wasn't too bad, and we were soon fishing a nice string of trout holes, and catching a few more fish. They were nicer fish, and we put a few in the well.
We finished the day with a run at redfish. We had one ladyfish Jim had caught earlier, and were going to try to turn it into some reds. We did get one redfish to eat, but the wind had killed our incoming tide early, and from that point it was nothing but catfish. We called it a day with two redfish and about three dozen speckled trout, and headed to the Waterfront Restaurant for lunch.
Seems like every year Jim brings me some kind of treat. Last year he brought me a jug of the best Bloody Mary I've ever tasted. It's his own recipe, and features lots of garlic. I've been using Cholula garlic hot sauce in my own Bloodys ever since! This year Jim brought me 3 beautiful Iowa corn fed T-bone steaks and 3 beautiful Iowa pork chops. Both were wonderful. Thanks, Jim.
The fishing had been tough thus far, but I knew that the cold water, big high pressure, and ever worsening 16 hour tides would make the rest of the week brutal, in terms of putting fish in the boat.
It's not the scenario you want for your customers, especially for their first trip. But, I've yet to figure out how to change what Mother Nature gives us. We just have to go with the flow, and do the best we can. And, as most of my customers have reminded me on those tough days, it sure beats a day in the office or a day walking around in the mall! So true!
Thus is was for my first trip with Curt Ludlow, who lives here in Cape Coral, and his dad Jeff, who was in town visiting. We didn't have an alternate date to get Jeff out. There were no reports of bait being caught anywhere, so it would be lures, again. I just hoped some trout would eat, as the prospects for snook and reds would be dim on any kind of bait.
And, it was one tough day for Jeff and Curt. The boys did manage to catch a few trout in the potholes, and some ladyfish for a little action, but basically there's not much detail to give. It was tough out there. We tried cutting up some of the ladyfish for redfish, and the fish were there, but laid up and not wanting to move for any reason. At the end of the day I ran into my good friend Bubba Baker, who was with his friend Scott, scouting for an upcoming tournament. We chatted for a while and made one more redfish stop after that. Goose eggs were the story. I just hope Curt and Jeff enjoyed the day in spite of the very slow bite.
As bad as Thursday was, I couldn't have imagined Friday would be slower, but it was. And, it was the worst tide of the week. It was my first trip with Ed Leibrock, his seven year old son, Carter, from New York City, and his father, Dick. I had been a bit pensive about taking a seven year old out on a day that I know is going to be very slow. My experience is that most of the kids that age just don't have the hang time. Ed assured me that Carter, who at seven is already pushing five feet tall really hard, was very patient and would be fine. And, to his credit, he was just great. Ed and Dick were also very patient with the situation.
There were rumors of bait showing up, so I was eager to check that out. We headed over to the far side of the river on the edge of the flat, where it was clear and shallow. The sun was already up pretty well, I did didn't give much chance of catching any bait. But, with Ed chumming at about the length of my rope, we did get enough bait for a day of fishing. And, I did have to throw the net all the way to the tight rope.
Well, a lot of good the bait did us. Young Carter made the best of the situation by catching anything that happened to bite. He caught a needlefish, a catfish or two, two pinfish, and a snook in what was quite a display of his angling skills.
IS SPRING FINALLY HERE?
Late in the day after waiting for what seemed an eternity to get a little depth in the water, Ed bagged a beautiful 9 pound redfish on a sliced and diced pinfish. That was our day. It was the toughest day of catching I've seen in a long time.
IS SPRING FINALLY HERE?
And, as his dad had promised, Carter was a great kid and fun to have in the boat. I guess we have to give him accolades for that and for catching the Trash Can Slam! In spite of the tough conditions, we did have a great time.
Who knows what next week will bring? We've got some descent tides later in the week. If we can get some good weather absent of any late season fronts, the fishing should be good.
Be sure to check out www.BestFishingBooks.com, Books and gifts for fishermen from my friend Jim Dicken!