I actually got to get out on the water two days this week! Both days were great. We had storms just offshore both mornings, and a nice easterly breeze for most of the day that kept us cool until mid-day when we were about done.
I fished Wednesday with my friend Capt. Marc Geldon, of Snook Blaster Charters in Cape Coral. He emailed me a few days before and told me he'd been off the water with a knee surgery, and was healed with no business. He was going to go out for a morning of fishing to see if his boat and knee still worked. I wrote him back and told him about my bout with gout, and said that if he wanted some company, I join him, and we'd call it a crip trip! He was glad to have me join him.
Marc picked me up at Punta Rassa at 7:30 AM, and the tide although low, was way up there. Since I'd last gotten bait at Chino, I suggested we head there for bait. But, once we got there we couldn't find water less than 6 ft. deep, and couldn't find bait, either. We moved on up to Kiesel's Shack flats, and there was bait flipping everywhere.
I decided to take over the net throwing, as I was interested to see if I could still throw a big, heavy 10 ft. net designed for deep waters. I've been throwing my Daddy Pat for several years, now, and have not had a back issue since I began throwing it. Marc's net was a West Coast, but I could tell by the 300 lb. test red brailles that Daddy Pat had repaired it. That's one of the trademarks of a Daddy Pat net.
Well, my first couple of tosses weren't real pretty, but I had to figure out how much steam to put on it, after throwing a much lighter net. I think I threw the net 5 or 6 times, and by then it had about kicked my butt. We were loaded with great bait, and it was time to fish.
We headed up the waterway and settled on a small key that usually has lots of redfish on it on a big tide. We worked it over pretty well, but only came up with a small snook, and Marc caught a fat mangrove snapper, which went into the well. We moved on.
At our next stop we were again looking for redfish, as well as snook. But, as beautiful as the tide was, we couldn't get anything to eat. There was bait everywhere, and that was the likely reason. We fished the area for a while without a bite, and moved on, again.
Our next stop was a spot that usually has both snook and redfish, depending upon whether you place your baits close to the shore, or a few feet off the shore. We began with live shiners nose and tail-hooked. There were no snook takers. So, I cut a pinfish and put it out well away from everything else. It wasn't long before we had our first nice redfish in the boat. Marc had not seen a pinfish cut and rigged like that before, and it certainly got his interest. We caught 5 or 6 redfish there, as memory serves, and being limited out on reds, decided to move on and turn our attention back to snook.
Some chumming showed us there were snook present, but I actually knew that, already. They're always there on a really big tide, and it's just a question of whether they will eat, or not. I missed a fish or two that blasted my baits, but didn't get the hook. Then, all hell broke loose when Marc hooked a beautiful snook that ran him all over the place. Once he finally won the battle, she measured out at 32 ½ inches, and was forced to assimilate with the redfish in Marc's release well. The first keeper snook for dinner since the opening of the season.
Later, I had a big snook attack a tail-hooked shiner. It was quite something to see, as she looked like a porpoise raising up on a mullet as she attacked the bait. It was a huge push of water, but I never felt any connection with the bait. Somehow, she sucked it off the hook, and never came back for more.
By this time all our knees were getting weary, and we decided we'd head home. But a couple more redfish had other ideas, and we just couldn't leave them biting, now could we. Once it was over we headed home, basking in the glow of a nice, relaxing morning of fishing. Definitely a fun morning.
Thursday, I fished with my friend Scott Covington, of Covington Technology, and CTC Designs. Like everyone I know, his IT business has really suffered with the loss of some major clients. We're doing a little horse trading, and have had some great times together. And, he's now able to go out and catch redfish with his wife.
Scott and I left the dock at 6:30 AM. It was still dark, and there was lighting flashing all over the western horizon, north to south. It was incredibly beautiful, but a safe distance away, at least for now. As we rode along in the darkness enjoying the fireworks, dawn was breaking behind us. Finally, we arrived at Keisel's, and went to work on bait. I was happy to be throwing my Daddy Pat net. With Scott chumming we were loaded with bait in no time. We had 5-600 shiners and a couple dozen ballyhoo, along with plenty of pinfish for carving. Again, we had a nice breeze to keep us from cooking.
We cleaned up and headed to our first stop, looking for snook. Although I did get one to pop a chum, we never got one to eat a bait with a hook in it. We made a move to a nearby spot that usually has redfish on it on a good tide, and we had a good tide in the works. We began with a couple of live baits, without event.
I cut a pinfish and a ballyhoo, and put one out either side, while Scott kept a minner dinner up the middle. It wasn't long before we had our first nice redfish on the cut pinfish. And, that was the start of a good bite. Once they started we caught redfish on all our bait offerings, but the cut pin probably caught the most.
Once we had the bite going, I tied a gold spoon on to my Shimano Calais baitcast rig to see if I could catch a red or two on the spoon. I don't often get the chance to fish a baitcaster anymore, and it felt almost foreign. Scott balked at the spoon, and said that he'd never been able to catch a thing on a spoon. I stuck my neck out and promised him that I'd show him spoons would catch redfish. It didn't take long to deliver on my promise. The first red was a puppy, and at that point we'd caught redfish at the top of the slot, at 22-23 inches, and now around 14 inches, which meant we had at least three different schools of fish in there together.
I promised Scott I'd catch another bigger redfish. But, he was amazed that I'd caught that first one. A few casts later, I delivered again on my promise, and we released a nice top of the slot red. Then I caught a third, and as soon as I stuck the fourth red, I handed off the baitcast rig to Scott to try out. He'd really never used one. So, we caught four redfish on that ½ oz. Spoon. Scott was absolutely impressed, and I think I made a believer out of him.
As we fished the weather appeared to be degenerating. We heard thunder rumbling in the distance all over the horizon, and then began seeing the lightning. It was only around 9:30, and we'd already had a fantastic day of red-fishing, and also had three fat mangrove snappers in the well with our redfish limit. I could tell Scott didn't trust the weather any more than I did, and we decided to take our great day and head home. What a great morning, and back at the dock by 10:00! I prepped Scott's big red for grilling whole on the grill. Can't wait to hear what he and his family thought about that.