There were five trips to talk about this week, and the warming weather has served to get the fish coming out of the closet.

Sunday and Monday were spent with my friend Marc Denton, of Little Silver, New Jersey, and different groups of his long time fishing friends. Sunday it was Sandy and Marty. It was a pretty, but chilly day, with light easterly breeze and cold water that keeps the air cold. I showed up armed with plenty of hand picked shrimp from Danny's Bait House, and a tacklebag full of lures.

We first went up the river to catch ladyfish, both for fun, and for redfish bait. The tide was moving so hard that we would drift through the schools very quickly, and kept having to take the boat around for another pass. After having some fun catching the ladys on rootbeer Terroreyez, we headed up into the Sound to look for redfish. There was a boat sitting very near the small area I wanted to fish, and it was not possible for me to get in there without interfering with his fishing, so I decided to see if we had trout, which are usually plentiful where we were, and wait for them to leave. The guy didn't leave, and the trout weren't eating, so we finally took off for other parts.

We fished a deep winter snook and redfish hole with shrimp on Trollrite jigs, and had little success at that, either. So, I decided to hit some of the best trout spots in the Sound. We finally got into fish that would eat, and were catching them on the same rigs. But, there weren't a lot of keepers in this spot which usually gives up plenty of big winter trout. They did have enough for dinner though.

Monday, with Marc, and again Marty, with their friend Enloe Baumert, we saw southerly breezes to 15, and a wind chilled forecast for the mid 70's. We skipped the ladyfish, as I had saved several on ice. Marc requested that I take them hunting, looking for tailing redfish. Although this kind of fishing is hard to do with more than one angler in the boat, I agreed. It is great fun, even when you don't manage to get that perfect cast, or the fish don't eat. It's the classic thrill of the hunt, and seeing the fish tailing that are so exciting.

I headed to a flat where the redfish almost always tail on the incoming tide. It was a dreary, wet, drizzly morning with an approaching front. When we first got to the flat, there wasn't enough water to float the Talon loaded with close to 900 pounds of guys. We had to wait a bit. I also didn't want to get trapped on the shallow flat with no way to get off if the weather really got nasty. But, as the tide began to rise and float the boat, the weather seemed to settle, and we poled onto the flat armed with Texas rigged shrimp.

We had plenty of redfish tailing almost immediately. But, catching them was another story. In order to have a shot at catching tailing fish the angler MUST be able to cast far, quickly, and accurately. If the bait lands too close to the fish, it will likely spook it. To short, and..... The bait must be casted beyond and just in front of the fish a couple of feet, then quietly moved up close to the fish and allowed to settle. If properly done, the fish will almost always eat the bait, if he is indeed eating.

But, my guys were having a hard time with the casting and couldn't get the baits to the fish. Also, the fish were not sitting still for very long. They were in a stop, grab a quick bite, then move again mode. They were hard to keep up with. We decided to tie on topwater plugs, which would give the guys more distance, but they have their own set of problems. They must be properly worked to be effective. This was all new fishing for Marc and the guys, and they had a hard time grasping the concept of walking the dog. We never did catch a redfish on that flat, but had a lot of fun trying, and teasing and badgering each other in the process. Enloe did have one on briefly, and the guys did boat 2 big trout and lose another on the topwater plugs. That's the most satisfying way to catch a speckled trout.

We spent a lot of time on that flat, several hours, and by the time we left, we didn't have a lot of tide left on which to try to find some action. We tried some pothole trout, but they had already left on the tide. We hit a couple of good redfish spots with no luck except catfish. Finally, I headed to one of my favorite south wind redfish holes, which I couldn't get at earlier because of the water depth. I chummed the shoreline with diced ladyfish and we put three baits into the mangroves. Very quickly we had 2 nice redfish in the boat to keep the 2 big trout company. And, it was over as soon as it had started. I chummed more, but the bite was over with the tide. We called it a day, and with the four big fish we had, Marc and the boys had plenty of fish to divide up.

Wednesday morning, my best friend Capt. Butch Boteler and I decided to go and take on those redfish on that flat. Surely we, a couple of professionals, could catch a couple of them. I stopped and bought a few dozen shrimp, but we wanted to have some fresh ladyfish, and headed up the river for them. We had our bait in a couple of minutes and decided to throw some lures for snook. We got into some nice jack crevalle, but didn't get a snook to eat. As the falling tide began to slow, we headed up into the Sound to take on the tailers.

We got Butch's Pro Sports up on the flat, but he doesn't have a push pole, which is a serious handicap when trying to catch tailing fish. We were not able to move the boat except with the trolling motor. We elected to chase the fish on foot. We loaded our pockets with shrimp and ladyfish, and I took two rods and spare hooks, and were off. The tide was running very hard, and the fish were running with it. They were tailing, but not stopping to root in any one spot for more than a minute or so. We literally couldn't keep up on foot. The fish outran us. We scored a big goose egg. As the water forced the tails down, we walked back to the boat and headed way back into the backcountry to see if we could find them. We did see an occasional fish, but never found any aggregation of them. To our surprise, we did happen upon a four foot long snook in the shallows. I didn't expect to see that big female out there in that cold water.

Friday, I took Diane Bogenrieder out on her first southwest Florida flats fishing trip. She had only fished off a head boat, where there is no casting involved. So, she was your basic neophyte. That's a good thing, though, because she brought no bad habits with her. It was a beautiful day with light breezes and a forecasted high of around 80. I was hopeful that the warming trend would finally have the fish in an eating mood.

I took Diane up the river to break her in on ladyfish, and let her get comfortable with the spinning gear that was all new to her. In typical female fashion, she caught on quite quickly, and was soon showing progress with every cast. Soon she was catching her own fish. She probably had more trouble with the concept of "pump and reel" than anything else, but eventually got the hang of it.

Once she gained some confidence with the gear and techniques, we headed up into the Sound for trout. Not only are they the most plentiful, typically, but they're also a bit easier to deal with than big reds or snook. At our first stop the action was fast and furious. Diane and I caught trout on nearly every cast of green plastic bodies on white jigheads. She was having a blast, and so was I. When the action slowed at the first spot, we moved a short distance to another, and were right back into the action. As that action slowed we switched to shrimp on Trollrites, and Diane got the biggest trout of the morning, a 4 pounder.

Finally, I was about to starve, and we headed to the Waterfront Restaurant where I consumed one of their huge burgers. It has to be one of the world's biggest and best. We were both so sleepy after eating a big lunch that I decided to stop at Picnic Island for a nap. There's nothing like a nap on a boat that is gently rocking to the sound of water lapping against the hull. But, the silence was soon interrupted by the sound of my buddy Butch Boteler who had arrived to let his black labs run. We chatted for a while, then headed in.

Saturday, my good fishing buddy and customer Dr. John Hitt was eager to go and catch some of those trout Diane and I had been in the day before. John loves to fish, and especially enjoys trout fishing with his Sustain 2000 on a 7 1/2 ft. light action Reddington rod.

We headed up the river to kill some time on the falling tide warming up with ladyfish, and saving a couple for bait. I staked the boat in the middle of the school, and we caught them two at a time for about an hour. We headed up into the Sound, and I thought John might enjoy killing some time casting to tailers on the tail of the falling tide, but they weren't there. We didn't see the first fish. So, I found a small pothole to corkscrew out of, and we headed to the trout holes. We stopped and had a sandwich while waiting on a boat to clear the area, and for the tide to kick. Soon, both had happened, and we made our approach on to the flat. I had to make a few minor adjustments at the first stop, but we finally got the action going. Once we did, we caught trout after trout on jigs of all varieties.

When the action slowed on the first stop, we moved to another nearby, and got right back into the action. But, the trout were bigger. We began culling trout, and the baitwell of my Talon reminded me of a "pay to fish" trout pond I had fished in North Carolina some thirty years earlier. It was brimming with big, beautiful speckled trout. We also caught a couple of nice flounder. As on the day before, when the action slowed we switched from jigs to shrimp on Trollrites, and got our biggest fish. We had a blast, and finished the day at the Waterfront with a great lunch.

Back at the ramp where the Talon always draws plenty of attention, our big trout also drew plenty of attention. Oddly, there were no anglers cleaning fish, although there were plenty of flats boats coming in. I'm not sure what that meant, but I did hear that some had success with redfish.

So, if the weather will continue to warm, and we can keep the cold fronts away, we should see continued good fishing.

The downturn in business because of the slow economy, and now further because of the attrocities of September 11, has had me and some of my friends brainstorming how we can generate trips, generate cash flow, and therefore stay in business through the tough times we have ahead of us. Here are the first two ideas I will put forward. First, since December and January are normally my only slow months of the year, I am fearful of just how slow they could be this year. I am going to roll back the cost of my half day trip to last year's rate of $325 for anyone booking in December and January. Further, if you would like to prepay your trip, no matter when you have it booked, either in lump sum, or in three or four installments, I will discount the trip by $25. Your trip must be paid at least a month in advance to earn the discount. With the market in such a slump and interest rates still declining, that's a much better return on your trip fee than leaving it in the bank until trip time.

So, come on folks. It's time to get out and enjoy your favorite pastime, in your favorite vacation destination. Let's show Osama Bin Lunatic that he can't beat us with economic terrorism, either.

I have now posted the final thumbnailed pictures on the Talon Page of this website, for those interested in seeing how one of these jewels goes together.

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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