Seems like the only thing to talk about is El Meanio. The week started off on a sour note with more lousy weather. Tuesday, Rod Gervais and his lovely wife Michele, of Chilicothe, Ohio, were willing to venture out into northwest winds of 25 knots. We knew it would be tough, and there was no bait, but didn't have any optional days. We fished hard with select shrimp on a completely overcast day, and managed around a dozen speckled trout, a ladyfish, and a jack. It was a great day of fishing, a tough day of catching, and a lot of fun.

The following day I was supposed to take Steve Wien, a college student from Cape Coral, out for a day of snook fishing. Steve's goal was to catch a lot of snook, and I knew as the day drew closer that it wasn't going to happen given the conditions and absence of bait. Steve knew I was right, and we canceled for another attempt when the weather warms and bait reappears.

Thursday morning the BarHopp'R and I met Mark Chadwick and his dad, Jerry, of Cincinnati, Ohio, at Centennial Park in Sarasota. It had finally cleared out, but the barometer was extremely high, and of course, the wind was out of the north at 20. The moon was also full. My plan was to fish the reds on the flats in the later part of the morning, and look for big jack crevalle and pompano first thing in the morning. The jacks didn't show where I've been finding them in the ICW, and we couldn't get the pompano to eat, either, so we headed north to the flats.

We started a controlled drift on the north wind using the trolling motor to make adjustments and keep us in about a foot of water. Man, were there redfish on that flat! We saw lots of big reds, and pulled our spoons right through them, but as full as the moon was, so were their bellies. They just wouldn't eat. We made another drift knowing we'd run across them again. We did, and finally caught one around noon. I made another drift, this time from farther north on the flat. We uncovered more reds. Here the water was crystal clear, and we were able to sight fish the reds. By this time, it was late enough that the reds were starting to think about "happy meals" again, and we caught three more. They all averaged around 26 inches. We didn't kill 'em, but we went home with our limit of reds. But, the fun and excitement of being on that many fish all morning long was just great for all of us.

Friday morning was shaping up to be another cool, windy day, but my old buddy Tom Ross, head of the pharmacy department at Moffitt Cancer Institute was ready to take on just about anything. We'd decided we'd fish those same redfish, and see if we couldn't put a few of them in the boat. Tom was really ready for some R and R! Gregg Toseli, one of Tom's employees, was ready too.

On the way to the ramp that morning I listened to all the ado on the radio about it being Friday the 13th, a full moon, and to make matters worse, a partial eclipse. Superstitious drivel, I thought! I got to the ramp, where Tom and Gregg were ready to go, put the boat in the water, and the trip wouldn't work. Can you believe it? I though maybe it was just because it was so cold, so we waited for the sun to come out and warm things a bit before calling the trip. That plan didn't work, and Tom and Gregg finally headed back to Tampa disappointed, I'm sure.

I headed to Outboard Motor Connection to see my friend Craig Wildson, my main motor man. After a quick check revealed air in the system, he had me going in five minutes. It was too late to salvage the trip, though. Am I superstitious now? You bet I'm not.

Bob Wood, of Chicago, had the honors of finishing off the week. He'd fished the day before by himself with my good friend Capt. Al Shank in Sarasota Bay. It was cold and blew like hell, and they expectedly had a tough day. Bob caught 3 trout and a pompano, and lost one redfish. Today he was fishing with his business partners Mike and Jan. Since they weren't the experience anglers that Bob is, and there was still no bait to be had, I decided the best plan would be to take them trout fishing. Although the action wasn't fast and furious, the trio caught around two dozen of the toothy critters, along with a nice flounder.

I knew Bob wanted to catch a redfish, so on the way in I stopped at a place that has been producing some reds on the mangroves. I hit one quickly, and Bob got to see how feisty they can be when they're laying at the treeline. Not long afterward Bob hit a red as he started to reel in, and it proved to be a worthy adversary when you're right on the trees. Bob had a blast with that fish, and it took about fifteen minutes for his pulse to return to normal and his adrenaline shakes to calm. The day was complete and we went home.

What a great way to end the week's work.

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

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