First, it was a week of poor tides, which by Thursday and Friday were reminiscent of a flat-lined heart monitor. I generally don't book tides like that! I had Monday through Wednesday booked, but circumstances conspired to eliminate Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday, we had a 31 knot wind howling, which was enough for me to cancel my trip with Todd Masley, down from Jacksonville. I had referred him to my friend Pat Burns for a second trip on Wednesday, and the forecast was much improved for that trip. Meanwhile, Murphy was hard at work, and my Wednesday trip was forced to cancel due to circumstances beyond his control. So, there I was with a one day week, and boy did it suck!
It was a two boat trip with John Washcovick and his son Joseph, of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, in my boat, and Jim Larson, and his sons Cal and Brad with Capt. Pat Burns. Pat and I had high hopes of putting these guys on some great fishing.
We were met with a 23 knot southeast wind first thing out of the box. We all headed over to the B span flats to catch bait. It didn't come easily, and in fact, I didn't know until later that evening, I tore tendons in my left elbow throwing the net full of snot grass and trying to catch some ballyhoo. Once we were baited up, we went our different ways.
And, when I tell you there's not much to tell you after that, I'm not kidding. That turned out to be the single worst day of fishing I have experienced in a very long time. We couldn't buy a bite at any price. I could go on about all the places we fished, and all the scaled baits, and the hits that were missed, but the bottom line is that it really sucked, and there's no other way to put it. John and Joe didn't catch a fish! I can't tell you how badly I felt for them.
Pat and I stayed in radio communication, and it wasn't going any better in his boat. He had bought shrimp so that he could do some snapper fishing, and they just gave them away. They never caught a snapper. They did catch 3 hardhead catfish and a ladyfish. But, around here catfish are negative style points! Hell, I think me and my boys would have been happy with a catfish!
Were it not for the fact that I realized during the first couple of years of my guiding career many years ago, that not charging for those stinker days will eventually put you out of business, I would have given John his deposits back and walked away. But, in the real world it doesn't work, and days like that will happen, in spite of our guiding skills, and the bounty of fish we have here. But, nothing makes those days any easier to swallow.
Back at the dock we couldn't find a person who'd caught anything other than a catfish. That didn't surprise me a bit. Pat and I are two of the oldest guides here, and we're natives and have fished these waters our whole lives.
Last, I have to thank John, Joe, and the rest of the crew for being so patient with a very tough situation. They all assured Pat and me they'd had a great time. And, although it's the nature of the biz for a guide to stress over a no bite situation, Pat and I had a great time with the boys, as well.
So, there you have it. This is not the kind of fishing report I envision writing, but it's how it was. I can't change that, nor would I, because when you read my reports I want you know you're reading the truth, no matter what.