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The condition of my back was again the big issue this week. It had not improved over the weekend of rest at Don Pedro Island. I knew the constant pounding it was taking fishing on the beaches was not a good thing. Oh, the Talon has a great ride, but when the wind is southeast, south, or southwest at more than about 10 MPH, it makes the beaches rough to the point it doesn't matter what you're in if you have a back problem. Standing on a constantly moving platform once you're fishing further aggravates the situation. I was fast coming to the conclusion that I was going to have to stay out of the Gulf.
But, Monday would be a tough day because I had another pickup at North Captiva, which meant a lot of sitting and riding, and if things were rough, bouncing. My guests were Mark Goldman and his son Grif, and Mark's friend Bill. It was our first trip together, and I wanted to be at my best, but when I crawled out of bed that morning and almost fell on my face, I knew it would be a long day.
I limped my way to the ramp and headed to Picnic Island for bait. I wanted to catch bait and be on the way to pick mark up by 7 AM, but that was not to be. Bait was tough, and that was aggravated by my trouble throwing the net, and by constantly interrupting the chumming to do so. It was past eight o'clock by the time I had enough bait to fish with, and by then there was a strong southeast wind blowing. I dreaded the ride to pick up Mark and the boys. I knew it would be rough, at least in proximity to the passes.
It was around 8:30 by the time I got to North Captiva, and I had problems reaching Mark on the phone to tell him I was finally on my way. But, Mark, Grif, and Bill were on the beach in front of the runway with smiles on. I have to be honest and tell you that the rest of the day was blurred by the pain I was in. As I recall I made the decision to stay inside and fish the flats both because of my back and because of the travel time involved to get to good snook action.
I honestly don't remember what the boys caught, but I believe they caught a few snook, and around a dozen reds. We had an early tide, and by the time the sun got overhead well, everything came to a screeching halt. We hadn't set the world on fire, but the boys let me know they were happy with the fish they'd caught, had a great time, and were happy to take home a limit of redfish for dinner.
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The episode has brought home to me how serious pain can alter your perspective, patience, attitude, mood, and even memory. By the time I got home that evening, I knew I had to seek some professional help. My Tuesday trip was to be with George Rogers, of Lakeland, Florida, who had won a trip I had donated to the March of Dimes. I knew I needed help, and needed off the water, and called George and asked him to please allow a reschedule. George was very nice, and more than understanding, and I then made an appointment with James M. Kolodziej (ziej pronounced jay), a chiropractor here in Fr. Myers. I've never been a believer in chiropractic methods, but did so at the urging of those who care about me.
My Tuesday session with Mr. Kolodziej made a believer out of me. After X-rays, some consultation, and some therapy, I practically skipped out of the office. Oh, I still had pain, but nothing like before the visit. I thought I had been cured in one miraculous visit, though. The next morning, however, I knew that wasn't the case.
My long time friend Russ Hubbard had come over Tuesday evening. We had dinner and he spent the night at the fish camp, so we could get an early start. He was taking his customer, John Staffeld, fishing. By the time we had caught bait with my buddy Capt. Butch Boteler at Picnic that morning, I was still feeling pretty good. But, by the time we went around the outside of Sanibel to the Stickbeach for snook, I was hurting, and knew the road to recovery wouldn't be as short as I had hoped.
On the beach we had a pretty good bite for a while, and caught a good 30 snook, a couple of big Spanish mackerel, and a couple of trout. We were all a bit off, and did a lot of joking about it being amateur hour, as we all missed connecting to too many fish.
Once the bite slowed on the beach we headed inside to see if we could scare up some redfish. I needed flat water! Our first stop on a normally great redfish flat, revealed that the flat was absolutely lifeless. There weren't even mullet jumping, which is most unusual. I worked my way along the flat for a while, and even found a pod of redfish all by themselves, but they were not about to eat.
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We moved on, and after some chumming and adjusting finally found some redfish. We missed several good hits, but did manage to put three reds to 12 pounds into the boat before the tide was done. We headed to the Waterfront Restaurant for lunch. Later that afternoon, after cleaning the boat and preparing for the next day's trip, I went back to Jim Kolodziej for my second visit. Although I left with a dull pain in my right lower back, the next morning I felt like a new man.
I sped around to Sanibel Harbor to once again meet Dave Adair, for our second trip. Fortunately, Dave had already told me he wanted to do as we had done last year, and make the second trip a trip fishing the flats and mangroves in the Sound, instead of going for the sure snook action on the beach. I knew that would be good for my back.
We got bait at Picnic Island, but not without some ado. It didn't come easily. We did get more than enough for the two of us, and soon headed up into the Sound. We began on the east side looking for snook action, and actually Slammed in the first hole. It was a nice surprise that we not only caught a few snook, but several trout, and 7 or 8 redfish in that hole. Moving on we caught several more redfish, but didn't get a good bite going at the second stop.
At our third stop we were all over redfish. We saw numerous fish as we made moves with the boat, but couldn't get the first one to eat. In frustration, I moved on, and that move was the charm. At the fourth stop we carved a ladyfish Dave had caught at the previous stop. That was the charm. We had immediate action, and much to the chagrin of another guide in the area, caught 8 or 9 nice redfish. The action was over when the tide stopped moving.
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Dave and I headed to the Waterfront Restaurant feeling good about our day. Both Dave and I prefer the beauty and solitude of fishing in the Sound. We were happy with the day, and it had been the first day in two weeks that my back had not been a controlling issue. Fortunately, Dave and I were able to put together two great days during his vacation.
Thursday night, long after I had retired, I received a call from my old friend Dr. Jack Crozier, who was flying down just for a day of fishing. He left a message that he was stranded in Philadelphia, his flight having been canceled because of weather, and would not make our date. He was obviously very disappointed from the sound of his message, and I really felt bad for him. Well, Jack! I guess we'll just have to catch twice as many fish next time.
I had my third visit with the chiropractor Friday afternoon. I could feel great progress. It is Sunday as I am writing this report, and my back is very much improved. I don't think that would be the case without James Kolodziej. For any of you local readers who might have back problems, I highly recommend him.
We have some very tough tides next week. They're not a big factor when fishing on the beach, but they'll be a factor for me as long as I'm ordered off the beach by Mr. Kolodziej. I'll be thankful for anything we can put into the boat this coming week.
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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