Save to del.icio.us

Video On Flies & Fins South

It was a good feeling to dig through my closet in search of quick drying shorts and flip flops. Winter came late to the Northeast but it came in hard. I was in desperate need of sunshine and a shot of adrenaline. When I stepped out on the tarmac in Ft. Meyers I clinched up instinctually, to shield my body from the wind. It took a second for me to realize that the breeze blowing had no Arctic air mass behind it. Dave (headrush) picked me up and after driving south a short distance we were on the bow casting to snook under the lights. The next day found us south bound once again, making the push to Marathon Key. We really had no particular scheudule or game plan in place, all I knew was that it was 90 degrees, early March and I was surrounded by emerald green water. I had a phone number in my wallet; a guide out of Key West, the owner of the local fly shop back in Syracuse had given to me. We put the call through and he was booked but said he could refer me to his friend. Now anyone that has fished a guide in the keys knows that this is the red flag to

abort mission. For those of you that haven’t, let’s just say some of them are a little burnt out and just punching the clock. To my surprise and great delight we ended up with an absolute work horse that was as tuned into the scene as a person could be. After blowing 20 casts at several giant Permit I finally fed one of them! I wasn’t tight for long but I was tight none the less. Dave had several shots as well and we were really stoked to see so many tailing Permit on crystal clear flats in 3 feet of water. I will never forget those fish, I’ll be back to settle the score. We were amped up and planned on going out the following morning but a cold front was pushing through and the wind kicked up so we bagged it. The next morning after breakfast Dave was sifting through some business cards, I knew he was up to no good. He pulled out a ratty card, I could just make out the image of a peacock bass on it. “Dude I know this guy out in Miami who targets Peacock Bass with the fly rod”. Dave put the call in and told the guide we could be their by noon, game on. It was a very cool experience. We were in the canal system so it was a lot of roll casting and tight quarter stuff. All sight fishing and that is what really gets me going. I would highly recommend this fishery to anyone who was going to be in the Miami area. It’s a great way to build your ego back up after getting schooled on the flats, and the fish are strong and extremely aggressive. Many miles of road and water were covered in a short period of time. Dave thanks for the hospitality, looking forward to doing it again, very soon. Keep me posted when the dinosaurs start showing up in heavy numbers. I want to try and finish what I started last year. Marshall, thanks for showing me the trail. I had a lot of fun. Next time I see you will probably be in New England.