Fishing Report for Week Ending 3/15/97
by Capt. Butch Rickey
This week was a busy one, and there were lots of fish caught.
First up were Blake Hiltabrand of Winston-Salem, NC, and his college buddies Chris Johnson, Jeff Hollingsworth, and Jayson Douglas. Blake and his motley crew put a butt-whipping on some fish with a catch of 2 redfish, 7 snook caught (6 lost), 62 trout to 20", and a flounder. That's 72 fish in a morning of fishing!
The following morning I had Bob Baltazar, of Ludlow, MA, back for his second trip. I took bob out the year before, and we had a great day. Bob was nice enough to take the time to write in to one of his local fishing magazines about me and the trip, and that resulted in quite a few calls.
This year was a little different, though. I joined Bob in the fishing since I only had a party of one. Problem was, Bob kept missing most of his hits, and wouldn't take a handoff from me. He insisted that he catch his own fish, and that I reel in what I hooked. By the time the morning was over, I had caught most of the fish. I think Bob's timing was a little off this year. He had plenty of hits, but just had a tough time keeping them hooked. We wound up the day with around 14 redfish to 26", 10 snook to 24", 8 trout, and 2 flounder. I really felt like I'd had most of the fun on that trip.
The next morning Jim McCann was ready for the third trip of his vacation. If you read last week's report you know that Jim had caught a lot of really nice snook. Today, faced with different tides, we fished a little differently. By morning end Jim had caught a 20" redfish, 2 snook to 24", 15 big trout to 21", and a nice flounder. He brought home a red, a flounder, and 6 big trout.
The next morning I was glad to see Jim and Ellen Parlier, of Waterford, MI, back for a second trip. We had done a trip the previous March, and were plagued with bad weather, no bait, and an all-round tough day.
This year was to be different. Jim and Ellen bagged 17 redfish to 21", 4 snook to 27" (and lost 7 nice ones), and a flounder. They took home 2 27" snook, 2 reds, and a flounder.
The previous year Jim had been lots of fun, and this year was no different. He's a retired military officer, and a good ole' country boy, and everything that comes out of his mouth is just funny as can be. I will always look forward to seeing Jim and Ellen.
The next morning brought southeast winds at 20 knots, heavy clound cover, and a falling barometer. It also brought Cindy Clark and her girlfriend Joannie, from Somerville, MA. Joannie, not a fisherman, was just out to enjoy the day on the water, but Cindy was some serious angler.
Most of the fishing we did that day was tight to the bushes with light tackle, and Cindy was a quick study. I only had to show her once how to drag them snook out of them thar bushes, and after that, she just put a butt-whipping on them.
Cindy's total for the morning was 2 redfish to 20", a trout 21", and 15 snook to 27". She lost quite a few fish in the mangroves, but they were big fish, and almost impossible for anyone to turn on 8 pound test. Cindy turned out to be a very good angler.
The last trip of the week went to my old buddy Kevin Grover, of St. Petersburg, and his friends Ron and Lee. It was to be a nasty day, with storms and rain for most of the day, and a falling thermometer. We went fishing anyway, and were glad we did. I've had some stellar fishing on rainy days, and this one was no exception.
Even after spending a couple hours hiding from the worst of the weather in a new construction mansion on Galt Island, we managed to catch around 40 redfish and 4 snook. I'll bet we didn't see two other boats all day long. If they only knew!
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