I had three days this week with my friend Jim Turman, of Manchester, Iowa. Jim began the week, and it was quite a day. I met Jim at the Circle K at John Morris and Summerlin, and we drove out to Sanibel. We were in the water at around 9 AM. We began the day fishing some of the many potholes that dot the flats. We were fishing the first day after the full moon, and had a big diurnal tide. The low tide wasn't very low, and the potholes didn't last long before the fish cleared out. We did manage one redfish and some ladyfish.
Moving on we worked some depressions along a shoreline, and managed a couple of snook. The water was coming in quickly, and was soon covering up mangrove root systems and oyster bars. We made another move to look for redfish, and it wasn't long before we were in a school of 26 inch fish. Jim and I both hooked up for a double. Jim's fish really game him a battle and at one point was even out beyond my boat. He finally subdued his fish, and we stringered them both. We limited out immediately. The rest would be catch and release, which redfish do well because they're such a hearty breed. On our next casts we again doubled up on 26 inch redfish, but we suddenly had a big problem. There was another of those 6 ft. blacktip sharks shooting across the flats in pursuit of Jim's fish. I called to him to get his fish to the boat as quickly as possible or it would be eaten by the shark. Jim was pumping and reeling frantically as the shark zeroed in on it's presumed meal. I wish I had gotten this on video, as the redfish ran with all the speed it had past Jim and behind the boat, and as the shark came in for the kill the redfish actually jumped straight into the air a good five feet! That's the first time I ever saw a redfish jump for any reason, and I've had them eaten by sharks in the past. And, the shark missed the kill shot, and Jim got it to the boat.
So, there we were with two beautiful redfish at the boat, and our limit on the stringers. I knew that if we released the shocked and tired redfish it would be a certain sentence to death for them. Now, I love to eat redfish, but I sure as hell don't want to send them to their death by a shark on welfare. So, I told Jim that we'd stringer the fish, and take them somewhere else if we had to, to release them safely. I videoed the whole conversation just in case we should get stopped before we could get the fish released safely.
Each time I've encountered the sharks out there this spring, they've been bolder and bolder about approaching the kayaks to try to steal our fish. Their mere presence had already blown out our fish, and now they wouldn't leave us alone. We took off for another area hoping the sharks would eventually loose interest. They didn't. In fact, they seemed to become more determined, and got bolder and bolder. We tied our fish off very close to the boat, and at the surface. Jim was about fifty feet behind me, and would warn me each time the shark would get between us and try to sneak right up in behind my boat to get my fish. I would jab my paddle at him, and hit him hard several times. But, it didn't deter him at all.
Finally, after about a mile and a half of this nonsense, the shark got smart and doubled around behind Jim. But, Jim didn't know that. Suddenly, the shark made a violet attack on Jim's fish, and got them both with one bite, ripping the paddle holder the fish were tied short to off the boat. Damn! Our efforts to save the fish had been in vain. Now, the question was, "Can we save the last two for ourselves?"
Our tide was about done at this point. We'd been blown off a hot bite by the sharks. If they hadn't showed up we would have had a blast catching and releasing red after red. But, they did show up, and wrecked our bite, and we decided to cut our losses and try to get our fish safely home.
We made it safely back to the ramp, and both saw that we still had two redfish on our stringers. But, apparently the shark had managed to damage one of the fish without our knowing. In the time it took me to go and get my van, one of the fish disappeared from the stringer. The stringer was still locked, so apparently the fishes lower jaw had been ripped to the point that it was able to free itself with a hard tug. Jim took the one remaining fish home.
If that weren't enough, not long after coming off the Sanibel Causeway, a couple of cars signaled me that something was wrong behind me. I pulled over to check things out, although I could see that the boats were secure. Then, I finally realized that one of my expensive Watertrail cooler bags had blown out of the boat. I had dumped the ice, and forgot to strap it down. We doubled back and drove slowly along thinking we'd surely find it, but it was nowhere to be found. Jim joked, "The damned sharks got it!"
Jim and I decided to fish Estero Bay on Tuesday, in hopes of staying shark free, and to show Jim some new turf. We met at the ramp at Lovers Key State Park. The tide was similar to Monday, but much higher there, for some reason. I learned a valuable lesson on this day: Never fish Estero Bay during a time like spring break or the week before Easter. The ramp was a zoo, and the bay, being very narrow compared to the Sound, and having main channels on both sides of it in the area we were fishing, was a sloppy mess. Plus, the wind was up. But, we made it work and had fun.
We fished a couple of spots before we found some hungry fish. I parked Jim on a small key where I had let a big redfish get off my spoon before I got it to the boat, and he found a founder bite there for a while. Jim got four flounder, a trout, and a couple of jacks, while I got a couple of trout and two jacks. One was very nice, and gave me a great fight.
I left Jim catching as the water got higher, to see if I could find a redfish bite where I usually do when I fish Estero. I did, and called Jim to come join me. Not long after Jim got to me and we began double teaming the fish, guess who showed up? Yep. A blacktip shark. He was much smaller than the ones that have been pestering me in the Sound. Maybe three feet. I think the appearance of a porpoise gave the shark a good reason to keep on moving.
Jim plugged away at the fish, while I went to see if I could scare up a snook bite. I'd seen snook raid bait several times along the edge of a mangrove. I had no more than gotten there, when a boat with three people pulled right in on top of where I was fishing like I didn't exist. I made a few casts and then went around them and back to join Jim. They were either very rude or very clueless.
Back with Jim we finished the day with six redfish a piece. We'd kept a couple of nice flounder, a red, and a trout for Jim's table and a little sashimi for me. Given the traffic and conditions, we had a pretty good day out there. We decided we'd go back and take our chance with the sharks in the Sound on our Thursday trip.
Wednesday was my first time to fish with Brian Jensen, of Madison, Wisconsin. Brian was referred to me by my long-time friend and customer, Cooke Bauseman. I really hoped I could show him a good time on his first kayak fishing adventure. We met at Circle K, and headed out to Sanibel. We were in the water at around 9:30.
We were on the third day after the full moon, and the low tide was only a 1.0 ft, and the nights still bright. We would have a big tide, though, and I was hopeful of getting on a good redfish bite. I figured it would be slow going for the first half of the tide, as it usually is on those tides.
We began with a stop to fish some potholes. There were plenty of ladyfish willing to bite, but that was it. We moved on after a while.
I parked Brian on a hole that most always has redfish in it. I did get one to prove it, and left Brian there hoping he'd catch more. Brian did bag a nice trout. But, the fish weren't ready to eat, and neither he nor I caught anything else in that area. The tide was really getting high now, and we moved on to chase redfish.
At our next stop we did find redfish that would eat. But, they weren't the big boys Jim and I had been on Monday. I went to hunt bigger reds nearby, as Brian caught some reds. But, I never got the big reds to eat, and the smaller ones quit biting. It was time to move on again before the tide was over.
At what was our last stop we found a good redfish bite. We caught them until we were sure the slowed tide had turned off the bite. We'd had a blast, and Brian was a very capable angler, and fun to be with. We ended the day with 18 redfish, 2 trout, ladyfish, and others. Brian had 6 reds and a nice 20" trout, and I finished with 12 reds and a trout.
Thursday, I was back for the last trip with my buddy Jim Turman. We met at Circle K and 9:00 AM, and were in the water around ten o'clock. We began the day with some ladyfish action on the half-high tide. From there it was slow going for quite a while. Nothing seemed to be working. I found more than one school of redfish, but they just wouldn't eat. The tide was coming in hard, and I was still hopeful of finding a bite.
We made a move to another area, and it wasn't long before we had some action. We caught a half dozen, including a keeper, and I decided that perhaps Jim would catch more if I moved on to search for some willing snook. At the first stop I did, and called Jim in to fish it, since he was no longer catching reds. I moved on to hopefully find more snook.
I did find more snook. And, after the second one, called Jim to come join me. But, he didn't come right away, and I continued to fish the spot. I caught more, including a beautiful 30" snook, and called Jim again, to come help me take some pictures of it so I could release it. This time, he came. After a couple of pictures, and the snook released, I coached Jim on where to drop his bait for success. I moved around to the back side of the key and caught another snook. They were certainly there, and biting. But, now the clock was our enemy. The tide abruptly stopped, and killed the bite. Jim never did get a snook. He had a great day of fishing, but a tough day of catching on that day. But, we had fun, as Jim is always funny and fun to be with. He's easy going, and doesn't fret if the fish aren't biting.
And, that's how it went. It was a pretty good week, overall.
