An E-mail from Tom Ross

A true fishing testimonial from a HAPPY BarHopp'R client. Read about Tom Ross' experience with Capt. Butch Rickey, one of the top native Florida fishing guides, backcountry fishing and flats fishing in the waters of Pine Island Sound around Sanibel Island, Captiva Island, Pine Island, and occassionally, Sarasota Bay.

Captain Butch;

Just wanted to drop you a line thanking you for our trip on September 23rd. It was my first time on the Barhopp'r II and the first trip for my friend Bob with you. I found no drop off in fishability (is that a word) with the Barhopp'r II. The weather and water conditions were better than expected as Tropical Storm Harvey had just cleared the area two days earlier.

After getting bait, we worked a couple of bars looking for redfish. I lost one at the first bar and nothing at the next. I could tell Bob was beginning to wonder..... Alas, at the third spot we finally found the redfish! Overall, we had about 25 hits and landed 15 reds. I missed the first two until I remembered the "reel until the drag goes, then set the hook HARD" method. After that I was in the groove.

Bob appreciated the coaching you gave him - except when you started hitting him with the baseball bat!!! He really picked up on loading the rod over the course of the day. However, the getting the line tight - when to reel and when to wait - these were tougher for him to learn. I think that it was moreso using the cut shiners as the reds pick the bait up slowly and move off casually versus live baits usually get freight-trained when the reds are chummed up. However, it could have also been that they were less aggressive after the storm and a night of a full moon.

Well, after the reds you asked if we wanted to try some snook fishing - even though the bite had been slow. This is always an offer I cannot refuse! We hit some bars and the third one was the charm again. A 33 inch,11 pound snook blew up my bait and gave a great fight. The hit was spectacular as all the finger mullet on top of the bar went into the sky when she hit. I was shaking when we got her on the Boga-Grip! When I stop shaking after the big ones I'll stop fishing. What a great end of the day!

Once again, thanks for a fun trip again. I'll be back! Take care my friend.

Tom

P.S. My son loved seeing the fish! Please send me some pictures when you get the film back.

Tom Ross Testimonial

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