Ed Mcdonnell and Art Newdell shared the foredeck yesterday. We did a little sight fishing with fly rods for reds at daylight, while the tide was low and falling, we had a few shots, missed a couple of strikes, the tide fell away quickly. Next, we went to the Milky Way Swash, the ‘Grocery Store.’ We used tipped jigs and caught spotted sea trout and sugar trout on every cast. We were pulling in doubles, netting them two at a time until we just didn’t want any more. Our blood lust being satisfied, we headed for the backcountry to finish our day hunting for a trophy snook. It’s January, winter, snook are hard to find at this time of year and even harder to get them to bite. We used both fly rods and ultralight spinning gear with small jerkbaits. We poled a lot of shorelines, deep in the jungle, without so much as a bite. About to give it up, we hit one more ‘Last Best Place.’ Here’s a photo of Ed with the fish of the day.
We’ve been dodging cold fronts and the accompanying winds. Redfish remain the main target, snook seemingly in their winter lethargy. Still, Gulf temperature is at a benevolent 64 degrees, this could have fair implications for tarpon season which is now only a few weeks away. I still have lots of open dates in February and March, some in April, but May and June are almost completely booked. There are two days around the full moon in May that no one has taken, May 11, and 12. There are no guarantees in this endeavor, but, for tarpon on fly in May, I would grab these two days. (These have been taken.) I have a couple of days in the last week of May as well. And, if giants aren’t your first priority, I have some open dates in late June.
The wind is whuppin’ out of the northwest at about forty knots. We cancelled today’s trip due to the high winds. There’s still good fishing when you can get on the northeast wind following the passing front. Red’s and snook.
Kenneth and Josh Smith fished with me this weekend. As bad as things seem sometimes, I would love for you to meet Josh. He was torn to pieces eight years ago in a motorcycle accident. Had his spine rebuilt from “Cadaver Parts.” Josh is one tough son of a bitch, fished all day, landing about nine redfish, an equal number of humongous sheephead, pompano and trout. This is a man after my own heart. Thank you, Josh, for the privilege of guiding you to those fish.