Fishing Report From Capt

January 28, 2007

It’s blowing 25 knots outside right now, with seas 5-to-8 feet. But the sun’s shining again and the weather-guessers are saying that I’ll be able to fish again by Tuesday.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that I NEVER believe anything that the weather-guessers say. Never. If I can’t see it with my own eyes, pffffffffft!

The best news is that they’re wrong such a large percentage of the time that it’s possible we’ll be back on the water most of this week. I certainly hope so, because the tides all week are especially good.

And despite the cold snap, I just checked the NOAA site and water temps are still holding at 66 degrees, which is very good for this time of year.

And that, my friends, explains why the fishing this winter has been pretty darn good.

I took Sarasota Herald-Tribune outdoors writer Steve Gibson to Lemon Bay last Monday and we had a mixed bag of fish.

Steve jumped a baby tarpon that was about 20 pounds in one deep pool where a couple of canals come into confluence, but the hook pulled free after just one pretty leap.

He also boated some smallish snook and a couple of trout. One strong fish that we suspect was a jac crevalle put a healthy bend in Steve’s fly rod, but the hook pulled free.

Two days later, Gene Kahn and Steve Nelson joined me for an enjoyable afternoon of learning and catching in Lemon Bay.

After spending their careers in the retail business—mostly with the May Company and its subsidiaries—they each recently retired and decided to take up fishing.

“We’ll be happy just to learn a little bit,” Gene had said. “We really don’t expect to actually catch anything. That would be a bonus.”

Well, they each got their bonus! In spades.

Gene caught a smallish trout and I thought we would nail a bunch of schoolies on that flat. Since that was not the case, I moved to the east side of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). Nothing.

Then I noticed some interesting activity along an oyster bar to our north. I idled up, then jumped onto the poling platform.

As I shoved us closer and closer, I could see a bunch of fat redfish slashing into a huge ball of mullet. It reminded me of a wolfpack circling a herd, waiting for a chance to cull out the easiest prey.

I set up the drift and we launched our attack. Sort of.

Since neither Gene nor Steve had ever spent much time fishing, it took a while for them to get the hang of the spinning gear they were using. Finally Gene yelled “Got One!” Alas, some slack line gave that redfish the opportunity to toss the jig.

We spent a while working that pod of fish without success, so I decided that it was time to change tactics.

A 5-foot-deep grass flat was our next target, and this time everything fell into place. They each started catching trout, and pretty much took turns bringing a fish to the boat every fifth cast, or so.

Then a school of pompano came to play and the guys really had a blast with those tough, scrappy battlers. Gene and Steve nailed a bunch which really put a bend in their rods.

When Steve finished off the day with an extremely acrobatic ladyfish, Gene decided that “when I come back down next month we’re coming fishing again. Same thing in March. This is great.”

Ghost has been having a grand time lately, too. We’ve been up at Dream Lakes of Florida each of the past two Fridays to guide quail hunters, and yesterday was another shoot-to-retrieve event sponsored by the North American Dog Sports and Registry (NADSR).

Once again, she finished first in her class.

It’s amazing that in May she’ll be 10 years old! She still runs hard—way harder than most hunting dogs I’ve been around—but the fact is she simply wears herself out.

So, I’m planning to have her pick out a “Little Brother” when I get back to Michigan in June. I’d appreciate any input from those of you who have introduced a puppy into a household that already has a dominant older dog.

Anyway, back to the fishing!

Capt. Mark Phelps and Capt. Thom Smith—who both guide with me out of Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters—report seeing and hooking a lot of redfish and some large trout up in Terra Ceia Bay.

And Charlotte Harbor continues to produce a mixed bag from baby tarpon in the backcountry creeks to large trout on the grass flats, plus redfish and snook along the mangroves.

Speaking of snook, take a look at the current issue of Fly Fisherman magazine. There’s a pretty large spread that starts on page 46, written by Yours Truly, that covers night fishing for snook around the lighted docks in “Snook Alley” here in Venice/Nokomis.

If it doesn’t get your blood boiling, I’ll give you Ray O’Connell’s

e-dress and he’ll regale you for two hours with details of the big snook he caught when we went out earlier this month.

Tight Loops,

Capt. Tony Petrella

Federation of Fly Fishers CCI

Florida: 941-496-4289

Michigan: 231-585-7131

www.tightloopsflyfishing.com

February 26, 2006

OVERVIEW

The fishing has been superb most days, but a front blew through on Friday afternoon—and BLEW is the operative word!—cooling off the action a little bit.

Little Sarasota Bay has been on fire—and it’s a good thing because those fish gave Sam Povenilli a wonderful experience for his 91^st birthday. He’s officially the oldest angler I’ve ever guided. As Kate put it, “a new league record.”

Night snook fishing is off a little because of the cooler temps. By “off a little” I mean that instead of boating 30 or 40 fish we’re back “down” to 15 or so in a three-hour trip.

Ghost is doing great, in fact she’s yelling at me right now to take her for a spin through the neighborhood. We’ve got a guided quail trip coming up on Friday, then another Hunt Test on Saturday. She’s not showing any evidence of aftereffects from the torn anterior cruciate ligament that made her miss the last month of grouse and woodcock hunting back in Michigan.

Did I mention that she won first place (again) in the Intermediate Pointing Dog category at the last event? Well, I probably did but you know how dog owners are—we can’t help bragging on our poochies every chance we get. Darnit, aren’t dogs wonderful!?!

Kate’s been upping her workout regimen almost daily. “I’m going to be READY for trout season when I get back to Michigan,” she says. Can’t blame her, after she missed most of the past two seasons between the broken leg and recovering from chemo. “You Go, Girl!”

If you browse the MICHIGAN section of the Photo Gallery, you’ll see some wonderfully scenic shots of the rivers we love! If you haven’t chased brookies and brown trout in Michigan, you’re missing out on a fabulous experience.

Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters (and y’r obdt srvt) got a fantastic writeup this week in the Sarasota Observer newspaper. Too bad our night of snook fishing wasn’t as good as the article. Many thanks to Associate Editor Kevin J. Allen for his kind words. And NEXT time, Kevin, we’ll nail em!

And now, the rest of the story…

LOWER TAMPA BAY

Last time I was up there we found trout, ladyfish, and a couple of redfish laid up on the oyster bars. My friend Capt. Thom Smith works that area regularly, and has been raving about the fish they’ve been finding in Miguel Bay, Terra Ceia, and around the north side of the Causeway near Joe Bay. I think I’ll take Charles Walton up thataway when he gets to town in a few days.

LITTLE SARASOTA BAY

What a Grand Slam this fishery has turned into in recent weeks!

WOW!

Eric Munson, who fishes with me in Michigan, came to Sarasota for a get-together for hospital CEO’s and decided that a day of fishing would be a very good thing. Particularly because he’s still new to fly fishing. “I’ve gotta get better at this so that son of mine isn’t so smug when he out-fishes me.”

Well, Eric succeeded. Not only did we manage to extend his casting distance by about 20 feet, he got a BUNCH of neat photos of the him-and-fish variety to send off to Lars—who’s stuck in New York City.

The following day I met Bill Walker at the Venice Holiday Inn and we got him into a fair number of fish. Bill’s a forensic psychologist, and has some fascinating stories. He was here for his 57^th high school class reunion. “We’re actually from Indiana,” he told me, “but most everybody who’s left lives in this area. Except me. But I can stay as long as I want. My schedule is flexible.”

Charlie Smith, who lives on Casey Key much of the year, opted for some on-the-water casting and fishing instruction last Tuesday. So, we met at the shop (CKA&O) and promptly motored up the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) and started a drift smack in his back yard. So to speak.

It took a bit of coaching, but Charlie eventually got the hang of shooting line. It took a little longer for him to get the “hang” of hanging fish, however. At one point, his wife walked to the end of their dock and asked, “are we having fish for dinner, or do I need to buy some chicken?”

“You’d better head over to Publix,” I yelled back. “Charlie’s been letting them all go free about 20 feet from the boat.” We do, however, have photographic evidence that one Mr. Charles Miller hooked and landed one ladyfish and one trout.

But last Thursday took the cake. Ron Povinelli had booked a trip to celebrate his dad’s 91^st birthday, and brother did they celebrate. They must have caught 50 fish in the time we were out. That was the really GOOD news. Except Sam wanted “a trout to eat for dinner” but not one solitary trout was to be had among all of those fish we caught and released. That was the only BAD news.

“Next time,” I assured him!

The following afternoon I was in exactly the same spot. This time with my old friend Rick Kefgen. Rick recently retired from Marshall Music in Lansing, MI, after 31 years and decided to take a trip south. Surprisingly enough his long-suffering wife, Martha, stayed home teaching school while Rick took off on a nearly-monthlong sojourn.

Rick and I have fished together many, many times in Michigan. This was his first adventure with saltwater fish in more than 30 years, and he was stunned at the raw power and wonderful leaps that ladyfish are known for.

“It’s like hooking a baby tarpon!” he exclaimed after one three-footer gave him a seven-jump tussle. “These things are wonderful!” Indeed.

SNOOK ALLEY

I guess sometimes bragging too much can come back to haunt you! After weeks of nights when we boated 30, 40, sometimes as many as 50 snook and bluefish, things have “cooled” off.

Not that the fishing’s been BAD, mind you. Just ask Craig Riendeau, who moved to Atlanta recently, and his buddy from Chicago, Rich McElligott. They spent an evening in Venice recently and were very impressed by its fishery.

We had to move around to a few different lights, but they boated about 15 fish and would have had a higher success ratio if Craig could have broken his habit of setting the hook (I should say TRYING to set the hook) by sweeping the rod tip.

“You’ve gotta set the hook with your line hand,” I said (again), even as he was sweeping the rod tip and missing yet another fish. They had a grand time anyway, and already have made plans for next March.

Pete Taylor, who’s a regular at my fly tying classes, teamed up with Jack Schuchardt one evening and found the going a little tougher. We finally set up on an underwater light that had plenty of fish cruising around over it, and both fellas found out how strong these snook can be.

Two nights later, Canadian expatriate Bob Mathieu stepped aboard my Hewes with his pal Mark Thompson. Bob’s fished pretty nearly all over the place, but somehow had never landed a snook.

It didn’t take very long for THAT to change, and Bob now is the proud owner of a handsome portrait of himself and Sammy The Snook. Mark, meanwhile, landed his first fish in more than 50 years. “WHAT!” I exclaimed when he revealed that fact. “How come you haven’t fished in 50 years?”

“Well, he replied, “I grew up in Pittsburgh and went back there after college. And between spending long hours as a cardiologist and my golf game, I just haven’t spent any time fishing.” The smile on his face when he landed that first snook was one mighty fine grin!

LEMON BAY

Capt. Mark Phelps, who works with us out of Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters, reports redfish littering the oyster bars and tailing shamelessly on the flats. “It’s beautiful,” he drawled in his Carolina twang, “except we never could get them to eat a danged thing. It was a little bit frustrating, if you want to know the truth!”

Aye, aye, Capt. Been down that patch of cotton!

Hmmm, I’ve got John Skivington for a couple of days this week. Maybe Lemon Bay would be in order.

CHARLOTTE HARBOR

My brother, Capt. Dave Gibson, is still raving about all of the spotted sea trout in Pine Island Sound. Maybe I’ll take Charlie Walton down there on one of the days we fish. Or maybe Bob (‘you’re gonna like this picture”) Cummings later in the month.

That’s the beautiful thing about fishing southwest Florida. There simply are SO MANY PLACES to catch fish. And each spot has its own character and personality.

Till next time,

Tight Loops,

Capt. Tony

JANUARY 27, 2006

OVERVIEW

Just when I started thinking the fishing around here couldn’t get any better, along comes Bill tucker down from Chicago to prove me wrong.

Granted, Bill isn’t as “enlightened” as we hotshot fly anglers—he was dangling a piece of dead shrimp on a size 2 hook tied to 12-pound spinning line behind his mother’s house in Punta Gorda when he hooked and landed a redfish estimated at 45 pounds!

This is the same Punta Gorda, mind you, that took it squarely on the chin when a bully named Charlie swept through this area a couple of years ago. To paraphrase Mark Twain, “the reports of Charlotte Harbor’s death have been greatly exaggerated!”

Could that fish have been even bigger than 45 pounds. “Coulda been,” he said. “I didn’t have anything to weigh it with that went over that!” And, yes, he released the fish. Over the slot limit, you know.

Uh-huuuuuuuuuuuuh!!

All I can say is that Bill’s catch is indicative of the extremely good health of southwest Florida’s fishery these days.

On the personal front, Kate is feeling stronger every day after her bout with cancer last year. And Ghost has been given the okay to start racing around the back yard in preparation for our upcoming hunt test at Dream Lakes.

And now, the rest of the story…

LOWER TAMPA BAY

I finally drove up to the 59^th Street ramp a couple of days ago and we got into a mess of fish despite those lying weather-guessers. Wind was forecast at 5-10 out of the south-southeast. Well, they got the direction right, but brother did they “blow” it on the velocity.

When sustained winds got to 25 miles per hour, so did my Hewes. I told Mark Phelps, a recent transplant to Bradenton from Charleston, SC, it was time to leave that enormous school of ladyfish and find some shelter.

So, we got out of Terra Ceia Bay and wandered around near Snead Island for a while. There were dozens of sheepshead swimming around, and finally we located a very nice redfish—not like Bill Tucker’s, mind you—but nice. He was laid up in the skinny water near an oyster bar when we spotted him.

He looked at one of my Polar Fiber Winter Shrimp. Then he looked some more. Finally, he started following the retrieve but something just didn’t look right to that big guy and he turned away. Not spooked, mind you. He didn’t mud. He just turned away and never would look at it again.

My good friend Capt. Thom Smith, who guides with me out of Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters, says he’s been finding a lot of bluefish, spotted sea trout, and flounder up in that neck of the water.

SARASOTA BAY

Hans Hanson nailed a 29-inch redfish while working docks near Sands Point, and Pompano are popping up on the big flat behind the Ringling Museum on the east side of The Bay.

If you move further south into Little Sarasota Bay you will find a LOT of ladyfish. I had Ken Sass, of Myrtle Beach, NC, in there yesterday and he simply could not keep the fish off his hook!

We were about a half-mile north of the Blackburn Point bridge, and the fishing was really fun. Perfect weather—mostly sunny and about 80o with NO WIND!! What more could a body ask for? Nothing.

SNOOK ALLEY

The beat goes on!

All I can figure is that the record high daytime temps, combined with cooler nights, have caused the snook to stack up under the lights even more than usual.

I was at the Mangrove Coast Fly Fishers (an FFF chapter) meeting last Tuesday and everyone had the same report—PHENOMENAL!!

It’s to the point where a 20-fish night is “ho-hum”. There are so many fish around the lights that if you keep moving, and don’t mind staying out a bit past your normal bedtime, you can put 50 fish in the boat.

Now, this is sight-fishing and 40-foot casts to snook that are averaging 22 inches, and bluefish in the 4-pound class, using size 6 and size 4 glass minnow and estaz shrimp patterns. Check out the Fly Patterns section of this site for photos. Unfortunately, you have to go to the other dropdown section to get the Recipes.

LEMON BAY

There are HUNDREDS OF REDFISH on the flats. You might have trouble getting to them unless you’re willing to hop out of the boat and do some stealthy wading, but they are THERE!

Small Winter Shrimp (see Fly Patterns), brownish crabs (stripped verrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyy slowly), and small glass minnow and “whitebait” patterns are working best.

You’ll also find plenty of trout, ladyfish and bluefish in the deeper grass flats.

CHARLOTTE HARBOR

I talked with my little brother, Dave Gibson, last night and he reported seeing and catching more spotted sea trout in Pine Island Sound this past week than he can ever recall.

The redfish have been very active in The Harbor and PIS all winter. The ONLY problem is that there are an awfully lot of boats back up in Bull Bay and Turtle Bay. To the point where it’s simply too crowded to fish without somebody zooming up and spooking your fish.

I’ve sorta solved that problem by scouting out some new territory to get away from the traffic. It’s a wonderful area that for one reason or another I just hadn’t fished during the past 10 years of wandering around down here. Lots of mangrove islands, with lots of snook and redfish nosing around.

I can’t wait to show them to you.

Till next time,

Tight Loops—

Capt. Tony

JANUARY 15, 2006

OVERVIEW

I’ve been getting razzed a lot since my national television debut on A Taste of America, but I’ve got broad shoulders and can take a ribbing. If you missed it, the segment is titled “Trout Hemingway” and it’ll undoubtedly be repeated at some point. The show is on Tuesday at 8pm and Saturday at 5pm, and it was pretty funny.

Check the photo gallery and drop down to the new Fly Pattern section. I’ve been working on some new fly patterns, and they’ve done pretty well on snook at night. There’s a separate dropdown for the “Recipes.”

By the way, I’d love to get photos and recipes of your favorite flies. Trout, bass, pike, musky, saltwater—whatever has been working for you. I just started this section, and plan to expand upon it as time permits.

Kate’s feeling fine, except she lost all of her hair. Again. But, her last MRI showed her cancer-free, and that’s really the important thing. Actually, she has several different wigs and they really look like her actual hair.

Ghost is champing at the bit. The next Shoot-to-Retrieve Hunt Test is Feb. 12, and I THINK she’ll be able to play. I’m going to get another Xray of her knee first, though.

Speaking of Hunt Tests, I suggested starting a chapter of the North American Dog Sports and Registry in Michigan to hold Tests, and have been overwhelmed by the positive response. As soon as I nail down a site we can start making firm plans.

Now on to the fishing report…

LOWER TAMPA BAY

Look for redfish, sea trout, ladyfish, bluefish and pompano around Palma Sola Bay, Anna Maria Sound, and the far northern part of Sarasota Bay. If you’re into dropping a live shrimp to the bottom while reading War and Peace, the docks are yielding sheepshead up to 6 pounds.

SARASOTA BAY

I’m very pleased to tell you that guide Johnny Walker reported catching a spotted sea trout on a grass flat near Bird Key. That’ds the first trout I’ve heard about from Sarasota Bay since I got back down here at Thanksgiving! MAYBE it means they’re on their way back!

There also are bluefish in New Pass, and redfish around Lido Key. All good news, after the lingering problem with red tide. Fortunately, that nasty stuff is gone. The ONLY good thing was that it caused a big push by several different groups, and scientists, to work on finding out what causes it, and how to cure it.

SNOOK ALLEY

The night fishing here has been spectacular! We’ve been catching 20 or 30 snook and bluefish most nights.

The exception, unfortunately, happened last Thursday when I (over)confidently took Scott Anger, of suburban Washington DC, and his son Brian, of New Jersey, to my favorite light. They caught fish, mind you, but not like we’ve been doing.

For some reason, the fish that night were being ultra-selective. At least at that light. I ran into Kevin Cooke, shop manager at Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters, as we were taking out at the ramp and he told me he’d been working some lights in Dona Bay and had a double-digit night.

LEMON BAY

At least Scott and Brian had a very positive experience down here during the day on Thursday. The ladyfish and trout were extremely co-operative. That is, until we got surrounded by a pack of hungry bottlenose dolphins who decided to use us for a free lunch.

These ‘fins were literally swimming right next to the boat, nearly taking the fish from my hand as I was releasing them. We finally decided that enough was enough, and ran up to Forked Creek.

The following day, I was back in the same area with Chris Newhall and his wife Jen. If anything, the fish were even MORE co-operative. Which was good. Except Chris couldn’t manage to bring any to the boat. Which was bad.

Jen had a pretty good time razzing Chris about missing/losing fish after fish after fish. Finally, after 10 consecutive fish waved their tails goodbye, the fog was closing in and we were on our last drift and Chris nailed a 3-pound bluefish.

“The pressure was on,” he said after we released the blue (without any dolphins around to eat it). “No WAY was I going to lose that fish. I never would have heard the end of it from her.” Jen smiled broadly, and promptly regaled Chris’ brother with the day’s details the instant he met us in the parking lot later.

CHARLOTTE HARBOR

Trout and redfish are all over the outside edges of the mangrove islands. Snook and baby tarpon are pushed pretty far back into Bull Bay and Turtle Bay.

You also can find some baby poons in the Peace River, and some of the residential canals.

The area around Burnt Store has been fishing well. Good populations of snook and redfish.

Till next time---

Tight Loops,

Capt. Tony

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