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It was a week of mostly tough tides, and lots of wind. Ironically, the numbers dwindled as the tides got better, and bait wasn't easy, either. Two of my trips were instructional in nature, so the emphasis was not on catching. It WAS a week of quality fish, with some great outsized reds coming to the boat.
First up on Monday was Sonny Stelmak, of Stafford Springs, Connecticut. We actually had the worst tide of the week, yet had the best production of the week in terms of numbers, and quality. Bait came pretty easily, as well. Once we were fishing Sonny did well, and put together an impressive day. By the time we were done, Sonny had boated 8 snook including 2 keepers, 6 big speckled trout, and 12 big redfish. He redfish included the largest I can remember catching on the shallow flats of Pine Island Sound; a 16 pound monster. I've caught bigger fish on the beach and offshore, but that's a great fish on the flats. Usually, redfish are long gone from the flats before they reach that size.
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We had a great day. Sonny also owns a home here in Cape Coral to which he hopes to soon retire. He has been out with another guide here, and had a blast, but didn't realize we had such nice fish here to catch.
Tuesday it was time for my bi-annual date with my dermatologist. Even though he has cut on me more than I like, I always enjoy my visit to Dr. Jay Herbst's office, up in North Port Charlotte. Thank God, I got a clean bill of health this time around.
Wednesday, I as back on the water with my old friends Ed Mahoney, and Tom and Mike. These are a great, fun bunch of guys, and a blast to fish with. We've had some great days. We'd had a front pass through on Tuesday. I warned Ed that between the wind and tide, we'd probably have a tough day, but he didn't believe me. We guides usually know before we leave the dock, though, how it's going to go.
We headed to Tarpon Bay, where we got bait, but it didn't come easily. A big east wind didn't make things any easier. We headed up into the Sound, and because of the wind, I had pretty much made the decision to stay on the east side. We hit a few spots without much going on. Finally, we found some fish that would eat. We had some slow, but steady action that gave us 3 big reds including 12 and 13.5 pound fish, 2 big trout, and 1 keeper snook. Only 6 fish, but they were quality fish. It was a slow day by BarHopp'R standards, but with all the laughing and cutting up with Ed, Mike, and Tom, we had a blast.
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Thursday was another fun day with a couple of great new guys, John Kennedy and his good friend Paul Lulgjuraj (pronouced loose-your-eye), of Tallahassee. John's family owns one of the remaining stilt houses up near Captiva Rocks. He's a local boy, and it was my first trip with him. He was interested in learning some of my techniques for fishing the Sound.
Bait was a bit tough, but we got plenty as we watched my friend Ed, Tom, and Mike from Wednesday, in Tom's red Action Craft, the Knumb Knots. They also got enough bait. The wind was still up, and the fishing wasn't easy. At the first stop, John and Paul boated 3 or 4 snook and a flounder, and missed several others. The snook were in the hit and run mode, and just knocking the scales off the bait and crippling it, but not wanting to eat it. The next stop yielded the boys 1 redfish, but at 12 pounds, it was a great one!
We made a big move to a favorite flat of mine where we were able to see pods of big redfish moving and flashing in the shallow water. I began my chumming routine in an effort to get the fish to stay in front of us and eat our offerings. The fish didn't go into a frenzy by any means, but the boys did delight in catching 12 of the big reds, along with a couple of big trout. As the tide came to a stop Paul finished the day with a small blacktip shark. It had been a fun day under tough conditions.
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The last day of the week was with another new customer, Eric Olauson, who has been in the area for a couple of years. He has read of some of my instructional trips, and after two years of fishing nearly every day some weeks, and not catching a snook or redfish, wanted to learn how to catch them. I asked Eric that morning, just to make sure, whether the emphasis should be on catching, or teaching, and he assured me he wanted it on teaching.
The first part of the lesson was on catching bait. I tried to give him not just facts like what kind of chum to use, but also to teach him how to reach the subtle intricacies of the water and wind. Bait was tough, and again Ed and the boys were nearby also having a hard time, but we all managed to get plenty of bait to fish with.
I began the lessons with snook, and what makes a good snook hole, when to fish, how to fish, how to present the bait, et al. We only fished a few minutes here and there as I showed him different aspects of snooking. The lessons continued with redfish. Eventually, as we moved and explored, Eric caught his first snook, and missed several others, as well. I wanted him to catch his first big red, too, so we moved to one of my favorite redfish flats, where we found another guide nearby. They managed to catch several puppy drum (juvenile redfish) on shiners, but I knew the big reds couldn't be far away. Eric also caught several small reds, but I still wanted him to get his first big red.
The other guide moved on, but we stayed with it. I could see the reds I wanted to catch out in front of us, and knew it would be a matter of time before we caught one. Persistence finally paid off, and Eric boated his first big red, a fish of nearly 10 pounds. He was thrilled. Our redfishing with cut bait also yielded 3 nice speckled trout, which gave Eric the Slam.
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So, Eric went home with his first snook and redfish, and the knowledge he needs to catch them in the future. His dilemma was boats. He has an 18 ft. Grady White, which he knows is not the proper boat for the kind of fishing we do here. He fell in love with the Talon, but is too impatient to wait the necessary time to have a custom boat built. So, he has to figure out what kind of boat to buy, to fish the flats. Perhaps, he'll want to take a trip in the Maverick.
And, speaking of the Mav, I picked her up from Fowler Marine, where my old friend Danny Fowler now does for himself what he did so well for Smith Marine. Danny took care of my old Barhopp'R's for several years, and kept them on the water, while he was at Smith Marine. After Craig lost his father, had a child, and morphed into something his friends and loyal customers didn't recognize, I lost track of Danny. Thanks to my cousin Capt. Sean Middleton for letting me know that Danny had opened his own business on the corner of Fowler Ave and Collins St. If you have an electrical problem or rigging challenge, Danny is your man. He's a fine young man, who knows his stuff, and really takes care of his customers. Anyway, Danny installed a Power Pole on the Maverick, as well as installing a couple of bow rod holders, a pop-up cleat on the poling platform, and replacing the bait well pump with a Rule cartridge unit. The Maverick is now, FINALLY, ready to go BarHopp'N!!
Thank you, Danny!
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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