‘A busy season.’ Manatee fishing team starts year with massive snook catch
Team Rats on da Cheese are no strangers to fishing Manatee County fishing tournaments.
They participate in nearly all of them, rain or shine, wind or calm weather, and tend to do well because of their dedication. During the end of February Manatee County 4H Association inshore fishing tournament, they needed all that dedication to start the tournament season off with another quality win.
“We’re always willing to support this tournament, it’s for a great cause with great people,” said captain of Rats on da Cheese Rich Linkenhoker. “It started Friday evening and went until Saturday afternoon. I think it rained pretty much all night and didn’t stop until we stopped fishing!”
To start the overnight tournament, the team, which also included Matt Magone and Tim Shiero, ventured trying to get two-thirds of their slam completed before nightfall when they would go for the third. The first two they had on their radar were trout and redfish, with snook as the overnight target.
The winning team would be the one with the largest slam of all three combined. With the cold low 60s water temperature, the teammates still stuck with their fish-catching ways and waded for their first targets.
“It was cold, even with waders on to keep dry. We went to the Skyway to try to catch bait but only ended up with 40 or so. So we went all artificial for the redfish and trout,” Linkenhoker explained.
“Three casts in we caught a 26-inch redfish, but it slipped away before getting back to the boat! Luckily, we caught a 24-inch trout 10 minutes later. We fished a little more trying to get another redfish before going snook fishing at night.”
In the rain-soaked night, the crew stayed on the boat and ventured for snook. Using big baits and heavy tackle, they only had one snook bite, but it was the right one.
“About an hour into snook fishing, we got one bite. It was a 40-inch fish. We were very happy with that and were done snook fishing! From there, we went and beat around some docks trying to get a redfish, but we got nothing while it was dark so got about two hours of rest before sunrise.”
As the sun began to light up the eastern sky, they spread out wading once again. They took advantage of the low tide to help target their desired species.
“We woke up early and parked the boat where we wanted to fish before the sun came up with the low water. About a half hour later we got a 30-inch redfish. We tried to upgrade, but that was pretty good we thought for this tournament!”
With a 94-inch slam, they would claim first place for $3,000. Their snook and trout were each the biggest in that category, netting them another $500. The winnings will be going to help their busy fishing season upcoming!
“We’re looking forward to the Suncoast Shootout in April (17th-19th). Then the Crosthwait in May (15th-17th). After that Fire Charity in June (13th-14th). There’s also the Chad Day (March 28th-29th) as well we might do and the Big Art Snook Tournament. It will be a busy season for us!”