Capt. Rey's Fishing Report

This area is dedicated to providing weekly fishing reports on trips
and will include information on the fishing conditions, types of fish
seen and caught, tackle used, flies that are working and other things
of interest.
I will  include special reports on upcoming events such as the TARPON , REDFISH , and SNOOK season, the best time to fish for particular species, etc. This will allow you to better plan your fishing trips to Southwest Florida. You can also visit my archive reports.   If you have any comments about my reports you can either email me or comment in my guestbook.

Week Ending ,  March 13th , 2001

This week began with very windy conditions. My first three charters had to be cancelled because of it. By the middle of the week, the wind subsided and I was able to take a ride to the flats.
Angler Jack Roof joined me in search of some sight fishing targets. We were armed with a 9wt fly rod, but I also had brought some spinning tackle and large live shrimp for the trip. Jack is from Blue Ridge, Georgia. He is a physician who enjoys doing some fishing whenever his schedule allows it.

On our first stop of the morning we saw quite a few Reds, the tide was low and I poled the boat along the edge of a flat where the Reds were waiting for the tide to come in. We tried casting some shrimp, the Reds were swimming around us, but not really “tailing”, still we could see the “V’s” created by the Reds as they moved along. They were kind of spooky, but we did have some nice opportunities at lay-up fish. After the “Reds” moved, we anchored the boat and worked on Jack’s fly-casting. We discussed of some saltwater techniques that would help him on future outings with the fly rod.

It was a day with some opportunities, but it was not great. We had one “tailer” take Jack’s offering and we lost it immediately after the hook set. It was a nice time with a very nice angler. The slow action did not take away from the experience and Jack promised to be return armed with the new techniques he had learned.

For the next couple of days I had three anglers on my boat, so live sardines and light tackle was in order for the trips.

Mr. Joe Milgram who is from Cleveland, Ohio has been fishing with me for the past three years. And somehow he keeps coming back for more. This time he brought along his friend Jack Bares and his son, Charlie. Jack lives in Moreland Hills, Ohio and Charlie lives in Ellicottville, New York. Jack and Charlie are avid fishermen and had fish all over the world.

The first morning of the trip I had a hard time catching enough bait for the day. You see “shiners” are the bait of choice when they are available but the weather can make them disappear very quickly. After a couple of hours trying, I only had 25-30 pieces of bait so I went to pick up the guys and took them with me in search of more bait. Finally I had enough bait for the day, but some precious incoming tide time had been spent securing our baitfish. After a slow start we moved to a flat with enough water to float my Action Craft and the prospects of some Reds.

Charlie had the best fish of the day, a 10 lb Redfish that gave him a nice fight. He also caught dinner for the guys with a smaller Red in the boat. We also caught some Seatrout and missed a few fish including Joe’s nice Snook that came out of the water like a Tarpon and spit the hook.

The second morning of the trip was better from the get go. I was able to secure plenty of bait early that morning and when I picked up the gang with the tide just starting to come in. It was a picture perfect morning and calm as it could be with beautiful clear skies. On our way to the first stop of the day we could see Reds everywhere “tailing” and swimming on the flat, but with three anglers on the boat it was nearly impossible to sneak up to this fish. They were in very shallow water.

So I poled the boat to a sand hole near an island where Snook and Seatrout enjoyed spending the low tide. The tide was rushing over the flat feeding the Snook with hundreds of glass minnows. We casted our sardines up tide and for the next two hours we were hooking up Snook and Trout almost constantly. We caught lots of small Snook and some nice Seatrout. We even caught a flounder. Charlie in particular enjoyed the action and was pretty excited about it.

After the bite slowed down we moved and caught some small Jack Crevalle. Finally at the end of the day the tide was starting out, the bite had been slow for a while on the slack water. With the outgoing tide in full force we had some more action. Joe caught a nice Red along with another Snook while Jack also landed a Snook to finish the day. The guys were tired so it was time to head back home.

We had a great time, the weather was awesome and the fishing was pretty darn good. Good company, nice weather and hot fishing are an unbeatable combination. “MAN, I LOVE THIS JOB”!

Until next week,
Capt. Rey

Seats are limited, so give me a call, or drop me an email, and let's GO FISHING !