The week began on a sour note with poor tides, and evolved into bad weather with the coming of yet another front. It ended well, though.

Monday was one of those days us guides would rather forget. I knew from the outset it would be a tough day, but I wasn't prepared for just how tough! The unlucky fishermen were Bob Cassell, and his son Bobby, and daughter, Emily, ages 14 and 10 respectively. We headed straight to Chino Island for bait, and got plenty without too much ado.

From there we went all over the place fishing, chumming, fishing, and by late in the trip we had one small trout and a few catfish to show for our efforts. I was totally frustrated. My last stop was a redfish hole in Wulfert Keys I hadn't visited in a long time, but hey, nothing else was working. As I pulled up to the spot, Bob noticed that there was a bird hanging upside down by some fishing line, that appeared to still be alive, as it was twitching occasionally. From the time I pitched the first bait up into the mangroves we had action, and the first fish was a small red. Unfortunately, that was the only fish the Cassells managed to drag out of there, as the rest of the hits were missed or broken off. I became exasperated! Once the tide was done, we went in and freed the bird, which was in really bad shape with a torn mouth and wasn't able to fly. I doubt he made it.

Back at the ramp Bob told me he thought I was a bit tough on the kids, and I probably was in my frustration. I broke a rule of guiding that is very hard to learn in the first place; if the customer isn't upset about not catching fish, the guide shouldn't be! I apologized to Bob then, and apologize to him publicly here and now.

Tuesday, I had a party of four including Chris Neggers, and his friend Chuck Evans, and Chuck's boys Danny and Keith, ages 15 and 10. The tide was marginally better than the day before, but the wind was from the northeast at 15, and I expected another tough day. I dreaded to think it could be a bad as Monday.

We headed once again to Chino Island where we found great bait, and were soon off to the first hole of the day. Thank God, the hole was full of beautiful, keeper sized trout, as it was supposed to be. The boys caught bunches of them, and kept 6 for the cooler. They also got one ladyfish, which we kept to use for redfish. Once the trout bite was over we headed to a good redfish flat and I began the chumming process. The fish have been on one day and not the next, but we did manage to catch 2 redfish before calling it quits. We all had a great time.

Thursday was cool and windy for Joe Worthington, and his young sons Matt and Joe, who were down from Connecticut. The tide was slightly better, and again, I figured the best chance of steady action would be pothole trout. After catching bait at Chino again, we were immediately on the trout for most of the morning. Joe and the boys caught a load of them, and kept 4 for the cooler, along with a nice founder, and later a snook. It was a pretty good day considering a front had just passed, and we had fun.

The week ended on a high note with Scott McLeod and his sons Don and Scott, and a Friday morning of pretty good fishing. After catching bait, I decided it was time to go and check the beaches for prespawn snook and spawning trout. We spent pretty much the whole trip out there, and caught a ton of big, beautiful speckled trout, a half dozen snook, and even a redfish for the Slam. The McLeods were a fun bunch, and got into the groove quickly, and we had a great time. Scott has since sent me a nice letter which you should find in the Testimonials section of this site.

So, that's how it went. It began horribly, but ended well.

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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