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I had six trips on the books for this week, and got to run five of them, so there's plenty to talk about.
The first trip was to be Sunday with Eric Wickstrom for our second day out, but the winds were still howling, and the temperature had dropped a good ten degrees, and Eric decided it made more sense to go look at real estate. Good decision.
Monday was the first of three days in a row with my friend Dr. Ron Kolata, from Cincinnati, Ohio, and his friend John. It was still windy and cool, but we hit the water inspired. The first thing we learned was that the big front had blown out the bait. It was tough, but we did get several dozen shiners and a lot of pinfish at Tarpon Bay. At least we had enough to fish with.
The second problem became finding fish that would eat. The front really had them turned off, with the barometer through the roof. We fished hard, and managed 2 redfish, lost one snook, got 1 trout, several jacks, and several ladyfish. It was a tough day, but we had fun, nonetheless.
Tuesday, Ron was back by himself. The wind was down to 15 to 20 out of the northeast, and that was a big improvement over the previous several days. We were looking for a high of around 80. I figured that since we'd had a tough time with bait the day before, it had run for cover on the beach. I was right. We chummed just off the first bar, and we loaded the boat in three throws. How sweet. We also had a good tide, so I was hopeful the fish would be ready to eat.
We fished low tide spots early and caught several trout, a flounder, and a couple of jacks. As the water flooded, we headed to a snook hole, and caught around 10, and lost 2 big ones. Later in the trip we managed a couple of redfish. We didn't set the world on fire, but it was a pretty good day by comparison.
It was a stellar day compared to what followed on Wednesday for Ron and his good friend Dr. Doug Piper, of Lehigh Acres. We headed straight to the beach thinking bait was again be easy, but got a real surprise when we couldn't get bait to the chum. There were a number of guides out there running on the trolling motors and trying to sight cast bait. A tough way to do it. I didn't stay there long. I knew the bait had moved again, and I hoped it was back inside on the flats. I headed to Picnic Island flats, and I was happy we loaded the well with three throws of my superfine net. The catching was pretty much over right there, though. We fished our hearts out all morning, and 2 trout and a redfish were all we could raise. It was really tough. All that bait, and no one to eat it. We went to the Waterfront Restaurant to lick our wounds and pick up a mess of stonecrab claws for Ron and Pat.
I should mention here something that happened on the water, not to chastise anyone, but to hopefully educate my readers to the perils of spinning gear. Doug had pitched his shiner into the mangroves, and couldn't get it out. Unbeknownst to me, he had turned the anti-reverse switch off while he was messing with the snag. Finally, he gave me the rig, and I gave it the customary good, hard yank that will often free the hook. Problem is, with the anti-reverse off, the reel took off like an out of control electric motor spinning backwards, and damned near took my index finger off. I can not tell you how much that hurt. It's like sticking your finger into a fan. It hurt far worse than the hook I wore all morning the previous week. I subsequently lost part of the fingernail on that finger. Folks, forget that switch is there. I wish the manufacturers would figure out that a spinning reel does NOT need to be able to turn backwards for any reason. All you have to do to get line is pull against the drag. Reels would be simpler and perhaps a little cheaper if they would just eliminate that antiquated feature. Invariably, when someone turns that switch off, they forget, and the next time they strike a fish, you've got a world class mess.
Thursday the wind was still howling at over 20, and gusting to nearly 30, and it was the full moon. In fact, that full moon had been a factor all week. It was my first trip with Mike McQuade, his daughter Katie, and her boyfriend Matt, of San Carlos, California, and I feared it would be a tough day.
We managed to get bait at Picnic, but it was tough. I didn't have the luxury of chumming. I stayed on the east side of the Sound once again, trying to stay out of the worst of the wind. At one of our first stops, Mike and Matt were both hit hard on the first baits out. It was a Chinese fire drill. Because they were taking so much line, I thought they had hooked a couple of big snook. But, in time we found that they were huge jack crevalle, probably around 30 inches. They put up one hell of a fight, and pound for pound, are probably the hardest fighting fish in our waters. Mike was just floored at how his fish fought! We also put one nice trout in the boat, and later, in the north end of the Sound, Katie caught the only snook of the day.
We wound up quitting about a hour early, as the McQuades gang succumbed to the wind. It was just awful, and causing lots of line problems. I have recently begun using Power Pro, one of the super braids. It is wonderful stuff until you get it tangled, and fishing three anglers in that much wind in a moving tide means tangled lines. Mike did say he'd be back again to try it under better conditions.
The last trip of the week was on Saturday with my old friends Tom Davanaugh and Russ Hubbard. It had been some time since I had seen Tom. Unbelievably, the wind was still gusting to nearly 30 after a whole week of the same. This was Tom's trip, and he was not to be denied. Of course, Russ and I were game. I have to say that having the Talon makes the nasty days much more tolerable, because the ride is so soft, and it is so dry.
We went to Tarpon Bay looking for bait, and although it took a while, we netted plenty. We had planned to do some lure fishing, too, so it didn't matter that much. We began our search, and things began slowly. WE wound up on a beautiful shoreline pitching plugs at potholes, and sight fishing reds and snook cruising along the shore. We had quite a few opportunities, but lots of misses. In fact, Russ spotted two nice snook cruising and made a perfect cast. One snook peeled off and smacked the Top Pup, but somehow the fish didn't get hooked. Russ continued to work the plug, and the second snook came and smacked it, too. Can you believe that fish escaped the hooks, too? We had essential three pros in the boat, and we were all missing fish. It was just one of those days. I lost several redfish on topwater plugs, and I think we all missed or lost snook. We did have one red in the boat, a flounder, a nice snapper, and had boated a couple of small barracuda, 3 ladyfish, and a jack.
Late in the day we headed up the river for a total change of venue. I have a very pretty spot there that I figured should be full of fish by now. I was right. We got some great hits on our chum. But, our woes continued. I let a brute of a big redfish cut me off in the mangroves. We did finally put some snook in the boat, though, and finished with 6 or more. I got the best snook of the day just before dark on a shiner. It was a nice 8 pounder, and rode home with us. I also got another redfish a little earlier. Darkness and no-seeums forced us to run for the dock, and at the dock they kept us running for cover. Man, they were bad! We'd had a good day, and it was good for me because I am allowed to vent my frustrations when I'm with Russ and Tom. Venting is a good thing and I had many frustrations after fighting this terrible wind all week.
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I've got another pretty good week on the books for next week, but we also have a late season hurricane brewing just south of Cuba. We'll see!
The downturn in business because of the slow economy, and now further because of the tragedy of September 11, has had me and some of my friends brainstorming how we can generate trips, generate cash flow, and therefore stay in business through the tough times we have ahead of us. Here are the first two ideas I will put forward. First, since December and January are normally my only slow months of the year, I am fearful of just how slow they could be this year. I am going to roll back the cost of my half day trip to last year's rate of $325 for anyone booking in December and January. Further, if you would like to prepay your trip, no matter when you have it booked, either in lump sum, or in three or four installments, I will discount the trip by $25. Your trip must be paid at least a month in advance to earn the discount. With the market in such a slump and interest rates still declining, that's a much better return on your trip fee than leaving it in the bank until trip time.
So, come on folks. It's time to get out and enjoy your favorite pastime, in your favorite vacation destination. Let's show Osama Bin Lunatic that he can't beat us with economic terrorism, either.
I have now posted the final thumbnailed pictures on the Talon Page of this website, for those interested in seeing how one of these jewels goes together.
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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