August 5 August 5
Now that the chaos of lobster mini-season has passed the fishing regains it appropriate place as our primary focus. This past week I fished with one of my favorite clients, Graham Anderson from Calgary. We spent five days fishing hard for permit. Despite the outstanding tides and a more than capable angler, we were unable to get any love from the permit gods. Whether it was the west winds, shifty visibilty, stormy weather, or some return to a former level of ineptitude on my part, the fishing was just not what I had hoped for. We fished from east of Key West all the way to the Marquesas, often on the same day, and the fish were not widespread and they seemed to have little interest in even our best offerings. It was a very disappointing week at least in terms of catching.
As usual, the day after Graham left town the skies cleared and winds shifted out of a more normal southeasterly direction. The only way to rebound from a tough week is to go fishing and John and I finally had the opportunity (the first time in months) this past friday. Despite wanting to focus on permit, we left the dock early hoping to get into some early morning hatches for tarpon. We arrived at the basin and were greeted by a number of large fish happily rolling in all directions. Not fifteen minutes later a cloud line swept over bringing winds of 15-20 and ending any chances of getting some fish in the air. For several hours we waited for the tide to come in and the sun to get high enough to begin permit fishing with confidence.
We focused on a small area, thouroughly fishing the flats and making short runs to take advantage of current and water levels. We managed about 18-20 shots at happy, aggressive permit that worked across the flats tailing and mudding in search of food. The first fish that we hooked, grabbed the fly and violently began shaking its head (much like a tarpon will do) as it swam toward me. The fish stayed on and was running against a light drag when it randomly broke off. After a closer inspection, there was some abrasion farther up the leader so the fish must have clipped it on the bottom. Luckily, redemption wasn’t far away and a few shots later I hooked and landed one about 18lbs. Not much after that, John felt and saw the fly pull out of another fish’s lower lip.
Definitely an enjoyable way to spend a day. I don’t know if it was the weather, the lack of guiding pressure to immediately find fish, or the confidence of having some permit fishing under my belt after a long tarpon season, but the day was much more like we expect than my fishing earlier in the week.
Capt Drew