Actually, I was on vacation this week, so this report will be short. I did, however, schedule a trip with Herman Krukenberg for June 18th, long before I realized it was during my vacation week. So, once we were settled in at the condo in Punta Gorda, I headed back Sunday night to do my trip with Herman, his son Harry, and Harry’s daughter Allison.

I’d really been looking forward to meeting Herman, as even on the phone his personality came through, and I could tell he was a real character. Finally, our day was here, but I was not happy with the conditions we would have for our trip. The tide was the best of the week, and that sure wasn’t saying much. I would be crawling or not moving at all for most of the morning.

On word from some other folks we headed to the B Span for bait. The word was that it was back in there after disappearing some time ago. We worked hard for what we got, with Harry chumming. In fact, to get enough to fish we actually fished two areas. The bait quickly dried up at our first spot. Once it did we moved in on the flat perhaps 30 yards and began again, and got enough to fish. Very strange,

We headed up into Matlacha Pass while we were in the general vicinity, hoping to find some moving water, and perhaps a snook or jack or two. But, after working the area over pretty well, we had nothing to show for our efforts except less bait. We moved on up into the Sound.

Knowing it was going to be darned hard to catch snook or redfish on the dead tide, I opted to go for getting pulls on their lines. Often the gag grouper and jewfish will bite inshore when the others won’t. We stopped at one of my favorite little haunts, and found a pretty fair bite for quite a while. Herman, Harry, and Aly managed a good dozen gag grouper and jewfish, as well as a couple of snook, and one nice mangrove snapper before things slowed down. Of course, Aly had the lion’s share of the action!

Once we were sure it was slowed down, we moved on to another area nearby looking for snook. But, we couldn’t draw a strike. It was time to move on again, and I figured from there on out it would be a struggle.

At our next stop we caught two or three snook, but the action didn’t last long. Harry managed the best snook of the day at 28 inches, but it was a skinny 6 pounds. We moved on, again.

We headed back toward the ramp and fished a couple of nice spots near the Waterfront Restaurant, where we would wind up for lunch. The gang managed a few more snook at those spots, but by now the heat of the day was a factor in the fishing, and I knew it was pretty much over. It was time for lunch.

We had a great lunch, and had fun chatting and recapping the day. It had not been an easy day, but Harry and Herman were patient with the situation, and we made it work and had fun. With good folks in the boat, you can’t miss.

Well, it’s officially the dog days of summer. Things will slow down greatly for me, and probably everyone. And, I’ll be taking most of August off, once again. It’s just too hot to be out there by then.

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

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