I took Monday of this week off to recover from the Sebring 12 Hour race, but had the rest of the week booked. But the weather reared it's ugly head again and gave us gusts to 32 MPH on Tuesday and still to around 25 on Wednesday.

Of course, it hadn't kicked yet when Rob Winnick and his Dad, of Edrina, Minnesota, and I left the dock on Tuesday morning. Oh, it was windy, but fishable. But, before we had completed our quest for bait the wind was absolutely howling, and the Sound was churning whitecap buttermilk, and we were getting wet trying to get anywhere. I told Rob not to be ashamed to toss in the towel if his heart wasn't in it, and shortly afterward, he did just that. Turned out to be the right decision, as the wind kicked even more through the day. I was really sorry the weather double crossed us, as Rob was taking his Dad on the trip as a birthday present.

The wind was down slightly on Wednesday for Joe Trad, and his group, but it was obvious it would be another miserable day to be out. All but a couple of guides canceled, and I bet they wished they had before it was over. I told Joe I would do my best to book him with another guide, since all my dates were full. Wednesday evening my friends Bo and Susan Mack, of Suffield, Connecticut, arrived to spend the night at the BarHopp'R camp with me. We had dinner and a good time. Thursday morning things weren't much different from the rest of the week, but Bo was so sick of fighting the cold and snow back home that he said he didn't care how bad it was, we were going fishing. So, we went!

Well, we went from Punta Rassa all the way to Cayo Costa Island chasing after bait, and used the better part of a 2.5 gallon bucket of chum and three hours, and for our efforts had maybe a dozen baits at the outside!! I was on the cellphone with several other guides, and everyone was having the same result. Bait had all but disappeared. Even worse, we couldn't get anything to eat our shiners or pinfish. Actually, we never got a hit on a pinfish, and caught 1 trout, and missed 4 fish on the dozen shiners we had managed to catch.

Desperate to find some kind of action, we headed up the river to catch ladyfish. Thank God, the ladyfish didn't double-cross us, too. There were plenty of them, and we had a good time catching those outsized fish that always seem to be in the river. We also got one jack crevalle. We finished the day at the Waterfront Restaurant, and that may well have been the highlight of the day. The food was fabulous, as always. I always love to see the Macks come, and am sad to see them go. They're such fun people. And, Bo is the guy who dubbed me "Radio Snoz"!

They say timing is everything, and it certainly was for Mark Moeller and his seventeen year-old son Andrew! The still angry winds of Thursday gave birth to a Friday with light and variable breezes. The Moellers drew the best weather day of the week, and the best fishing day, too.

We stopped on the Picnic Island flat to see if [maybe] we could get bait there. To my surprise, the bait was back! We got plenty. I wanted to start Mark and Andrew off on ladyfish to get them in the groove, and go put some redfish bait in the boat at the same time, so up the river we headed. The big ladyfish were there in spades, and we caught a load of them. What fun they are!

From there, we headed up into the Sound to try for trout. At the first stop, we had a bonanza of keeping sized trout, and caught plenty of them. We had been on steady action all morning to that point. For the final portion of the trip, we headed to a beautiful spot that often gives me great snook and redfish action. We switched to the ladyfish baits. Although we weren't able to get a good bite going, we did catch 2 redfish and 1 snook, completing the West Coast Slam for Mark. It was a great day, and the only descent weather day of the week.

If the ides of March would just go away, I think we'd see some really good fishing. Maybe next week we'll get that good weather we're all looking for.

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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