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I ran a rare Sunday trip with Jeff McCrea, of Gainesville, Florida. I picked Jeff up at the Waterfront Restaurant at 6 AM, and headed back to Picnic Island for bait. We got plenty of nice shiners and pinfish without too much ado, and headed to our first stop. We used the shiners to concentrate on snook, first, and had a good bite. Jeff caught a dozen snook to 5 pounds before the bite slowed.
We then headed to a nearby flat and used our pinfish to chum for redfish. It didn't take very long to get the action going, and Jeff had a ball catching a dozen or more reds weighing up to 8 pounds. When the action slowed with the slowing of the tide, Jeff was more than happy to head back to the Waterfront for an early lunch. He had lots of good things to say about the morning of fishing as we enjoyed a great lunch.
The following day, Monday, should by all accounts have been a good day, too. I felt pretty confident that my first trip with Jim Chumley and his friend Mark, of Ormand Beach, Florida, would be another good one. Well, what a difference a day can make. It turned out to be one of those, "You should have been here, yesterday!" days! We got good bait at Picnic Island, but it seemed that the northeast wind following an earlier front that I thought would shut the fishing down on Sunday, took till Monday to mess things up. We fished the flats, the bars, and the beaches, but all we could muster all morning was 4 snook and a ladyfish. That's tough fishing! Jim and Mark were great guys, though, and understood how fishing can be very humbling sometimes. We guides tend to take the tough days personally, though.
Thursday, I made a trip to Sarasota, home of Talon, and took along Fred Kunkle, my good friend of some 30 years. Years ago, Fred was pretty heavy into building boats, and is a cabinet maker today; a very talented man with a sharp eye for quality. I knew he'd really enjoy a tour of the factory where my F-16 is being built. I was more than right. Fred grinned the whole time we were there, and proclaimed (jokingly) that he wanted a job there!
My last trip of the week was with my long time friend and fishing buddy, Butch Boteler. Due to circumstances beyond either of our control, we haven't wet a line together in some time, and I was eager to get out with him, now that he has become a permanent resident of Pine island.
I made the run back into his canal to pick him up there, and got the royal tour of his place and all the cool things he's done to it since he moved in. We finally headed out to Picnic Island around 8 AM to catch bait. Bait came easily in two or three throws, and we were off to the first hole. We had a perfect tide on the new moon for really spanking the redfish, but the weather had been, and was still pretty unstable. I wanted to show Butch how to chum up the redfish and then catch a bunch, and I did get them chummed and biting pretty quickly. But, after 3 reds and a couple of snook, the weather quickly turned ugly, and with thunder and lightning present, I opted to hi-tail it back to safety. I know Butch was probably not real happy with my decision, but safety is, and has to be, my first concern. It was too bad, as the fish were there and ready to eat, and I'm sure we would have been able to really spank them. Oh, well! It'll have to wait till next time out.
Well, that's it for this week. The weather has not been good to us, and the economy seems to have finally caught up with us, too, as most everyone I know in the guide business is really hurting for trips. It's certainly true for me, too. Last year I worked every day in July except for weekends, but have only worked about half as much this July. Not good, and not good for fishing report material, either! Come on folks! Let's go fishin!
I'll be keeping my readers posted with the progress of the F-16, and will attempt to get some pictures of my boat in various stages of it's construction onto the site. All of you folks who have trips coming up in the fall are in for a treat! Below are some thumbnails you may click to view the full size picture of the new ultra wide ride Talon F-16.
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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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