I took the first two days of this week off to take care of some personal business, and scheduled trips the rest of the week. But, as usual! The weather got in the way.

My first trip was on Wednesday, and it was my first trip with Dave Irwin, who is a teacher and football coach over in Lake Placid, Florida. Dave is a rabid fisherman, and has spent a lot of time fishing these waters during his life. Like me, he is a native Floridian.

I met Dave at the Waterfront Restaurant in St. James City at 7:00 AM, and since I was already in that part of the Sound, I headed straight across to Tarpon Bay for bait. It certainly didn't come easily, and the water kept switching directions on us, making it hard to read and bait hard to catch. But, by drawing the chum in closer to us we were able to get enough bait for a day of fishing, and were on our way after an hour or so.

By the time we got to our first stop the water was already fairly high, being about half way through a very early incoming tide. We had lots of snook there, and saw plenty of them before it was over, but only managed to get 5 to eat. It was a tough bite. After working the area over well, we moved on. We left a lot of snook behind.

At our next stop further north into the Sound we only managed to trick a couple of snook, and missed a couple outright, as well. There were plenty of fish there, as we saw any number of them roll up on our baits as they swam near the mangroves on the current. But, getting them to do anything other than scale the bait was a real chore.

At the next spot it was more of the same; lots of scaled baits and we only managed to catch a couple more snook. Our tide was fast grinding to a halt, and I wanted to get on some redfish for Dave, if possible. I made a last move to a spot that has been giving up some nice fish for the last few weeks, and there we burned the one ladyfish Dave had caught earlier.

Fortunately, we got one more snook, and 5 very nice redfish on those ladyfish steaks, and that made the day. Dave seemed pretty pleased with those reds!

Oddly, I had to race summer pattern thunderstorms to get the Talon put to bed. The rain and thunder came just as I got her parked.

While working on this report today I received the following email from Dave. I thought it was great, and that you would enjoy reading it. Dave's personality and sense of humor come right through, and he's quite a wordsmith, as well.

Hey Butch,

I just wanted to let you know that the trip last Wednesday was Great!!! I forget how sloppy my techniques are until I fish with a real professional. Your charters will crank up the learning curve, even for experienced anglers!!! I really appreciate the tips you gave me on fishing Pine Island sound!! The big reds we caught were a blast!!! I was kinda glad we ran out of bait, my damn arms were getting tired(hahaha) I hope we can get together when I come to St. James over the summer. You can hop on my boat and relax, I will do all the work this time!!! We probably won't catch as many fish though!!

As for the unfortunate red fish who met an untimely demise do to a deep hook, you will be pleased to learn of his last resting place. His viewing was held in the cooler at the back of my pickup truck and was attended by several neighbors and my curr dog hound. We had many beers and toasted his great fighting abilities!!! He then ended up on my grill being blackened, and was then placed over a nice bed of my wife's homemade spinach alfredo linguini!! In attendance at his wake were a grilled hearts of romaine ceasar salad, and a nice bottle of pinot grigio!!! He will not be soon forgotten!!! AMEN

Thanks again and tight lines,

Dave Irwin

LPHS Science Department / Athletics

Thursday was reserved for my favorite crew, Alan Kingston and his brother Jack, and their good friend John Bond. Alan and John are from Apopka, Florida, near Orlando, and Jack lives in Atlanta. They're all great guys, and a riot, but when you get the three of them together it's about as much fun as you can have in public with your clothes on. We've been fishing together for many years, now, and always have a great time. We usually manage to do pretty well, too.

I opted to go right across from the ramp on the west side of the river behind the barge, where I'd gotten bait Friday. It was much earlier than it had been on Friday, and it should have been much easier. But, I couldn't get the first shiner to the boat, and didn't see anyone in half dozen other boats catch any, either. I didn't want to waste any more of the very early tide, and took off for Tarpon Bay. Fortunately, with John chumming, we made pretty quick work of the bait, and had plenty. My back was about to give out, though.

Part of my game plan was to catch ladyfish and go use them to work on a big school of reds in the north end of the Sound. So, we stopped near the powerlines, tied on TerrorEyez, Cotee jigs, and Mirrodine, and went to work. Jack immediately showed his lure fishing prowess as he caught quite a few very nice trout, a big pompano, and eventually some ladyfish, all on the TerrorEyez. Never saw a pompano eat one of those before! The guys caught lots of fish there, but once we had the fourth ladyfish in the well, we took off to find our big school of reds.

I wanted to sneak in on them quietly and put those ladyfish steaks on them from 50 yards away. I didn't want to see them, and chance them seeing us and spooking out. But, the only thing we caught were catfish. We couldn't get a red to eat. After several moves, with still no results, I decided it was time to move on, and go to work on the fish I'd been catching for nearly a month.

But, the wind had kicked pretty well out of the southeast, and when we got to Redfish Pass the water was bucking the wind, and made for a wild ride for a while. But, we passed much larger boats that were struggling with the sharp waves and pressed on to our next spot. Time was wasting!

I saw a couple of reds as we snuck into our spot. I knew they were there, but it didn't hurt for the guys to see them. WE put out three lines with ladyfish steaks mounted, and I chummed with chopped shiners, live shiners, and leftovers, and we only managed to catch one snook and one slot redfish. The fish just weren't having any part of what we were selling. WE stuck with it, as I learned a long time ago that if you're patient with the reds when you know you're on them, you'll usually be rewarded for your patience. But, this day it was not to be. We finally voted to try catching some snook, although I knew that with the tide now sitting lifeless, that would also be a tall order.

We moved a short distance to an area I hadn't fished in quite some time. It always has fish this time of year, but I just got to doing other things and trying to keep the running down some with the high price of gas.

The boys hit a snook, and then another, and another. I was surprised. And, then we hit the mother load as we moved along an edge. We had a great snook bite for at least an hour, and put nearly two dozen in the boat before it was over. And, as we neared the end of the shoreline, I told Alan that I'd taken more big snook from this spot than anywhere else in the Sound. I'd no more than told him that when he got slammed by a really big snook. You know it's a good fish when the rod is bent right down to the handle. But, it wasn't long before the leader parted above the hook, and the big snook swam free. We couldn't get her to eat, again.

Friday was to be a day with my long time friends and favorite couple Ron and Pat Hunter, of Palmetto. We've been fishing together for years, and always like to get together at the fishcamp either before or after we fish. We've had some great times together on and off the water, and I love them to death.

But, we were looking at a steadily deteriorating weather report for Friday. By Thursday night the forecast was for winds out of the south at 17, gusting to 25! Not a good forecast for three old farts all with bad backs! And, Ron and Pat being just up the road, they can pick their days. It's not like being here on vacation for a week, and not having any alternatives. We've canceled trips over the years a multitude of times trying to get that great weather day on a great tide. And, we usually pull it off and do well. We'll try for another day.

So, I'm sitting here looking at the extended forecast, and we have a 50% chance of rain and thunderstorms for the whole weekend. I have a rare Sunday trip scheduled with Bob White, who lives here in Ft. Myers. The trip was a gift from his wife. It's kind of looking like we may be trying to find a better day, as well. Sometimes we can't make the call until the morning of our trip. I do have a full week, so I hope the weather cooperates.

Be sure to check out www.BestFishingBooks.com, Books and gifts for fishermen from my friend Jim Dicken!

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