It's been a long time since I spent any time on Sarasota Bay, so I brought "the BarHopp'R" home for a week of chasing redfish on Sarasota Bay.

Sunday, I took my long time friend and computer guru, Chuck Freeman, out for a much deserved bit of R & R. Chuck is the guy who always bails me out of computer trouble when things get over my head. And last week they did, with several hard drive crashes before we finally replaced the drive.

We fished an outgoing tide all morning, a tide I don't particularly like, but you gotta take what Mother Nature gives you. We didn't do bad, though, with 12 nice redfish and a big ladyfish to our credit, and Chuck got a much needed break. Chuck observed that there is a big difference between fishing in Sarasota Bay and Pine Island Sound. He's still talking about our trip down there, and all the snook he caught.

I spent a couple of days this week with Capt. Tommy Stephens, of Sarasota, in his new 21' Kenner center console boat. Tommy is a brand new licensee, and aspiring guide. I had hoped to teach him about fishing Sarasota Bay, but the first day we couldn't find a redfish. I showed him a lot of the spots I used to fish, but on that tide, the fish just weren't there, or wouldn't eat. We finally went to a trout hole and caught some specks just so we wouldn't get skunked!

Later in the week, Tommy, his best friend Gus, and I went out again, on a little bit better tide, and had another tough day. We did manage to boat 6 redfish on shiners and spoons, and we lost at least as many as we caught, but it was hot and tough out there. We had fun, though!

I spent Thursday doing maintenance chores, and I have to tell you about a Motorguide Service Center in Ft. Myers. Any of you readers in this area need to know about Smith Marine Enterprises, Inc., if you don't know already. This was my second visit, and Craig, Don, Jayson, and Chris all work hard to take care of their customers. The service is great. They diagnosed my problem, replace the steering motor, and had me out the door in about an hour. They're located at 2420-1 Concorde Drive, in Ft. Myers, and their phone is 941-939-5776.

To end the week I had Ron Poland, of Tampa General Healthcare, and his girlfriend Joann Fumerelli, of Suncoast Brace and Limb, Inc., in Bradenton. It was Saturday, the first day of the Labor Day weekend, and I knew this would be a tough day. It was, but together Ron and Joann were more fun than the law allows, and in spite of slow fishing it was a great day. We only connected with three redfish all morning. The first we got in the boat. The second, Joann broke off when she tried to lift it into the boat with the rod! The third, Ron broke off at boatside when he tried to lift it by the line instead of by the leader. To be fair, they missed a lot of hits, and there was a boat sitting in every hole I went to, but we had a great time.

There's a lesson in that trip. Ron and Joann reminded me that catching fish is just a small part of the overall trip. We, as guides often put too much pressure on ourselves to catch fish, because we know that is how many people judge the quality of a trip, but catching is just a small part of the total experience. Remember that the next time you have a slow day.

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