REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 6/9/07 by Capt. Butch Rickey Fort Myers Weather Forecast, FL (33908) /* Locations can be edited manually by updating 'wx_locID' below. Please also update */ /* the location name and link in the above div (wx_module) to reflect any changes made. */ var wx_locID = '33908'; /* If you are editing locations manually and are adding multiple modules to one page, each */ /* module must have a unique div id. Please append a unique # to the div above, as well */ /* as the one referenced just below. If you use the builder to create individual modules */ /* you will not need to edit these parameters. */ var wx_targetDiv = 'wx_module_654'; /* Please do not change the configuration value [wx_config] manually - your module */ /* will no longer function if you do. If at any time you wish to modify this */ /* configuration please use the graphical configuration tool found at */ /* https://registration.weather.com/ursa/wow/step2 */ var wx_config='SZ=300x250*WX=FHW*LNK=SSNL*UNT=F*BGI=boat*MAP=null|null*DN=www.barhoppr.com*TIER=0*PID=1003176994*MD5=5b58f27a90e2116cc92e15da0f32a149'; document.write(''); FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK ENDING 6/9/07 by Capt. Butch Rickey SUMMER IS HERE! The week began on Monday with Mike Yancey, of Maryland Heights, Missouri, and his long-time friend Pat Trentler, of Casper, Wyoming. We were in a period of non-moving tides during most of the morning for most of the week. That alone would make catching anything tough. Once the tide began to move in, it would be a weak tide, starting from a half-high point. It would still be tough tides to fish all week long. We loaded up and headed out to the B Span flats for bait. But, the wind blowing across a very weak tide made the under current hard to figure out, and bait hard to catch. It took some doing, but we finally got plenty of bait for a day of fishing. We headed off into the Sound, and that's when it became apparent that things would be very tough. We fish no less than six great spots without so much as a bite! The fish were lockjawed on that do-nothing tide. I finally decided to fish a shoreline I hadn't fished in many years, just to do something different, and we were there when the tide finally began to move. As surely as the water moved, the fish began to bite. Mike and Pat managed half dozen snook and one nice redfish fishing the mangroves. SUMMER FISHING FUN! SUMMER FISHING FUN! SUMMER FISHING FUN! But, nothing lasts forever, and once the bite was over I decided to cross over to the Sanibel side of the Sound for a look around. I was saddened by what I saw. The flats there are covered with the brown algae, or whatever it is, to the point that you can hardly see the turtlegrass underneath. And, in places there is a long, leafy seaweed growing that looks like what you'd typically find choking a bass pond. My guess is that the cause is all the fresh water dumping that has been going on for years, now. The estuary certainly doesn't look healthy, and there was not a fish to be found. We decided to take a break and go to the Waterfront Restaurant for lunch, and then fish some more afterward when the water was higher. We had a fabulous lunch, and left revitalized and ready for some more fish. We worked over two more spots and managed to catch 4 more snook and 2 nice mangrove snapper. So, we finished the day with 10 snook, 1 red, and 2 snapper. We worked hard for what we caught, and had a blast in the process. Mike and Pat were great guys, and being avid fishermen, were understanding and patient with the conditions. I had my first trip with Steven Shellnut, of Hamden, Connecticut, on Tuesday. I fully expected more of the same tough, slow conditions. Especially after talking to others at the ramp in the morning. Virtually everyone I talked to was struggling to put fish into the boat. We headed back to the B Span for bait, and that's where our troubles began. We chummed and threw the net until I was blue in the face, and had about three dozen baits! It was beginning to look like TS Barry had moved our bait. I knew there should be plenty of bait at Chino Island, and caught it there on a number of days when I was picking up at the Waterfront. So, off we went, hoping that we would not be disappointed. Upon arrival I had a heck of a time trying to find the bar I wanted to fish because the tide was high and the water was tannin stained after finally having some rain. But, I kept moving and poking around with my St. Croix depth finder until I found soft bottom in just over four feet. We began to chum. I was concerned because there were no other boats on the flat chumming, and there were no birds of any kind working the water. After a few minute of chumming I decided to throw the net. I saw nothing in it until I pulled the rope. When I did, it lit up. At last, we had bait, and plenty of it. Several guys in a blue Shearwater tower boat joined us about 50 yards away. I threw the net two more times and loaded the Talon's well. We could see that our neighbors weren't having any luck. I called over to them and told them to come park on our bait, as we were done. I kept Steve chumming for them until they anchored next to us. They made their first toss as we were drifting away, and had plenty of bait. Steve and I were ready to fish, and wasted no time getting to our first spot. I was greatly encouraged when we hit two snook right off the bat. But, that was it. We moved on. Our next two spot yielded one redfish. I knew the fish were there, but we just couldn't get them to eat. Our next stop was the beautiful mangrove island shoreline that I had fished with Mike and Pat the day before. After not fishing it for years, here I was for the second time because it had given us some fish the day before. And, Steven managed to catch several nice snook and another redfish there, as well. SUMMER FISHING FUN! We decided to break for lunch and fish some more afterward on the higher water as I had done the day before. It was a good plan, as once we were back out there Steven caught quite a few snook at the last couple of spots we fished. He ended the day with 16 snook and 2 redfish. I think he was pretty happy with the results. I know I was, and we'd had a great time. I was supposed to fish Wednesday with Frank Cullum and his son of Savannah, Georgia. But, Frank told me Tuesday evening that his son was very sick and that he wouldn't fish without him. He said he just couldn't do it. So, Wednesday morning Frank and I met for breakfast, and spent a couple of hours chatting about fishing. It was great to meet him and get to know him. I also delivered a Mitchell Avocet Frank had purchased from my eBay store. Frank also gave me a deposit on the canceled day without being asked. Now, folks! That's character, and it sure says a lot about the man. I can't wait to fish with him in the future. Thursday didn't book because it was a dreadful tide. The tide wasn't much better by Friday for a two boat trip with Eric Woerner and his gang, of Dayton, Ohio. I commissioned my friend Capt. Pat Burns as the second boat. It was my first trip with Eric, and Pat and I were expecting 5 or 6 people. Thus the two boats. It was funny. Pat and I stood chatting for a long while, watching all the mayhem surrounding the crowded ramp on a Friday with a tournament going on. We noticed that there was a man with three teenage girls standing around by the parking machine, and assumed they were waiting on friends, as they didn't seem to be looking for anyone. I was expecting a party of five or six people, so I didn't approach them. At about quarter after six, I heard my cellphone going off down on the boat. I figured it was Eric, and that he was probably lost. But, the message was from a female, and when I called the number I saw one of the girls just a few yards away answer the phone. They were the Woerner party! We had a good chuckle. It had turned out that his boys were more interested in sleeping in than getting up early to fish, so it was just Eric and his three girls. Since we were down to a party of four, I offered to duck out and let Pat run the trip in order to save Eric the second fare, but he was quite content to keep it two to a boat. After hearing that there was bait at Picnic Island we decided to check it out. Pat and I anchored up a couple of hundred yards apart. I had Eric and his adopted daughter, Sarah with me. We set about chumming and throwing the net, and after several throws had nothing in the livewell. I decided to move around to the west side of Picnic, where we had gotten bait for a long while last year. But things weren't much better there, and after way too many throws for this tired body I only had perhaps four dozen baits. I called Pat to see how they were doing, and he said that he'd gotten 3 - 400 baits, and would give us some so we could get going. Finally, we were ready to fish! Eric and the girls wanted to stay within shouting distance if possible, so we headed a couple of mangrove islands where I've been catching great redfish and snook. But, there was nothing about to eat for us, and worse, our baits were dying quickly after being tossed out, and Pat was loosing a lot of the bait in his well. For whatever reason the bait in my well was fine. We suspected we were in some bad water, as our baits were dying almost immediately on the hook. Frustrated with the situation, we decided it would be better to split up and double our efforts. I decided to fish for snook, grouper, and snapper in a spot that I normally fish only in the winter and early spring. I figured that if the glamour fish wouldn't eat, we'd try to find something that would. We had action right from the get-go! And, did Sarah get excited about those fish. She caught lots of gag grouper and jewfish, as well as a nice snook. She was loving it. Dad was catching, too. But, there's a lot of luck involved when you're fishing fish like grouper and snook around rocks. Eric's luck was not as good as Sarah's, and he was getting cut off a lot. I was steady tying hooks and leaders. We were having fun. We called Pat and the girls to come join us, which they did. Shortly after arriving, some clown decided he was going to horn in on the action and drove right over both of Pat's lines, cutting them off and making a mess in the process. Somehow, Pat maintained his composure! SUMMER FISHING FUN! SUMMER FISHING FUN! SUMMER FISHING FUN! Next, Sarah caught a beautiful redfish, which was a fish you don't usually catch at that spot. Then, a big snapper. But, her fish of the day came when I got slammed and immediately stuck in the rocks. I used every trick I had up my sleeve to get the fish out of the rocks. She came! But, was immediately right back in. This fish has some serious power. It was a BIG grouper, if it was a grouper. I got her out, and she got back in at least four times before I managed to clear her of the rocks. The fish was just getting started, and I turned the rod over to Sarah. She couldn't believe how hard that fish was fighting, and by this time we were getting a lot of flack from Pat's girls for catching so many fish! Finally, the fish emerged from the tannin waters, and we were all shocked to weight in a 30 inch, 11 pound jewfish! It was a beautiful fish, and a beast on the light gear. SUMMER FISHING FUN! SUMMER FISHING FUN! Now, can you believe that we had no sooner lifted big jewfish into the boat when one of the rods went off with a wild fury. That little Stella was screaming in agony as if it had hooked a passing speedboat. Well, we hadn't realized that another boat had run right across our bow while we were all preoccupied with the big jewfish, and in fact had snatched the rig with his lower unit. I got to the rod just in time to grab the spool and avoid being entirely spooled. The boat got half of my Power Pro, and I can only hope that by the time he got where he was going it was all wrapped around his prop and eating away at his seals! Although we caught a couple more fish, things had slowed down as the tide came to a stop. We made sure the bite was over before moving on. It had been a great spot, and we had caught a smorgasbord of fish. All we needed was a trout to have the official Slam, even though we had all kinds of unrecognized Slams. We hit a couple of spots looking for the ever scarce trout without finding one, but Sarah and Eric did get two or three more snook. SUMMER FISHING FUN! We'd had barely a whisper of a breeze all morning, and it was hot. I couldn't remember the last day we'd been without wind. Suddenly it was summer! And, the absence of wind was allowing the weather to percolate early. I pointed out to Eric that I thought weather would be an issue within the next couple of hours. Since we were on the falling tide, I suggested that we all go to the Waterfront for lunch, and then fish some more if the weather allowed after lunch. Everyone was impressed with the great food. Pat and I were keeping an eye on the sky, and could see weather building in quickly to our north and east. It was time to boogie! Before we were back in the boats we could hear thunder close by. I hoped we weren't too late in leaving, but we wouldn't be able to see exactly what we were facing until we were out of the canal. The weather was coming quickly, but we decided that we could just make it if we hustled, and took off. Just as we neared the causeway we caught a big bolt of lightning nearby. Yikes! Scary stuff. We got to the dock safely, and I filleted two fish about as quickly as I ever had. We said our good-byes, and I ran for the van/trailer thinking I might just sit in it waiting on the weather. But, I managed to get the boat loaded and safely out of there before the weather hit. We couldn't have cut it any closer. But, all's well that ends well. Eric, Sarah and I had a blast. And, even though Pat and his girls struggled, they said they'd had lots of fun. Eric promised to be back next year. Summer IS here. It's time to keep an eye on the sky when you're out there on the water. 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!