Fishing Report for Week Ending 11/10/96
By Capt. Butch Rickey
As I mentioned in the last report, I'm supposed to shoot a video about catching redfish this week. So, I figured I'd better dedicate a day to finding some redfish.
I wasn't in a big hurry to get started since I was on a reconnaissance mission. Bait was easy, and I was soon fishing around McKeever Keys. There were lots of reds hiding in the mangroves, and I managed to catch 15 of them up to 25". I also got 2 snook, but the prize was a 6 pound speckled trout. What a beautiful fish! I figured I was ready for the cameras.
The next morning ushered in a beautiful day, but our camera crew was late. They had missed their exit from I-4 to I-75, and also had overheating problems with their Isuzu Rodeo. That was just the start of a day that was plagued by Murphy's Law. Our camera crew owned all the equipment they brought on the shoot except the audio. They had rented a Kai Audio microphone/transmitter system which failed immediately, leaving us with no audio except at the cameras. We shot what we could, then decided to go fishing. We caught 4 reds, a trout, and 8 snook before we turned in for the day. Back at the ramp, my host Capt. Mark Bess and I had to disable a malfunctioning thermostat on the Rodeo so our camera crew could make it back to Orlando.
Friday, Mark and I did a trip for his client Dr. Ken Molnar, from Mansfield, Ohio. He had a party of 7 for Friday, and since mark was already committed for Saturday, I was to take Ken and his friend Matt out on Saturday. Mark was going to take 3 guys on his Skinnywater, I was would have 4, Matt, Mike, Mike, and Rick, on my ProCat. First stop after catching bait, Mark and I set up on adjacent mangrove keys. I soon realized I only had one fisherman out of four on board. I put four baits in the water and immediately a snook of mammoth proportions hit Rick's shiner and never slowed down. Rick just looked at me in amazement and uttered a few expletives, which we will delete. Right after that, I turned around to find one of my Dr. Mike's fiddling with the line at the end of the rod. Problem was, he had my Shimano Stradic reel about 2 feet under water. That just didn't set well with me.
We fished lots of holes that morning, and hooked lots of big snook. But, I've got to tell you, four guys fishing out of one flats boat is just too many. Especially, when they're neophytes. The wind kept lines tangling all day long. Every big snook hooked resulted in the same mess of tangled, mangled, and broken lines. Late in the day the same Dr. Mike who dunked my reel broke off a large snook. In a string of expletives he asked what the f**k he'd done wrong. I replied, "Everything!" I later learned he thought I was a bit harsh.
As thunder rumbled warning of the approaching cold front to the north, we finished the day with 4 reds and 4 snook boated. Mark and his crew had a great day and landed most of the fish they hooked.
The front rumbled in that evening, and Ken, Matt and I were greeted by 25 mph north winds the next morning. Matt, had been gentlemanly enough to fish from the back of my boat for most of the day before, because he knew he was going to get another shot the next day. The strong north wind blew the water right out of the sound, and fishing was tough. We went from pothole to pothole in mere inches of water. Big speckled trout were everywhere. We caught over 30 big trout as we kept leaving them biting to search for snook and reds. I knew we had been on fish, and they just had lockjaw. To prove the point, I motored across the holes on the trolling motor after we fished them. As many as 40 snook scooted out of several of those holes. We did managed one small red and 4 snook to go with all the trout.
As I readied the boat for the trip home, an angler pulled into the next slip in a 17' Wellcraft. He asked if I worked for the State. Seems he'd heard one of the state conservation people was riding around in a ProCat like mine. I assured him it wasn't me, given my disdain for most bureaucrats. This fellow was Dr. Gary Shierling, a Ft. Myers dentist, who was very interested in getting a demo ride in a ProCat. He wound up booking me for the following day. I warned him that it was going to be blowing like hell, and that there would be no water in the sound. Gary assured me he didn't want to demo the boat in good weather.
The next morning we were greeted with 25 mph north winds gusting much higher. The wind in combination with a scheduled -0.1 ft. low tide had Pine Island Sound looking like an empty bath tub. The bait was a bit timid, but we managed to chum up plenty for the two of us. Up in the middle of the sound, I demonstrated the shallow water capabilities of the ProCat/Paradise when I ran across wet grass to get inside of the barrier bars. Once inside, we were afloat in just inches of water. Territory where lesser flats boats just can't go. I showed Gary many of the productive potholes in the area, but all we could get to bite were trout. We caught at least 20, and kept leaving the bite in search of snook and reds. The front had them shut down. Gary was very impressed with the boat. Even in all that wind, I'd only gotten water on him one time.
There may not be much to report next week. South Florida is going to be pounded by gale force winds for much of the coming week due to a strong high pressure over the northeast, and a developing tropical low pressure south of Cuba. I've got a full week booked, but it's looking more doubtful by the minute.
OTHER FUN STUFF TO DO!