Finally, a week of warming weather. Problem is, it will take many weeks of warm weather to undo what all this freezing weather has done. The water doesn't warm nearly as quickly as the air. At least, fishing was much more comfortable, and I was back into my shorts and short sleeves before it was over.

My new friend Marc Denton was back for his second trip on Monday, along with his friend, Ed Kachinski. Marc warned me last week that Ed was stubborn as hell, and would be a tough nut to crack, as far as teaching him how to fish here, and getting him to execute. Marc knew what he was talking about, as that turned out to be an understatement.

We met at noon just before the low tide and headed up the river to break Ed in on ladyfish. The ladys were there in droves and Ed quickly became a lady's man. Marc and Ed caught ladyfish two at a time until it became boring. Then, we headed out to catch bait. The shiners weren't back on the marker, yet, but small pinfish were plentiful. I figured they'd be good for the big trout, if they would eat.

We headed up into the Sound to a large pothole that is deeper than most of the others in the area. There were plenty of nice trout in the hole, but this is where Ed's stubbornness really showed up. We were freelining pinfish and hand-picked shrimp, and also fishing shrimp under a popping cork. With each scenario, it is imperative that the angler get the line tight to the fish before striking. Ed wanted to strike as soon as he saw the line move like he does back home, and kept missing his fish. I kept coaching him to reel until he was tight, almost begging him at times. But, Ed kept on striking immediately, almost as if to test my patience.

God only knows how many fine trout he missed! I guess we boated 10 to 12 trout, and all but one were nice keepers at the top of the slot. But, when it was all over, guess who had caught the biggest trout? That's right! Ed. He probably caught the most, too. Marc was his easy going self, and seemed to be enjoying the test of wills he had set up between Ed and me, more than the fishing. Back at the dock, while cleaning fish, Marc said to me, "I told you he was stubborn as hell!" We had a good laugh, but hey, Ed caught the fish!

Tuesday, we were looking at light winds and temperatures to hit the low 80's. What a change, and better than Monday! It seemed like a great day for my first trip with Dan Mosher, and his girlfriend, Cathy. From early conversations with Dan, I knew he was pretty excited about the trip. What I didn't know, was that Cathy was, too. Cathy was the first on the dock while Dan parked the car, and quickly broke the ice with some strong words about the offshore Captain they'd just been offshore with, and some words of high praise about a flats guide they had been with in a previous year. I hoped I could at least fall somewhere in the middle.

As we chatted our way out the no wake zone, I knew I'd fall in love with this couple. They were so cool, and so enthusiastic about the day. We headed up the river to break them in on ladyfish. The fish were there in droves, and Dan had a blast catching them. But, Cathy was plagued with a flare-up of a rare disease she has called fibro myalgia (spelling), I believe. The offshore trip had exhausted her, and her body wasn't cooperating in the cool air. She took some medicine, but it didn't seem to help. So, she was not able to fish much. I really felt sorry for her, being so excited about the trip, and then having this happen. But she assured me she was fine as long as Dan was having fun. And she said, "He's had a big grin on his face since we've been out here!" Dan had caught a few small ladys before, but never ladyfish as big as we were catching in the river.

Once the tide was done, and we had boated a good 30 ladyfish, we headed out to the marker to see about bait. My friend Capt. Bubba Shearer was just finishing up catching bait. I had seen him earlier that morning and told him I'd been getting bait there. But, we played with the ladys a little too long. By the time we got there the tide was already running in hard. The shiners were gone. So, I headed over to the second span of the causeway, and anointed Dan as Captain. With Dan at the helm, we had all the bait we could want in two throws; shiners and pinfish. I was pretty sure the big trout would eat one or the other.

We headed up the Sound to the same trout hole I'd fished the day before with Marc. The action was non-stop, and Dan was still smiling. The trout were eating shiners like they were going out of style. Dan quickly caught on to the tight line hookset, and although he missed his share, put at least 30 trout in the boat, most of which were keepers. I'd hand one to Cathy once in a while to keep her in the loop, but she was still having fun watching us, and busting Dan's chops when he'd miss one. Because we had a mess of fish to clean, we left the fish biting in order to get things done before darkness fell. It had been a wonderful day, with a great couple.

What a difference a couple of days can make. By Friday we had another cold front approaching, and the winds were out of the southwest at 20 knots, gusting higher. I'm sure that every guide out there was thinking like I was; the approaching front would turn the fishing (read snook) on. I even told my party, Joe Matino, of Long Island, New York, the night before that I had high expectations of catching plenty of trout and some snook.

I left the dock at seven with Joe and his friends Chris and Joel. We had a thick fog covering the Sound, and I knew navigation would be impossible until it burned off. I knew I could feel my way along the causeway shoreline to the second span, and try to catch bait, so that became plan A. The southwest wind made boat handling and throwing the castnet quite difficult, but Chris did a great job of handling the BarHopp'R and keeping me in the boat. The shiners were gone, but we caught plenty of threadfin herring and pinfish. Snook love the big herring, and I figured the trout would love the pinfish. Boy were we in for a surprise.

I figured I could shoot my way from marker to marker and get up the river and out of the fog to catch ladyfish, so that became plan B. The wind direction made the ladyfishing difficult, as well. Joe and Chris, who are experienced striper fishermen, caught on quickly, and were soon catching ladyfish on every cast. Joel, however, was new to fishing and needed some coaching. To his credit, Joel paid attention, executed what I showed him very well, and was soon catching, too. The boys had a great time catching probably 40 to 50 ladyfish, and had we known what awaited us up in the Sound, I might have been tempted to stay right there.

Once I thought the fog had lifted over the Sound, I suggested we head on out and see if we could catch some snook. I felt pretty confident we could. Along the way to my first snook stop I notice the water was filthy, probably from the heavy winds. At the first snook hole, a place where the water should have been moving well, and I know is full of snook, there was no action. The water was barely moving, and very dirty. On to the second snook hole. Same thing, and no snook hits. I couldn't believe it. I suggested we change our search to trout, thinking surely they would eat well, and we could catch all we wanted. Ultimately, that proved not to be the case, too. The wind made freelining or popping cork fishing very difficult. The boys had trouble detecting the hit, and were often too anxious to strike. But they were a good bunch of guys, and we had fun trying. I think they only boated 8 to 10 trout, without a single keeper.

I suggested we end the day on a high note at the Waterfront Restaurant, which we did. I ran into a guide friend of mine there, who said he had gone all the way to the north end of the Sound, and had caught a few snook. Everyone else I talked to at the docks and via phone that evening, had seen the same thing we did, and caught very few fish. All the more reason to start out with ladyfish fun.

So, that was it for the week. The front arrived early Saturday morning, bringing with it heavy rains and storms to parts of the area. Now, it's cold again, and the water temperature will be on the way back down. That's not a good thing for the fishing prospects next week. In fact, as I pen this report, the weather people are saying we'll be well below our normals all next week.

Come on, summer!

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