quick report from Florida

[sculpin]

Hey Jay
Nice picture and I'm glad the weather is starting to give you a break. Knock them dead tomorrow.

Mark

PS. I almost sprayed my computer screen with wine when I read aaron's post

[jaybird]

Well to say it was worth the wait would be the understatement of the year. Scott picked me up at my place at 7 and we headed down the keys a ways to put in. As he was backing in, I noticed tarpon rolling about 100 yards off the boat ramp. Within 10 minutes I had 2 eats and a 35# tarpon to leader. Scott considers that a landed fish so I agreed One more missed grab and that school went down and we were off to the backcountry. There were pods of fish rolling as far as the eye could see. They were very "happy" fish. Every pod I got my fly into resulted in a "eat". By 11 oclock it was time to go look for permit at which point I had hooked 9 tarpon and landed 5. There was a terrible squall hammerring Scotts favorite flat, so we waited for 45 minutes with our fingers crossed. We spent this time getting to know eachother a little and just enjoying the amazing backcountry scenery.
Scott finally decided to head for another spot. i got on the bow and he started poling and we saw a beutiful site, a 30+# permit in less than 2' of water and "happy" (for permit standards) Scott got me in position and I made a perfect delivery. Scott whispers "perfect. strip, strip, pause. Okay strip again." I gently move the fly and the fish blew out!!! Dad blast it!!! We didnt see another permit.

We went in search of bones the last 2-3 hours and they were SCARCE! We finally set up on a flat, we are now in overtime as Scott really wants to get me a bonefish. I decided to blind cast and just work on my casting as we just BS'd and had a good time. My gotcha fly would periodically hang in the turtle grass and It would give me a little shot of adrenaline from the little tug. It is now 4:15 (1hr 15minutes past Scotts normal day) And I am literlly 1 cast away from saying "Wow Scott, thanks for the great day..."etc. Strip strip...turtle grass...THWACK! The line jumps out of my hand and I am watching line and backing disapear faster than I have EVER seen, as I watch a monster bonefish streak across the flat with my line roostertail behind. Yeehaw!!!! A bonefish while blind casting!!

I had some camera troubles I'm afraid. My water proof housing kept fogging over from the humidity and Scott didnt know it. A LOT of shots came out blurry. Also it is now illegal to lift a tarpon from the water for a photo without a harvest tag..of which you can only obtain 1 per year.

There is actually a Florida fish and wildlife team that spends their days serching the internet for photos on fishing forums, tracking down the subject and citing them with a hefty fine. Its really silly to me but I'm not taking any chances. So here are a few "water shots"











[i


My newfound confidence in tarpon eting a fly got me casting down in front of our condo tonight. I was shocked to get a massive strike by the biggest fish of the day. The fish jumped and I suffered a knot failure. After not having a single equipment failure all day on my own stuff including my own knots, I tie a bad knot and loose a trophy fish. I love this place!!!

Jay

[sculpin]

Hey Jay
I'm glad you finally had the day you were looking for. I'm glad.

Mark

[David Lee]

YEAHHHHHH !!!!!

Do ya think you could have possibly found a BIGGER Bone to catch ?!?

I am so happy for you !!!

David =D> =D> =D>

[PaulC]

Hey Jay,
That looks like an awesome day on the water. Shoot landing two of the three and having a shot at a permit is spectacular.
Glad the weather cooperated for you finally!
Love that underwater shot of the tarpon.
-Paul

[Adam Grace]

Sounds like a GREAT day!. Nice Bonefish, that's a big'n!

[jhaquett]

That's an awesome day of fishing congrats Jay! So do you have to remove that picture you had on here earlier with the tarpon you caught off of the dock (because you were holding it all the way out of the water?

That's so cool catching that huge bonefish on a blind cast! When I was on Grand Bahama Island we were on this great secluded beach and I saw a school of bonefish and I swear the "leader" was at least that big! I was with my girlfriend and her family though...not a fishing trip, I was bummed to not even get a chance at them...

I'm dying to do some tropical fly fishing

[Hairstacker]

Jay, congratulations on a great day! That bonefish is something else -- that picture needs to go into the photo archive on this site.

[bubzilla]

Nice job, Jay! Who'd have thunk bonefish like Dick Nites?

[mems]

Aloha Jay, nice job. There are bonefish and then there are big bonefish. That one looks about 7lbs. Congrats on the tarpon also. It does help to get a guide. I think blind casting is good fun, because you don't get the shakes when you see a big fish cruise up to your fly. Then again that is half the fun of sight casting, the stalk. But when blind casting you just strip set and hang on. They are so much fun and so fast, and so beautiful. Did the bonefish do the banana curl when you brought it in? I hope you get some more time on the water before you head home. Good luck and maybe you will get a slam, Mems.