July 25 July 25
Hello everyone. Today was a break in the normal fishing routine. Being the last wednesday in July, it marked the beginning of Sportsman mini-season; a recreational spiny lobster season. For you non-Floridians, this is when seemingly half of South Florida visits the Keys in what is essentailly a wild west-style free for all. Two days of diving, snorkeling, bad boating, bad ettiquete, and good eating. With the immense boating pressure, flats fishing is out of the question. If you can’t beat them, join them… right? So Drew, myself and mutual friend Capt Shane Wood (a hard working and talented first year flats guide) set out at sunrise to see if we couldn’t catch a few “bugs” ourselves. My one “spot”, which was unoccupied, provided us with our limit (6 lobsters per person) in 40 minutes. Safe and sound and back at the dock in less than two hours.
I know, enough with the lobstering. What about the fishing? I just finished up a four day charter with Charles Smid from Moose, Wyoming. He wanted to target only large tarpon (50+lb) and he had consistent success during his run of charters (he fished four days with Drew prior to our days together). He jumped nine fish and caught nine more with at least as many missed eats. His fish ranged from 100lb pigs to 30lb babies. In our first two days of fishing, Charles and I started each morning in large basins throwing gurglers to tarpon actively feeding on juvenile triggerfish (I swear that this is not BS). A.M. falling tides and slick mornings are the recipe for these July hatches. You have not lived until you see a 100lb fish catapult out of the water to eat a tiny gurgler. It is AWESOME. Afternoons poling similar basins provided good fishing to large single laid-up fish and shots at schools of aggressive 30-50lb poons. A shift in A.M. tides ended our hatch fishing and forced us to pole ocean swim lanes looking for the last of the migrants and the lonely locals. There are never a lot of these fish around this time of year, but patience/perseverance pays as they are willing eaters. 20-30 shots in a day is a reasonable expectation, and that is what Charles and I experienced. Our last afternoon, we encountered a small push of fish with the beginning of a flood tide at the Southwest corner of the Marquesas. Two 50lb fish in an hour was a great way to end the trip.
Well, I’d better go. Its time to spin up a few permit flies for this week’s moon tides and crack open a cold beer in anticipation for the meal of grilled lobster tails and deep fried lobster nuggets.
’Til next time,
Capt John