Well, it was another week cut short by weather and luck. I was supposed to do four day with my long-time friend Dr. John Hitt. His duties as president at UCF are very demanding and changeable, and we lost Monday. Tammy was brewing just to our south, and it was a pretty windy day.

Tuesday morning we were ready to go, and I teased him about having to retrain each other because he hadn't fished in over a month, and I hadn't worked in two weeks. And, I couldn't find anyone who had worked more than an odd day to consult about bait.

It was pretty breezy as we headed down the river. All my records indicated that we are usually getting bait very easily this time of year either at Picnic Island or on the Chino Island flats. So, we began our search at Picnic. A bucket of chum later we hadn't even seen a pinfish. The place was like an underwater desert.

We headed to Chino, where we found birds diving on very small bait. But after extensive chumming and several moves, we only had a handful of tiny shiners in the well. We couldn't get them to come of the very shallow edge they were holding on, in about a foot of water. We did load up with pinfish.

We moved on to the flats at Flamingo, which had been my mainstay for beautiful bait before things slowed down so badly. Another load of chum tried in several places got us only some pins. By this point, the wind was really up to the point where we had to get out the old Danforth anchor. The Power Pole wouldn't hold us!

I told John of a snook hole that I fish that often has bait in it. I've noticed over the years that after spending an hour catching bait the bait is so think that I could load up without chumming. Problem is, it's not real predictable. But, I suggested we pay it a visit.

We were now on the bottom of the tide, and not having run John's boat in really shallow water since last winter, I blew the approach. I didn't get quite the "coast" I'm accustomed to, and ground to a stop about 50 feet short of the hole. No problem, I thought. I just disrobed from the waist down, grabbed the net, and headed to the hole on foot.

But, what I didn't know was that apparently hurricane Charley had strewn oysters all over the place, and that they had a new growth of come kind of coral all over them. They were very pretty, actually. But, they played havoc on my feet, and the castnet.

It had been years since I've thrown a castnet anywhere except off the bow of a boat. My first throw at the hole was not a good one, but I could see the bait flicking in from the edge. It WAS there. I got maybe a dozen on the first throw, and didn't really want to walk them back to the boat through that minefield of oysters, but I WANTED bait.

Once back in position, I adjusted the net a bit, and the second throw was much better, and covered the hole. It was full of nice shiners, and coral covered oysters clumps! We had enough bait in that one throw for a day of fishing!

We could see the weather deteriorating as the morning went on, due to the movement of Tammy. I knew we would at least get wet before we got home. We decided to stay right there and fish, since there were plenty of holes scattered about that can offer great fishing. We managed 6 snook, 3 trout, 2 jacks, and 1 snapper before moving to another nearby hole.

At that hole we were looking for big trout, which are usually laid up there. And, we found them. As the weather approached and rain was imminent, the bite turned on. We pulled some nice, fat trout from that hole, and put a limit in the well. John was happy to know he was going to have a nice bag of fillets.

Then the rains came. We quickly moved up along the mangroves on the lee side, and that along with the T-top kept us relatively dry. But, once the first wave of weather had passed, and we moved back out to our hole, we couldn't buy a bite. The fish had shut down. We could see lots more weather coming from the east, and I figured that now that it was here, we'd be seeing squalls all day long. The wind was also up, easily over 30. We knew it would be an uncomfortable and adventurous ride home.

It was indeed bouncy out there, but John's boat handling skills have continually improved since he's had the Coastline. He took the angry waters like a pro, and we only got a little spray on us. But, we knew we had one final test; the mouth of the river past marker 93. With the wind blowing east and the tide coming in, it can be some very nasty water, indeed. The wind will pick that water up and make an awful mess. We had easily four foot waves, which if the period were six to 8 seconds would be a relatively calm sea. But, this is not the sea, it's the river, with a shallow, changing bottom, and a fierce current, and the period (time or distance between waves) is maybe a second, and less than the length of your boat. That, my friends, is very nasty water to negotiate. It's the saltwater equivalent of shooting rapids!

But, again, John showed great skill in negotiating those waves, keeping exactly the right speed and attitude so that he didn't stuff the bow into a 4 or 5 footer and take on massive amounts of water, or break the boat in half from the sharp pounding that kind of chop produces. Of course, there's one other danger in water like that. If he had been forced to stop and the wind had turned the boat sideways to that awful water, the boat could easily have capsized. Oh, did I mention that it was raining like crazy?

We decided to make the call whether to fish the next day the next morning. The forecast was for more of the same, or worse. Upon checking the radar Wednesday morning, I found plenty of rain offshore, just to our south. It looked certain to be another wet, windy day, and neither John or I were excited about another ride up the river like the one the day before. So, we canceled.

What I didn't know until later in the day was that the tropical storm Tammy had turned almost due north overnight, and it wound up drying us out. It was calm, dry and beautiful all day, and John and I were both kicking ourselves. But, how is one to know?

By Thursday morning there was another player in our weather scheme. There was a new tropical development down just off the Yucatan that was throwing lots of moisture at us. We were supposed to be wet and windy, again. It was heavily overcast that morning; perfect for topwater fishing. I suggested to John that we forego catching bait and the time it takes, to fishing artificials. Mainly, topwater plugs for trout. John and I both love to do that, but you need the right kind of overcast day for it to be most effective.

But, before we'd gotten out of John's marina, we discovered we had a problem with the boat. We had something weird going on with the electrics. When John tried to operate the trim tabs, the Power Pole, or anything that had a heavy current draw, it would shut down everything else that was on the accessory panel. The engine and charging side were fine, but nothing else worked. I found a less that tight battery connection, but that didn't solve the problem. From my years on the water and around boats, I theorized that either the battery had an internal problem (intermittent open probably from the severe pounding of Tuesday), or the battery cable end was corroded internally and causing high resistance. Either would give the same symptoms. So, we were somewhat handicapped without our Power Pole or baitwells.

We decided we'd work our way north fishing trout flats until we found willing participants. Problem was, we found none for the first couple of hours. We didn't have a bite, save for a wild ladyfish bite on the flats near the powerlines. We also saw freshly dead, and dying trout practically everywhere we went. Apparently the red tide is still with us to some degree. But, we wanted trout on topwater plugs. So, we stayed with it. After all, it wasn't raining.

Finally, we found fish near Regla Island, and plenty of them. For the next several hours we had plenty of action. There were lots of trout, although not a lot of keepers. We had many fish that we just under the 15 inch limit. We also had marauding schools of large jack crevalle, and caught quite a few of those every time they were within casting distance. And, yes! We did get one snook and one redfish, all on topwater plugs, to make the Slam! I even had a first for me. I caught two small jacks on the same plug, at the same time, both on the rear treble hook! Double your pleasure. Double your fun?

It had been a fun day on the water. John and I were glad we'd stayed with it, and prevailed. It's hard to beat a day of catching anything on topwater plugs. It's not something I get to do very often as a guide, and it sure was fun. And, although it was breezy, we knew the ride home would be a piece of cake compared to our last one. It was marred only by rain as we made our way home.

It was a short workweek this week, with only trips run. They were fun trips, though, with new friends and old.

First up was David Boyd, an MAI appraiser from Palm Beach Gardens whom I’ve talked to for a long time online. He’s doing a lot of work over here now, and I finally got to meet him. Dave wanted this to be an educational/instructional trip with the emphasis on learning the how, where, when, what to look for aspects of fishing our waters. I had already warned Dave that it was a good day for learning, but a poor day for catching, as the tide was very poor. It was falling, and slowly at that. In addition, I didn’t know what the effects of all the weather associated with the near passing of hurricane Dennis there might be. David didn’t care. He was ready to go.

Even though Dave and I are both native Floridians, I was surprised to learn that he had only caught one redfish in his life. I knew we had a small window of opportunity where there would be good water on the flats, and wanted to catch bait as quickly, and then try to put a few fish into the boat. Once the tide slowed, we could do the instructional part. So, I headed up to the bar at marker 32, hoping the bait would still be there. There were lots of small pinfish, and tons of small shiners, but only a couple of big pins, and one big shiner. We also caught some ballyhoo, which I kept.

We headed to my chosen area to begin. The bottom features were very hard to distinguish because the water was still very dark with tannin. I parked close to the area I wanted to fish. I just wasn’t exactly sure how close. Dave and I soon found we'd gotten it right the first time, as the first bait I threw out, a live pinfish under a popping cork, was quickly inhaled. We had our first redfish in the boat. Shortly afterward, another live pin was eaten. By then I’d gotten a mix of baits out, including cut ballyhoo and cut pinfish. We caught a couple on the ballyhoo, and several on the pinfish before things slowed down. It was great to have had immediate action.

Dave poses with his first redfish of the day!

From there, we spent the rest of the morning riding, and showing Dave the kinds of places I like to fish, and the features that make them good fishing holes. We spent a lot of time running along shorelines on the trolling motor. Unfortunately, the water was still so dark that it was very hard to show him the underwater features, and nearly impossible to see any fish other than scooting mullet.

It was a fun day, and Dave said it was just what the doctor ordered. We’re hoping to get out for one of those big redfish days this fall.

On Friday, it was my old friend John Hitt, who was over for some R & R. John had just had his Coastline serviced and was ready to fish. We met at his dock at 6:30, and headed down the river, and to the flats near Wulfert Keys, to see if we could luck upon some descent bait. Although we caught a ton of big and small pinfish, we didn’t see the first shiner. We headed on up to marker 32, feeling sure the small bait would at least be there. But, we didn’t catch the first one. Plenty of pinfish and ballyhoo, but that was it. Knowing we again had a very early tide, I urged that we move on and try to get on some redfish while the getting was good.

We returned to the same area the I had fished with Dave two days before. Again, I put out live bait under a cork, but no one was interested. I prepared a cut ballyhoo and cut pinfish, and put them out. Soon, we had two redfish in the boat on the cut bait.

John Hitt shows off a mess of fish!

John had cleaned out his freezer of several bags of ladyfish steaks, some of which were a year or older. His wife Martha was very happy to see them go. John wanted to use some of the ladyfish for bait, but it is very hard to deal with once it has been frozen, and we had just caught two fish on fresh cut bait. I suggested that maybe we use it for chum, never anticipating the results.

The ladyfish was pretty awful stuff, and it seemed that as soon as it was in the water it called every catfish within a mile radius of us. We couldn’t catch anything but catfish from that point on. We moved on in frustration. We tried another area within a half mile or so, and couldn’t draw a strike.

I told John of my trip with my friend Bob Brockway the Friday before, and how much fun it had been working those DOA shrimp. John loves to trout fish, as do I, and it didn’t take much arm twisting each other before we were headed to a nearby flat. We set up a drift in four feet of water, and the action was almost instantaneous. The biggest surprise was that we quickly had a couple of beautiful 19 inch trout in the well. That’s an average trout in the winter, but well above what we normally see during the dog days of summer.

We didn’t have but 3 of the DOA shrimp in the boat, and it didn’t take too many trout to wear them out. At that point we had 5 nice keeper trout in the well. John tied on a rootbeer colored curly-tail jig, and the trout just ate it up. He seemed to be catching trout on just about every throw. And, he put the count of keepers to 7, with the largest at 20 inches.

Neither of us had trout fished since early spring, and it was fun to let the little boys hiding in us have some fun just catching fish. The light St. Croix Tournament rods and Stella 2500 reels really make that kind of fishing fun.

We could see the weather effervescing behind us, and knew we would be in a race to get back home, refuel the boat, and clean the boat and fish before the first weather came through. We got a light sprinkle as we were rapping up, but the big stuff didn’t come until later.

You can bet I’ll be down at the local tackle store this weekend stocking up on DOA shrimp. I never had the patience to work them as a younger man. I seem to have it now. A sign of maturity, perhaps?

It was a great week of fishing with mostly new customers, which is a bit unusual for me since so much of my business is with long-time friends. But, new customers means the birth of new friendships, and this week was no exception.

First up was Charlie Cooper, down from Concord, Massachusetts, and his lovely daughter, Emily, who had come down to visit her dad from Washington, DC. Charlie wanted to book four days, but I only had two available; Monday and Thursday. I referred him to my good friend Capt. Rey Rodriguez for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Monday morning dawned to a strong south wind just two nights off the full moon. We had a great early tide for pothole fishing for big trout. The challenge would be navigating our way to the potholes in the shallows with a boat with no wheels on the bottom. So I thought. Once there, the challenge was getting the fish to eat.

We were tossing the Exude RT Slug, which has been so deadly on the big trout this season, but the fish just weren't very interest. Worse, the big trout weren't interested. We fished hard, and by the time the water was up and it was time to move on, Charlie and Emily had boated at least a couple dozen trout. Certainly not what I'm accustomed to!
Charlie Cooper shows off a nice trout!

We headed to a favorite spot of mine for reds and snook up near Pineland feeling sure I could put them on some fish, there. I had a bait well full of shrimp which should have done the trick. Charlie boated one red, and missed several others, and also jumped a snook. We later joined Capt. Rey on another shoreline where he had managed a few reds, but we never got one to eat for us.
Here's Charlie with his first redfish!

We finished the day at the Waterfront Restaurant, which Charlie and Emily just loved. It was Presidents Day, and it was jammed, and the water crowded as well, especially with big cruisers. We had a great lunch and then a Disney style ride back to the ramp, which Emily sure seemed to enjoy. It had been a tough day, but we caught some fish, and had a great time in spite of the tough fishing.

Tuesday was a calm, beautiful day for Scott Howell, Dave Stebbins, and his son Michael, of Chesterland, Ohio. Their main mission was to catch enough fish to feed six people a nice dinner. I knew that would be most easily accomplished with speckled trout. So, I figured we'd pothole fish for trout until we had a couple of limits, then move on and see if we could add a redfish or two.

My biggest concern was getting across the extreme shallows with three anglers aboard, and not blowing the landing. Although it was a beautiful morning, it was overcast, and with the sun low on the horizon, the potholes are near impossible to see. As I made my approach to the area flaps down and motor up I thought a couple of times I wouldn't make it, but I just keep raising the motor and watching my water pressure gauge. Finally, I thought I was approaching the hole I wanted to fish and shut down. But, the water was so shallow that we skidded to a stop about 50 feet short of the hole. Oops!

We all got out and pushed, but the Talon was pretty hard aground on the hard sand bottom. So, knowing the tide was coming in, I used the time to get the boys used to the Stella spinning reels, and working the Exude jigs in a fashion that might attract fish. After about a half hour we pushed, again, and were able to get the Talon to the hole and floating pretty easily.

With everyone back aboard we were ready to fish. It didn't take long to get into some fish, and although it wasn't the hot bite I was hoping to find, it wasn't bad for being a day off the full moon. Scott and Michael caught some fish, but Dave really had the hot rod. I didn't seem to matter what color I rigged his jig with, he caught trout. We were having fun, and catching fish. Mike was having trouble keeping them hooked and eventually wouldn't take a hooked fish from me. We had fun teasing him. And, by the time the tide was pushing the fish out of the holes we had a well full of nice trout. My friend Capt. Rey joined us not long before we were ready to move on, and they too, got into the trout. Our mission of catching plenty of fish for dinner was accomplished, and it was time to move on.
Scott, Dave, and Michael show off some of their catch!

By this time the wind had flipped to the southwest and kicked, causing the Sound to cap up. We headed across the Sound, taking a longer but smoother path. We settled on some nice redfish spots, but couldn't get anything interested in eating our offerings. Capt. Rey called and said that he and Charlie had found a few snook that would eat. Rey had decided to catch bait for the first time coming out of winter, and had gotten plenty in one throw. He offered to give us a few scoops. But, by the time we met up later and actually got some bait, the tide was nearly done moving. About all we could manage was a jack and a flounder.

But, it had been a fun day on the water with some great guys, and had accomplished our goal. Dinner was in the well. I had also seen two manatees out in the shallows, the bait had shown up in great quantity under the first span of the causeway, and I saw a snook being cleaned at the dock. All the signs of spring that I'd been waiting to see before switching back to live bait fishing, and chasing snook.

The forecast for Wednesday morning was calm with patchy fog. I was ready to catch a well full of shiners and take my new customers Monte West, and his friend Gordon and son, Justin, of Vienna, Virginia, live-baiting for trout and snook.

As we eased out of the channel clearing the ramp and turned toward the causeway, I could see bait flicking everywhere. I gave Monte the helm, and after a couple of tense moments while he got used to things, was able to throw the net. I could barely drag it back into the boat. It was the mother load! We were all set, and had more than enough to chum every hole, as well.

We headed off toward the second span on our way into the Sound, but after we cleared the second span of the causeway the fog became white soup. Thinking it was just a localized condition, I pressed on, trying to hold my course. Patchy fog, my butt! The fog didn't break, and the strong current soon had me far off course. We stopped in about six feet of water and soon heard voices. It turned out there were several other boats within a quarter mile of us all floundering around waiting on the fog to lift.

As we waited on the fog, I could see my plans for fishing the first hours of the incoming tide going down the dumper! After close to two hours, I decided to use the light breeze to try to navigate my way to the shore of Sanibel. I knew if I could find that I could then navigate my way to the area I wanted to fish if I could keep the shoreline in sight. The plan worked, and after idling along for a while with the breeze on my right shoulder, a faint vision of land emerged from the soup. As we moved closer I was able to see that it was indeed Sanibel, and I appeared to be just east of Tarpon Bay. From there we were able to navigate our way up Sanibel to the area I wanted to fish. The hardest part would be as I approached the area and would have to leave the sight of land to find the flat I wanted to fish.

Well, I found the flat, sort of! I wound up in the right area, but in the wrong hole. I was about a half mile from where I wanted to be. But, as we came down off step and shut down, we were treated to the sight of a huge tarpon free-jumping several times right within 100 feet of the boat. That was when I actually realized exactly where I was.

It was a long shot, but the boys were all for throwing some of our small shiners at the tarpon. I chummed a couple of bats full to see if I could get them interested. I could see large swirls the tarpon were making as the moved around, but they wouldn't eat. But, the trout did. We soon had plenty of trout going on. And, it became obvious that Gordon was going to be the catfish king. We caught trout, ladyfish, and catfish until the water got high enough to make some other options available.

We moved to an area I hadn't fished since last spring to see if the snook were staging there, yet. We caught several very nice snook there, with Justin taking the largest at 28 inches. Once the action slowed we headed across the Sound and tried some other areas looking for snook. We caught mostly more very nice trout, and I believe a flounder or two before we called it a day. It was getting late, and I had a bunch of fish to clean. Although my original plans had been foiled, we had made the day work, and had a blast. It was fun being in the middle of Monte, Gordon, and Justin, all jabbing and teasing each other as we fished.
And Justin proudly shows off his best snook, and early season keeper of 28 inches!

Thursday morning I met Charlie Cooper for our second trip. He was thrilled with the two days he'd spent with Capt. Rey, which had included some snooking on Tuesday, and chasing tailing reds on Wednesday. The highlight of Wednesday was an eleven pound tailing redfish that ate his shrimp. Seeing hundreds of tailing reds and catching that fish had been a real thrill for him. I was hoping I could give him a great final day that he would long remember, as well. I asked Charlie if there was anything in particular he wanted to do, and he quickly told me he'd enjoyed catching those snook with Rey, and had let a big one get away. He really liked the way they fought, and wanted to do it, again. I was all for that, and we headed out of the ramp for bait. I had to throw the net twice, but loaded the Maverick as full as she'd ever been with shiners. We were ready.

We had about an hour left of the falling tide, and I knew just the place I wanted to be. We headed into the Sound to the first snook spot of the day. It was my first day of live-baiting snook of the approaching spring. The first two baits that hit the water were eaten. Charlie did a fine job of landing his snook, and I lost mine while watching him. The fish were there. We caught several there, but the falling tide soon ran out of gas. I decided to use the lull to move to the next spot, which I expected to be on with the incoming tide.

We got there just as the water was beginning to crawl. We got a slow start, but by the time the water got moving well, the fish began eating. We caught snook from 1 pound to 5 pounds, along with some nice fat trout, and a couple of fat flounder. After moving to another spot nearby, Charlie caught a couple of redfish and another snook. Charlie had Slammed in that hole!

We moved on to what I hoped would be the spot of the day. I was counting on some larger snook in this spot that always begins to heat up as the water warms with the coming of spring. Charlie soon had a very nice fish on that challenged his angling skills on the ultra light St. Croix Legend rods and Stella 2500 reels. Although the fish was hooked in the lip with the circle hook, she had apparently gotten first hooked back in the gill or the throat, as she was bleeding profusely. I hurried to get her back into the water so that her wound could coagulate, but she had lost too much blood. Although she sprang from my hands after some intense resuscitation, she soon floated to the top, belly up! Charlie and I were sad to see that fish die. It was just barely short of the 26 inch slot. Some might have kept her and taken their chances.
Here's Charlie with one of his best snook of the day at 28 inches!

The next fish was much bigger and stronger, and Charlie was having a blast. After the fish was in the boat and measured at 28 inches, we put her in the well to see if she would make it. She had also taken the hook right into her stomach. I guess she really wanted that bait, and the circle hook never had a chance to work. Although she wasn't bleeding at this point, I was suspect that she would make it. Even with the added flow from the 700 GPH pump, she didn't make it. She would make the ride home with the two flounder I had kept to make sashimi.
And, Charlie was quite pleased with this 4 pound trout to end the day!

By around one o'clock I was starved out of my mind, and the bite was slowing down considerably. You could tell the weather was about to change just by observing the sky. I suggested to Charlie that we hit the Green Flash, which he likes, for lunch. Once there we were shocked to see the place so full there was barely even any standing room. We decided that the Waterfront Restaurant would do very nicely, and headed to St. James City. Although they were busy, as well, they were able to get us seated right away, and we were able to enjoy a great lunch and recap all the fun of the day and the week. Charlie was thrilled with the 14 snook, 2 reds, 3 trout to 4 pounds, and big flounder he'd caught, and was very happy with the great mix of fishing he'd done with Rey and me. He hated to have to board an airplane later that night and head back to the land of snow.

Charlie is a great guy, and I was glad that I and Rey had the opportunity to be his guides for his first fishing here. He was full of praises for both of us, which is the greatest reward for any guide. He's already plotting his next trip here, and hopes to be able to return in March.

I woke up around four o'clock Friday morning. I thought I could hear the pitter-patter of rain dropping off the eves, and the distant rumble of thunder. I hadn't heard that since last summer. We've been in a drought, and desperately need a good, soaking rain. We also need to work. I laid and listened, and sure enough the thunder was moving closer. Curiosity got the best of me, and I got up and cued up the radar on the desktop. To my surprise, there were large cells of storms building up just off the coast, and the were coming right at us. By the time I had looked at them on the screen, they were making landfall, and it was booming nicely.

I sat on the patio with a cup of coffee enjoying listening to the rain and thunder, watching the lightning. The show was interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing, and I knew it was my old friend John Hitt. We were supposed to go out and spank some of those snook, but things weren't looking good. The forecast was for more of the same throughout the day. We decided to wait and see if the day looked doable, and hope we could fish on Saturday, if Friday was a complete rain-out. The storms finally passed at around 8 AM, but light showers remained, and there was the promise of more to come.

The forecasters were calling for a day of clear weather and then more all day rains and storms on Sunday from an entirely different low pressure center. I met John at eight o'clock at his dock and loaded my gear. It was a bit on the chilly side. We were hopeful that bait would still be easy and that the fish would bite.

We headed down the river to the Sanibel Causeway to find that bait wasn't as easy at all, but we did catch it. The first throw gave us a couple dozen threads. The second a couple dozen shiners. The fifth was the mother load, and gave us hundreds of baits to fish with. I threw once more just because a fishing guide can never have too much bait! We were off.

The delay in catching bait had delayed our arrival at the first stop, which is a spot I love to fish on a spring outgoing tide. The tide was about done. All it gave us was a trout and a mangrove snapper before it pooped out.

We used the dead water time to moved to the next spot, at which I anticipate great action. It was not to be. We had a strong easterly wind that kept flopping back and forth from southeast to northeast, making it hard to throw our small baits where we wanted them. The bite that should have been was not forthcoming. I knew the fish were there, as I'd caught them earlier in the week. We worked hard at it and only managed a couple snook and trout.

On to the next stop which I hadn't yet fished this spring. Not a look. We decided upon a change of venue to the other side of the Sound. The first stop, which I have established is full of nice snook, only gave us a couple of snook. Those were the last fish of the day. We fished hard, but as we got closer to the end of the tide and later into the day, it became apparent that the fish were done, whether we were, or not. The fat lady had sung.

And, that's it. It was a fun week that wasn't as full as it was supposed to be, but I still managed five days on the water. Things will continue to warm, and the fishing will continue to heat up with the weather, especially on the good tide days.

There's no better way to bring in the new year than fishing with my good friend Dr. John Hitt. John had been chomping at the bit for trout season to open, and this was the day. We've been catching plenty of trout on our earlier winter trips, but today we'd be after the bigger boys, and inviting a few of them home for dinner.

I met John at his dock at 9:30 AM. We were soon on the way down the river, and agreed that we'd try to get it done with artificials. If we couldn't catch the bigger trout with lures today, we'd try catching bait the next day and try again with that.

We headed to an area on the west side I haven't fished since last winter in the general area of Buck Key. As we approached the area, I took the helm, to take us in to the very shallow flats to our chosen spots. I trimmed the Coastal for the shallows, I thought. But, as I approached the skinny water I soon lost the bite, and we were aground.

The boat was touching, and the water was going to be falling for another three hours. We had to work fast if we weren't going to spend hours right there. We were able to push the big Coastal a short distance, and then it would hang on little bars that were shallower. We really had to work to get her pushed across those little shallow spots, but finally got her to where she was just barely floating. We made it, but what a workout. We moved on to another spot on the trolling motor.

Our first hour or so of fishing was fruitless. What with losing time getting the boat off the flat the morning was nearly half gone. I kept moving us toward shallower water with potholes all around. I knew we'd eventually find fish that would eat. Sure enough, on the last part of the falling tide, the fish turned on, and we were in the right spot at the right time.

John was tossing a white curly-tail jig, and I a Baby Bass colored Exude. John struck first blood with the first couple of fish, and then all of a sudden we were in beautiful trout biting on every cast. Once we found them we put our limit of 4 trout each in the well on the first 8 or 9 casts. For the rest of the morning and into the afternoon, John and I caught trout after trout, all except for 4 or 5 in the slot and running 17 to 20 inches. At the point that John decided we needed to head in, we had a good 60 speckled trout in the boat, and they were all quality fish.
John Hitt shows off a limit of great speckled trout caught on jigs.

We were both fishing light tackle, John with his Sustain 2000 on a very light rod, and me with my Stella 2500 on a light action St. Croix Legend Tournament rod. Those fat trout put up a pretty good fight on the light gear, and make it even more fun. Some were heavy enough to pull the drag while trying to lift them with the rod. Anyway, what began as a slow day turned into an awesome day of fishing. We were smiling!

Monday morning, John and I were back at it again. After doing so well on Sunday, John and I weren't about to stop to catch bait. The jigs were all we needed. The wind was down some from the day before, and we decided we'd do some topwater popping once we found the fish.

We headed back to the same general area, as there were still plenty of holes and depressions we hadn't fished the day before. I chose a different route into the shallow area, and thought I had the Coastal trimmed well, and enough speed, but darned if I didn't stick her, again. It wasn't as bad as on Sunday, as we were still floating, and able to move on with the trolling motor. John and I decided that since we've both take the boat into shallower waters than I'd been getting stuck in, we must be getting in trouble because the trim gauge is not functioning. Seems is a lot harder to do by eye than it is to know where the motor is with the gauge.

Once we were fishing we got into the fish quicker than we had on Sunday. They were eating on the falling tide, and the fish were bigger! We weren't catching the numbers as on Sunday, but the fish were beautiful. Instead of a fish on every cast, it was maybe every three casts on average. But, we hardly saw a fish below 18 inches, and had several trophies over the top at 22 inches. A great average size. I did get out a topwater rig, and managed two nice fish on that, but it was far too bright in the middle of the day for much success with that.

We needed to quit a little earlier, but by the time we headed in we still had boated some 35 to 40 big trout, and again quickly had our limit of four fish each. We were happy with the slower bite and larger fish, and it had been two days of awesome trout fishing in the holes.
John Hitt shows off even better trout on the second day!

The next trip was on Thursday, and the first with Jack Schoenholtz, and his son-in-law Misha, from State College, Pennsylvania. We had a really tough tide for a first trip, but beautiful weather. One of the main things Jack and Misha wanted was fish enough for 7 people for dinner. I figured even on a tough day that wouldn't be too hard with speckled trout.

We headed back to the same general area that I had fish earlier in the week. The tide was very early, already coming in, and with the conditions I couldn't see the holes I wanted to fish. We floundered around sort of hit and miss on the holes and caught a few fish, but I just couldn't see. The sun was too low and the water too high.

I opted to move a short way to another area where I thought visibility might be better, simply because the water was shallower. There we managed to get into some descent fish. In fact, we caught the boys' two limits in short order.

We decided to move to another area, and as I left the area we were in, I decided to run a flat and look for redfish. I didn't really expect to see any there at this time of year on such low water, but darned if there weren't redfish everywhere. Of course, we had to spend some time chasing them! I tied on spoons and a redfish jig and the boys went at it. They had a couple of good hits, but didn't connect. We moved to another area not too far away, and again had some hits, but didn't convert. Finally, the tide was done, and I decided to move to the other side of the Sound, where I figured I could buy another hour of moving water.
Jack Schoenholtz with a nice speckled trout