The week began with a rare Sunday trip. I know. I know! I don't do weekends. Actually, I will gladly do weekend days for my regular customers if I don't have a weekday open. One of the benefits of being a regular, I guess. But, I rarely do weekend trips for new customers, even at premium rates. Having said that, I think all us guides here are running trips we might not otherwise run, out of concern for what the year has in store for us. We've lost so much time and revenue to hurricanes and threats of hurricanes, red tide outbreaks, algae rotting on the beaches, etc., that we're all playing catch up, as well.
So, I agreed to do a Sunday trip with Sandy and Andy Smith, a great father and son team from Fairhope, Alabama. Sandy is a retired banker, and Andy is a practicing physician. When he told me he practiced "buggers 'n babies", I knew we were going to have a good time.
I was at the ramp at around six o'clock, hoping I would still be able to get a parking spot. I was very surprised to see there were plenty. With the five tournaments over, and the winds up, perhaps it would be a quieter day on the water. But, the damage to the fishing prospects had already been done, with hundreds of boats running over the shallows for most of the previous week, pre-fishing, and the like. I was happy to see Andy and Sandy arrive about fifteen minutes early, as it allowed us to get on the bait flats that much earlier.
On Saturday, my one day off, I changed a very worn prop with a brand new Mercury 4-blade 23 pitch just like the one I was removing, lubed my trailer hubs, pulled off the old seat cushion that was getting pretty tattered, and gave my baby a bath with Roll-Off. I'd blown the ends of two of my bearing caps when I greased them, because they were nearly rusted through. As luck would have it I'd had a card left on my van windshield by a fellow named Bret Preston, who does mobile detailing of boats, cars, trucks, as well as marine repairs, and so forth. I had a zillion things to do on my one day off, and didn't want to put the trailer in the water with the bearing exposed, so I took a long shot and called Bret. He was very nice, and we chatted for quite a while, and my gut told me that he was different from the previous "mobile" men I'd tried. He came out on Saturday, replaced the bearing buddies, rewired my trailer, which had a bad harness on one side, replaced a tail light assembly, and repaired my torn rub rail. I was very impressed with him.
Anyway, I was really surprised at how different the boat felt that morning as we took off after clearing the A span. There was no prop slippage, and my seat-of-the-pants-o-meter told me that I was moving a good 5 MPH faster at the same RPM. Boy, that prop really was worn out!
Once at Tarpon Bay and set up, I started things off with chumming, but soon handed the duties off to Sandy, while Andy seemed quite happy and content relaxing and being ballast in the back of the Talon. The bait came pretty quickly, and I was thrilled to be throwing a new Capt. Pat Burns net designed for shallow water and thick seaweed bottom. It is so much lighter than my old net, and catches a whole lot less seaweed. My back sure liked that! With Sandy's expert chumming we were loaded up with bait and on the way to the first stop of the day in less than an hour.
We got to our first hole as the outgoing tide was coming to an end. I was surprised that we had some great hits, and caught several snook. Sandy broke off a very large snook, and later lost another nice one. The boys also caught a trout or two and a nice jack. There were lots of "swings and misses" as Sandy and Andy tried their hardest to learn the new techniques of using circle hooks and fishing with no weight on their lines. After catching some nice fish, and missing some great opportunities, the bite slowed and we moved on.
SPRING FISHING FUN!
At the next stop on north into the Sound it was more of the same. The boys caught more snook, lost a few, missed a few, and had a bunch of baits scaled by the snook. And, at another hole close by, it was more of the same. A few snook, some misses, and scaled baits. But, by now the wind was around to the southeast, and I had to change the game plan.
SPRING FISHING FUN!
The next several stops yielded more scaled baits and missed hits, but no fish. By now, there were boats everywhere! I figured we had the best of the catching behind us. I decided it would be helpful to take Andy to an area he could fish from a kayak, as he had plans on renting one later in the week. We finished our day there, showing him the lay of the land, and I think we caught another snook or two.
If I was to beat the big crowd of boaters coming back in at the ramp, it was time to head home. We'd had a great day, and lots of fun with the fish and each other. Back at the ramp Sandy gave me the highest order of compliment that one could give about how I ran my trip. He and Andy had learned a lot, and caught some nice fish. Except for me making a sudden move and aggravating my left knee injury, it was a perfect day. But, it wasn't over. For the first time, I received ramp side treatment from a customer as Dr. Andy sat me down on my trailer fender and very carefully and with healing hands, checked out my knee. Verdict: He found some fluid on the knee, but couldn't detect any torn tendons or muscles, and thinks I probably injured the "meniscus" that protects the bones in the joint from each other. Looks like I'll live!
With that we said our "Good-byes". I hated to see the day end. I can't remember when I've had any nicer folks in the boat, and I've got lots of great customers!
Monday, I had my first of two trips with Charlie Cooper, of East Falmouth, Mass., and his good friend Jack Mackenzie. Charlie and I first fished together a couple of years ago when Capt. Rey Rodriguez and I both fished with him a couple of days each. Charlie had a blast on all those trips, and got a good taste of the different things our fishing has to offer. I really took a liking to Charlie, then. He's the kind of guy I love to fish with. He loves the outdoors, loves the nature, loves the fish, loves to learn new things, and he's a good fisherman.
After meeting Jack and chatting a bit, we were off to catch bait. With Jack elected to be the chummer, we had a bait well full of bait in short order. We were ready to fish. But, at the first couple of stops, the fish weren't ready for us. We didn't have a hit.
We moved on north into the Sound, and settled on a mangrove island I love to fish this time of year. It's always full of snook, including lots of big ones. And, this morning was no exception. And, don't you know that poor Jack, who had never done this type of fishing at all, and who was handicapped by being left-handed and having to use a right handed reel, tangled with a big, big snook right out of the box and had his butt handed to him on a silver platter! I hate when the first fish of the day for someone new to this fishing is a monster snook! It's not possible to teach someone all the tricks of bagging big snook on light tackle when the first fish of the day is a big female with lots of horsepower and speed. She blasted to the mangroves and cut him off so fast it could make your head swim. At that point Jack was probably wondering what he'd gotten himself in to.
SPRING FISHING FUN!
But, ultimately that stop was very good to us, and Charlie and Jack lost several more snook, and boated some very nice snook. The snook were banging the big baits we had very well, and we were having fun. Once the action slowed there, we moved to another key not far away, and were again back on the fish. The boys had lots of hits, lots of opportunities, boated some nice fish, and lost some nice ones, too. Well, that's snook fishing!
SPRING FISHING FUN!
We moved on further north, and the water became gin clear. We stopped at a beautiful spot that I love to fish once the tide is up. But, the water was so clear that we were like neon lights in the night to the snook. We had several baits scaled, and saw lots of big snook, but didn't manage to get one to eat our offerings. Boy, were the fish there, though.
I headed back south to murkier waters. We settled on a beautiful mangrove key that has everything to offer in the way of fish. Over the years I've caught everything in these waters there. Our tide was about done, and we did manage two more snook before heading the Talon toward the Waterfront Restaurant for one awesome lunch. J.D. and crew are offering some incredible meals, including some great conch dishes that are just out of this world. From there we were homeward bound, celebrating a great day of snook fishing.
Tuesday, I had my second trip in as many weeks with Jim Turman, who like Charlie Cooper, I'd had a blast with last year. I'd talked to Jim the night before, and he wasn't sure if Sue and Gwen were going to make it for this trip, as they had both been partying pretty hard that night. I was very hopeful that both the girls would make it, as I'd had an absolute blast with them and Jim last week on our combo shelling, fishing, and dining trip.
Well, it turned out that it was Jim and his beautiful sister Gwen who actually made it. And, I was thrilled that Gwen, at least, did. Because, this was going to be a serious fishing trip. We headed off to Tarpon Bay for bait, and with Gwen chumming, filled the big well on the Talon very quickly. I was shocked to hear as we left the area that some of the guides were having trouble getting bait. I asked Jim and Gwen as we left the flats what they wanted to do, and we had a unanimous decision that they wanted to snook fish, and wanted some fish to take home for the gang to eat.
I thought it might be wise to try to get the food portion of the trip done first. That usually means trout this time of year. But, our trout were decimated by the red tide last year, and we've not had many of the big winter trout that we've had since the net ban. Still, with a snook limit at 27 inches, and redfish scarce and spooky, trout seemed to be the most viable option for dinner.
But, the first stop left us fishless. And the second spot blessed us with only one trout. And, the third stop blessed us with one more very nice trout! Well, at least with two big trout in the well we were most of the way home with the dinner requirement.
Time to snook fish! I headed right back to where we'd seen great action the day before on the same stage of the tide. And, predictably, we had good action again. But, I really had to work for it. The snook just wouldn't eat unless I live-chummed them. So, it was a game of shooting a bat full of live shiners to the hole, waiting on the snook to blast some of them, dropping our baits on them, and catching two or three. And, then we repeated the process, again, and again. And, Jim and Gwen caught lots of nice snook, and lost a number of nicer, keeper fish. Minimum keeper size is 27 inches. That's a snook with lots of speed and power, and they don't come to the boat easily in the hands of anglers who are not well seasoned at this game. We had a heck of a good time at that hole, but finally it was over.
SPRING FISHING FUN!
SPRING FISHING FUN!
We headed back south and stopped at a mangrove key I love to fish on high water, and sure enough, we got into snook, again. But, the bonus was actually a beautiful 5 pound speckled trout that put us over the top of the dinner requirement.
SPRING FISHING FUN!
It had been a great day with Jim and Gwen. We'd caught plenty of nice snook and some nice trout, filled our dinner order, and had a great time. And, back at the ramp I got a great bonus. Jim brought me some of his famous Bloody Bull Bloody Mary mix. And, oh my God. Is it ever good. It's the best I've ever had, buy a country mile. I hope Jim doesn't mind if I post the recipe on the website. It's just too good not to spread the love!
Wednesday morning Charlie Cooper and Jack Mackenzie were back for their second trip of the week. At this point I've got some boat time with Charlie, and his daughter Emily. Charlie is a good fisherman, and I love having him in the boat. Jack is the rookie at our brand of fishing, but a great guy, and had tried hard to execute what I'd been teaching him on the first trip. I'd thrown a lot at him on the first trip, and he'd done an admirable job of trying to adapt.
When I asked Charlie what he'd like to do, he responded that he'd like to mix it up. He was interest in trying the grouper fishing he'd read about on the website. And, he loves the way jacks fight. I liked his answer, and we now had a strategy for the first couple of hours of fishing on a slow, outgoing tide.
We headed out into the darkness toward Tarpon Bay to catch bait. We were the only ones there. It was eerie. Where was the rest of the fleet? I got things ready and began chumming. After a few minutes I turned things over to Charlie, who did a great job of keeping the chum exactly placed so that the bait would be right in front of us on the current. With eight or nine throws of the net, we had some 500 baits in the well. We were ready to fish.
I headed into Matlacha Pass for our first stop and a crack at some big jack attack action. I anchored with the PowerPole and began throwing chum. It wasn't long before we had some pops on it, and suddenly Charlie was hooked up. It was our first jack. Not long after Charlie landed that fish I saw what I was looking for. There was a small pod of jacks pushing down the shoreline. I knew they'd come right by us. I got Charlie and Jack baited and instructed them to hold their baits in the water at the ready and to cast at my command. The fish pushed ever closer to us. My heart was racing. Their hearts were racing. "Cast! Casts! Cast!" And then it was the lyrical, spiracle, diabolical sound of fishing music: screaming drags from the small Stellas being tortured by corpulent jack crevalle. I waited to throw a third bait into the mix because I didn't want to get three lines tangled and loose all three fish. But, by the time I cast, the jacks were gone, except of course the two that were captive to our hooks. That was great fun. We had lots of popping on our chum, but only managed one ladyfish after the jack attack. It was time to go grouper digging.
SPRING FISHING FUN!
We headed on up into the Sound, and settled on our spot. As I explained to the guys where to cast their baits I tossed one in to show them. It was immediately devoured by a nice little grouper. They were eating. The funny thing was that Jack got slammed time and again, and boated some nice gags. But, Charlie's rod was cold for some reason. They weren't even hitting him. Funny how that happens! Jack had upward of a dozen grouper, but we had decided we weren't going anywhere until Charlie put one in the boat. It was a matter of pride at that point. Finally, the hit came, and Charlie dug that grouper out and put it in the boat. We had finished the grouper diggin with fish to 21 inches. Boy, are they fun on light tackle.
SPRING FISHING FUN!
It was time to turn our attention to snook fishing. We headed on north, stopping at a mangrove island that has been very good to me over the years. The breeze was east when we got there and began fishing, but before we knew it, it had flopped over to the northwest, which made our hole very hard to fish. But, we made it work. The fish were there, and lots of them. But, they would not eat without a little prodding. I had to chum them, wait for a couple of blowups on our chum, and then we'd pitch our baits to the blowups and catch a fish or two or three. Then, they would stop. I'd have to chum again, wait on the blows, catch a couple, etc. Sometimes, that's how snook are. They won't eat without some external inspiration. Fortunately, I had a ton of bait in the well.
The boys caught quite a few snook, but it was Charlie's turn to have the hot rod. Jack lost several fish trying to get it figured out, but took top honors for the day at that hole with a nice 27 inch fish. She lived to fight another day. That was a pretty good feat for a lefty on right handed gear. I think Jack definitely felt some sense of accomplishment.
SPRING FISHING FUN!
At the next stop on further north, the floating seaweed was so bad we literally couldn't fish. We had traversed through what looked like floating island of this crap, which incidentally looked like floating islands of.......well, crap! Until you look very closely, it looks like floating excrement! The baits were choked up with this nasty stuff as soon as they hit the water. We did manage to get one hit, but soon decided it wasn't worth the aggravation, and wasn't going to work, anyway.
The tide was getting on toward full high, and I had just the spot in mind to finish the day. Once there, it took more chumming to get anything to happen, but the boys missed three fish, and Charlie landed one last snook.
It had been a good day with a couple of great guys. Charlie is a laid back, funny, intelligent, and fun guy. He loves to fish. Jack is a great guy, as well. He was very patient with me and my coaching, and did his best to execute on backward gear. He passed his final exam! Once back at the dock I delivered a new Shimano Stradic 4000 to Jack that Charlie bought for him. What a great friend! YES! The handle is reversible!!
As has been the case for the last couple months, I was at the ramp well before 6 AM just to get a parking spot. I was all set for my second trip with Martin Smith, of Churubusco, Indiana. Martin and I fished together for the first time last year, and had a great time. The highlight of his trip was catching a 125 pound tarpon on a Stella 3000FB/St. Croix rod combination that only weighs 11 oz. with 15 pound test Power Pro.
But, I figured this trip was destined to be a tough one. We had yet another tournament coming up on this weekend, and that meant upward of a hundred extra boats on the water running over the fish. We had this floating yuck everywhere hampering our fishing. We have extremely clear water because we've had almost no rain for months. And, we had a poor outgoing tide for most of the morning. I figured this could be "Give a Fish A Kiss Day", if we could catch one.
Marty showed up early, and brought along his wife Andie. Once we had everything stowed, we headed out into the cool morning darkness to catch bait at Tarpon Bay. After finding no one there the day before, I was surprised to see boats everywhere on the flat chumming for bait. Most were the tournament boys, I imagine.
We anchored and began our own chumming routine, but the wonderful morning sunrise and silence were pierced by the foul language and obnoxious behavior of some of the tournament guys who sounded like they were still intoxicated from a prior night of heavy drinking. Once we got our bait and left, most of them were still there trying to catch bait.
After talking to Marty, I decided that running the same game plan as the day before would be a good plan. Marty was up for anything that would pull on his line and his bad right shoulder. We headed up into Matlacha Pass to see if we could find some jacks and maybe some snook. But, instead of the rasp-lipped snook we found some razor toothed critters that kept banging out bait and cutting us off. We had some big hits, and fish stripping line off our reels, but the fights were short-lived as they cut the line with their teeth. We never got one to the boat, so best I can figure is we had either some big mackeral or good sized barracuda in there cutting us off.
Chumming also got the snook busting baits near the mangroves, but we could never get one to do more than scale our baits. Finally, we succumbed to the notion that we would score a goose egg on the first hole, and moved on.
I headed up into the Sound to see if we could get some grouper to eat for Marty. But, even they were tough on the do-nothing tide we had to fish. We fished them hard, and got three gag grouper and a jewfish. There were fish everywhere, but they just weren't interested. Time to go.
Last year Marty and I needed a redfish to get the Grand Slam, but couldn't get one to eat. So, I thought we'd give reds a quick try. We found the reds easily enough, but the water was so clear and shallow that we couldn't get close to them. I sensed that it was a waste of time, and moved on.
We headed north further into the Sound, and didn't get far before my Yamaha went into overheat alarm. The lower unit had picked up some of the floating crap and cut off water flow. It only took a couple of minutes to clear the yuck from the motor and the alarm, and we were on our way.
Once we got to the spot I wanted to fish, there was so much of the floating debris that it was all but impossible to fish. We did give it a try, and miraculously did catch three nice snook, but it was just far too much trouble, and we were just suffocating our baits in the seaweed. We agreed that it was time to move on.
The wind was now from the northwest, and I figured that points west toward the open Sound might be free of the floating crap. I pointed the Talon to a beautiful spot I love to fish when I'm forced to run that far north. Oh, man! It was full of fish. They were crashing my chum all around us, but they were hard to catch. I just had to keep chumming them. But, we finally did get somewhat of a bite going, and caught some nice snook.
SPRING FISHING FUN!
We finished the day with a dozen or more snook, and had a great time. Andie had been perfectly content to enjoy the day taking in the nature and beauty of it all. It had been the toughest day of the week, but it had turned out well, and had been great to see Marty again and meet Andie.
After again checking the weather reports, considering the Good Friday traffic, and the tournament that would be going on, I decided to call my customer John Welfare and discuss the situation with him. I knew the odds would be stacked heavily against us catching anything, what with the passing of the front, and that it would be howling, and possibly raining until later into Friday morning. I wasn't interested in taking John on a wet, bumpy boat ride with no fish. John seemed to have come to the same conclusion on his own, and although disappointed, accepted the verdict.
So, I did manage to get five of six scheduled trips run. And, although the fishing and conditions weren't easy, we caught some great fish all week long. I'm hoping that the weather has settled down by Monday, and we can get back on them.
