Lemon Bay is full of Pompano, Snook, and Redfish
FEBRUARY 26, 2008
FLORIDA
YIPPEEEEEE! Sam Povinelli finally got his ?food? Sunday morning, thank goodness!
Those of you who are long-time readers of these fishing reports know that Sam and his son, Ron, have fished with me pretty regularly for the past couple of years.
And, beginning with Sam?s 91st birthday present trip, Sam has focused upon one immutable goal each outing: Catching Dinner.
?You better find us some food, Tony,? said Sam, who turned 93 two days before our latest trip, when we met at the Books-A-Million parking lot Sunday morning. ?Rose is still mad at you.? Rose is his 88-year-old wife (who also fished with me on her 86th birthday).
His son, Ron, looked at me and shook his head. ?You KNOW you can?t win,? he said. HIS son, Ron junior, just grinned.
Well, turns out I DID win. Sort of. With an assist from Ron. Who looked at me and whispered, ?You realize I saved your ***!? as we were heading back to the ramp with a just-keeper spotted sea trout and a three-pound bluefish.
See, I had planned on getting some live shrimp for Sam to toss (this was strictly a spin-fishing trip). But although Ron prefers to cast a fly rod, he?s also an excellent spin-angler, and had run over to West Marine for a little tub of the new Gulp New Penny artificial shrimp.
?This something new,? Ron told me, ?and I?ve never seen an artificial bait attract fish like this stuff.?
Turns out, he was right. That?s what the guys used, and that?s what caught the various species that we boated?including the two keepers that SAM hooked and landed.
I haven?t heard yet how Rose prepared the bluefish, but Sam assured me that she has a recipe ?that?s delicious.?
?Okay, Tony,? Sam said as they climbed off my Hewes Redfisher, ?I?ll tell Rose not to be mad at you any more. Maybe you DO know where the (edible) fish are!?
I grinned and looked at Ron. ?Want me to dress those fish??
He looked at Sam, who was slowly walking down the dock, then looked back at me. ?Naw! Let HIM clean them.? Just then the bluefish lurched and Ron added, ?I just hope it doesn?t BITE him. Neither one of us would ever hear the end of THAT.?
Then I walked to the end of the dock to say goodbye to Sam and he promptly asked if I was going to give him a free trip for his hundredth birthday.
?Yep,? I replied. ?I?m looking forward to it!? Ron simply shook his head.
The previous day, Ellen and John Cheesborough, from Raleigh, NC, joined me in and around Lemon Bay and Ellen had a blast catching a 23-inch snook and a three-foot ladyfish.
John only pouted a little bit. Then he nailed a couple of snook, and both boated several more trout and ladyfish before we headed home.
Yesterday, Jay Tinley joined me in Lemon Bay, intent on catching redfish. So, that?s precisely what we did. Sort of. See, Jay only boated one. But we saw plenty, including a very large one that looked as orange as a goldfish!
There were plenty of BIG snook around the mangroves, too.
After poling the skiff around the shallows for a couple of hours, we went into deeper water and Jay landed trout and ladyfish until I suggested we go look for pompano near Stump Pass.
We only hooked one, but I later found out from one of Englewood?s commercial fisherman (who supplies fresh fish to several area restaurants) that ?The Gut? of the Pass was absolutely loaded with Pompano.
We?ve got a harsh cold front moving in that?s supposed to drive daytime temps down into the low 60s, so I don?t plan on getting back onto the water until Saturday.
I?ll be meeting Bob Fanter, from Des Moines, and his son-in-law at the Kingfish ramp up on Anna Maria Island around noon. The air and water should be nice and warm again by then, and the fish should be in an eatin? kinda mind.
I hope!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
