This week ushered in our first cold spell of the season. Until now, the fish have seemed a little confused about which patterns, summer or winter, they should be in. This front should help to make up their little minds with early morning lows in the forties, and highs in the sixties, pushing seventy.

I had a kayak fishing trip scheduled with my friend Capt. Al Shank for Monday, but it became pretty obvious Sunday evening that kayaking would be difficult, if not impossible on Monday. We reluctantly canceled our trip.

Steve Kuri, owner of PSL Investment Company, in Kent, Ohio, drew a blustery day, Tuesday. Steve had wanted to flyfish, but at 15 to 20 knots, it was just too windy for all but expert fly casters. We caught bait at St. James Creek and headed north to the area known as Flamingo. I was in hopes if finding some tailing reds to cast to on the dead low tide. I don't know if it was the passing of the front, the wind, or what, but there wasn't a tail to be seen right where they've been tailing in good numbers the week before. With no tails showing, that meant I had to fish the potholes. Although the action was slow, Steve did manage to catch 2 big redfish, a couple of flounder, and several trout in the potholes.

Once the tide flooded the flat to the point that the fish left the holes, I headed to a favorite snook spot. Once there, I realized that I had probably waited a little too long to move, but Steve did miss a couple of snook there.

From there it was off to the river to see if we could find some snook or big river jacks. We didn't find any snook that would eat, although we did find plenty of snook, but the jack crevalle saved the day. Steve caught and released more than half dozen of the "jackus attackus" bulldogs.

So, we managed to make a pretty good day of fishing out of a not so pretty day. Steve was a great guy to spend the day with, and he vowed to come back for a try in the warmer months. I'll look forward to that.

Wednesday, Mike Krug was back for a return trip from Chicago. I had fished with Mike and his lovely girls, wife Kathy, and daughter Kelly, back in April, and it was a windy, stinker of a day. But Mike had been following my weekly fishing reports, and was ready to try it again. Much to Mike's surprise, the cold front followed him down from the windy city, and caught Mike at the ramp that morning with the temperature in the low forties, and Mike with nothing heavier than a flannel shirt.

Well, poor Mike got a lesson on how cold that humid Florida air can be in the winter. That humidity cuts right through you. He was so cold that he was almost in full body spasms. As we fished the first hole in Flamingo that morning, I could barely see the last two feet of the end of Mike's rod he was shaking so bad. But, a couple of 28 inch redfish helped him get his mind off of being cold. A couple of flounder were also willing to cooperate.

From the potholes of Flamingo, I decided to check out a couple of potholes near Regla, that always hold lots of trout during the winter. This was my first visit to the holes this winter, and the fish were there and willing to eat. We caught somewhere between 2 to 3 dozen trout, most of which were 17 to 20+ inches, before I suggested we go to the Waterfront Restaurant for lunch and a warm-up. Mike was more than ready.

Capt.'s. Kevin Holley and Mark Westra pulled in right behind us, and we sat for quite a while swapping fishing stories in the warmth of the Waterfront, while owner Kristen Hollway served us a wonderful lunch and lots of hot coffee. She's quite a gal, and works hard to make everything just perfect. I almost hated to take Mike back out for the boat ride home, as he had finally quit shivering. But, it was starting to warm up, and the ride back wasn't half bad. It had been a great day considering the weather, and great to see Mike again. I'd love to get him down here for a summer snook trip.

Thursday morning dawned unbelievably calm. This was to be a day of relaxation with my fishing buddy Lew Joseph, and Mike Henry, whom I'd had out the week before. Considering how much fun they both are, I couldn't pass up an invite to fish with the both of them. We were all shocked at how slick and beautiful it was as the Lady G left the Sanibel Harbor Marina and pointed west toward St. James City. It was gorgeous! Lew pointed Lady G around the back side of Fisherman's Key, and as we flew across the slick water not believing how beautiful the morning was, we were suddenly shaken from our trance as the Lady G slid hard aground on a sandbar. I think we were all so taken with the beauty of the morning that even Lew was distracted enough to get off course, and it was only a matter of a few yards.

So, there we were. The Lady was so hard aground that here keel was barely damp. Lew wanted to call Sea Tow, but I assured him that there was nothing they could do until we got some water under the boat. So, there we were. The sun was just rising. Lady G was sitting almost all the way out of the water. The lighting was perfect, and I told Lew we just had to take some pictures of the Lady up out of the water. We did, and I'll probably post one on the website after they're developed.

We could have been all mad and aggravated, but we we're fishermen, and just decided to make the best of the situation. So, it was out of the boat and off on foot. We threw spoons and topwater plugs, but the only fish caught was a small trout that attacked my topwater Spitfire. Mike was sure he saw some redfish tailing in front of him, but after checking them out, I'm pretty sure they were big mullet. The water was only about 6 inches deep!

After nearly two hours, the water was about to float the Lady, and we were able to push her off the bar and get going. By the time we caught bait, the tide was coming in pretty good, and it was kind of late to fish the potholes that I had told Lew I'd teach him. We went ahead and fished them, and Lew marked them on his GPS for future reference, but the fish had already left the hole on the tide.

I also showed Lew around Flamingo a bit, and Mike and I got out of the boat again and cast spoons for redfish. Much to my surprise, we didn't even get a hit. There are some gorgeous flats there, full of potholes, and usually holding lots of redfish, but they weren't going to play today.

So we headed up the river to see if we could find some jacks or snook, but that plan didn't pan out, either. I think we caught a few jacks, but don't remember for sure. It wasn't even important. It was just such a beautiful, relaxing day to be out on the water that nothing else mattered to me. Lew tried to work a shoreline so that Mike and I could cast along it, but the wind had kicked at that point, making it very difficult. No matter, I was content to sit and relax, and enjoy the day. Thanks for a great day on the water, Lew. Days like that are good for the soul.

Friday, I moved BarHopp'R II to Smith Marine for preparatory surgery. Craig and crew are going to derig the console and get it ready for Jeff Chesnes to cut out the floor and repair the damage in the tunnel. Once that is done, Smith marine will put Humpty Dumpty back together, again.

Well, that's it! I want to wish all my friends and customers, those who came back for more punishment, those who did their first trips with me, and those who have corresponded with me via email, all of you who have made this my best year ever, a very Merry Christmas, and a wonderful and prosperous new year.

God Bless!