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Venice - Snook Alley - May 10th, 2006
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED: 
86 °
FISHING: Excellent
May 10, 2006
OVERVIEW
Tarpon are EVERYWHERE in southwest Florida!
Hendricksons and black caddis are EVERYWHERE on the Manistee and AuSable rivers in Michigan! Check out www.freep.com to read the article Eric Sharp wrote about our fishing trip May 3, and to look at the really neat video that photographer Dave Gilkey put together.
While you’re in a “reading frame of mind,” check out the July issue (on newsstands now) of Fly Fisherman Magazine. I have an article beginning on page 16 that details the tragic contamination of groundwater that threatens to KILL both the Manistee and AuSable.
Oil and gas leaks and spills in Otsego County, where both rivers originate, has created an enormous plume of contaminated water that has already polluted residential drinking wells, and is moving toward the Manistee at the rate of six inches per day.
And the “solution” offered by Merit Energy, and supported by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (HAH! What a laugher THAT title is! They should more properly be called the Michigan Department of Energy Extraction Enhancement, because they CERTAINLY aren’t concerned with Environmental Quality!!!!) is to pump the “treated” water into the AuSable River aquifer. Yep, you read that right.
E-me for more details on this potentially catastrophic situation, and I’ll tell you how to join the fight to save these two great rivers.
On a happier note, the late-summer hunt tests in Michigan finally are set to be held near Clare on July 15, August 19, and September 16. E-me to reserve a spot for you and your dog, because these are fun events where EVERYBODY has a good time.
FLORIDA
As stated, we’re seeing a tremendous number of tarpon all along the southwest coast. My “little brother” Dave Gibson reports plenty of fish down in lower Charlotte Harbor, Capt. John has been jumping fish out of Gasparilla, near Englewood, and Capt. Mark called an hour ago to say he landed two on flies off Venice.
I called him back just now and they had another one on—“Gotta go,” he said. “Call you later!” Ahh, what sweet words for a Captain.
Personally, we ran into bad luck this week. I had Dave Phillips and his soon-to-be father-in-law, Tom Collins on the boat Monday morning but the rollers outside nearly flipped my Hewes over backwards.
Since I had an unexpected last-minute cancellation for Tuesday, I gave them the option of switching days. So, we did. Except the REST of Monday was beautiful.
Tuesday, well, that started out calm and peaceful and we started a slow crawl south toward Casperson Beach. Except we didn’t see any fish. So, we crawled further south. No fish. Finally, I decided to run the length of Manasota Key to check out Stump Pass.
And, as we ran, the wind increased, the clouds piled up and the seas became, uh, “interesting.”
By the time we got to Stump Pass, I turned the boat east, looked north and was greeted by a vision of lightning dancing across the blackened sky.
“Hmmmmm,” I thought. “This doesn’t look so good!”
We stopped momentarily to try and fish a spot that’s been good to me there in Lemon Bay, but almost immediately a few sprinkles began to fall. I revved up the 90 and we scooted to the nearby boat ramp at Indian Mounds Park, where we huddled under the pvillion while the rain started POURING down.
After an hour, the storm blew through and the sun popped back out so we fished out way back to Venice in the Intracoastal Waterway.
I certainly hope things will be better tomorrow and Friday, when I have Dave and his groomsmen for four-boat trips each day! I’ll keep you posted.
MICHIGAN
Kate, Ghost, and I rolled into Deward the afternoon of April 28, and quickly set about getting the house put back into shape. But, we certainly made time to fish The Opener on the 29th—something we haven’t done for a long time.
The weather was a bit cool, but we had to pay homage. There were plenty of bugs, and we caught fish, and then Ghost got to run (on a 30-foot lead) in the woods and life was good.
The next day, I took Chris DeVries and his pal Rick Tice down the AuSable. Briefly. It was a gorgeous day, alright—except the wind started blowing. And blowing. And blowing harder. Finally, I called Kate for a weather update. “Wind 17-to-25 all day,” she said.
After pondering this bit of news, I suggested to my relatively inexperienced charges that perhaps I should re-arrange the spotting of my truck and trailer. Instead of a full-day float from Thendara Landing to Wakely Bridge Landing, we should shorted it considerably and take out at Stephan’s Bridge Landing. Which we did.
We then drove to the Manistee River, where we spent about an hour on casting techniques before I taught them how to “fish” a river. That turned out to be a roaring success.
Not only did they smooth out a lot of wrinkles in their casting, they learned how to read a river and, to top it off, they both caught fish. In fact, Chris nailed a 14-inch brown on a cone-head sculpin that he ran through a deep trough that he and Rick both had already “worked.” His yelp of glee was what it’s all about for a guide!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Venice - Offshore and Coastal - May 1st, 2006
supplied by: Super Strike Charters
RECORDED:
70 °
FISHING: Excellent
We managed to get a couple of days in between the last of the spring to summer weather transition days. The wind is cranking today and will probably keep us in for the next several days. Hopefully not but we will see. Our week started on Thursday with a group of regulars from New Orleans. The morning started out windy so we snapper fished for a little while with hardly any results, strong current was our main enemy. At about 10:00 a.m. the wind started to lay and we headed offshore to see if we could find a few Tuna. We fished for about two hours without a bite and then it happened. Out of nowhere they were crashing and busting flying fish all around the boat and we had our first tuna of the day on. After that it just got crazy. We went 3 for 7 on tuna(120lber, 90lber, and a 45lber.). Busted lines, backlashes, and mystery loses. Yes, sometimes these things happen. The guys each wanted a tuna and they all caught their personal best so far. On Friday we had the Dana Jeandron and family. We went right back to the same spot to see if we could have a repeat of Thurs. if not better and we did. This time we went 4 for 6 on Yellowfin (65lber. 60lber. 50lber. and a 45lber.) and had a little blue playing around in the baits but wouldn't eat anything. Then he swam right up behind the boat, I pitched him a bait and he seemed more interested in the propellers than eating. The rougher the water got, the more the bite slowed down and we headed in early due to the building seas. Everything is biting good right now. Snapper, Grouper, Amberjack, Cobia, Tuna, take your pick. We are filling up fast for May and June. Two very good all around months to offshore fish. If your interested in fishing during this time I wouldn't wait to long to make your reservations. The Venice Marina is coming along nicely and will be the nicest facility Venice has ever seen. For those of you who haven't been down since the storm you won't believe your eyes.
Damon McKnight/Super Strike Charters/1 800 318 1720
The Jeandron Gang.Mikes First (90lber.)Chris's First (120lber)
Weather and Lunar Phases
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Venice - Offshore and Coastal - April 24th, 2006
supplied by: Super Strike Charters
RECORDED: 
78 °
FISHING: Excellent
We started out last Wednesday with part of a large group who are friends with the owners of Venice Marina. Tuna was our main target and the bets were flying between the three boats that took this group out. For the first three hours of fishing it was somewhat slow unless you count sharks and barracudas. This is the first time I have seen the sharks stacked up the way they were as far offshore as we went. But, it didn't seem to matter once the tuna started biting. We put 8 1/2 yellowfin in the boat. Surprisingly with the amount of sharks around us only one was cut in half by about a 60-70lb. bull shark. None of the tuna were very big, all less than 50lbs. The action only lasted for about 30-40 minutes but it was one after another. On Friday we had the Lyle Russel group. It was opening day of Snapper season and we all knew the bite should be very good and it was. They caught their limit but it didn't come easily. A lot of missed opportunities and snags. You know when you have a big snapper on. You have got to put everything you've got into it to keep him out of the rig. The first 8-10 seconds are critical if you ever want to see that big snapper in the box. They hung in there and were able to put about 12 mangrove snapper, 6 gag grouper, and 1 cobia(Lyles First Cobe) to go along with their Red Snapper. It was a very good opening day of snapper season and from what I saw, it seems the snapper have made somewhat of a comeback from last year for the areas that I fished. On Saturday we had Mr. Josh Lafleur and friends down from Baton Rouge. Back at the snapper again. The morning started out a little rough but slicked out by noon. The morning action was like an explosion. We put nine snapper in the boat right off the bat and as quickly as it happened it turned off. We bounced around from spot to spot for the next four hours and had little to show for our efforts. Then finally we hit the right spot. Snapper after Snapper we filled a 6 man limit with a few mangroves, 1 grouper, and 1 lane snapper. Two of the snapper were right at 20lbs. We will be back at it the rest of the week. Tuna and snapper fishing. The reports should be good. Everything is starting to come together in the blue water. Rip lines are forming and a few dolphin are starting to show up. Should be a great week. We have Friday and Sunday open of this week if anyone wants to get out fishing.
Damon McKnight/Super Strike Charters/800 318 1720
Weather and Lunar Phases
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Venice - Snook Alley - April 24th, 2006
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED:
86 °
FISHING: Excellent
April 24, 2006
OVERVIEW
WOW!!! Day after tomorrow I take Kate and Ghost back to Deward. Seems impossible that we’ve been down here for five months already. My, my, how the time does fly when I’m out guiding every day. But, that’s a GOOD thing.
I’ve got a trip on the AuSable next Sunday (the day after trout opener), then Kate and I are HOPING to actually fish together a time or two before I leave on May 5 to come back for tarpon season.
We have a pact, by the way. I’ll take her mushroom hunting if she promises that she won’t fall and break her leg the way she did three years ago! “One damn thing after another,” she just grumbled!
Ghost is doing great, hunting geckos nonstop in the back yard. I haven’t told her yet that she’s going back to the woods in a few days. Brother, will SHE go nuts when we pull onto Manistee River Road!!!!!
The big news in Venice right now is (holy)MACKEREL!!!!
Kings in the 40-pound class and Spaniards in the 4-pound class are EVERYWHERE slamming and slashing through the huge pods of baitfish.
The only problem we’ve experienced is the LACK of experience and knowledge of some boaters who blithely troll through the pods and immediately send the fish scurrying away.
“Waaaaaalllllllll, that’s how we do it back on the Cape in Masssssssssssachussssssets foah the blues,” is a common enough comment from the would-be fish-hawks.
Guess what, guys, “You ain’t in Kansas anymore, Toto!!” That “maought waaark on the Cape, fellas, but it’s horrible down heah!!!”
However, when left unmolested by overeager boaters, the mackerel bite has been AWESOME!!!!
We had a minor bite the first evening The Intern (Larry Warszalek) was here, and dabbled with them a bit more with Chryss Harrington and her son, Christian. But the Harringtons had a really mixed bag of snook, ladyfish, puffers, snapper, trout—nearly everything you could imagine.
Kevin Langevin and his son, Kristopher, had a wonderful time with Spanish and ladyfish (more on that in a minute), and Jeff Weaver nailed three very nice three-pound Spanish last Friday during a three-boat trip during a pastor’s convention in Sarasota. Jeff (who’s the brother-in-law of our next-door neighbor, Gary Gray—also a pastor) won the Biggest Fish prize, and narrowly came in second-place for Most Fish.
But I NEVER have seen hordes of predator/baitfish encounters like our experience with Mike Burhart on Sunday. Fish were absolutely swarming around the boat, beating the Gulf of Mexico into a froth. Mike’s from Kansas (eh, Toto!?!) now living in Durango, Colorado, and he loves to fly fish for trout on the San Juan. But THIS was a lot more than he ever expected out of his birthday present from wife Suzy.
“What a DAY,” he exclaimed. “Fish everywhere I looked, great new tips on casting (from “ahem” yr obdt srvt,) and even fish for dinner!” One of the Spanish was a bleeder that was going to be somebody’s dinner, so I figured it might as well feed Mike and Suzy instead of Flipper.
But, back to Kristopher and his dad, Kevin.
We met in the parking lot at Casey Key Angers & Outfitters at dawn’s early light, and within minutes we were “walking” through the no-wake zone south of the Albee Road bridge. We hit the Gulf running, and it wasn’t long before Kristopher was bringing Spanish mackerel into the boat.
“Look, dad, he’s HUGE,” Kristopher exclaimed. And, yes, he was.
Kevin had a blast watching his son catch fish after fish—especially after we went inside and got into a school of ladyfish north of Blackburn Point. Oh, yeah. Dad caught a catfish!
Well, I need to tie a few more flies and jigs for tomorrow’s trip with Dick Gander and his wife in Pine Island Sound. I certainly hope it isn’t as windy as the day I spent down there with The Intern earlier this month. Brother, now THAT was a tough day on the water. For both of us!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Venice - Snook Alley - March 10th, 2006
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED:
74 °
FISHING: Excellent
MARCH 10, 2006
OVERVIEW
We had one heckuva blow yesterday (more on that later!), but now it’s sunny and 74 with blue sky and a light breeze. You know—perfect!
It will be unusual for us to have another cold snap at this point in the beginning of spring, which means the snook are starting their dispersal from the creeks, rivers and hidyholes where they’ve been trying to stay warm.
Which means it won’t be long before we see the big females cruising the surf, while slurping down sand fleas that get churned up by the curl. We’ve already had a batch of Spanish mackerel off the beach, and they are an absolute BLAST on a 6-weight or 7-weight fly rod!
My little brother, Dave Gibson, has been raving about all of the huge trout down in Pine Island Sound, so I’m heading down there next week to find out if he’s been handing me fish stories or the straight skinny. I’ll let you know.
Ghost won her class in the National Sporting Dogs and Registry shoot-to-retrieve Hunt Test on the 4th. It was her third straight first place finish. She also had a wonderful time the previous morning, when we (read that SHE) guided Bill Delaney, of Massachusetts.
Jon Ackerly, who owns Dream Lakes of Florida, put out 20 quail early Friday morning and it didn’t take Ghost very long to sniff out every one. Bill had several excellent chances at doubles, but he was using my Beretta 686 and didn’t quite have his “eye” tuned up. He was leaving early the next day, and already had dinner plans, so I had a very satisfying meal of quail sautéed lightly in seasoned butter that evening. Thanks again, Bill.
Kate’s swamped with copyediting—as usual. Her current project is a book about Canterbury School in Connecticut, an interesting “read” with an incredible list of graduates. Its first “officially” enrolled student was Samuel Clemens’ nephew Cyril.
She’s also busy planning additional plantings at Blue Lakes Junction when she gets back to Deward at the end of April. We’re really looking forward to seeing the progress of the apple trees we planted a couple of years ago. Maybe this year we’ll get some fruit!
Of course, I’ll only be “home” a few days before heading back here to guide tarpon anglers for six weeks of up-at-3am and in-bed-by-7pm.
Anyway—on to the fishing report…
LITTLE SARASOTA BAY
What an incredible fishery this has become!
I’ve spent some time wandering around this part of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) during the past 10 years, but never before have I had this sort of success.
We literally are having 50-fish days. And yesterday, with Doug Wilcox, his son Ryan, and Ryan’s pal Matt, it was really incredible. Not only did they have many “doubles”—they kept me really hopping on a couple of occasions when all three anglers had fish on at the same time!
My old guide-buddy from Michigan, Pat Moore, was here at the end of February with Bill Schorger and Greg Richard, and they had a similar experience. Bill even managed to catch (and land) a three-pound sheepshead off an oyster bar on one of my Creepy Crawlers.
John Skivington, from Rochester, NY, had a fine day in there, landing dozens of fish, including a very healthy spotted sea trout that he politely released after a Kodak Moment.
John Freeland, of Indianapolis, wore out his arm casting flies to, and boating, scores of those voracious ladyfish on Wednesday. And he even thought my jokes were pretty good! I’m taking John and a couple of his friends to Charlotte Harbor next week, and hope to put him into a bunch of those big trout Gibby’s been bragging about.
Oh, yeah—I’ve gotta tell you about yesterday with Doug and the boys. The wind was absolutely HOWLING. In fact, when we got to the ramp on Casey Key I looked at the water and pulled out my cell phone to get an updated weather report from Kate.
“It looks like tomorrow the wind velocity will be about half what it is right now (24mph)” she said. Unfortunately, the gang was heading back to Michigan today, so yesterday was IT. I asked if they just wanted to forget it, but the boys--18-year-old freshmen at Michigan State (Matt) and Central Michigan (Ryan)--yelped like puppies who had their tails stepped on.
“It’ll be fine,” they yelled in unison. Doug just shrugged, so I fired up the Hewes and off we went! At least they had an absolutely memorable day. “I love these ladyfish,” Matt said. “If these three-pounders are so much fun, I’d LOVE to hook a tarpon some day!”
Just maybe he will, too.
SNOOK ALLEY
The action under the lights has tapered off a bit from what we were experiencing a few weeks ago. I’m starting to think that we stung so many of those snook that they’re all got sore jaws and sharp eyes. Meaning I’m starting to think they’ve “made” our fly patterns.
Oh, we’re still making good catches, mind you. John Skivington got into a bunch, and so did Joe Baum last Monday. It’s just that we were spoiled by 40-fish nights, and now catching “only” a dozen in three hours is a little bit of a letdown.
So, I’m either going to develop some new glass minnow and shrimp patterns, or abandon my usual haunts and find some new lights. Maybe both.
Actually, I just remembered a couple of lights that really treated me well. And I haven’t fished them for a couple of years. Hmmmmm…
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Venice - Offshore and Coastal - March 6th, 2006
supplied by: Super Strike Charters
RECORDED:
70 °
FISHING: Excellent
We have not posted in a while due to Hurricane Katrina. The old girl hit about 30 miles North of where our charter service is set up. Things are back on track now.
The weather has finally cooperated enough this past week (except for yesterday)so we could get out and make up for last week when the fishing was not so good. On Monday we had the Raul Perez gang. Raul talked about wanting a wahoo, he had never caught one before and wouldn't you know our first big fish in the boat was about a 98lber. give or take a couple of pounds. Definitely the biggest wahoo I have ever put in the boat. Caught him on mono which is very lucky, then he went to the worst place on the boat for the gaff which is between the engines. If we wouldn't have gaffed him when we did he would have definitely been a goner. I guess it was just meant to be. We had a couple of more blackfin, some big sharks, and that was about it for the day. On Wednesday we had the Tony Valenti group. They ended the day with 3 yellowfin(20, 60, and 80lbs.) and 8 blackfin tuna. Scott the coroner had the big fish of the day. It was the last fish of the day and I called it the Holy S___t fish! because he finally got one in the boat. His luck definitely changed on this fish. Unfortunately Scott lost more fish than usual. Not from doing anything wrong, that is just the way it happens sometimes. Two of the fish were definite heart breakers, but he made up for it in the end. Congrats. On Friday we took out Randy Chase and friends. Ended the day with two yellas(65 & a 67lber), 1 blackfin tuna, 1 amberjack, and 1 beeliner. The fishing is definitely getting back on track and the weather seems to be cooperating a little more than it had been. We'll see what this week looks like though. I saw a post earlier that will confuse some people about tuna season. There is no last of the tuna season, we catch tuna year round. When the lump season ends we go to our spring time area and catch just as many tuna if not more than right now. The only thing that changes is the technique.
Things are starting to feel a lot more normal now since Hurricane Katrina. Lodging is available at the Venice Marina which is certainly a sign that things are finally coming together. Emotions by everyone were up and down and I think I heard the words "It never ends" more in the past three months than ever. The work is still far from over but the overwhelming factor seems to have lifted for the most part.
We will be fishing all week weather permitting. Damon McKnight/Super Strike Charters/1 800 318 1720
Weather and Lunar Phases
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Venice - Snook Alley - February 26th, 2006
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED: 
74 °
FISHING: Excellent
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 91st 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 57th 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 91st 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
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Venice - Snook Alley - February 13th, 2006
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED:
54 °
FISHING: Excellent
February 13, 2006
OVERVIEW
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! It’s chilly and supposed to drop to near-freezing in Venice tonight. But fear not—temperatures are going back to the mid-70s on Wednesday and into the 80s beginning Thursday.
So, pack your supplex shorts, T-shirts, and sunblock and come on down, because the fishing has been excellent. Especially for snook at night under the lighted docks in Venice’s famed Snook Alley.
Check out the air fares into Sarasota via AirTran. Last weekend I flew nonstop to Chicago Midway for $167 out-the-door. And that was round-trip!!
Great news for those of you who chase grouse, woodcock, and quail with me. GHOST IS BACK!!!!
I took her to the Hunt Test at Dream Lakes yesterday and she was in perfect form. She pointed her four birds in near-record time, so after everyone else had run their dogs I put her on the ground again and she blasted around the field like her nickname “The Cheboygan Comet.” Thank You God. ThankYouthankYouthankYouthankYou!!!
And now, the rest of the story…
LOWER TAMPA BAY
Redfish, trout and scads of ladyfish are hanging around Terra Ceia Bay and Champlain Bayou. Try my “Whitebait” pattern, and some “Winter Shrimp.” Check the photo gallery for a look at them, and the New Patterns dropdown for tying instructions.
LITTLE SARASOTA BAY
I took Dr. Mark Johnson and NFL lineman Tom Newton to the Blackburn Point area last Wednesday and they caught so many fish they were giggling like little girls. Which is something to see, since Tom is “down” to 275 from his regular playing weight of 315!
And the real kicker was that the wind was blowing a steady 20, with gust to near 30. But these two maniacs INSISTED on going fishing, so we did.
“The thing is,” Tom said, “we were catching so many fish it didn’t MATTER that the wind was blowing.”
Both of them are new to fly fishing, and even beat me back to Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters after I dropped them off at the docks at Casey Key Fish House. “Did you paddle back?” Tom inquired.
“Nope. Rookie Day at the boat ramp,” I replied. Actually, it was sorta entertaining. One guy actually destroyed the guide-ons on his trailer when he tried to power on and slammed into them sideways. Then he left his truck and trailer in the water, tying up the ramp, while he went off somewhere to find out if his boat was going to sink, I guess.
Once he did get the boat onto the trailer, he drove out of there in a cloud of dust, dragging his right guide-on and trailer light through the sand and tiny sea shells.
SNOOK ALLEY
Jack Thorpe and Ron Pisani, of Albany, NY, have been coming into CKA&O for the past couple of weeks to learn new patterns at my free fly tying classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Finally, they got tired of not catching any fish on their wading excursions, and decided to book a night snook trip.
We had wind from the north and incoming tide from the south, and my Hewes absolutely refused to settle down. It was tough seeing fish because of the “standing waves” and finally I told the guys to pull the anchors. “We’re moving,” I said, grimly.
After checking a couple of lights without success, we cruised up to a horde of snook who were in a feeding frenzy. Ron, in particular, had a “career night.” He caught so many fish he finally looked at me after I’d released another 21-inch snook and said, “I lost count.”
Jack, meanwhile, was manfully casting and casting and casting. Finally, I told him “Ron had me rub some pepperoni juice on his fly—said we Dagos have to stick together. I guess the potato juice you tried just isn’t cutting it.” Jack smiled and allowed that “this Irishman isn’t too proud to take a squirt of that pepperoni juice, if you have any left.”
I tied on a different fly for him and darn if he didn’t nail a very nice snook on his first cast. We ALL laughed pretty hard at that one!
LEMON BAY
I took Pete Taylor and Bob Phillips to several of my favorite spots. And darn if most all of them didn’t let me down. It was crazy. We’ve been nailing redfish and trout and ladyfish by the dozen in here. Even bluefish. But last Friday they flipped us the fin.
Bob managed to catch two ladyfish before a wolfpack of marauding bottlenose dolphins surrounded the boat, forcing us to head north to another flat that’s usually very productive. Zip. The guys took our brutal day in good humor, though. Much better than I did, actually. It really hurts my pride when we have such a terrible day of fishing.
But, I guess Pete was being truthful when he said he didn’t care that he didn’t catch anything last week. Because he stopped by the CKA&O booth at the Go Fish! Show on Saturday and booked a night snook trip with me for next Monday!
I’ve got Eric Munson this Wednesday, then Rich McElliot and Craig Riendeau. So I’ll keep you posted.
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Venice - Snook Alley - February 8th, 2006
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED:
65 °
FISHING: Excellent
February 8, 2006
OVERVIEW
My trip to Chicago for the fly show was a lot of fun. Attendance was lower than everyone would have liked, but the folks who turned out (maybe 1500-1800 over the two days) swarmed the booth to look at Temple Fork Outfitters fly rods. It was amazing to hear folks tell me “I own four of them.” Or “I own 10 of them.” What a great feeling to be part of the hottest selling fly rod line in America!
Of course, I spent a bit of time talking with folks about the fishing opportunities in southwest Florida and on Michigan’s fabled trout streams, too.
In case you were wondering, it’s “Business As Usual” in Florida, and the fishing is better than ever!
I’d also be remiss if I didn’t send a huge “Thank You” to Joseph Meyer, of One More Cast Fly Shop in south-suburban Chicago, and my good friend John Beueter, for helping me in the booth both days. The boys kept a steady stream of folks to the casting area with TFO’s newest additions—the Finesse Series by Lefty Kreh, and Jim Teeny’s lineup of sticks built by TFO.
Despite forecasts to the contrary, the weather in Chicago was perfect—blue sky and sunshine but a real-feel of 8. Just what we needed, considering it was Super Bowl weekend and lots of guys were holed up chowing/beering-down before the game.
BTW, Kate’s doing great. Working out an hour every day and getting her strength back. Same for Ghost—who will get to work out on quail this Sunday after all. I’d been scheduled to guide Saturday and Sunday, but the winds are forecast for 17-20 with seas to 6 feet. So, I suggested that we wait until next month (first mutually agreeable days) to fish.
Went out today with my ophthalmologist, Mark Johnson, and his neighbor, Tom Newton—but more of that in a moment…
LOWER TAMPA BAY
Snook and redfish are sunning themselves in the shallow water around mangrove islands and oyster bars. There are loads of ladyfish in Terra Ceia Bay, as well as Miguel Bay and Joe Bay. You’ll find trout, too. Big ones!
Anna Maria Island is fishing well. If you plan of going into Palma Sola, be aware of the tides and wind velocity/direction. Otherwise you could end up getting stuck in the mud.
SARASOTA BAY
This fishery is starting to rebound, but conditions still are slow. Pompano are coming into New Pass and Big Pass, but it’s a tough fish throughout the main part of The Bay. I’m still holding off fishing there. Gotta hear more positive (read that GLOWING) reports before I’ll put clients in there.
LITTLE SARASOTA BAY
This is the area of the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) from Spanish Point/Vamo Road south through Blackburn Point down to the Osprey/Nokomis channel markers.
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When I got back from Chicago Kevin Cooke, shop manager at Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters, told me they’d just had a hundred-fish day in that stretch. Yep. That’s no typo. 100 FISH in a long day of daytime and night-snookin’.
“OKAY,” I thought. “I DEFINITELY will have to check this out.”
As it turned out, Mark called to go fishing. And he lives right on that stretch of water. He’s got a Talon, and fishes here a lot, but is just getting into fly angling so he wants a lot of teaching. Same for Tom, who’s an offensive lineman for St. Louis and just got back from the Super Bowl. Tom’s of German extraction, and was doing color work for a German television station. He’d bought a “beginner” fly outfit, but didn’t quite know what to do with it.
Well, the wind made things pretty darn tough but both guys caught a bunch of fish. In fact, they were at CKA&O when I stopped in after our fish. “Were you paddling back?” Tom asked with a grin.
“Rookie Day at the ramp,” I replied. “One guy destroyed his trailer when he tried to power on, then he just disappeared, with his truck and trailer still hogging the ramp. What a mess. When he finally pulled his boat out, one stanchion and tail light on his trailer were dragging in the dirt. He obviously didn’t care about fixing them, because he roared out of the parking lot as if his house was on fire!
It was ugly!
SNOOK ALLEY
The night fishing around lighted docks continues to be phenomenal. We’ve NEVER caught as many fish in a few hours as we have this season. GEEEEEEZEEEE!!!!! I hope I didn’t just jinx things for my trip tomorrow night with Jack and Ron from Albany, NY. They heard so much banter about it at our fly tying class the past couple weeks that they decided it’s time to have at it.
Film at 11, as they say…
LEMON BAY
Reports have it fishing as well as before I left for Chicago. Forked Creek has yielded some “save-the-trip” catches of snook, trout, even red snapper when the wind was blowing. Redfish continue to eat.
CHARLOTTE HARBOR
The wind shut things down the past few days, but The Harbor is fishing better than I’ve seen it in a long time. Sure hope that continues, since I’ll be fishing the mangroves around Burnt Store all day Friday with Pete Taylor and Bob Phillips!
PINE ISLAND SOUND
Also fishing very well, with lots of large trout plus tailing redfish in the early morning. I’ll be down there next week, so look for a more detailed report then.
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Venice - Snook Alley - January 27th, 2006
supplied by: Tight Loops Flyfishing
RECORDED:
80 °
FISHING: Excellent
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 59th 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
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