Late season cold fronts and poor tides were the dominating factors this week.
My week began on Wednesday with my first trip with Daniel and Megan Stahl, of League City, Texas. This was our first trip. It was also the best tide I'd have to fish this week. Our forecast was for southwest winds gusting to 25, and it was already howling by the time we left the dock.
On the flats at Picnic Island I had to back up the PowerPole with a regular anchor. With Dan chumming, we quickly figured out the wind and current and had a ton of bait in the well. I figured I'd need it, too!
With that much wind blowing from a southerly direction I didn't want to try to fish the east side of the sound, so the plan was to work my way across to the Sanibel side and stay there. That way we'd have a bit of lee, and the ride home would be much more comfortable.
The wind of course, is the sole dictator of where we fish. The only way you can fish live shiners is with the wind at your back. It also makes it very difficult for anglers to feel what's going on out there on the other end of their lines. This would be a hard day.
We headed from Picnic Island to the flats at the power lines to see if we could catch some ladyfish. Redfish have been tough, and steaked ladyfish would give us the best shot at some. Once there, I tied on three TerrorEyez in red/flake, rootbeer/flake, and silver/black. We began a very rapid drift from close in to the manatee buoys. The ladyfish weren't very eager to play on the non-moving tide, but as I recall Meg got two of them to the boat, and that was it. That was better than none, and gave us more options. We were ready to fish.
Once we were at our first stop, we were greeted with a slow bite. Actually, we had to wait a bit for the water to begin moving. Once it did, Dan and Meg managed to catch a few and loose a few snook, and Dan got one undersized redfish. After working the area over well we moved on. At our next stop it was more of the same; Dan and Meg got a few snook and lost a few, too. We fished hard, and I did a lot of chumming, trying to get the fish turned on.
FEELS LIKE SUMMER
FEELS LIKE SUMMER
Actually, we had the best bite at the last stop of the day on the last hour or so of the incoming tide. It was a spot I hadn't fished in years. But, it turned out to be a great spot, and we caught/missed half our fish right there. And, Dan had a couple of very nice snook get away from him.
FEELS LIKE SUMMER
FEELS LIKE SUMMER
When it was all said and done, Dan and Meg had tangled with 18 snook, and landed 11 of them; Dan 7 and Meg 4, plus Dan's red. But, nearly every bait we tossed that day had been scaled by snnok that just didn't want to eat. Dan and Meg actually did quite well considering the conditions we were fishing. It was a fun day with a great couple.
The forecast for Thursday for my first trip with Bill Hobbs and his step-son Jay Wiser was not a good one. We had a 40% chance of rain, and there was a lot of rain and storms in the gulf threatening to come ashore and ruin our day. But, there seemed to be a consensus among the guides at the dock that morning that we were all going to go for it and hope for the best. We've all donated too many days to the weather forecasters who get it wrong.
As we left the dock I explained to Bill what the conditions were, possible rain-out, poor tide, etc. He told me he didn't care what we caught as long as we got one redfish to take home. "I'll hear about it for the next ten years if I don't bring home a nice redfish." he proclaimed. Now, there's the pressure! I knew we had a better chance of success with snook, but the order was for redfish, so that would be our mission.
But, we had to start with bait. We headed to Picnic Island for more of the bait that has been so good. Situated on the flat, the wind was calm and it was very cloudy. I hoped it would stay just like that for the whole trip. With Jay chumming, we quickly dispatched the bait. It took a few minutes to figure out the undercurrent, but once I did, we loaded up.
We headed off to the power lines on the calmest water I'd seen in a long time. It was so calm we didn't even have a drift once I had all the lures tied on. We made several slow drifts on the dead tide, and I believe it was Jay that finally nailed a ladyfish. We were ready to go fishing.
I chose a spot that offers great redfish opportunities as the first stop. I planed to be there when the water began to move, but we waited and waited, and it didn't move. My guess is that the tide was delayed because of all the wind out of the northwest the day before. It often takes a while for the tides to recover to normal after a long blow. So, we goose-egged on the first hole.
We moved to our second spot and I broke out the ladyfish and did some carving. We were fishing both live shiners and the cut ladyfish. The first hit we drew on the ladyfish was a big one. The rod went off, and line started flying off the Stella. The big snook on the other end of that rig was about to spool us when Bill finally got her turned. At that point I thought Bill was going to win the battle, but somewhere on the bottom, she found something to cut him off with. The line went limp, and it was over. Damn! I sure wanted a picture of Bill with that fish.
But, the next hit on the ladyfish was a great one, too. And it was a redfish. It was a beauty, and I had a feeling that it would be out of the slot. And, once Jay got it to the boat I measured the beautiful red at right at 29 inches. "What do you mean it's too big?" Bill protested. "I'll have to tell my wife I had one that got away. She'd never understand I had to put one back because it was too big!" But, we were far from done.
FEELS LIKE SUMMER
That was the last bite we had there. At the next spot we caught 2 snook and lost several. Then it was over. The water was moving in well now, and I wanted to get back to concentrating on the reds. I made a big move. I headed to one of my favorite south wind redfish holes. I felt confident we'd catch some redfish.
Once there I began chumming the shoreline with live shiners. We put out some baits and managed a snook. I changed tactics and chopped up some shiners and peppered the shoreline with them. I put out a cut shiner and a cut pinfish. The pinfish got the first look. It was a whole pin with the tail cut off, a few slices down the middle, and hooked through the backbone just in front of the tail. But, it was a miss. Then there was another miss. I reasoned that maybe the bait was too big for the size of the reds, and carved a smaller fish, as well as the shiner.
That seemed to do it. Bill and Jay caught several small reds that were, yes! Too small. Again, Bill proclaimed that he'd never get his wife to understand redfish too big and too small to keep. We had to get a keeper.
FEELS LIKE SUMMER
And, finally it came. A great pickup that ran right up under the mangroves. It was dicey for a moment, but finally Jay put the fish at the boat where I could get the Boga Grip on it. I knew it was a keeper, and it was a beautiful red of around 25 inches. Mission accomplished! Although I know Bill was teasing me about his wife nagging him for years over no redfish, it was a great form of inspiration, and we were all happy to see that "slot" redfish in the boat.
FEELS LIKE SUMMER
After a couple of catfish I knew the water had basically quit moving and it was time for lunch. We were off to the Waterfront. I had one of my favorite things there, the calamari served on a bed of salad greens with fresh garlic, parmesan cheese, etc. Awesome!
We made the trip home to the ramp happy. We had our redfish. We hadn't racked up much in the way of numbers, but we had accomplished out goal. And, Bill and Jay were great sports and patient with the slow conditions. It had been a fun day.
I was really excited about my Friday trip with Frank Peydro and his uncle Jose "Joe" Gomez. I hadn't seen them in some eight years. But, I knew it would be a tough one. We had a really tough tide to fish, and the wind was back up. This sure is weird weather for May!
We began the day with bait at Picnic. It's been very good, so why go anywhere else? With Joe chumming, it didn't take long to get a boat load of shiners. But, at the power lines the story was different. We worked the flats over very well, making several passes on the wind, and caught 3 trout and Frank lost the only lady that hit before he could get her over the side of the boat. So, we'd be ladyfishless!
And, hell! We were almost fishless. Boy, talk about a hard day! We caught 1 snook at the first stop, 1 snook at the second stop, and finally one beautiful redfish of 27 1/2 inches on a cut shiner at the last stop. It was a day of near total lockjaw, and frustrating. But, Frank and Joe were great with the situation, and thankful for what we caught. Oh, the boys did also catch a couple of catfish and a big stingray at the last stop, but......... Negative style points! It was the toughest day I've had in some time.
FEELS LIKE SUMMER
The thing that impressed me is the fact that Frank and Joe were quite content and thankful for a great day on the water, and not so worried about how many fish they caught. Any guide who cares about delivering for his customers is always frustrated with a day like this one, but Frank and Joe sure took the sting out of it for me. They were great!
Be sure to check out www.BestFishingBooks.com, Books and gifts for fishermen from my friend Jim Dicken!