Well, I actually almost got a full week of fishing in this week, but Friday fell victim to the weather. I put it to good use, though. Read on.

Monday, I met my friends Stew and Lucy Evans, and their son Morgan, and daughter Elizabeth, of Littleton, Colorado, at the beach at the end of the runway on North Captiva. It was great to see them again. This year they had Liz along, whom I didn't meet last year. They're delightful folks, and I was looking forward to our two trips on Monday and Friday.

Since I had to run all the way to Safety Harbor on North Captiva, I decided to gamble on bait being in at Fosters Point, as it's just south of there. We were all delighted to find that not only was the bait there, but it was plentiful, and beautiful bait. We had enough for four anglers in pretty short order and were off to the fishing grounds.

I first made a stop looking for ladyfish. We didn't find ladyfish as usual, but did catch half dozen trout. I headed to our ultimate destination. Once there, I began the chumming process, and did it pay off! Through the course of the morning, we the Evans gang caught another 6 trout from 3 to 5 pounds, 6 snook to 33 inches, and around 15 redfish to 29 inches. They were once again amazed at how many fish we have to catch on a good day. Oh, they missed a lot of fish, too, and of course, I had fun teasing Liz, calling here Lizzard, Lizzard Lips, etc. Of course, she told me that her classmates call her that all the time.

Stew and Lucy wanted plenty of fish to keep for their week on North Captiva, as there are no grocery stores there! They were banking on catching lots, and that they did. They promised that none would go to waste. I headed back to Punta Rassa that afternoon smiling at what a great day it had been, not knowing that we wouldn't be able to meet and fish again on Friday.

What a difference a day makes! During the night a cold front had passed. Tuesday morning the wind was straight out of the north at 15+. I was to meet Ray Schol and his son Rhett, at 8:30, and we would fish the full incoming tide. My bud Mark Bess was running a trip with a party of four in my backup boat, BarHopp'R II, and leaving at 6:30. I had asked Mark to catch plenty of bait at Fosters, just in case the bait double-crossed us later in the morning. He did, and it did! When we arrived at Fosters, Mark was already gone, and Capt. Paul Hobby, who I'd told about the great bait the day before, was there chumming. I chummed and threw on four different spots without so much as a shiner! I couldn't believe it. Finally, I eased up to Paul to see if he was catching, and he hadn't caught a shiner either. I called Mark on the cell, and he assured me that he had loaded up the well on BarHopp'R II, but early. We rendezvoused with Mark and transferred enough bait for the day.

Mark was fishing a spot I had told him about and suggested he fish. There are tarpon there year-round, but I hadn't seen any in quite a while. When we met for bait, Mark was proud to tell us that they had jumped two large tarpon on his Shimano Stradic 2000 with 10 pound test, and both reels had been spooled! Since that, there wasn't anything doing but ladyfish and catfish.

Well, to make a long story short, we worked our butts off trying to get something going, but the fish just wouldn't hear of it. Through the course of the trip Ray and Rhett boated one 25 inch redfish and lost 2, caught one snook and lost two, and caught one 17 inch trout, and two jack crevalle. I knew Ray had high expectations about catching lots of fish after reading my website for so long, but it was not to be on this day. I felt really bad for him, but he was great about the slow bite, and we vowed to do better next Monday.

Wednesday was more of the same, weather-wise! Tony and Linda Kozumplik, of Sterling Heights, Michigan, were on board to try their luck, and I had decided upon a change of strategy. I knew from yesterday what didn't work, and I was determined to find something that would work in this north wind. Bait was fairly easy at Fosters, but was deeper, at about 5 feet.

I headed first to the same area as the previous day, except that instead of fishing the edge for trout and snook, I decided to fish a sunken boat hull for grouper. I had also brought along a tarpon rig, just in case we got a shot at the poons. That rod came in handy, as it turned out. The grouper were on the boat, and were willing to eat. Problem is, shallow water grouper are fierce fish. Much like snook in the shallows, they will dive into their hole or whatever they're living in and cut you off in a heartbeat. They're hard fighters, and tough on light tackle. Out of 7 hits, Linda lost a really big fish, that just freight-trainer her 12 pound rig after the hit, and four others. Tony landed a beautiful 21 inch gag grouper on the tarpon rod, and even then, it was all he could do to drag that joker out of that boat. Linda got one small gag to the boat. The rest were cutoffs. Tony and Linda also got 3 catfish and a jack crevalle. We also did see the tarpon roll twice not far off our bow, but couldn't get them to eat our baits. Figures. They knew we were ready!

We decided it was time to go after snook and redfish. Problem was, they had other ideas! I hit spot after spot with nothing but a 17 inch trout to show. Finally, I decided to head way north, to waters I rarely have to visit to catch fish. By then, the wind had shifted to northwest, and was perfect for the spot I wanted to fish. The snook didn't want to play right off the bat, but with some live shiner chumming, they turned on. We had a blast! Tony and Linda caught around 15 snook to 29 inches, and missed I don't know how many. Linad was quite a good angler, and I believe she cleanly outfished Tony. As the tide and action ended, and we prepared for the long ride home, Tony made the comment that he had always wanted to catch snook like that, but had only seen it done on TV! Well, that made my day. I can't tell you how happy I was that my hunch had paid off.

Thursday morning I was shocked at the roar in my ears from a 25 knot plus wind! Damn! Would it ever end? Tom Kayusa, an attorney from right here in Ft. Myers, had drawn a terrible day. Experience forced me to fear the worst. We headed to Fosters Point. The crossing was really rough. The water was very dirty from all the wind, and ironically, the bait was very easy. But the easy part ended right there!

I worked my butt off, hitting hole after hole, after hole. Tom and his friend fished hard. The fish just wouldn't play. We finally got 3 snook right in the same place that had been our salvation the day before. I knew the snook were there, but it was lockjaw city. We also got a couple of snapper hidden back in what is basically a winter spot, trying to catch some snook and stay out of the horrible wind. We finished the day at the Waterfront Restaurant. Tom and his bud were great guys, and lots of fun. They took it all in stride, and promised to be back for another try.

Friday morning I opened the door at 4:30 AM, and the wind slapped me in the face like an insulted woman. I went through the motions. I loaded up and headed to the ramp. I called Stew Evans from the Hess station at around 5:30, and he agreed that we should stay in. I was thankful that we had pulled off one great trip. I was also determined to make the best use of the day, and try to find a place to call a work house close to the ramp. I'll spare you the details, but I was successful in finding a very suitable place just four minutes from the ramp, and bought it, and moved in that day! The move will give me back easily two hours of my day, every day, plus save me considerably on gas now that prices are so high.

Note: Those of you who have trips booked in the future, or who may want to book, should note my new phone numbers. Home/office is 239-628-3522, and the new cell phone number is 239-633-5851.