March 20 something March 30
I finally got my MOJO back. Thank God it has been awhile.
It is March, so my life should be pretty easy. Blue Skies, east winds, 12-18 shots at permit a day, and catching just enough fish to make it seem worth our while. That is a normal March. This one has been plagued with inconsistent weather and erratic fishing. Still this wouldn’t have been that much of a problem, if I hadn’t lost my mojo.
What does that mean? Here are a few examples. I sent my client wading after a group of hard tailers on a slick morning. On the first cast a fish charges, humps up, and crashes the experimental fly. Cory comes tight for three tails kicks, then slack. Examining his rig, he notices the hook is still there, but the fish had eaten the fly off the hook. It was completely gone. Here is another. On one of the rare good fishing, good weather days of the month, we broke off two permit on the hookset. A faulty spool of Seagur Flourocarbon tippet was the culprit. 14lb broke at maybe 5 lbs. At least it was my client’s spool. Here is a more subtle one, a large single permit, sees a fly while my client is stripping in for a recast. The fish charges the fly, lights up, dying to eat it, just as the fly is pulled from the water. FUCK. I can’t even talk about the fish that raced over to the fly, tailed up on it, then miraculously swam away without a hook in their face. I tried waiting longer, stripping sooner, different flies. Hell I almost sacrificed a KW chicken.
Fortunately calmer heads prevailed. I just went tarpon fishing. Four Caught fish (3 100lbers aand 1 50lb) with 5 more hooked and I feel like a new man. I love tarpon.
I think I got my MOJO back.
later
john