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Albie Video Hi Speed Only

During last weeks trip to Florida, I was fortunate enough to have the pleasure of three straight days of fly fishing. The trip began in Islamorada and came to a close near Stuart, on the Treasure Coast. The first trip was intentionally slated as a “Tarpon” trip, the night before we receive a call from the guide citing back pain as his chief complaint. “I have to refer you to another guide” he said, we figured what the heck and we rolled with it. Well Redfish were his proclaimed specialty so we left the marina and shot over to the Gulf side to some flats where the bite was on. Not long after getting there my friend and I are into some decent Reds and having a blast. We didn’t catch a ton but we were successful none the less. The second leg of the trip took us north to continue our quest for the silver king. We used a very reputable guide for two days and had an absolute blast! I was fortunate enough to have my girlfriend Kasey with me on this one so I was pretty psyched. She is one hell of a fly fisher and I was anxious to see how she would handle the pressure. We started at 4:30 am casting to Snook under the dock lights, we each managed one a piece and then we were off to the Tarpon hole. As soon as the light hit the water there were rolling fish everywhere. After five minutes of fishing my buddy Dave jumps a beauty about 70 pounds and loses it after the fifth leap. Then, as if someone flips a switch my girl and I set the hook simultaneously and there is total bedlam on the captain’s river boat. She takes off around the bow and I take off towards the stern, both of us with leaping tarpon on the end of our lines. Within seconds it’s over for

both of us. Feeling high on adrenaline we continue to hook tarpon consistently until the fish stop surfacing around 10:00am. I was a bit bummed we never got any to hand but just to be out there hooking them was a privilege. The rest of the afternoon was devoted to False Albacore. We headed out to the beachfront and ran about 3 miles offshore to a reef that was well known by the captain. The first thing I noticed when we arrived was a bait ball the size of a concrete truck and baitfish jumping out of the water and fleeing for their lives. We anchored down up current and the guide handed me the 9wt strung with intermediate line and a small pilcher pattern called a “greenie” and said “get to it”. First cast and it’s on! As the line clears off the deck, it slaps me in the face about four times and I’m well into the backing. 15 minutes later I bring the fish to the boat and it’s a nice “albie”, picture and back in the water she goes. Next up is Kasey, she pounds out 40 feet of line and two strips later she is nearly pulled overboard. The Albacore rips all but maybe 100 yards of backing off the reel and she finally stops the fish and gains 200 yards of backing quicker than some men I have fished with. Seconds later the drag screams again and this time a fifteen foot bull shark is spotted in full pursuit of our quarry. The fish comes to the boat again and the brave or crazy? Capt. Says “keep on eye on that shark” and tails the fish. This event minus the shark encounter is repeated for several more hours. All in all a great experience for all involved. I would highly recommend the False Albacore as a worthy opponent for even the most seasoned veterans. The Tarpon blew my mind as well; I will be back for certain. As now I have a score to settle with the “silver king” and he will be gnawing at my psyche until we meet again.