Key West Fly Fishing

There are times that I can’t help but ask, “Why am I a fishing guide?”  I have many complicated and convoluted answers to this question, but I also have this very simple one: when I get a chance to go fishing, I generally have a good idea where I can find some quality fish to throw a fly at (excuse the dangling participle).  This was definitely the case on Friday morning.

I was able to recruit two fellow guides and friends, Sandy Horn and Shane Wood, aka Woody, to join me for a morning of bonefishing on the Gulf edges to the Northwest of Big Pine.  We had the last of the falling tide for the first hour of the morning.  The fish were there, but they seemed very relucatnt to stick their tails up.  With no pressure to perform for a client, we relaxed and waited out the tide. 

The young flood arrived shortly thereafter and so did our fish.   I figured with three fishing guides on the boat that this should be easy.  I was wrong.  My first shot at a pod of large tailing fish yielded nothing but questions.  Why didn’t they eat?  Do I need a different fly?  Why didn’t we bring any beer? 

Woody and Sandy faired no better.  The armies of bonefish kept marching, we kept casting, and sooner or later things would have to turn around.  A switch to a small merkin yielded a quick hook-up, but 10 schools later, we still hadn’t hooked another.

Again, patience paid off.  About the time we lost our tailing tide, the fishing turned on.  Suddenly we couldn’t keep the fish off our flies.  In 30 minutes we caught three fish (4,8 and 10lbs) in as many shots.  Along with the normal thrills asscociated with a hooked bonefish, this morning we had to fend off the countless sharks of every make and model as they tried to get to the fish before we did.  Fortunately for the bones we won each race, but just barely. 

I caught the last of the three (the little one) and figured we should quit while we were ahead. 

In four hours of fishing we threw to at least 1000 bones, managed only four hook-ups, catching three, and re-learned one important lesson.  Just keep casting.

Later,

John