Fishing Report and Other Happy New Year News
DECEMBER 30, 2007
THE YEAR IN REVIEW
(Up-to date Fishing Report to follow)
The BIG news is that Kate?s cancer is gone!
Her MRI and Mammogram two weeks ago showed that she?s free as a bird from the insidious clutches of The Big C. Sorta like a Rose Breasted Grosbeak flitting away from a Cooper?s Hawk. Whitebait evading a diving Osprey. Ladyfish dodging an Eagle?s talons.
In other words, we?re pretty damn happy right now! Kate did NOT become part of the ?baitfish of life? three years after being diagnosed.
Those of you who?ve gone through it understand. If your trials are just beginning, we?re here to help. We don?t need to have ever met you. Plenty of folks we?d never heard of were here for Kate, so don?t hesitate to drop us (her) a note. As for the rest of you, profoundly thank your own personal Deity for such good fortune to be free of this grief.
Now to the Fishing Report and other news and notes you might find interesting.
FLORIDA
It?s been a pretty glorious Christmas Week in terms of catching fish. I spent several days in Lemon Bay, and the catching (mostly) was superb. The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) in Nokomis and Osprey, likewise, was generous.
Lemon Bay near Stump Pass, and Fork Creek, were on fire. Except for the one day when poor Charlie Place experienced ?Guide Failure? (sadly, more on THAT in a minute), EVERYBODY caught a plethora of fish.
Monday, it was Frank Bioteau, his son Zach, and son-in-law Craig Brewer. Wednesday was Marty Pool and his teenage sons Alex, Michael, and John. Thursday was Poor Charlie. Friday was Bob Goldsmith and his daughter Karen and her husband, Craig (in the ICW). Saturday was Lance Avery and his father-in-law John Hopkins and brother-in-law Randy Gould.
With the exception of Poor Charlie, everybody absolutely had a Career Day. They caught snook. They caught spotted sea trout. They caught mangrove snapper and lane snapper and red snapper onetwothree. They caught pompano and jack crevalle and lizardfish and ladyfish and Spanish mackerel and a BUNCH of three-pound bluefish.
Except Poor Charlie, who experienced ?Guide Failure? and only caught four stinking fish in nearly five hours of fly-flinging. And, I?ve gotta tell you, Charlie?s a pretty good ?flinger.?
As it turns out, I made a grievous tactical error on that day. When I?d fished Tom Ladimir and Wally Hedman the previous Friday, then Frank on Monday and Marty on Wednesday, I always started in Fork Creek around noon because the morning tides were hideously low.
And we cleaned up! Fish-on! was the constant cry. BUT, for some goldarned foolhardy reason I decided to run south in the ICW first-thing, THEN go up to The Creek.
Oh, my. What a mistake!
Charlie, I must admit, was a real Gamer. He kept casting and never complained. Even when the enormous school of redfish that surrounded us absolutely refused to eat a single offering.
He was pretty good about easing my anxiety, too. I must have apologized 30 times for the poor ?catching.? He just smiled, made another cast, and finally hooked a trout, a Lane, and a couple of lizards.
And to think Lefty had bragged on me a little bit when Charlie told the venerable Mr. Kreh that we were fishing together. Geeze, now I?ll never hear the end of it from Lefty?and since he knows absolutely EVERYBODY in the fly fishing world?well?
At least the other guys had pretty much non-stop action! The bluefish were especially fun for Marty?s boys Alex (15), Mike (13), and Joe (11). They?d never experienced such slashing hits and ?quick releases? when those sharp teeth cut through 20-pound fluoro like it was nothing.
I?d put the guys through my ?Rookie School? last summer in Michigan. It?s a four-to-five-hour class that covers every aspect of fly fishing. Casting to entomology to wading to actually fishing a trout stream. Afterwards, Marty mentioned that his folks have a condo down here and ?it would be great to take the boys out saltwater fishing.?
Even back in Michigan, it didn?t take long for me to figure out that Alex was the dedicated angler. Michael is a budding Einstein--real serious and scholarly. Joe is?well, he?s a lot like my puppy, Heart. ?All Boy? is the best way to describe it. That hadn?t changed the day after Christmas.
Like, after we fished The Creek?where they?d boated several respectable snook, one large over-the-slot trout (by Alex, of course), and a bunch of red snapper?I pulled up in the middle of a large flat near Stump Pass. Joe took a look around, wrinkled his face in disgust, and promptly pronounced ?there aren?t any fish here!?
After Alex then almost immediately hooked and boated a fish, I looked at Joe and couldn?t help saying, ?Don?t you get tired of being right all the time?? I?m not sure if he caught the subtle dig, but Marty sure roared with laughter!
Ironically, Lance, John, and Randy said pretty much the same thing when I pulled up into the very same spot three days later.
And?nah, nah, nah, nah?nahhhhhh, nahhhhhh! They all caught a boatload of bluefish, trout, pompano and even a Spanish mackerel. No guide failure A-tall!
Between-times, I took Bob, Karen, and Craig up the ICW for a morning of trout, pompano, and ladyfishladyfishladyfish. The weather was fine, and the fishing was easy.
Which is more than I can say for the coming week!
The NDBC forecast is horrible, so please do NOT plan on coming fishing. By tomorrow morning there?s a chance of showers with dense fog. Then the weather gets bad.
By Tuesday, the forecast is north winds 25 to 30 knots with gusts to gale force. Sort of like you?ve been experiencing in the Upper Midwest the past few days. Only without the snow.
I spoke with my good pal Patrick Hager today. He lives in Wausau, WI, and told me as he was piling logs into his generous fireplace, ?the snow?s two feet deep in the yard and more than four feet next to the driveway. The dogs are frantic to get out but they?ve got no place to go.?
He said it?s a snowmobiler?s dream-come-true. ?And I?m not gonna leave the house for two days!?
Well, Patrick, I?ll be leaving the house, but it certainly doesn?t sound like my Hewes Redfisher will be back on the water any time soon!
ENGLISH SETTER UPDATE
Heart is not quite seven months old and he?s a real handful. Kate and I probably say ?Down, Heart!? about forty times a day. Or, ?Leave It, Heart!? as he grabs yet some other unauthorized item ranging from the Sunday newspaper to potholders to pillows.
This morning, he decided to steal one of my just-purchased, one-hour-old sneakers. After my third and most-forceful ?Heart! Leave It!? Ghost (the 10-year-old setter) leapt forward like an Avenging Angel and head-butted him into the dining room wall.
There was a short, high-pitched squeal from the puppy as he dropped my shoe and stared big-eyed and imploringly at Ghost. Sorta like, ?Okay! Don?t hurt me! I?m sorry!? Ghost snorted, looking at me with a pretty self-satisfied grin on her face.
Then she walked over to the futon, jumped up, sighed contentedly, and curled up for a snooze. The puppy, still wide-eyed, swiveled his head from Ghost-to-me-to-Ghost. Finally, he plopped down onto the carpet. But his eyes were still wide open!
MICHIGAN
It?s cold and snowy and just right for a roaring fire and warm brandy.
MONTANA
More of the same. In spades!?
Until next time, check out the special deals we have at the Holiday Inn in Venice, and A Beach Retreat on the Gulf of Mexico in Nokomis. It?s a wonderful way to beat the snow and the cold and the crud!
From Capt. John, Lanie, Kate, and myself?we hope you have a safe, prosperous, and happy New Year. ESPECAIALLY all of you men and women deployed overseas. May you SOON come home to cast a fly over your favorite water!
And, when you do come home, or are back in the Venice area on leave, call me at 941-496-4289 and I?ll take you fishing whenever I?m not booked for a charter. No charge. It?s the least I can do for you!
Once again, Happy New Year from all of us to all of you.
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Great news
