The snook bite was tough all week, and seemed to get tougher as the week ground on. I couldn't get a redfish to eat, and only found a few trout as by-catch.

My Monday customer canceled at the last minute due to some unusual work circumstances back home. We'll reschedule. I already had Tuesday as an off day. So, Monday I took my van to Bret Preston of Mobile Detailing, to have it detailed. Bret, who did his first work for me on my Boatmaster trailer, now has a shop on San Carlos Boulevard. He did great work. He advertises boat, car, and truck detailing, as well as marine repairs, bottom painting, and waterless wash. I thought the conscientious job he did on my trailer warranted trying out his detailing skills. Well, he did my van for $50.00, and did a superior job to anything anyone else has done in the past for as much as thrice the money. I'm talking a full detail, inside and out. And, it's so shiny it looks wet. He did a fabulous job.

I got the van back around noon on Monday, and after seeing it began to believe that he could in fact restore my Talon to like new condition. He quoted me $16.00/foot, and I took it to him that afternoon. She's still a pretty boat, but was definitely showing the fact that she's a work boat, and has never once had any polish put on her. I thought she deserved a spit and shine, and Bret swears the products he uses are superior to anything else on the market, and will hold up very well to the extreme marine environment.

It wasn't ready until 6 PM on Tuesday. Bret and his girlfriend Sharon had worked on my Talon for untold hours, and had cleaned and polished every inch of her; bottom, top, and under the hatches. The only thing he missed was the baitwell, and he probably didn't even realize it was hiding under the console seat. It looks fabulous. She's got to many dings and nicks to look brand spanking new after six years of charter fishing, but she looks beautiful. And, the seafoam hull does look brand new, and is back to the original color, about four shades lighter than when it went into the shop.

Folks, I highly recommend this guy, Bret Preston, based on the three jobs he's done for me. He completely detailed my van and boat, and I walked out the door for $400 including tip! I know you don't care about this if you're not a local reader, but I want the folks in this area to know about Bret. There is someone out there who will do great work at a great price! His number is 239-440-8850. Give him a call and let him spruce up your babies. You'll be glad you did.

So, I was feeling pretty sporty arriving at the ramp Wednesday morning looking like I was driving a new van and pulling a new Talon. And, some of the guys noticed immediately, even in the darkness. My customer was Bob Nagy, of Maumee, Ohio. Bob and I first fished together a couple of years ago, and had a great time. He's a great guy, and I was looking forward to seeing him, again. His fishing partner on this trip was his cousin Gary.

It was just beginning to get light as I arrived at the Waterfront Restaurant to pick up Bob and Gary. In fact, we heard the crack of dawn as we were idling out of the long manatee zone! Then, we were off to Chino Island for bait. And, boy! Was bait great! We had the big well of the Talon loaded to black bottom condition in no time. We were ready to fish. But, would the fish be ready to eat on this the day of the full moon?

I fully expected a tough day, as is so often the case on full moon tides. And, the tide, although a high one, was not particularly strong, moving only 1.1 ft. over 6 hours. I fully expected a slow to mediocre day as far as catching went. But, although not a strong bite, the day went better than expected.

We began fishing for snook in the potholes. The water was low enough that I couldn't get in to them with my big butt in the boat. So, I got out and walked us in to position to fish the first one. We fished three holes and managed about 8 snook. Once the tide had moved high enough for the snook to move out of the holes, we moved out as well. There were a lot more snook there than we caught, as we had many baits scaled by the temperamental linesiders.

At the next stop we did quite a bit of chumming, and managed another half dozen snook. We couldn't get a redfish to eat, though. So, after working the area hard and giving the fish time to decide to eat, we moved on. We went several miles to a new area, and settled in on a beautiful spot where Bob and Gary caught several more snook, and one trout. Once chumming would inspire no more hits, we moved on to what would be our last hole of the day, where the boys again caught more snook, and another trout, and again no reds.

By now it was time for lunch, and the tide was well done. We headed back to our point of origin for a great lunch at the Waterfront, where everything is soooo good. It had been a fun filled day, and great to spend it with Bob and meet Gary.

Thursday, my trip was with Gerard Ripo, and his buddies Sean Martin and Sam Marshall. Gerard and I first fished together a couple of years ago, with his friends John Wojdak and John Queet. He's a great young man, and we've been friends since, as have I and John Wojdak. As luck would have it, I ran into Sam Marshall a few weeks ago on the water. He recognized me, and was in a Maverick just like mine. We chatted from across the water, and today I would get to shake his hand.

Once we had everything stowed, we were off to get bait. I decided I'd start close to home back at the B Span flats. There was only one other boat there, which seemed odd. The bait didn't come right away, but once it did we loaded up with plenty for live chumming and fishing. We were set.

I decided to go back to the potholes that I had begun with the day before. Now, the water would be about an inch deeper, and I might be able to get in to them without getting out of the boat. But, with three plus me, it wasn't to be. I had to get out and walk us into position. To my surprise, we couldn't get a earnest bite. We had plenty of baits scaled, but that was it. The fish were lockjawed.

We moved on. We did find some action at the next stop, but it was a very tough bite. Gerard and Sam were fishing in earnest, but Sean was on his Blackberry most of the time, takin care of bidnez! We were teasing him about being addicted to it. Gerard and Sam each got several snook. Sean got one. But, the highlight of the day was at that hole when a beautiful 9 pound snook made Sam's line sizzle through the water as it took off on full afterburners! Sam did a great job of beating the fish down and landed her. We released her after a few pictures.

We caught a few more snook at the next stop, but we were pretty much run out of it by the invading floating clumps of seaweed that look for all the world like floating islands of human fecal matter! It's nasty stuff, and I'm noticing it all over the Sound, covering over the turtle grass to where you can hardly see it. It looks to me like our estuary has a problem, as I don't recall ever seeing this stuff invade like this in the past.

We crossed the Sound in search of cleaner water, and although we found it we didn't find fish that would eat. We fished our way down the side of a beautiful mangrove key, and although we were treated to the sight of many big snook laid up on the sand holes, we couldn't get a fish to eat. With the tide done and the inevitability of the full moon lockjaw, we headed to the Waterfront Restaurant to unlock our own jaws. Once there, the bite was on! Even though it had been a tough day with only around a dozen snook, it had been a blast with a great bunch of guys. I can't wait to do it, again.

Friday morning found me gliding through the early morning darkness with my path illuminated by the now waning full moon to meet Nick Fredericks at the Waterfront Restaurant at six o'clock. What a beautiful morning! Capt. Rey Rodriguez and I did a two boat trip with Nick, Barbara, and the rest of the family a couple of years ago, and had a blast. Rey took the guys fishing, and I took the Barbara and the girls shelling and sightseeing and to do a little not to serious fishing. This time, just Nick and Barb were here on vacation, and I was to take them fishing. But, when I got to the dock, Barb said she was staying home, as it was just too early for her.

After chatting with Barb for a while and getting caught up on happenings in the family, Nick and I were off to catch bait. Bait had been great at Chino Island the last four times I had been there after picking up at the Waterfront, and I fully expected it to be great on this morning. But, after trying several spots we had less than a dozen baits! I couldn't imagine what was going on. We headed to Flamingo flats, and it was more of the same. After several moves we had not added another bait to the well. Well, hell! Time was wasting! I decided to head out to Redfish Pass to see if I could find bait on the beach at Charley's Pass. I hadn't been over to that area since last summer, and was shocked to see two pieces of new land, islands if you will, protruding from the waters just outside the pass. Apparently, they are the product of some serious shoaling over the past year.

The water on the beach was gin clear. The water was flat, as well, but there were ground swells rolling in that had me reluctant to get right up on the shoreline, where I knew the bait would be. We could see the bait flipping and flashing next to the shore, and mullet flashing just a few feet off the bank. And, we were treated to the sight of a large barracuda of about 5 feet in length, rush in and consume a large mullet right in front of us. How cool it is to watch nature at work! I had been thinking about getting out of the boat and wading to the shore to throw the castnet, but that quickly changed my mind. I'm not ready to be called PegHopp'R! So, I just decided to ease up on the bank and see if it would be manageable for me to control the boat and throw the net at the same time. It was OK, and in about 6 throws I loaded the well as Nick provided conversation and moral support. Finally! We were ready to fish.

Since we were right there, I told Nick that I wanted to check a spot on the Foster Bay flats. It has been good to me over the years, but the big schools of redfish that used to inhabit the flat before Hurricane Charley cut the pass don't seem to come there, anymore. As I approached the area I put the flaps down and motor up so that I could run slowly on step and look around. I was shocked to see redfish scooting everywhere. Nick agreed that we should see if we could get them to eat. But, in the slack tide and slick water conditions we had, they weren't about to bite.

We moved on to the spot I had been headed for. The turtle grass in the area looked terrible; smothered by this brown smutz growing and floating everywhere. And, although Nick had his cork pulled under a couple of times, we never got a real bite. Not liking what I was seeing, I was ready to move on.

The next area I wanted to fish was just full of this brown fecal looking seaweed floating everywhere. It would have been impossible to fish. We kept on moving. After a fifteen minute ride we settled on a mangrove key that I love to fish, and finally found some action. Nick finally broke the ice and caught a few snook. He also broke off one.

We moved on to another beautiful spot. Nick caught a few more snook and a nice trout, and broke off another fish. We saw a couple of very large snook laid up on the sand holes, even on the high tide, but they weren't about to eat anything.

We moved on to what would be the last stop of the day. It's a small, beautiful island, and mullet were jumping everywhere on the west side. We found a bit more action there, as snook crashed my live chum, and Nick managed to catch two or three more snook and break another one off. By now, the tide had already turned around and it was getting late. We headed home to the Waterfront.

Nick and I snacked and chatted while we waited on Barb to come pick him up. Once she did we chatted for quite a while before I headed back to Punta Rassa ramp. I could have stayed and talked for the rest of the afternoon, but I still had a couple hours of work to do. Nick promised to be back in another year or two for another two boat trip with Rey and me, and we said our good-byes. I hadn't gotten to actually fish with him on the previous trip. What a great guy. I sure enjoyed the day.

So, although it was a short week and a slow bite, it was a great week with great folks, and lots of fun. What a great biz I'm in!

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

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