The FL Keys over 4th of July Weekend
- This topic has 20 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated Jul 16, 2008 at 4:09 pm by
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Parker, it’s nice to know that I’m not alone in experiencing the key’s skunk, atleast for the big three. I fished out of key west with a guide for a day in late June. We spent most of the day poling backcountry basins looking for laid up fish, but what an experience.
The first stop of the day was an edge and as soon as he killed the engine we started seeing tarpon roll. Unfortunately, they stayed just out of range of the fly rod, so we switched to the spinning rod. Obviously those tarpon had been around becuase they managed to stay just out of casting range. Eventually we moved on after catching a mangrove snapper on fly and a few jacks and black-tips on the spinning gear. The next stop we slid up on a FAT 130lb+ fish, but she popped up on the radar less than 20 ft from the boat and bounced off before I could make a decent presentation. On that same bank I had a decent shot at a smaller, ~80lb. fish, but she turned off the fly when she saw the boat. Later in the day at the last tarpon stop, I made a good presentation to another average laid up fish and got a follow, but I guess she didn’t like the fly or I just didn’t give the fly enough life and she slid on without a bite.
As the day was coming to an end, our guide took us to a flat to look for bonefish and snapper (my fiance was along), but he felt the tide was still too high so we bumped over to another flat to look for permit. As we poled along for a while and not seeing much life, I asked the guide if I could spend some time poling since I hadn’t done much of it, and not in a maverick hp-V(i’m looking to buy a skiff so I wanted to try it out). Well of course as soon as I’m poling and starting to get the feel for it, two permit slide up off the channel edge straight in front of the boat. I tried to talk my fiance through the cast with a crab on the spinning rod, but before she made the cast the fish noticed us and quickly moved away. All in all it was a GREAT experience and I WILL be back soon. I must say I learned a lot from the fish and my guide and will be much more prepared next time, not to mention I think it will help me in my local fishery.
ps. I know this is long and I haven’t contributed much lately, but maybe it’s a sign of things to come. Maybe I’ll have pictures to share next time.
-Mark L.
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