REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 6/2/07 by Capt. Butch Rickey It was another windy week. Nothing new, there! And, in keeping with the strange weather pattern we’ve had all year, we had tropical storm Barry brew up in the gulf as if on cue to usher in June. The week began on Tuesday with Richard “Rick” Morris, and his friend Gary. The wind was down that morning, and it turned out that Tuesday was the only day of the week that it didn’t blow. It was pretty nice. We headed out to the B span flats; hoping bait would still be good there. It was. And, in less than an hour we were on our way to the first fishing hole of the morning. I was looking for redfish, and we found a few. Gary had the hot rod, and managed to put a 22 inch and 2 26 inch redfish in the boat, to the chagrin of Rick. SPRING FISHING FUN! With a limit of redfish in the well, we decided to chase snook. For the rest of the morning we fished a series of holes and managed a total of about 16 snook in the boat. Rick and Gary were quite pleased with the fight of those light tackle snook and redfish. SPRING FISHING FUN! It was a pretty good day with a couple of great guys. We had a lot of fun, and Gary and I teased each other a lot. He swore that if I was his wife he’d divorce me! I told him I wouldn’t be happy until he called me Honey! I was really looking forward to Wednesday with Eric Waldron, and his eight year old daughter, Page. I hadn’t seen Eric in several years, and had not met Page. She’s just cute as she can be. Eric was a few minutes late, and I was concerned about getting bait. But, once we were on the B span flats chumming, the bait came. It was harder than usual, but we got plenty of shiners for a day of fishing. The wind was up, and the ride up into the Sound was a bit bouncy. I knew it wouldn’t get any better. We settled on a small mangrove island, where we would try to catch redfish and snook. I was really interested in redfish. And, we found them. It was a hoot when Page got hold of her first big redfish. She was barely strong enough to handle it, and after fighting it for a while wanted her dad to take it from her. After working the fish for a while, Eric convinced Page to take the rod back, and she landed the fish. She was pretty proud. We caught 5 reds and a couple of snook at the first stop, before moving to another mangrove island nearby. SPRING FISHING FUN! At that hole it was more of the same. Eric and Page again caught 4 or 5 nice redfish, and several snook. We were doing pretty well, considering how the wind was interfering with our fishing. Once the action slowed there, we moved on to what would be our last stop of the day, where Eric caught one more snook. SPRING FISHING FUN! Page was pretty worn out, and the wind was wearing on all of us. We’d had a pretty good day with about 10 reds and half a dozen snook. Eric wanted to take Page to the Waterfront Restaurant, and that was surely fine by me. I had the conch salad, and I don’t have words to describe how good it is. Out of this world. J.D. sure knows how to create great dishes. Lunch at the Waterfront is the perfect end to a great day, and can be the salvation of a really tough day. It had been great to see Eric again, and a lot of fun to have Page in the boat. She was quite a little fisher girl! By Wednesday night I was really wondering if I should reschedule my trip with my old buddy Ron Hunter and his gal, Pat. Ron and I go back probably ten years, and we’ve had some great times together. I love having him in the boat. He loves to catch, and loves to eat fish. I knew he wanted to take what he could, home. With the wind certain to blow, and with rumors of a tropical low developing in the gulf, I wondered if we should fish. But, we’d canceled already several times trying to find that perfect tide/weather day, and I didn’t see much sense in canceling again. I was on good redfish, and pretty sure I could get them to eat, again. And, with snook season closed and trout all but wiped out last fall by the red tide, redfish is the meat fish. Ron and Pat were early to the ramp, as I knew a good career military man would be. It had been drizzling lightly since I’d left the fish camp, and I wondered if the tropical storm brewing was the root cause. It was to be in here by Friday. We left the ramp in total darkness, and it was very cloudy and overcast once the sun began to rise. I was hopeful we could get through a day of fishing without running in to bad weather. On the B span flats Pat took over chumming duties, and although bait wasn’t easy, we got plenty for a morning of fishing. It seemed to disappear about an hour after daybreak, but we were in good shape, and ready to go fishing. We would spend our morning fishing in a 20 knot wind, with an off and on light drizzle and heavy clouds. I’ve had some great days of redfishing under such conditions, and was hopeful that the fish would bust loose for us and really eat. And, they did eat, but I just couldn’t get them to go crazy for us. We had steady action at two spots, and Ron had the hot rod for most of the morning. Pat also caught some nice fish. By eleven o’clock the pair of Texas Waders had boated 6 nice redfish and 4 snook. The meat was in the well, Ron’s recuperating bionic knee was bothering him, and we were feeling uncertain about the weather. We decided we’d had plenty of fun, and it was time to take Pat to the Waterfront Restaurant. She’d never been. SPRING FISHING FUN! SPRING FISHING FUN! We enjoyed a great lunch and conversation, and each gave J.D.’s conch plates fits. Man, that stuff is good. Ron said it was perhaps the best he’d ever had, and he used to eat it in the Caribbean. It had been a rough ride to the Waterfront, and it was a rough ride for part of the rest of the way home. On the first leg we actually sheered off the bolt that holds my seat back, and I wound up loosing yet another $70 aluminum deck brush. I guess Ron and I both smacked it hard at the same time, and the bolt let go. But, we had accomplished our mission, put the meat in the cooler, and had a blast. You can’t beat a day on the water with old friends. Be sure to check out my new eBay Store BarHopp'R Fishing Finds! And, be sure to check out www.BestFishingBooks.com, Books and gifts for fishermen from my friend Jim Dicken!