Although this week was shortened by the Memorial Day holiday, it was a week of terrific fishing and great folks.

I met Scott Wampole, of Shelton, Washington, and his brother Keith, of Point Pleasant, Pennsylvania, at the docks at 6 AM. I was afraid that due to the heavy pounding from four days of holiday boat traffic both the bait and the fishing might be tough. Turned out not to be the case. Bait didn't take long on the flat north of Chino, and the fish on the Stickbeach had a good appetite.

From the time we arrived at the beach and picked a spot to fish, the action was furious. The trout had been conspicuously absent for the last several weeks, but we there and hungry today. So were the snook. From about 7:30 to 10:30 Scott and Keith boated at least two dozen snook, and 30 to 35 speckled trout, along with a mackerel. We headed inside around 10:30 to see if we could add a redfish or two to the bunch of trout they had kept for dinner, since we could no longer take snook home.

The redfish on the flats were not as forgiving about the pounding they'd taken over the weekend. With a lot of chumming we managed to boat a couple of keepers, and hooked four large stingrays, which we quickly broke off by holding the reel spool. It was a great morning of fishing with some great numbers, and Scott and Keith were great fun and good students. Keith has a place on Sanibel, now, so I hope to see them again in the future.

Wednesday morning, Jason Reinhardt, of Brandon, Florida, his brother Johnny, from New Mexico, and good friend John, from Brandon, were ready to try their luck at light tackle snooking in heavy cover. Believe me, it's not easy, but it sure is fun!

We had our bait in three throws of the 10 ft. Caloosa castnet, and were off to the Stickbeach. I had a feeling that fishing with these three young guys would be a lot of fun, and I wasn't disappointed. I coached and teased them all morning, busting their chops when they missed a fish, and they dished it right back to me and to each other. They missed a ton of fish, and didn't boat the numbers that I would like to have seen them catch, but still they boated around 20 snook and a dozen or more trout, as well as a big mangrove snapper and a mackerel. It was a great morning of fishing by any standard, and we all had a blast!

Thursday, I had a two boat trip with Kent and Linda Ingram, their beautiful daughters Lindsay and Courtney, and Courtney's boyfriend, Chris, of Littleton, Colorado. My good friend Capt. Tommy Stephens was the second boat, and took Chris and the girls, and I fished with Kent and Linda. It was a gorgeous day on the water with almost no wind from the east.

After a short stop at Chino to catch bait, we were off to the Stickbeach. I didn't have to catch quite as much for two anglers, so we were first to arrive. Although the tide was laying flat most of the morning, I had a feeling it would be a day of pandemonium on the beach. I was right, too, and I don't think Kent yet believes what transpired.

From the first baits that hit the water, Kent and Linda hooked snook after snook, after snook. Once Tommy arrived with the rest of the crew and anchored 100 yards or so to our port side, his gang did the same. Kent has been fishing for 49 years, and here I was trying to deprogram him from everything he though he knew about fishing. Now mind you, Kent is a very good angler in his own right, but this fishing is so different and so intense, that he even said he felt like he was in fishing kindergarten. I stayed after him all morning trying to get him to get a tight line before striking the fish, and Linda was loving every minute of it. Linda was pretty quick to put away about 15 fish, and discovering that this was hot, hard work, sat down to enjoy her husband's frustration.

Kent eventually got things pretty well dialed in, though and started putting the snook in the boat. He was absolutely amazed at the level of action. Virtually every bait that hit the water was eaten. Same at Tommy's boat. Kent and Linda also were quick to observe that of all the boats that had arrived on the scene, we and Tommy's boat were the only boats catching anything more than an occasional fish. They were equally amazed at that. I'll bet if Kent said it once, he said it 50 times, "This is amazing, just amazing!" I kept coaching him hard trying to get him to strike a guten-tight line, because I knew if I could break his old habit, he'd really start hauling in the snook. Kent was harder on himself than I was, though, and just had a hard time getting past the excitement of it all.

Well, at morning's end, Tommy's trio had boated 53 fish. I tried to get Kent and Linda to count their fish, but the action was just too fast and furious. I spent most of my morning tying lines and baiting hooks with a filleted right thumb, and wasn't able to keep exact count, but I can tell you from the years of having done this that they boated some 30 snook and 12 or more trout.

Everyone was all smiles on the way home and at the docks. Capt. Fritz Gisewhite was nice enough to take some nice pictures of the whole gang to cap the day. I couldn't help but think that it was a day the Ingrams would never forget as I left for home. I'm thankful that Tommy and I were allowed to be a part of that.

Ah, thank God it's Friday. I'm beginning to feel like some kind of dehydrated fruit in this summer heat. the weekend is looking good. But, Andy Schmeltakoff and his buddies Jimmy and Craig, of Waco, Texas, had no idea of the craziness that was about to befall them on the beach before we could end the week.

After a short stop to collect some 300 shiners, we were once again first to arrive at the Stickbeach. I was grinning under my skin as I gave the boys their initial instructions about how to handle the very expensive tackle and how to set the hook, because I knew they had no idea of the madness that was about to insue. I knew it was going to be a great day when both of the first two baits I threw into the water while demonstrating how and where to cast were immediately eaten by snook.

For the next three hours it was an absolute riot. The poor baits didn't even have a chance to figure out they were back in the water and try to swim before they were eaten by a snook or trout. The excitement was just about too much for these boys. I coached and teased them about their missed hits as much as I could between baiting hooks and tying lines, and of course they were beating on each other pretty good, too. That's the fun of fishing with guys who are good buddies. We had a blast on no uncertain terms. And did we burn up some bait!! Once again, it seemed we were the only boat catching big numbers, which really strikes me as odd. The spot you fish is not nearly as important as how you fish the spot. The only real secret to fishing the Stickbeach is to get the bait right up on the cover. That's it. Many boats anchor too far off the cover and just don't catch much. All they have to do is move, and of course, fish with shiners.

Well, by 10:30, we had burned every one of the 300+ baits in the well, and every one of them had been hit. Smelly, Jimmy, and Craig did manage to keep a good count of the fish they caught, and the numbers were 61 snook and 12 trout in three hours. So there we were at 10:30 AM, out of bait. The boys were worn out both from catching and from the heat, and were more than happy to settle for 73 fish and call it a day. We headed home around the outside of Sanibel, just for a change of scenery. It had been another great day with a great bunch of guys who just love to fish.

I used the rest of the day to get my trailer toBoatmaster Trailers for a checkup and some routine maintenance. The bronze saltwater disk brake system has been eating brake pads at an alarming rate, and we haven't really be able to figure out why. Joe Isley, his son Joey, John, Ty, Manny, and the rest of the crew have been absolutely great in trying to take care of my problems under warranty and get me back on the road. Yes, Boatmaster trailers are expensive, but they're extremely well made, and the people who stand behind them are worth the price of admission. Joe informed me that next time I wear the pads out, which will take about two months, he will put the heavy duty brake system on for me, even though I will be out of warranty. That kind of attitude is just one of the many reasons Boatmaster is so successful, and their trailers are unrivaled in the industry. Thanks, Joe.