It was a week of very poor tides and more new manatee zones, made great by an equal mix of wonderful old friends and great new customers.

The week began with John Zedde, of St. Claire Shores, Michigan, and his brother Jerry Zedde, of Chicago, Illinois, whom I fished with about this time last year. We started the day at 9 AM, and headed to Chino Island for bait. Bait is plentiful there right now, and it wasn't long before we were off to the first hole.

We were at the bottom of the tide, and once we get to the low tides of October that signal the changing of tides to the winter pattern, that means pothole fishing for trout and snook. It also means that the big winter trout begin to show up. As soon as the water began to move, we had a bite. John and Jerry caught lots of speckled trout, and managed one snook.

Once things slowed down there, we were off to chase redfish. It has been difficult to put together big redfish days in the Sound this year, probably because of increased fishing pressure and more boat traffic running over the flats. I've been on good redfish schools consistently this year, but it has been nearly impossible to put together days of more than 15 redfish. Fortunately, it doesn't take many redfish to make most folks happy, because they can wear you out in short order if you're into big ones. The spot we were fish usually gives up big reds in the 9 to 12 pound range, and this day was no exception. John and Jerry boated 6 of the bronze brutes. It had been a tough, but good day of fishing. The boys got the Slam, and it was great to renew old friendship.

Tuesday, I met my good friend Dr. John Hitt, of UCF, in Orlando, at his dock at Harbor Isles. We were going to take John's new Coastline 22 out and see how shallow we could run her. We would find out if we could get her into some of the potholes that represent a bonanza of winter fishing.

We headed to Chino for bait, where I was delighted to throw Johns 8 ft. net, that was very easy on my back. With John chumming, it only took three or four throws of the net to put plenty of bait in the well for the two of us. We were off to challenge the first trout hole with the new boat.

John gave me the helm, since the water is still very dirty with tannin, and the holes are hard to find. As we approached the shallows I trimmed her nose down and raised the engine until the water pressure gauge began to bounce. We were trimmed as shallow as we could trim. To our delight, the Coastline scooted across the shallows and into the hole with ease, and seemed to be floating in about a foot or less of water. We caught some nice trout in the first holes, and once the bite slowed we began hopping from hole to hole, catching more trout at each stop.

It was a very windy day, blowing hard from the west. We decided to stay on the east side of the Sound. Crossing would be nasty. As the tide flooded the flats and began to cover things, we headed to a redfish/snook hole, and managed to boat one of each for the Slam before it was time for us to begin the long trek back to John's dock. As always, it had been a fun day with John. While he cleaned the boat, I cleaned the fish.

Wednesday, my long time friend and fishing buddy Bob McGuire up for a day of BarHopp'N. Bob, like John, and most all my very favorite fishing friends, just loves to fish, and it doesn't matter for what. He's a fisherman, and a good one. Seems no matter what the conditions, we manage to make something happen and have a ball.

It was another windy day out of the north/northeast. Not a good day for crossing the Sound. We headed to Chino for bait, and were quickly loaded and ready to fish. Again, we were at the bottom of the low tide, and it was time for trout fishing the potholes. We got into some very nice trout at the first stop, with the largest going around 5 pounds. WE caught plenty of nice fish before things slowed. As the water rose, we changed our search to snook and redfish. We didn't find many that would eat, but Bob did get one big and one small snook, and one nice redfish for the Slam. Again, Bob and I had enjoyed a great day on the water, and Bob had plenty of fish to take home for all the family.

I looked forward to Thursday with great anticipation, as it would be the first time I'd seen Dr. Dave and Ann Kerschner, in a couple of years. Back when we first began fishing together, they quickly became among my favorite couples to fish with. They're great folks, fun to be with, and enthusiastic fishermen.

We left the dock at 10:00, and headed to Chino for bait. Why change what works with either the bait, or the fishing? Soon we were at one of my favorite trout holes, and the bite was on. We caught tons of nice trout up to 3.5 pounds. We missed some big snook hits, too. One hit so hard it made the Stella 2500 scream with delight as it ripped line from her spool. The hook pulled! We definitely missed some nice snook, but Ann finally got revenge with a nice keeper snook at a later stop. Finally, just before it was time to call it a day, Dave brought the first redfish to the boat. That was the icing on the cake for Dave and Ann, who love to take fresh fish back to the motel and have different restaurants cook it for them each night. They had the Slam for dinner. It was a great day.

Friday and Saturday were devoted to Mike Tierney, of Grapevine, Texas, and his brother, David Tierney, down from Arkansas, and their friends. Mike was to be married here on Saturday at 6:00 PM. He wanted to get in some fishing with some of his friends and family before the ceremony. So, on Friday we had a two boat trip with my best friend Capt. Butch Boteler as the second guide. I had Mike and his best friend of twenty-five years, Matt Featherstone, of Irving, Texas. Boteler had Mike's future father-in-law and brother-in-law.

We had one of the toughest tides of the week; falling all day long. My plan was go get bait as quickly as possible once the sun was up, and head to a good redfish flat and try to catch some reds as the moved off the flat with the falling tide. The problem would be getting them to eat, as they would be leaving with full tummies. I knew we wouldn't have a very big window of opportunity.

We left the dark in near darkness at 7 AM, and headed to Chino. We got there first, and established a chum line in close to the island. Boteler parked about 100 yards away once he arrived. Matt and I had shiners all around the boat in a matter of mere seconds. There were tons of bait everywhere! What a beautiful sight. We were loaded and ready to go in two throws of my 10 ft. X 1/4 in. Caloosa net. Great, because it's a net you don't want to throw more than a couple of time a morning! But, my Bud Butch wasn't having the same luck just a few yards away. So, we called him in to our position, and helped load them up with bait, so we could all go fishing.

We ran silently for some distance on the trolling motor and a light northeast wind to our first spot. I began chumming with live shiners, and cut shiners and pinfish. Within just a few minutes, we had the first two big redfish on. Mike's was 10.5 pounds. I thought I had succeeded in getting a bite going, but those were the only two redfish we caught on that flat. We headed to a different neighborhood.

We visited quite a few spots in that neighborhood. At the first stop we found 3 nice gag grouper, nearly big enough to keep, along with jacks and a snapper. Mike and Matt missed several snook, but did boat another redfish. Later on in the tide at another spot, we got into the trout to finish the day. The boys didn't get the Slam, but got a lesson in snook humility. Matt had missed one, and Mike about five. They're not easy. But, it had been a fun day with a couple of real characters, that I will long remember.

To my surprise, Saturday went a little better for David Tierney, and his friend Gary Rhodes, of Bedford, Texas. Mike had told me that David had become a finesse fisherman in the clear waters of Arkansas, and that he thought Dave might do better with the snook than he had. That was actually pretty insightful.

We began the day at first light and quickly got bait in two throws. We were just loaded to the gills, and I couldn't see the bottom of the Talon's livewell. I ran straight back to the flat where we had caught our two big reds the day before in hopes that we would catch more on this day because the tide was almost an hour later. It was howling like hell out of the north, and the Sound was nasty. Even in the Talon it was a nasty ride, but not nearly as much so as in most flats skiffs. Ultimately, it was worth the trip, as Dave and Gary got 4 big reds, and 3 big stingrays. No, we don't fish for stingrays, but sometimes they will be attracted to the chum I use for the redfish. Hooking a big stingray is kind of like hooking several big reds at once.

Once the reds had quit, we turned our attention to snook fishing. It's funny how things work out, sometimes. Dave and Gary fishing right next to each other, casting just feet from each other, and Dave has the hot rod, and Gary's is cold. I chummed our first snook hole with lots of bait, and moved down along it periodically. We only managed a few blasts on the chum, but we did get some fish to bite. Dave and Gary both missed fish, but Dave was determined to get it right, and soon was hooking his fish.

Once that spot slowed down we headed to a favorite area that gives up snook and trout. It always has big snook, and I knew the boys would at least get a shot or two at a monster. Dave's rod continued hot, and he finally hooked the snook of a lifetime in a narrow trough that connects two potholes. Fortunately, the big female showed herself completely a couple of times, and even some nearby boats heard all the ruckus. I was coaching Dave to be much more aggressive with the big fish, as I knew the leader would not last long if the fish was hooked deep inside that bucket mouth that's lined with the equivalent to a course rasp. But, the sense of urgency necessary to land a big snook on light gear is the single hardest part of the whole technique to teach. The leader parted with the fish just out of my arms reach at the side of the boat, and we all watched her swim away.....free to frustrate the ambitions of yet another snook fisherman. But, Dave had gotten what he'd come for. He'd gotten to feel the JUICE of that big snook.

Dave finished the day with a good half dozen snook in the boat, and we got into trout as well, for the Slam. Gary never got his snook, and only got a couple of hits. But, we all agreed that it had been a great time, and the promised to come back for a rematch with the snook.

So, as you can see, all in all, it was a great week. We fished in tough conditions and made it work. I renewed old friendships, and began new ones. It's a great business. Next week, the tides improve, and I expect the fishing will, too.

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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