Weather and a last minute cancellation left me with three trips to talk about this week. Fishing was pretty good.

My old friend Bob McGuire, one of my favorite fishing buddies, was up on Monday. Bob and I always seem to have a good time, no matter what Mother Nature deals us. Bob just loves to fish. We were looking at a southeast wind at 15, and an expected high of around 95. Summer come early. Our first stop was at Chino Island for bait, which came easily. We were off.

Our first stop was a good one. We had great snook action with a few trout and one redfish thrown in for good measure. We hit many spots in four different areas, most of which gave us some fish. We fished on both sides of the Sound and caught on both sides. By the end of the tide Bob had boated a total of 17 snook, including 2 keepers of 6 pound and 27.5 inches, 3 or 4 trout, and a keeper redfish. Bob was a pretty happy camper. He had scratched his fishing itch.

Boy it's nice to have two days in a row with friends you just love to fish with. That was the case as Dr. John Hitt joined me on Tuesday for a morning of snook fishing. The wind was around to the southwest at 15, and the temp was once again to be in the mid 90's. It was back to Chino for bait, and then off in pursuit of more snook.

Our first stop was probably the best. We had a good snook bite, and caught several trout, too. Once the action was over there, we hit a number of other spots, and went and looked for redfish at North Captiva, but didn't find them. By quitting time, John had caught some 12 to 15 snook, and 3 trout. Not a stellar day by our standards, but certainly not a bad one, either. As with Bob, John and I always have fun, no matter what comes our way.

The last trip was on Saturday, with Mike Cassidy and Mike Butter, of St. Petersburg. The morning had shaped up to be a tough one. We had a brisk west, southwest breeze at 15 plus, a front was on our doorstep, and the tide was a miserable 12 hour crawling tide. Not good!

Bait, as it turned out, was the easy part of the trip. Chino flats gave us all we needed. But, catching fish was another story. I often joke with my customers that the first rule of guiding is to fish where they are. It seems obvious, but when there is a tough or no bite, you wonder what the customer might be thinking. A good guide doesn't fish where they ain't!! There are days when we can't make them bite no matter what we do. The fish don't care how good the guide is, or who the customer is. When they ain't gonna eat, they ain't gonna eat! Simple as that.

Well, this was one of those days, when all the position, fame, money and power would not buy you a bite. Mike Cassidy had told me the prior evening all he needed was to catch one fish, and he'd be happy. Well, hell! We caught 1 snook, lost 1 snook, caught 3 trout, and lost 3 trout, and poor Cassidy didn't catch the first fish. Butter caught 'em all. So, I don't know for sure where that left Mike Cassidy, but he seemed to be OK with it, and I think he enjoyed the day on the water.

These are the times that try guides' souls. Who said that?

I have posted the final thumbnailed pictures on the Talon Page of this website, for those interested in seeing how one of these jewels goes together.

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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Gamefish Diaries! You'll love these great fishing stories from my good friend Chic McSherry.

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