I was back on the water twice this week, but it wasn't easy. The water is coffee black with tannin stain from all the rain associated with two tropical systems, and eleven days of fresh water dumping from Lake O. And, as if that's not enough, they're now dumping again. In addition to the fresh water dumping, which comes right down the river to our estuary, the tides this week were very tough outgoing tides. I don't know a single guide who likes fishing outgoing tides.
The week began on Wednesday with my old friend Willy Van der Vorst, who's a wild and crazy guy. Willy is from Brussels, Belgium, and speaks very good English. He has a contagious smile and and a crazy sense of humor to match it. Needless to say, I love it when Willy comes to town.
But, I instinctively knew this was going to be one hard day for catching. Willy brought along his friend Phillip, who had come along with him about three years ago, and the first thing I did was remind them that we had some very tough conditions to fish. They laughed and said they are used to catching very little when they go out fishing at home.
I hadn't been out in two weeks, and didn't quite know what to expect with bait. So, I decided to go with what had been working, in spite of what I'd been hearing from some of my friends and customers, and headed to the B span flats. With Phillip chumming we caught plenty of great bait, although it took a bit longer than usual. IF we didn't catch, it wouldn't be for lack of bait!
We had a low tide at around ten o'clock, and it was now going on eight. I decided to minimize travel time and stop at a place I hadn't fished in some time. It's a beautiful spot, and although there are times when they won't eat, there are always plenty of fish there.
We fished the area hard, and although the boys managed 3 small snook, a jack crevalle, and a nice flounder, it was a very poor bite. There were lots of snook there, and the boys missed several hits, and had any number of shiners scaled by the finicky snook. As we were approaching the low tide, we moved on up into the sound. I wanted to be at the next spot before the incoming tide began.
And, we were. And, on the last of the falling and the dead tide, the boys caught a small redfish and a snook, and had lots of scaled baits. But, once the tide began coming in earnest, we couldn't buy a bite. I had no explanation for that , and we moved on.
Actually, I suggest3ed we go to lunch early, and fill our tanks while the incoming tide filed our estuary some, and gave us more places to fish. We had an awesome lunch. I had the conch. And, when we came back out, the tide had come in noticeably.
We headed north to a spot that has been very good to me on redfish for the last couple months. But, again it was more of the same. All we could catch with live or cut bait was catfish. After accumulating nothing but negative style points, we moved on.
It was getting late, but I was determined to send Willy and Phillip home with enough for a dinner for four. We needed a keeper redfish or snook. I figured a keeper red would be easier to come by, considering the current slot on snook.
I stopped at a beautiful spot that has been very good to me over the years. The water was getting right. Phillip had already missed a couple of redfish, and it was crunch time. There are several spots to fish at this place, and the first one produced nothing. The second spot was the charm, and Willy brought home a nice slot redfish. That, along with a nice flounder, would feed the gang. It was time to head home. It had been a much longer day than Willy would be paying for, but I was determined to stay with it until we had our goal.
I fully expected Friday to be a much harder day that Wednesday had been. The tide was going out all morning long until noon. There would be lots of extra boats competing for places to fish because of a tournament. And, probably most importantly, we'd actually had a very early season cold front push it's way though the area, and now had a very brisk northeast wind. Well, at least it would keep us cool.
The trip was with Joe Mirasacli and his friends Mark and Chris. They are from the I-4 corridor, and live in Lakeland and Tampa. This was a trip I had donated to the March of Dimes, which Joe had won at a silent auction. I had agreed to let Joe pay $50 for a third angler, as the trip I had donated was a 6 hr. trip for one or two anglers. So, that and whatever tip would be forthcoming would be my payday.
With the boys loaded, we headed right to B span, where bait was just thick. It was actually flashing in front of the boat before we put any chum in the water. I think I made four throws of my Daddy Pat net, which surely put 500 baits in the well, at least.
Now, for the hard part; finding some fish that would eat. It was howling out of the northeast. The tide was running out. My boys wanted to keep some fish , if possible. I'd been on a good redfish bite several times I'd fished on a small mangrove key on the Sanibel side, and I hoped I could get there and bang a few before the water got too low. It was a nasty ride, and once there, the water was already much lower than I'd anticipated because of the boost it was getting from the wind. We fished two spots, and had baits scaled by snook in both, but no fish in the boat.
I was ready to get to the east side to get out of at least a little bit of the wind. Once there we fished several spots, and had snook scaling our baits everywhere we went. But, they wouldn't eat. They just let us know they were there, and the boys couldn't feel is happen. By now, it was getting late in the morning, and we didn't even have a fish in the boat. Hell, I don't think the boys had had a bite they could actually feel. But, I kept showing them the well defined snook bites on their baits so they wouldn't think I was just full of it!
Finally, desperate to put the boys on some kind of action, I decided to take them grouper fishing. I hadn't been grouper fishing since last spring. And, finally! We had fish that were willing to eat. They were biting pretty well on both shiners and small pinfish. And, I was tying lots of lines, as the lightning quick and very strong grouper are masters at getting back into their rocky homes before the angler can get his composure and control of the fish. But, the boys were also catching some fish, and boated probably 8 or so, and broke off more than that. There were also two or three mangrove snapper that were just short.
Once the action came to a stop, we headed to the Waterfront Restaurant for lunch. By the time we were done with lunch, it was pushing two o'clock. I offered to extend the trip, in hopes of putting the boys on a snook bite, now that the tide had turned and was coming in hard. The guys were all for it.
WE headed for a beautiful spot along the way home. It's always full of snook. But, could I get them to eat? Well, I had a baitwell full of beautiful shiners, and I decided I would just try to chum the fish into submission. And, the result was a pretty darned good snook bite. The boys were having fun. But, we still hadn't stuck a keeper. Over the years, my customers have caught lots of big snook in this place.
And, then it happened. I'd gotten in on the action because I could cast a shiner considerably farther than any of the boys. We'd already let a couple ops big snook get away, and had seen some big blowups. The bigguns were there! My bait was crushed shortly after hitting the water within two feet of a big blow on the chum. I set the hook twice, and shoved the rod into Chris' hands. I joked that I'd have to kill him if he let this one get away. After a lot of long runs and coaching, the fish was finally nearing the boat. It was a beautiful fish, and may well have been out of the slot. Chris was apparently high on adrenaline, and was not following my coaching, and therefore not controlling the fish at boat side. Remember, anglers! You can not control a big fish at boat side in shallow water with the rod up in the air. You must put the rod in the water so that you can put direct pressure on the head from the side. Not from above. It is up to the angler to control the fish at boat side, not the guy trying to net it or put a Boga Grip into its mouth. And, before I could get the Boga Grip around that big lower lip the hook pulled, and we watched the big snook swim away. Bummer! We didn't even get pictures.
Chris was bummed. He'd already let too many snook get away. But, that's snooking! It wasn't long afterward that the bite came to a stop. We headed home. Again it was a long day. I had given them a full day, even though I had donated a ¾ day.
Back at the ramp the guys put their heads together and swapped money around. We have a custom in the business that we don't count money in front of the customer. We count it later. I'm not sure how that got started, but I can't remember when it wasn't like that. Well, Chris gave me some money, and then Joe gave me the certificate, presumably with some tip and the agreed balance folded inside. They all thanked me for a great day, and I pulled the Talon. As I sat there at the ramp I decided to check to see what they had tipped me. To say that I was upset to find that I had been stiffed for the $50 for the third angler, and had a total of $60, would be an understatement. I have never brought up money or tips in a fishing report before, but I do so in behalf of all full-time guides, now. This economy is making it all but impossible to make a living guiding, right now. Folks! If you use a guide and want to continue to do so, take care of him or her by making sure the money is right, and the tip is reasonable.
This is all more important if you are on a trip that was donated by a guide. Remember that your guide is giving of his time while at the same time forfeiting any income he might have made on that day on a paid trip. In addition, he has paid for very expensive gas, oil, and supplies out of his pocket. Take care of your guide so that he will be willing to continue giving his time to worthy causes. Nuff said.