Finally, there's something to put into the fishing report besides more talk about rain and winds, almost.

To start the week my friend Capt. Tommy Stevens and I teamed up to take Stuart Small and his business associate Dr. Jim Short, out for a morning of fishing. The BarHopp'R was in Ft. Myers, and Stuart was in Sarasota, so I asked Tommy if he'd like to run the trip with me in his boat. Stuart was in from Dallas where they've also been having problems with El Nino, and we made the decision to fish on a day when most rational people would stay home. The wind was howling at 25 to 30 out of the east/southeast, feeding the front that would arrive the next day.

We decided to fish plugs and try to find some snook and redfish. It was a very tough day in the wind, and we lost and damaged a number of plugs around the docks and trees. We struggled for most of the day trying to find some fish that would eat, and I managed to catch a couple of snook after I got out of the boat, and Jim had a red on and lost it at the boat. Late in the trip we stopped at a canal that used to be one of my favorite winter spots for snook. I told Stuart that there were always snook hanging in behind this particular dock, and guaranteed him he'd hook up if he could only get the Bomber Long A properly placed. Stu was a left handed caster, and just couldn't talk that plug into going where it needed to go across such a strong wind. He urged me to see if I could get the plug into the small spot, and I did. It skipped up under the dock and before I could turn the crank twice, I was met with a violent strike. It was a big fish, too big to drag out from under a dock with the 8 pound test we'd been chunking spoons on the flats with, and the fight didn't last long. But it proved the point I'd made about that being such a good spot. Unfortunately, we couldn't get another snook to come out and eat. Jim did catch a few small snappers while we were trying to coax a snook from that spot.

The trip was saved, as they often are in the winter, but a large school of hungry jack crevalle we found just across the ICW from our canal. The jacks were actively feeding on glass minnows, and hit our plugs as soon as they hit the water. We'd catch a few, and they'd disappear, only to surface some distance away. We'd get upwind of them, and catch a few more, and so on. On one pass we had a quadruple hookup of the big jacks, and caught a dozen or so before they finally got bored with our little game. The big jacks are great fun and pull like hell, and sure gave us the perfect ending to a tough day.

Monday we had gale force winds that ushered in the tornadoes later that night. Tuesday wasn't much better, but the forecast for Wednesday was for 5 to 10 out of the east. Based on that forecast Steve Bronstein, my 1997 "Angler of the Year", and I decided to go ahead and try to do a flyfishing trip.

It was one of the nicer days we've had in a while, but before it was over it was windy enough to make fly casting difficult. Steve fished hard, and made some beautiful casts. In fact, I told him that his casting seemed to have improved a lot since our last outing. We saw lots of snook and reds. They were hiding in the edge of the grasses that had been stacked up along the shoreline by the last big blow. They were almost impossible to see until they spooked, and came running out of the grass, but they were there. It really wasn't a surprise to me that they wouldn't eat a fly, when with only a few exceptions, they haven't eaten much of anything we've been offering. But it was exciting to see the fish, and cast to them. We didn't have so much as a bump that day, but it was a great day to be out.

Thursday and Friday belonged to Lou and Phyliss Dolen. Most all of my customers are special to me, but Lou and Phyliss are right at the top of the list. They're just great folks, and a lot of fun, and we seem to share a lot of life's philosophies. I don't know anyone who loves to fish more than Lou, and that coupled with his great country wit and infectious laugh make every day with Lou and Phyliss fun and memorable. Last year we killed the fish, but I knew this year would be different.

We fished in the Sound on Thursday. We caught a big beautiful trout at the first stop, and I thought there would be more, but there weren't. We fished hard using shrimp for bait, since there were no shiners to be had. By day's end we had the one trout, one jack, and 5 small snappers to show for our efforts. Lou took it all in stride, and we had a good time, but I wanted to put some fish in the boat. I suggested that we do something we hadn't done together before; fish Sarasota Bay and fish with artificials only. I found out that the Dolens love to fish artificials, and we agreed that the next morning we would meet in Sarasota.

Friday morning we were greeted with south wind gusting to 25 as the next front approached bringing the threat of rain. We headed north to one of my favorite redfish spots near Buttonwood. Along the way we stopped to fish for pompano. I didn't trust the weather to hold so we continued on after we caught two of the tasty critters.

Once on the flats, spoons were the order of the day, and the reds were willing participants. The fish were eating well as a really bad looking storm approached around 11 o'clock. I waited longer than I usually would to leave because I just hated to take Lou away from those biting redfish. We finally made a run for the ramp with 7 or 8 nice reds under our belts. Back at the ramp all we got was a little drizzle. The nasty weather stayed to our north. I learned later that it stormed like heck up where we'd been fishing, so we made the right call.

We decided to go back out and try our luck at one of my favorite spots near Midnight Pass. At this point the wind was really roaring, and it was next to impossible to even fish, but it didn't discourage Lou and Phyliss. We finished up with a couple of snook, a ladyfish, and two jacks, and Lou had plenty of redfish, snook, and pompano fillets to go with the stuff he'd caught offshore a couple of days earlier. The Dolens liked the Sarasota waters, too, especially the area around Buttonwood, and decided they'd fish three days next year; two in Pine Island Sound and one in Sarasota Bay. I can't wait until they come back.

Chuck Hurley of Scoreboard Enterprises of North Easton, Mass. had the last trip of the week, along with his brother Paul and father-in-law Jack. We were supposed to fish Pine Island, but after hearing the report for Sarasota Bay, we collectively decided that we had a better shot at fish in Sarasota. It would be the first time I'd ever brought my party to Sarasota from Ft. Myers to fish, but hey, this has been a screwy winter, and I thought it would be the right call.

The wind was down to about 20 out of the southwest, and it was still warm, but the reds had a severe case of lockjaw. I guess they'd filled up the day before. Paul did manage to catch a nice 25 inch fish on a spoon, but that was it. We couldn't find any pompano either. We got a good laugh when a pelican flew into Chuck's line as he cast. The bird put up a great fight, and during a blistering run, actually broke the reel and flew to freedom. We'd have been upset if it had been a fish.

We were forced off the water before noon by another serious looking storm rolling in from the northwest. Back at the ramp I was pretty bummed and apologetic for the slow fishing. Chuck said something to me that I will always remember, especially when I'm beating myself up over a slow day of catching. He said, in essence, that anyone who judges a guide trip solely on the number of fish caught is a fool. He assured me that everyone had a great time, and that I'd see them again next year. Chuck, Paul, and Jack were super nice guys, and I'll be looking forward to their return.

Well, I guess that's it for this week. Things are beginning to improve a little, although I just heard that El Nino is supposed to be with us now until sometime in May. God, I hope they're wrong on that one.

If you have questions or comments, or would like to book a trip, please email me at capt@barhoppr.com.

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