As I sit in my office watching the wind blow I reflect on last weeks trips and I feel my heart rate rise. Tailing redfish and tailing tarpon are all I can think of as I sit and watch the rain beat on my window like an angry beast wanting to come in. Yesterday we cast at tailing redfish in the grass all morning and then as the tide fell the fish started to pop shrimp from the surface like rising trout in a stream. We got them on both ends of the tide and there was no wind all day so I guess this was the calm before the storm.
I now feel a little sick as a friend and client who invited me last week on a trip up to a very high end lodge in Canada just called to rub in his successes. See I got this call on Thursday 2 weeks ago and he said get to Wisconsin and the rest is taken care of. That means private float plains into the lodge and all! Well I was in until I realized I needed the passport I lost last year in Key West at the airport to go. angry I called him back and told him I could not go and that I was going to hang myself when we hung up! Well lets just say he was catching 200 + fish a day and I didn’t really want to know anything else. He did say this place was top notch and that I missed a great time. Lesson learned and passport on the way I will get back to the report.
The day before I had the pleasure of fishing with good friend and client David Reese, son Tanner and father in law Dano. David and I have caught tarpon for years but this time he wanted his 10yr old son tanner to catch one and Tanner said he was up for the battle. We had to do some running to catch bait and the ride down was not fun but once we arrives we were treated with silver and lots of it. As the fish rolled I positioned the boat ahead of them and dropped a rod down with a lively critter on the pointy end. As I handed the rod to Dano and before I could get David and Tanner a rod Dano’s rod doubled over and a tarpon launched itself into the air. As the fish landed the fight was over and we got them out again. I reeled a couple times and felt that ever so light tap. I reeled down and came tight. I passes the rod over to Tanner and Dano was in position to help if needed and again the fish jumped and was gone. I saw some fish roll in front of the boat so I cast a cork rod out in front of them and it immediately got slammed. I set up on the fish and handed the rod to Tanner and the fight was on. After a great battle on both sides the fish gave in and we tagged and released it in good condition.
The day before we were chasing tarpon with the fly and saw lots of fish tailing and cruising just under the surface. We jumped 2 but could not keep either hooked up and as the tide turned we headed inshore and caught some redfish.
Now I sit wishing only one thing. That the wind would stop blowing but I fear that with will not come true for several days.
Tight lines
Scott