I do love the first bonefish stories. Here is one from blog reader Steven. Steven went to Andros… magical Andros. Love that place.
Nice.
Locations
07
Jun 13
The FL Trip
Purdy
Ya know, by the numbers, the fishing was pretty bad, but I actually had to think about it hard to see that. It didn’t feel unsuccessful. It felt full and hard and fun and fulfilling, even if the tally marks were few and far between.
The weather was such a huge factor in the trip. It was like a goalie, guarding the net. The lights were seldom on. I can’t say the wind was an issue. I think my casting, in general has come a long way in recent years to the point where I don’t think about it (until it all goes wrong, which it did once on this trip). My casting doesn’t make me anxious and I don’t fret about it (again, until it falls apart, but I recover).
But the lights… you need the lights. You can only do so much of staking out the light sand and waiting as dozens and dozens of fish slip by over the grass.
I’ll take the discomfort of the wet, but you need the lights and we just didn’t have enough of it.
In some ways it feels like we missed out, but in others, it feels like it was a perfect trip, because we were there and getting after it and we were wiped out at the end of the day, but not so much that we couldn’t stay up until 2 in the morning and talk it all through.
The fish tally really doesn’t feel like the measure of this trip.
06
Jun 13
My Monster Bone from the Keys
I caught the biggest bonefish of the trip. It was all down to skill, really, and I think this fish shows just what an amazing, amazing angler I am. It is like I knew that fish would be there.
Davin, who I was fishing with at the time, was incredulous. He didn’t believe me right away. He had to see it with his own eyes.
Despite all this wild success, I have still maintained my humility, which just goes to show you how stupendously amazing I am. I mean… all this and humility too?
Wow!
MONSTER!
Now, yeah, OK, it does’t look all that huge, but to put that in perspective, this is one of my hands.
The big ones are mine. That puts that fish in perspective.
OK, OK… I didn’t exactly “see” the fish first. I was blind casting over some grass and though I might have a little cuda.
Alright. Fine. I hand-lined it in. It never got on the reel and didn’t take more than 10 feet of line out.
Still, it was the largest bone of the trip.
Yes… it was the only bone of the trip.
Yes… we were mostly fishing for tarpon and reds.
Still… at least I still have the humility.
05
Jun 13
The Cadence of the Trip
Florida is now in the rear view mirror. It was a blast, despite tough conditions.
The flow of the day would go something like this.
6:00 – wake up having had too little sleep and maybe a little too much beer the night before.
7:00 – push off from the house having found and awaken whoever we were fishing with that day, looking up at the sky to see mostly blues with some odd darkness off to the South and East.
8:00 – Be fishing with some decent, but imperfect weather. Maybe it is high haze, or maybe it is just patchy clouds. Darkness to the South and East gets darker and closer.
Winter is coming…
9:30 or 10:00 – It becomes clear that the now mass of blackness is headed our way. We are going to get pissed on.
10:30 – rain starts, sometimes with a comment like “Man, it is blowing so hard you can hear the wind on the water,” only then to see the wall of water approaching and thinking “oh, that was rain… a lot of rain… buckets of the stuff.”
10:35 – Get wet.
10:45 – Get wetter.
That’s what I call “wet”
11:00 – Start thinking of ways to explain how wet you are, like “I’ve been swimming without getting this wet,” or “my soul is wrinkled from the wet.”
11:05 – 5:00 – Rain on and off. Squalls come through or stay overhead. Fish are looked for, but seeing is hard in the rain and darkness. No one gets struck by lightning, but it is a close shave.
6:00 or 7:00 – Get back to Islamorada with the rain breaking, the clouds parting and a decent evening emerging from the darkness.
“So here is where I blew it…”
8:00 PM – 2:00 AM – Talk about fishing and life and how wet we were and how we hope tomorrow is better than today and how we learned some things and wish there were not so many lessons. Drink beer. Maybe have dinner. Maybe not. Get to know and like one another. Look forward to fishing the next day.
04
Jun 13
5 Bits of Wisdom from Florida
No trout set is remotely possible.
It’s all about learning.
- Thunder travels at 1 mile every 5 seconds, not every one second. So… if you count 5 Mississippi, that wasn’t 5 miles away, it was one mile away. I should have known this, but wasn’t sure if it was 1:1 or some other ratio.
- Not all bonefish eat like Bahamian bonefish. They really are different. The strip I have done for dozens of Bahamian bonefish does not work in the Keys.
- The number one way to prevent trout-setting on a tarpon is to not have the rod in your hand. Brilliant.
- Mats for line management are awesome, awesome things.
- Mullet can mud. Just because you see fish mudding doesn’t mean they are bones.
There was more than that, of course… but this is a smattering of the take-aways from the trip. So much was learned… like how little sleep I can operate on over a period of days.
03
Jun 13
Storms and tarpon
A lot of the above.
A little of the below.
Florida kicked my ass… and was amazing.
29
May 13
All coming together
I understand Thursday could be a little rough, in terms of the weather around Biscayne Bay, but Martin is game, Adrienne is game and I’m certainly game. It is going to happen, rain or shine, and we are all pretty stoked.
I’ll be meeting Davin and Matt after we get off the water on Thursday and we’ll head down to Islamorada together. I’ve never met any of these guys (and gal), so there is an added element of uncertainty. We’ve talked on the phone a few times though and we have a good sense that we’ll get along, which is good.
If it isn’t packed, at this point, it isn’t going to be. I’ll be checking a large duffel with one of the boat bags inside it and I’ll carry on the other. That’s how I’ve solved that particular issue. Looks like it will work.
It is going to be great, regardless of the weather, even regardless of the fishing.
Let the good times roll.
All packed. Fitting shirt to sport. #SWC
26
May 13
5 things I’m doing as we countdown to Florida
Florida is days away… just a few days. I’m pretty much mentally there already. Here are 5 things I find myself doing as Florida approaches…
- I break out into imaginary double hauling all the time. At dinner, in the car, sitting her writing this. Trying “get the feeling” or “envision success” or something. I don’t even know why I do it, but I do.
- Smiling a lot. I have an anticipatory smile I can’t get rid of.
- Thinking about what I need to bring, without actually packing anything. I’ll need to start packing soon.
- Scrambling to make sure I have the right flies. I almost certainly do, or something close, but I always feel a little nervous I haven’t prepared enough.
- Telling myself to stay calm. If you say it enough, you might actually do it when you have to. It works with my daughter “Hey, let’s have a good morning tomorrow, OK?” It might work with me “Just think of the casting mechanics and strip set.”
Coming to see the #skinnywaterculture
24
May 13
5 things my fishing partners next week should know about me
I hear from Troutrageous that people love lists. Here’s a list of things my fishing partners should know about me when I storm into Florida next week.
Me fishing, after fishing, in Andros.
- I can get a little intense. Not in an angry way, but in a talking-fast, animated kind of way. I was once described as “being like a little puppy,” all yippy and jumpy. There is some truth to that when I get near water. I just love this stuff so much.
- I will let you have some of my flies. I will have 600 or so flies when I head to Florida. I can’t use that many in my whole life. I’m glad to share. I’ll also share leaders and tippet. I will likely share beer too… sometimes.
- I can’t drink as much as I used to. The kid did that. I’m just out of practice and not too interested in getting back into that kind of shape. I’ll throw down some beers, but I’m not doing shots, so let’s just not go there, mkay?
- But beer and fishing go together. You have to catch a fish (or jump a tarpon) before you can have a beer. Any fish will do. You can’t have a beer while you are skunked. That just won’t do. This rule is enforced until I want a beer and haven’t caught a fish, at which time it is no longer in effect.
- I’ll squeeze in as much fishing as possible. Is there a place to fish when we get off the water for the day? If so, I’ll go there. Night fishing? Yup, count me in. Can you hand-line off the dock? I’ll do that. I’m not being anti-social. I just really love this stuff and since I live in California, and not in San Pedro or Islamorada, I have to soak up every minute I can.
Photo by Cameron Miller – Me fishing after fishing.
Now you know me a little bit better… let’s go fishing, eh? (The “eh” was for Adrienne, who is Canadian)
22
May 13
Bonefish save the day in MX
Saw this blog recently, Uprising. Brent Wilson, the author, shares a story about day where the weather doesn’t cooperate for poons and snook, but they still find some bones to save the day.
I’ve never actually fished the Caribbean side of Mexico. I’ve fished just south of Mexico. I’ve fished within a cast of Mexico, but not actually in Mexican waters on the East Coast. I’d like to, for sure.
They are probably out there somewhere.
Brent talks about seeing a bunch of tarpon in a cenote and I remember seeing one myself down there on a snorkel trip down a centote south of Cancun. Pretty cool sight.
