I'm often asked by my customers if I go fishing on my day off. The answer is mostly, "Yes, but I don't fish like this (shiner fishing)." When I go fishing for my own fun, I fish with lures. I particularly love to throw spoons. In fact, I'd rather catch one or two fish on a lure than 20 on shiners. Why? Because I love to fish. Shiner fishing is too often just catching.

Well, I got to go fishing this week with a couple of my customers, no less, and it was almost like having a couple of days off.

Sunday morning we had a 15 knot breeze out of the east/northeast and a forecasted high of 80. The barometer was at 30.26 and going even higher. We were still under the influence of the full moon. Milt Oliveira, and executive from Woodstock, Connecticut, was ready to spend a relaxing day on the water. Milt was as nice a guy as you'd want to meet, and took all the pressure off when he told me he just loved to fish, and wasn't worried about how much we caught. (I never believe that, anyway.) We were going to spend the day throwing lures.

I started off working my way back into a creek where there are often snook this time of year. We had Bomber Long A's tied on. Not long after starting our trek into the creek, Milt had a great hit right at the boat. A good sized snook had followed him from the mangroves and finally decided to hammer the bait at boatside. That's always tough. Milt had her on for a few seconds before she threw the hook. It took a while to get Milt's heart rate back to normal.

As we got into the shallower bed of the creek, we realized that we were all over big snook. They were stacked in this place like cordwood. We were actually able to sightcast to snook. That's not something you get to do very often. The fish were very tolerant of the boat, and weren't spooking until we were right on top of them. We had lots of follows, blowups, boils, and short strikes, but never put one in the boat. But we had a blast trying!

From there we went to a redfish spot I often fish. The fish were there; lots of them. The water was clear enough that you could see them milling around near the mangroves. We once again got our adrenaline pumping casting spoons to those fish, but they wouldn't eat, either.

I figured we ought to end the day with some catching, so I took Milt to the flat where I've been getting trout consistently, and we caught nearly a dozen nice trout up to 20 inches. It was nearly a perfect day! Milt was great company. I got to fish the way I like to fish. We had a ball. I felt guilty taking his money!

Monday was my first trip with Jay Pitha and his friend John, of Hacketstown, New Jersey. Jay has a place on Captiva and has several trips booked with me through the summer. While explaining our options in the absence of bait, Jay and John assured me that they love casting spoons around the mangroves. They had both brought their own baitcast rigs.

Of course, the first place I went was to the creek where Milt and I had found all the snook the previous morning. They weren't there, or at least we couldn't see them in the darker, deeper water, or they wouldn't eat. But Jay fell in love with the area. It is beautiful, and snooky as a rule.

I moved us to the place where I'd found redfish day after day, and set up a drift. As we cast our way toward the mangroves, we started pushing snook and redfish all over the place. The flat was absolutely covered with fish. But, they were there to sun, not to eat. They probably wouldn't be interested in eating until later in the day.

Jay and John were a lot of fun. They kept me entertained with their verbal jousting back and fourth. I picked up on the fact that they always fished really close to the mangroves. I also noted that they weren't casting nearly far enough to meet with consistent success on the flats with their Ambassadeur reels. There's no question in my mind that he who casts the farthest will catch the most fish. The shallower and clearer the water, the truer this is! On the back side of the key, I hooked two redfish. Jay and John didn't.

I came around for another pass at the area with all the fish. I decided it was time to enlighten Jay and John about quality tackle, and give them my casting clinic. I anchored up about 170 feet from the mangroves. As I pulled the cover off my Shimano Chronarch 100A mounted to a St. Croix 7.5 foot Tidemaster rod, I told the guys that I could cast my spoon to the edge of the mangroves, and that's why I had hooked the two fish. I don't think I have to elaborate on what their reactions were. Let's just say they said it couldn't be done.

I loaded that St. Croix and launched that Johnson 1/2 ounce spoon. It left like and ICBM missile headed for a target in Russia. Jay and John watched in disbelief as the spoon shot out of sight, finally landing within half dozen feet of the mangroves. "What the hell kind of a reel is that?" and "I liked my reel until you did that!" were just some of the comments I heard. The boys just couldn't believe it was possible to throw a spoon that far with any kind of reel. I followed the demonstration with casting lessons. Jay said I'd have to take them in time for them to get to a tackle shop and buy new Shimano Chronarchs.

From there I took Jay around the Sound, pointing out good fishing spots as we went. It was Jay's first time to see most of the east side of the Sound. I'll be fishing with Jay again in May. I can't wait to see how he and his new equipment are getting along.

Tuesday morning I met Brian Studebaker and his lovely wife Jennifer, and father-in-law Tom for a morning of fishing. This was another group of experienced fishermen who just love to fish. Ain't I lucky? I get all the good customers.

We were fishing with shrimp, trying to find some reds or snook that would cooperate. I had only managed to catch 7 or 8 threadfin herring that morning, and I figured we should be able to convert a couple of them into snook. The first hit didn't take long. It happened after I'd made a long cast right to the edge of the mangroves. The snook hit and tail walked about 40 feet away from the mangroves in the blink of an eye. She shook the hook before we could even pass the rod. Shortly afterward, another snook ate a threadfin. Brian did a good job of bringing her to the boat.

We hit a lot of holes, but those were the only snook that wanted to play, and the reds were not to be found. I figured we needed to put some fish in the boat, so we went looking for trout. Back on my favorite trout flat the trio put nearly two dozen trout, 2 ladyfish, and two small jacks in the boat. Boy, this has been a winter of trout saving the day! The action was just what the doctor ordered, and we all had a great time.

On the Sarasota Bay front, Capt. Al Shank reported a good catch Monday that consisted of 6 sheephead, 2 snapper, and 7 pompano to around 3 pounds. His guest was Charlie San Filippo and family from New York.

My last trip of the week was to be a fly fishing excursion with Bill Pugh, of West Chester, Penn. After two solid days of rain and storms, I didn't figure we had much of a chance of fishing today, but we waited to make the call until this morning. Most of the rest of our guides had already canceled and were standing around discussing El Meanio. I backed my boat down to the ramp, but didn't launch. The wind was actually strong enough to spin the stainless prop on my 150 Yamaha! I don't think so! Hope to see ya again next year, Bill.

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

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