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I woke up Monday morning wondering what the status of an approaching front would be. I quickly checked radar and the forecast, and there was plenty of weather in the Gulf and a 60% chance of rain and thunderstorms. Not a good forecast. I tried to call my new customers Bill and Nancy Schrader, of Newark, New York, to see if there was a possibility of rescheduling. I was surprised to find the switchboard at Sundial is unmanned after hours. Hard to believe! So, I began making my morning preparations.
Later, I met Bill and Nancy at the ramp and explained the options to them; basically that it would storm at some point in the day, but that the fish would eat well, if we went. It didn't take them long to make the decision to go fishing, and we were off to Tarpon Bay for bait. Bait was tough, and not knowing how long the weather would hold, I just wanted to get enough shiners and pinfish to fish with, and get going. I didn't see the wisdom in spending a lot of time catching a bunch of bait we may not get to use.
As we arrived at the first stop Nancy announced that she was feeling sick. I couldn't imagine she could be seasick, and she quickly explained that her abdomen was cramping bad because she had to use the bathroom. She was embarrassed, but hey, it happens! I told her the options were to use the bucket, get out on an oyster bar (not a good option), or squat in the very warm and shallow water. She opted for the latter, and was soon back aboard feeling much better.
Once Nancy was back in the boat we went ahead and fished right where we were, and never left that hole until we decided to try to get in under the weather. We had great action from the start. We started with snook action as we worked our way down a short shoreline with the south wind at our back. Bill got a beautiful slot snook of 10 pounds and 32 inches, and Nancy also got a slot fish. In all they put 10 snook in the boat. We turned our attention and bait presentations to redfish, using cut pinfish, and soon had some redfish action going. Of course, we also caught them on live shiners. Before the weather really began to threaten, Bill and Nancy had boated 12 redfish to 7 pounds, as well as 3 big trout to 4 pounds, and their 10 snook. It was a great, if a bit abbreviated morning of fishing. Nancy had truly christened that hole for us.
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I explained that I could tell the weather was getting closer, and thought it would be prudent to get back to the ramp before the strong winds kicked, and we were forced to return home in nasty water, lightning, and heavy rain. We headed in at around eleven o'clock. We'd had a great time, and I knew I had made some great new friends.
I was to fish with my old friend Mike Howard, on Tuesday, but I knew that the day after the passing of what turned out to be a very active front, the fishing would be awful. I called Mike, and we rescheduled our outing to Thursday.
I knew it was a 50/50 shot at descent fishing on Wednesday, for my first trip with Mike Ortiz, who now resides here in Ft. Myers. But, Bill had told me he wanted this to be primarily a learning trip, and with that objective in mind, catching was not that important. So, we headed to Tarpon Bay to begin our day. Again, bait was not easy, but we got plenty for what we were going to do.
I spent the morning showing Mike the things that make a place good for snook and good for redfish. Knowing what the fish want in the way of cover and conditions is more important than learning specific spots. Also, knowing what lies beneath the water is very important. We went from spot to spot fishing for just a few minutes at each, and talking about the features of each spot. The snook were in that hit and run mode they so often assume after the passing of a front. In addition, we were just coming off the full moon, which makes them hard to catch.
We did run into a hot bite at a hole near Joselyn Island. We had quickly caught 6 or 7 snook when I decided to see how serious Mike was about the instruction part of the trip, and suggested we move on and leave the snook biting. Mike surprised me when he agreed. We moved on to cover a few more spots before the tide was done, or he reached mental overload. Mike was fun, and a good student, and I enjoyed my day with him.
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Thursday was the last trip for the week. I met my friend Mike Howard at the Waterfront Restaurant, and we headed to Tarpon Bay, where my buddy Capt. Butch Boteler was already in the process of catching bait. We joined him, and doubled-teamed the bait. Once we both had plenty, we went our separate ways.
It was really special to get to spend a day with Mike, again. It had been a number of years since we fished together. Mike is a tough lung cancer survivor who is coming up on his five years clean, and is looking better than ever. He bounces back and forth between New Hampshire, Orlando, and his place on Pine Island as he develops custom software across the net.
Mike told me he wanted this to be a relaxing, no pressure day for both of us, and he wanted me to catch some fish, too. I thought I'd try to show Mike some new territory that he could fish from his own Skinnywater. At one of our first stops, Mike caught his biggest redfish ever; a 15 pound beauty on a piece of sliced and diced pinfish. We couldn't get any others to eat, and moved on.
At our next stop, we got on a good snook bite. They weren't big ones, but they were willing and fun. At our next stop we caught only a couple more, but nearly every bait we tossed got hit. By the time we moved on, we had a total of around 15 snook. Eventually, we headed back to the spot where Mike had caught his big red to see if we could catch more on the top of the tide. Mike only got one more red, but it was nearly 14 pounds. We also caught around a dozen big trout to 5 pounds. Once we began catching catfish and stingrays we knew the tide was done, and headed back to the Waterfront to finish with a great lunch. It was great to spend a day with my friend after so long, and good to see him happy, prosperous, and especially healthy.
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Next week is a week of very poor tides for a good part of the week, and the schedule is not full. So, it's maintenance time, and the Talon went to see my friend Danny Fowler at Fowler Marine, mainly for piddly stuff like repairing the jackplate, replacing broken battery hold downs, etc. Monday I go to the doctor for license renewal X-rays, and for the associated drug test.
The weather prospects are good, so maybe by the latter half of the week the fishing will turn on.
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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