Over the past week, Captain Todd Romine said the fishing has felt like it did 30 years ago.
“The bay has been empty of boats,” said Bradenton native Romine, who has been guiding since the 1980s. “It’s been a bit eerie coming down Cortez. There are no sailboats, shorelines are chewed up, mangroves are peeled back and brown. I only saw a few other guide boats and maybe one or two recreational anglers each day, it felt like the early days of guiding for me.”
With the lack of boat pressure, something many anglers have been vocal about in recent years, Romine has been able to fish how he used to, moving freely about without any outside interference around the bays and flats. This has led to phenomenal fishing over the past week and a half.
“The fishing has been very good, very consistent. Redfish, snook, trout, a mixed and very productive bite. The fish are hungry and bait is improving getting to the normal areas. As the water conditions and water quality improves, that will improve the fishing as well until we start getting cold fronts,” explained Romine, who keeps his 24-foot T-Craft on Anna Maria Island.
But for Romine, the good fishing days ended with a stark reality of what just occurred, and fear about what is ahead has infiltrated the industry. He, like all charter captains and water-based businesses, is dealing with a lack of business that fell behind over the summer.
“It really started with (Hurricane) Debby, people forget about that. There was so much rain and we had so much runoff effects to deal with. After putting the boat back in the water for a few weeks, I pulled the boat out of the water for Helene. I put it back in on a Friday after Helene just to pull it back out Sunday for Milton, not fishing any days in between. It’s been weeks off at a time.”
Building his business up with nearly 40 years of fishing trips has helped Romine slowly begin to fish again after Milton with repeat customers, whom he relies on for a living. But his calendar is only about 50% of what it should be, and he thinks that he’s doing better than most.
“I feel for these young guys with families who rely almost 100% on tourism. There is no tourism right now. The island is upside down. It’s nothing short of a complete and total challenge to get business with so much devastation. So many people lost so much,” Romine said. “I’ve had a lot of people cancel. They aren’t concerned with fishing when they need to get a new roof on their house or deal with other issues these storms have caused.”
“I know it will come back, but my concern is that this is like what happened to Sanibel (after Hurricane Ian). But there’s more fishing guides up here in a more densely populated area. Sanibel has still not recovered from a tourism and business standpoint. When people leave an area and find other places to go, they don’t always go back. Anna Maria was a global vacation destination. How long will it take to recover? Until people get everything restored, the last thing they are thinking about is fishing.”
As a lifelong native, Romine is sad to see his childhood fishery changed in such a dramatic way. But he has been able to retreat to and relax while on the water and it has brought about good days amidst local challenges.
“Being back out and with so little pressure has been a break away from the chaos. The good news for everyone is right now the fishing is fabulous.”
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