10-07-2002, 05:00 AM
[size 2]"The west coast of Florida got spared another one," was what every one I spoke with this past week was stating. Fishing went as planned with yet another hurricane about to enter the Gulf of Mexico. Our weather here was just beautiful and the fishing was productive. Capt. Terry Simmons and I went fishing on Sunday with Capt. Ray Markham to show him where we managed to catch the winning largest redfish Terry landed in the Tampa CCA Catch, Photograph and Release Tournament out of Bahia Beach the previous day. Well, of course, our timing was a little off and we didn't get to see them but Ray hooked into several nice trout and saw a good 5 pounder on the same flats. We did get into a large feeding school of 9 pound Jack Crevalle just to the east of the Passa Grille Bridge. They are powerful fish and on 8# test Fireline and Power Pro, each of us was able to feel every head shake and tail surge. By midweek the National Hurricane Center advised us that Hurricane Lili would be advancing on the Gulf Coast somewhere between New Orleans and Galveston. Fortunately she downgraded from category 4 to 2 by the time she went right over New Iberia, Louisiana. They sure were lucky in that regard. I've been to the McIlhenny Company's famous Tabasco plant on Avery Island, just a bit down the road from New Iberia, and I've seen how low it is there. I sure would have hated to see all those wooden barrels, with a year's worth of Tabasco curing in them, destroyed! What impressed me the most on the drive, to that little bit of nowhere, were the "crawfish fields" along the roads. What a feast the Louisiana redfish must have had after all that water from the storm pushed crawfish all over the place! They have some really fat redfish in Louisiana because of all those crawfish anyway. I was also thankful for it sparing a wonderful little spot called Venice, located in the "toe" of Louisiana. The IWFA (International Women's Fishing Association) held their Specks and Reds Tournament there this past May at the Cypress Cove Lodge and will return for another tournament in 2003.
Capt. Terry and I decided to do some fishing on Thursday around the Bulkhead, Palma Sola, Tidy Island and Long Bar areas of Sarasota Bay. We fished artificials and caught 3 and 4 pound bluefish, plenty of trout, with one up to 3 pounds, some rat reds, a snapper and of course ladyfish. I think the most fun was the trout at the northern opening to Perico Bay while using a MirrOLure Top Dog and a Trader Bay red and white slider/popper. (Pinch down the barbs of the treble hooks when fishing for trout so you can release them more easily.) We got into a drop off downside of the falling tide and had a great time watching the fish hit and miss the lures. Terry had one hit seven times before it actually got the hooks right at the boat. It was determined to eat that lure. The 3 pounder and all but two others of the more than 20 caught were released. Remember that trout will be out of season at the beginning of November through December, so get out there and "get you some for dinner" but don't get too many and freeze them; eat them fresh, they're better that way!
This past Friday and Saturday, Terry and I fished the Snook Foundation's, Fifth Annual Snook Shindig Tournament. Held in cooperation with the Florida Wildlife Commission (FWC), anglers helped by catching 194 snook, 11 of which were Snook Foundation hatchery tagged fish. The smallest fish was 15.8 inches and the largest one caught was 35 inches. In addition, Terry caught a wild fish that the Snook Foundation had caught and tagged last year in Bowlees Creek. It was a 25 1/2 inch fish. The angler who caught the most tagged snook (4) was John Schultz, and he also came in Third Place by catching 11 snook; Kathy Smith caught 35 snook and 1 was tagged for Second Place; the angler who caught the most snook was Jerry Claxton with 43 snook and 2 of those were tagged. Congratulations to everyone who caught snook and thanks to the biologists who volunteered to stay up with all of us diehard anglers for 17 hours! I also couldn't have happened without the support of many sponsors, including Aledia Tush of CB's Saltwater Outfitters, Shimano, Shakespeare, New Pass Bait & Grill, the Old Salty Dog, Xplores Lightweight Tools, Mepps - Mister Twister lures, Alisa Utamating, the Oaks BBQ, the FWC officers on duty that night and many other sponsors who Howard Wells and Roger DeBrueller will have to thank!
Ladies, join me and other fisherwomen at the Manatee/Sarasota Chapter of "Ladies, Let's Go Fishing" on Thursday, October 10 at 6:30pm at Christ United Methodist Church, 5512 - 26th Street, West in Bradenton.
Get out and go fishing, it's good for you!
Capt. Merrily Dunn
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Capt. Terry and I decided to do some fishing on Thursday around the Bulkhead, Palma Sola, Tidy Island and Long Bar areas of Sarasota Bay. We fished artificials and caught 3 and 4 pound bluefish, plenty of trout, with one up to 3 pounds, some rat reds, a snapper and of course ladyfish. I think the most fun was the trout at the northern opening to Perico Bay while using a MirrOLure Top Dog and a Trader Bay red and white slider/popper. (Pinch down the barbs of the treble hooks when fishing for trout so you can release them more easily.) We got into a drop off downside of the falling tide and had a great time watching the fish hit and miss the lures. Terry had one hit seven times before it actually got the hooks right at the boat. It was determined to eat that lure. The 3 pounder and all but two others of the more than 20 caught were released. Remember that trout will be out of season at the beginning of November through December, so get out there and "get you some for dinner" but don't get too many and freeze them; eat them fresh, they're better that way!
This past Friday and Saturday, Terry and I fished the Snook Foundation's, Fifth Annual Snook Shindig Tournament. Held in cooperation with the Florida Wildlife Commission (FWC), anglers helped by catching 194 snook, 11 of which were Snook Foundation hatchery tagged fish. The smallest fish was 15.8 inches and the largest one caught was 35 inches. In addition, Terry caught a wild fish that the Snook Foundation had caught and tagged last year in Bowlees Creek. It was a 25 1/2 inch fish. The angler who caught the most tagged snook (4) was John Schultz, and he also came in Third Place by catching 11 snook; Kathy Smith caught 35 snook and 1 was tagged for Second Place; the angler who caught the most snook was Jerry Claxton with 43 snook and 2 of those were tagged. Congratulations to everyone who caught snook and thanks to the biologists who volunteered to stay up with all of us diehard anglers for 17 hours! I also couldn't have happened without the support of many sponsors, including Aledia Tush of CB's Saltwater Outfitters, Shimano, Shakespeare, New Pass Bait & Grill, the Old Salty Dog, Xplores Lightweight Tools, Mepps - Mister Twister lures, Alisa Utamating, the Oaks BBQ, the FWC officers on duty that night and many other sponsors who Howard Wells and Roger DeBrueller will have to thank!
Ladies, join me and other fisherwomen at the Manatee/Sarasota Chapter of "Ladies, Let's Go Fishing" on Thursday, October 10 at 6:30pm at Christ United Methodist Church, 5512 - 26th Street, West in Bradenton.
Get out and go fishing, it's good for you!
Capt. Merrily Dunn
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