It was a great week of fishing with some great folks. The weather was also great, as we saw a warming trend set in with the beginning of the week. But, the warming weather brought lots of moisture into the atmosphere, and fog became a problem.

I woke up Monday morning and began preparing for my first trip with Beau Jones, from Atlanta, via England, where he now works. His brother and a friend were also to join him. But, when I walked out the door I could barely see my van the fog was so thick. I convinced myself it would soon lift, or not be as bad once the sun was up, and continued with preparations.

Everyone else that was working that day was sitting tight at the ramp. I thought surely I could feel my way along the river and work my way to the ladyfish grounds so the guys could have some fun while we were waiting on the fog to lift. The guys were game to try it so we pulled away from the dock and quickly disappeared into the soup.

The tide was blowing out of the river at a quick pace. I found out that it's impossible to navigate against such a current at idle speed in the fog. About 20 minutes into the ride, we detected a faint light on our left. I told the guys there were no lights on the left up the river until we got to Cape Coral. As we worked our way closer, we saw more lights begin to come into dim view. It looked like a large vessel, or a group of vessels. Perhaps they were all anchored waiting on the fog. No! As we got cautiously closer one of the guys said it looked like a hotel, and then I realized we were back where we started in front of the Sanibel Harbor. The current had spun us around at some point and brought us back down the river without any of us having any idea.

We decided to try it again! We managed to find an occasional manatee buoy or marker, but visibility was zero. After idling against the current for around an hour a small mangrove key came into view. I recognized it but couldn't put my finger on exactly where I was. Then I saw a series of oyster bars peaking at us through the fog as we worked our way closer. I couldn't believe my eyes as I realized where I was. I was way up in the mouth of Matlacha Pass.

I decided it was time to anchor and wait on the fog to lift. We waited and waited, and saw no improvement. Finally, around 10:30 I realized the fog may indeed not lift, and thought it might be prudent to try to find our way home. Before we'd gotten far, we discovered a herd of about six manatees playing in about 4 feet of water, and stopped to let the guys watch them. They had never seen a manatee, before.

We moved on, following the current rip on the backs of buoys and markers, knowing the with the incoming tide I would eventually find my way back to the mouth of the river. As I did, the fog lifted enough to see a couple hundred yards. We were able to navigate our way back to the ramp, and since the tide was done moving in the Sound by noon, decided to try again on Thursday, and scheduled a two boat sightseeing and shelling trip on Friday.

The forecast Monday night for Tuesday was much more of the same. I worried that I might not get to spend the day with my good friend, and long time customer Bob McGuire, but come Tuesday morning when I peaked reluctantly out the door, it was clear. I couldn't believe it! Bob and I were both happy. Bob loves to fish, and loves to catch whatever is game to bite.

We decided to head up the river to warm up with the ladyfish. After all, they're a blast to catch, and a great way to polish up your skills after being absent from the water for a while. Bob didn't need any warming up to get back into the groove. He caught them on nearly every cast for an hour or more before we headed up into the Sound to stalk speckled trout.

I headed to the area I had done so well in the previous Monday. We spent the rest of the morning hopping from pothole to pothole, catching small, medium, and large trout as we went. The weather was gorgeous! Bob caught at least 70 of the speckled beauties, and we went home with a limit of keepers. I love fishing with Bob, and part of the reason has to be because while we're out there he tells me often how much fun he's having. Then when we're done and having lunch and riding home, he tells me how much fun he had. There's never any doubt about whether Bob is happy, or not. And, in all the years we've fished together, I don't think I've ever seen him not happy!! Thanks, Bob!

Wednesday, I had my first trip with John Nash, and his good friend George, of Joliet, Illinois. It promised to be another beautiful day. John and George had never done the ladyfish thing, and in fact, neither had ever really used open face spinning reels. George had only used closed face reels, and John was a fly fisherman. So, we parked on the big school of ladyfish and had a fishing seminar of sorts, teaching the guys the fine art of spin fishing. They caught on quickly, and within a half hour were boating ladyfish on nearly every cast. After an hour or so of ladyfish action, the boys were ready to go chase trout. After all, they wanted to feed the gang dinner.

The tide was still seriously low, so it was pothole fishing. Again, we hopped from pothole to pothole, but in a different area than on the previous day, catching nice trout as we went. By the end of the morning, John and George had amassed a total of 70 plus trout, and had a limit of keepers in the well. They had a blast, indeed, as did I. They were great!

Thursday morning, I was met only by Beau Jones. His brother and friend slept in, absolutely worn out by a day of offshore fishing with my friend Capt. Hand Vankesteren. But, Beau was there with bells on, and ready to go. Beau is a fishing fool. My favorite kind of customer!

I knew Beau would get a kick out of warming up with the ladyfish, so it was up the river, again. The weather was beautiful once again, as we began our day of fun. Beau had come to me by way of England, and I knew from all the email correspondence we'd had that he was really wired about this trip, and that he would be a great guy to spend the day with. And, I was right on both counts.

Beau caught on very quickly, and loved the gear I put into his hands. He caught ladyfish steady for about an hour and a half, before we decided to head into the Sound and go for trout. I was less than happy to see a boat parked right in the middle of my holes. Unusual, because I never see anyone fishing there. I figured it was someone who had seen me there the day before catching trout left and right.

It didn't matter, as there are plenty of potholes in the Sound. In fact, it may have even been a blessing. I elected to fish another series of potholes some distance away, and that choice was the charm. The fishing had been great all week, but the trout fishing for Beau was nothing short of stellar! After hitting three or four potholes, we anchored on the edge of a large pothole that was just full of big trout. For the next couple hours we caught trout after trout on nearly every cast. The amazing thing was that of a total of some 75 trout, there were only four or five that weren't slot fish. It was an unbelievable day of trout fishing.

Beau had a smile that was permanently engraved on his face the whole day. He was in utter disbelief at the number and quality of the fish. He couldn't wait to get back to the motel and tell the rest of the gang. But, we weren't quite done, yet. I wanted to get Beau on some redfish, and I hoped that the south wind that had kicked announcing the coming of the next cold front, would push the water high enough for the reds to come onto the flats and feed. The reds did show on the second flat we visited, but they weren't about to eat. We threw spoons at them for nearly an hour without so much as a hit, but they were there. I guess that leaves something for Beau to experience the next time around. Besides, we had a limit of beautiful keeper trout for Beau to take home to the gang.

We had originally planned to do a two boat sightseeing and shelling trip with the whole gang on Friday, but in an effort to save Beau some money, I arranged for my friend Capt. Ben Chancey to take the whole gang out in his 22 ft. Shearwater, instead. I wanted to meet the rest of Beau's family, so I met them at the ramp Friday morning, and saw them off after a couple of pictures.

The front was bearing down on us now, and the wind really kicked Friday morning. I guess it proved a bit much for one of the girls, who was expecting. But, they had managed to get in a morning of fun and sightseeing, and had a great time.

That's how the first week of February went. It was a warm week, and brought the water temperature back to around 71 by Friday. If the weather holds, and we don't get colds, this should be the beginning of some great fishing on the good tide days. We'll have to see how the week plays 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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