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It was a pretty busy week, and the water was cold, but we managed to do pretty well on average.
The week began on Sunday with my old friend Chuck George, and his good friend Paul. It was the morning after the passage of a cold front Saturday night, and the wind was howling pretty well from the northwest, and it was cold. Around 40, I believe.
The boys wanted any kind of action I could provide, and this time of year that often means ladyfish. So, we headed up the river to the land of ladyfish, where Chuck and Paul had a blast catching about 70 nice ladyfish for a couple of hours.
Around 9:30 we decided to head out to the Sound, and I suggested we stop at the Waterfront Restaurant along the way to see if the crew was there setting up. I knew that if they were, they would let us come in and get a cup of coffee, even though they weren't officially open. But, I found quite a surprise as we pulled up to the dock. The restaurant was jammed, and there was a big sign on the rail indicating they were now open from 6:30 AM for breakfast. Well, I have to tell you we decided to go in and have breakfast and warm up a bit. It was great, and the hot chocolate is the best I've ever had.
After a nice rest and plenty of warm fluids we were ready to brave the cold again. We headed into Long Cut where we found even the trout were not interested in eating. I'd guess we caught 12 to 15 nice trout, including 3 keepers. After trying a few other spots with no luck, we decided to call it a day, and went home happy.
I met Elmer Richie, of Glasgow, Kentucky, and Moore Haven, Florida, on Monday at 10:00 AM, for our first trip. Elmer is an avid freshwater fisherman, and has tournament bass fished. He has a vacation home in Moore Haven, and loves to come over to our area to saltwater fish. However, he doesn't know the waters, and is concerned about running around out here on the very low tides of winter with his 22 ft. boat.
So, our main emphasis was on navigating the waterways, and fishing spots, rather than on catching fish. I introduced Elmer to pothole fishing, and showed him what to look for, and some of the best areas to look in. I also showed him around in the river a bit. Through the course of the morning he caught ladyfish, speckled trout, a puppy redfish, and a flounder, and seemed quite happy with what he'd learned once we were done. Elmer was a fun guy, and I really enjoyed the day with him.
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Tuesday and Wednesday were my first two trips with Tom Ashby, of Evansville, Indiana. Tom had rented a house on North Captiva in Safety Harbor, which meant I had to travel there to pick him up. It makes for a long day, but there are very few options. I met Tom and his son-in-law Mark, on the beach in front of the runway on the bay side of the Pass.
It was a day for pothole fishing with a nice low tide, so I headed to one of my favorite areas. But, the fish had other ideas. We caught some fish, but they basically just didn't want to eat. The water was very cold, and certainly the culprit. I knew I had to find warmer water to find fish that would eat, so we headed to Long Cut. It's a long cut (thus the name) connecting St. James City to the Sound. It is a couple of miles long, narrow, has lots of deeper blowouts, and has a nice mud bottom, which holds heat well. Usually, if you work at it, you can find plenty of trout and ladyfish there in the winter, as well as sheephead if you're inclined to fish for those.
Well, we found the trout. Tom had no problem catching them right from the start. Tom and I really hit it off. We share very similar politics, ethics, etc., and a love of fine fishing tackle. In fact, he brought along a Shimano Stella 1000 mounted on a long, limber 8 ft. rod, and although the rod was a bit heavy for the tiny reel, it was a perfect setup for fishing winter trout. Tom and I were catching them on every cast, often before the jig could reach the bottom on the cast. Of course, Tom let me use the tiny Stella, and it was a wonderful reel, unbelievably smooth. I have been considering tooling up with such tackle just for winter fishing. Scaling down the tackle to the fish available makes the fishing that much more fun. It's a major investment in gear, but now that I've fished a 1000, I'm definitely going to do it before next winter.
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It took Mark a little longer to get the hang of fishing with the jigs, but then, it was Mark's first ever fishing trip. But, once he did get the hang of moving the jig slowly along the bottom and reeling into the fish, he just had a blast. He repeatedly said how much fun he was having. To be honest, I don't think he expected fishing to be that much fun. Well, by the time we were done, Tom and Mark had caught probably 50 to 60 trout, several ladyfish, and a couple of flounder. We headed back to North Captiva with a limit of keeper trout.
We fished Tuesday out of the Talon, so I thought it might be fun for Tom to fish out of the Maverick on Wednesday so he could get an idea of the differences in flats boats design. We were going to begin an hour earlier so that we could run back to ladyfish heaven with Tom's daughter Jennifer aboard. It would be the first time to launch the Maverick from it's freshwater roller style trailer by myself, and I knew I couldn't do my usual guide launch. So, I tied the bowline to the ladder on my van to keep her from coming off the trailer, and backed her down to the water. Well, as soon as the trailer tilted, the Maverick took off on the foot of slack I had in the rope, and ripped the ladder off my van and snatched the back doors open. It's amazing the momentum a boat can attain in one foot!
Well, at least she was in the water. But, my woes continued when I tried to start her. She had a fresh charge on all her batteries, but after two minutes of grinding, the battery wouldn't turn her over any more. My good friend John Hitt often tells me, "A lesser man would really be pissed off about now!" And, at that moment, I was a much lesser man. So, I composed myself, put her back on the trailer, and took off to get the Talon. After moving everything back to the Talon and calling Tom to tell him I would be late, I was off to North Captiva.
Because I was now an hour late, I had to change my plans for Tom and his beautiful daughter, Jennifer. I decided to fish waters closer to North Captiva, which means lots of beautiful potholes in crystal clear water straight across the Sound. But, the cold nights had really cooled the water, and the fish had other ideas about eating. We fished hard without so much as a hit. Finally, Tom caught a flounder or two, but that was about it.
We moved south to see if we could find some gag grouper, which are usually willing to bite a TerrorEyez or Rattletrap. They didn't want to eat, either, and Tom caught the only one. Geez! With time growing shorter Tom and I agreed that we needed to go back to Long Cut, and hopefully find the trout there willing to eat, again. I wanted to get Jennifer into some fish in the worse way!
Well, we didn't find the non-stop action of the day before, but we did find fish close to where they had been the day before, and caught plenty. We had lots of nice keepers once again, but Tom didn't keep any. We finished the day with 4 flounder, several ladyfish, and several dozen trout. It had been a cold day from start to finish, but we had a great time. My gut tells me those two days were the beginning of a long fishing friendship.
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Thursday was maintenance day. I took my Boatmaster trailer in to be fitted with new skins and aluminum wheels on the right side, and to have the brake pads replaced. You can bet that I also am talking to the boys about a used Boatmaster trailer to put under the Maverick, and it looks like Joe and John have something that's just right. The folks at Boatmaster are great, and if you are in need of a high quality trailer for your boat, this is the only place to look.
We have another front coming in Sunday night that could well set the tone for the next week of fishing. We'll have to wait and see how things play out.
If you want to be able to continue to fish Florida waters please follow this link, "Manatee Zones: How You Can Help" and please take the time to become involved, even if you don't live in Florida. Let the politicians know WHY you come to Florida on vacation!
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