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I think I remember mentioning in last week's report that we had a front coming. Man, what an understatement. I don't think even the weather people had any idea just how vicious the front would be. We had heavy rains, thunderstorms, tornadoes, and gale and hurricane force winds Sunday and Monday. We recorded 55 MPH winds where I live not far from the ramp, and 80 MPH winds in places on Pine Island. That's serious stuff, and I don't think we had that much wind with the last tropical storm in 2001. It blew the fence down across the back of my house, and filled the Talon with oak leaves. Funny thing about that is that there is no oak tree anywhere near where I park the boat.
So, a shelling trip with Mike Siegelsky and his family on Monday, a fishing trip with a North Captiva pickup with Shawn Lemarie on Tuesday, and a trip with Harold Singer and a couple of his friends on Wednesday, were all in the dumper because of the weather and high winds that persisted even after the front had passed. I finally got on the water Thursday with my old friend Harold Tollrian, for our second trip of his stay. I knew it would be a very tough trip. it was still windy, but doable, and the water was a mess; both dirty and full of seaweed. I knew the fish would not want to eat, but Harold didn't have the option of rescheduling. We went for it.
We headed to Tarpon Bay for bait, where others were already chumming. Although it didn't come easily, we got enough shiners and pinfish to fish. I didn't learn until later than some of the others there had not gotten bait. Pothole fishing would necessarily be the order of the day. The constant and brutal north winds for days had not allowed the water to come in, and the tide was well below normal. We had a high tide of 1.5 ft. above MLW, but from what I saw out there, it never even approached 1.0.
So, Harold and I went pothole fishing, hoping to at least find some willing speckled trout (weakfish). In the first half of the morning we found only 4 trout, but they were all keepers, and at the top of the slot. Ironically, we caught them on a jig worked very slowly just like we would do during the cold of winter. We later fished a beautiful redfish flat, but never had a redfish strike. Harold did catch a beautiful 5# speckled trout, though, which he was very pleased with. Snook? Oh, we had many snook hits during the trip, but they were the classic hit and run that you can't even feel with Power Pro. You reel your shiner in to check it and it's scaled and half dead; the signature of a snook! Very frustrating.
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So, Harold and I had a 5 weak(fish) day, which made the week. We had fun, and finished with a great lunch at the Waterfront Restaurant, where Harold delighted to the stuffed deviled crabs along with me.
I was to fish with my old friends Rod and Judy Heflin, on Friday, who have recently sold their business in Miami, and retired to Pine Island. As much as I needed to work, I just didn't have the heart to drag them out there on a day when I knew the conditions were going to continue to keep the fish turned off. They're local now, and can fish anytime. So, we'll reschedule.
That's it. A full week reduced to one tough day because of a freak cold front. Hopefully, that's the last of that stuff for this year! Next week is also full, and the tides are pretty good. We'll see!
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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