This week began the way last week ended; with a cancellation. We had two fronts pass through back to back. The wind was blowing pretty well out of the northeast, and it was cold in the morning. I didn't figure we had a good chance of having much of a bite going out there under those conditions. My customer for Monday was my friend Gyles Boudreau, who's a couple hours away on the east coast. I wanted him to have a great trip if possible, and gave him the option of canceling and rescheduling, once again. Now, if he had been someone here on vacation from far away, with no other rescheduling options, yes, we would have fished. Sure, I need to work to make my living, but I was convinced it would still be tough out there and we agreed to reschedule.

Well, I guess I really blew that call. I figured that the cold fronts may have moved the snook into some of my early winter haunts, but didn't think they'd eat. I wasn't sure if bait would still be at Fosters Point, either. Dr. Ron Kolata, down again from Cincinnati, Ohio, was my guest for Tuesday and Wednesday. His wife Pat was along for the first time. I had been talking to Pat via email and phone for a good year, and felt like I knew her. I was glad to finally meet her, and had the feeling she would be loads of fun. I had explained to Ron and Pat that the fishing would probably be very tough, and I guess we were mentally ready for that. The Kolatas really wanted to take some snook home, having never tasted it.

We were delighted to find there was still plenty of beautiful bait at Fosters. It didn't take us long to load up. I was off to where I thought the fronts might have pushed the snook. Not only was I right about the fish being there, but they ate well for a good three hours. We had probably 35 to 40 good snook hits, and I'm guessing we put 20 to 25 snook of all sizes up to 9 pounds in the boat. Once the bite was over we decided to spend the last hour trying for redfish. I went to a nearby flat and tried to get something going. We knew we were on fish, because we had several nice reds swim within 10 ft. of the bow of the boat, just lolly-gagging along. They didn't even spook. They didn't eat, either, and we missed the only three hits we had.

On the way home I told Pat that she could probably catch another snook or two at the dock while I was cleaning the fish. I guess she didn't believe me, but Ron did, and put a bait out where I showed him. Within a couple of minutes he had a nice 28 inch snook to the boat. Pat was just amazed. I tried to get her to try for one, but she was fished out. It had been a great trip, and Pat was every bit as nice and funny as I had thought she would be. I was sorry that she wouldn't be joining Ron and I on Wednesday.

Wednesday morning, Ron and I met at 10:00 AM and headed to Fosters for bait. Once again, it was great. The tide was about an hour later. The wind was northeast at around 20, and there was no water anywhere, so I decided to start with some pothole fishing for trout. I had also hoped we could catch a ladyfish or two for redfish bait later in the day. We didn't have a wild bite, but we bagged about 5 keeper trout out of about 15, and caught several ladyfish and three catfish. I kept two ladies.

We adjourned back to the same snook hole just as the tide started in. We were once again treated to a great bite, and tangled with 35 to 40 snook. This time I counted, and Ron put 18 snook in the boat, again to 9 pounds. The cooler was getting full. With about 45 minutes left to fish, we headed to an oyster bar with a large pothole nearby. I chunked those ladyfish, chumming with one, and saving the other for bait. Ron caught the first red on a sliced and diced shiner, but the first piece of ladyfish that went into that pothole was eaten by a nice red before it was barely wet. We couldn't ask for anything more than that. We had our Slam and a cooler full of trout, snook, and redfish. Ron was wanting to take some fish back to Ohio with him, and that he did. It had been a great two days of fishing with Ron, who's a very good fisherman, and a lot of fun, too.

I had a schedule change for Thursday, and called my friend Kevin Haag, who'd given me a standing order to fill cancellations, thinking Thursday would be just as good as the two days before, in spite of the wind and barometer. Kevin brought along his friend Jim Dougal, who has joined him on a couple of previous trips. They make a good team.

Looking for the same kind of results on a tide that was an hour later, we retraced our tracks from the day before. I had hoped to again catch a couple of ladies while waiting on the tide to get right for snook. Although the bite was slowed, we caught 6 trout and a couple of catfish, including 3 keepers. There were no ladies around.

We found the bite and size of the snook significantly off at the snook hole, too. I'd guess we caught 12 to 15 snook, but most were small, and the largest was just under keeping size. At least Kevin and Jim got to learn the when's and how to's of the spot. From there we went to another snook hole that usually heats up this time of year. There was nothing doing there, which seemed really odd. All we could catch there were jack crevalle. We may have had a snook or two on, but don't know for sure. We finished the day at the redfish hole, where Kevin tagged a nice red right after arriving. That was it. The wind had shifted straight out of the east during the morning, and everything seemed to quite once it did. It wasn't a stellar day, but we got some fish, and Kevin and Jim learned some great new places to fish for snook. My thanks to them for filling my calendar on short notice.

Friday was a different story for Matt Mouw, of Columbia Missouri, and his friend Mark King, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Matt is a big time bass fisherman and a scientist, and Mark is an attorney who's brand new to the sport. The boys had plans that couldn't be changed for the afternoon, so we were forced to fish a stinker of an outgoing tide in the morning. In addition, the boys had to be back early, and our trip would be somewhat abbreviated. . I figured I'd be happy with anything we could catch.

In the interest of time, we headed to St. James Creek to look for bait. Although the bait was not nearly as big or plentiful as that at Fosters Point, we decided to take what was there in the interest of time. I didn't want to burn an hour of Matt and Mark's trip going and coming for bait. We only got a handful of big, snook sized baits.

We went first to some potholes on the west side of Regla Island looking for trout and redfish. There wasn't much doing no matter where we went, and we only managed 5 trout. From there I headed to the place where Kevin, Jim, and I had struck out, except for jacks, the day before, knowing that there would probably be a snook or two that would eat on that falling tide. We missed a few hits, boated a small snook, and 4 jacks, but the real excitement came on one of those big old shiners. Matt caught his first and only snook of the day, but it was a 9 pound beauty that gave him a fit, even on the 12 pound rig he was using. Matt is an experienced bass fisherman, and probably didn't need any coaching, but I couldn't resist offering some tips as he fought the fish. A nine pound snook is probably equal to a 20 pound bass. When it was all over and the fish was in the boat, Matt was vibrating with an adrenaline overload. He was one happy and excited man, and it took him a while to settle down. He thanked me for the coaching. Then he realized his arms hurt from fighting that fish. I was pleased that he was adamant about taking pictures and putting the breeder snook back to make babies and fight again. We ended the day with eleven fish.

So there you have it. All in all it was a pretty good week of snook fishing, with lots of snook in the 7 to 9 pound range in the boat. I suspect the snook fishing will be good right on through November.