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It was another short work week with just one trip. And, being the day after a big cold front it was a tough one. Cold and windy was the order of the day.
My trip was a repeat with Dale Grantman, a great guy who's just 78 years young, and lots of fun. Dale winters here from Urbandale, Iowa. His friend Brad was again along for the trip.
Knowing we were going to be fishing in some tough conditions, I made my first visit to Saltwater Pro Tackle Shop on San Carlos just before you get to Fort Myers Beach. I was looking for pompano baits, and after some calls, found what I wanted there. I found them in the phone book, and they were the only ones who answered their phone. They're in the plaza where the Goodwill Store is, which I've passed a thousand times without ever noticing it.
The store was being tended by the owner's father, Ralph, who was a really nice older fellow who was very helpful and fun to BS with. I bought pompano rigs and some cooked sandfleas and a bottle of sandflea juice to soak them in. Supposed to be a killer pompano and sheephead bait. I was ready. My plan was to stick close to the ramp and fish in the lee of the big wind as much as possible, and target pompano.
Dale was all for fishing pompano, as he loves to eat them as do I. But, once we were out there and rigged, we soon found that the pompano weren't in the least bit interested, and that even in the lee the mangrove shoreline offered little protection from the wind. We were drifting sideways to the wind at a pretty good clip, but once the wind really kicked water was splashing over the side. It was time to try something else.
Wanting to find some action out of the wind, I opted to check out Long Cut for some trout. It's usually a sure thing for trout on a cold, blowing winter day. Once we arrived at our destination I found fish popping bait in less than a foot of water along the very shallow edge of the cut. We had fun throwing topwater plugs at the fish, and it was a perfect dark, overcast day for it. We had some interest from what I'm sure were snook, but only managed to catch a few ladyfish and a nice jack crevalle one the baits were over deeper water. Once the tide began to move we drifted on it, casting jigs for trout. We only caught a couple. Everything was absolutely lockjawed.
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Dale did get his catch of the day there, and the laugh of the day, as well. The best part was that I saw the whole thing. Dale wound up to cast his jig, and as he did he hooked Brad's hat and snatched it right off his head, sending it out into the water. Until Brad and I began laughing, Dale didn't realize what he'd done. But, it was so perfectly executed it seemed as if he'd been practicing that maneuver. I was glad, though, that it was a jig instead of a topwater plug full of treble hooks. The result may have been different, and ugly.
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We moved on. I decided to return to the scene of some very nice redfishing a few weeks ago, in a favorite pothole of mine. And, boy! The fish were there. I saw several big trout and a number of nice redfish. The fact that we could get close enough to a big trout to see it in clear, shallow water tells you that the fish were laid up and not eating. They didn't even want to move.
It was now afternoon, and we had fished hard with little success. Brad's jack was the fish of the day. By now, our appetites were getting the best of us, and we succumbed to lunch at the Waterfront Restaurant. I introduced Dale to their wonderful fried oysters. Brad ordered their steak burger, which I defied him to finish. Well, he did manage to eat half of it!
All in all, it had been a great day of fishing earmarked by tough catching. We'd had a blast fishing the topwater plugs, and with each other. We were scheduled to fish Tuesday, as well. I knew it would be another tough, windy day of few bites. As badly as I needed to work, my customer has to come first. I advised Dale that we postpone the trip since he will be here until April. I wanted to at least have a shot at a great day of catching on one of our two days out. That meant that Brad wouldn't be able to join Dale, as he was returning to Iowa soon. But, Brad agreed that it was a good plan. So, look for Dale to rack up some great fish on a trip this coming spring. It will be his first live bait trip, and it should be a good one.
Be sure to check out www.BestFishingBooks.com, Books and gifts for fishermen from my friend Jim Dicken!
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