One of WTA’s best Kansas/Nebraska deer and turkey outfitters extended an invite to the WTA staff to come visit him at his Florida Keys retreat. Since I was on my way down to do some tarpon fishing with a hosted group during the pre-Memorial Day holiday week, I felt it was my duty to see what he had going on with his Keys operation. Tough job, but someone has to do it. With heavy east winds churning up the oceanside waters, we felt that self preservation was in order, so we set out to hit some backcountry spots on a recon mission prior to his first guest’s arrival later in the week. Using the wind to our advantage, we set up drifts over some firm bottom flats that ranged in depth from 7-20 feet, and we soon found ourselves tight to a variety of fish using jigs, soft baits, and the occasional ballyhoo chunked up and jigged along the bottom. We managed to land some nice mangrove snapper which quickly ended up on ice and on the lunch menu. We also caught a pile of lane snapper, some mutton snapper, porgies, grunts, and spotted sea trout, which, not surprisingly also made it onto the menu. I didn’t have time for a full day of fishing as I had plans for the afternoon, but I can tell you that with a little less than 1/2 a day of fishing under our belts, we managed to catch at least three dozen fish, and rarely did we go more than a few minutes without some great fishing action. As I moved onto tarpon later in the week, Mark entertained his first guests and the fishing started to really take off. He was able to get out after mahi mahi and caught some beautiful grouper and mangrove snappers as well.
Mark’s operation is a one man show, utilizing a really nice Mako flats/bay style boat powered by a 150 hp Merc four-stroke engine, and a trolling motor featuring Spot Lock to keep you over fish when the action heats up. All the gear, bait, and lures are provided so all you need to do is show up with sunscreen and a positive attitude. Mark can accommodate 2 anglers on extended half-day charters, and he packages trips with local accommodations on a 2 or 3 fishing-day basis. So, if you’re thinking of a quick getaway to the Keys this summer or next, be sure to give us a call and we’ll get things arranged.
On to the tarpon gig…
Hosting a group of well-traveled anglers has some advantages. Usually they know what to expect from outfitters, and, if I’ve done my job properly as a trip host , expectations are typically in line with what is being offered. So long as an outfitter “controls the controllables” all you really need to show up with is a positive attitude to assist you in dealing the hand you’re dealt from the fishing gods, and of course, Mother Nature. It’s a good thing my group of guys understood that. We arrived on the fifth day of heavy east winds, with the forecast to be more of the same over the course of our four day trip. Nothing to do but man up and tough it out, or go home and whine about it. All but one person in our group were fly fishermen, and the target species were the giant tarpon hunted on the flats in and around Summerland, Big Pine, and Cudjoe Keys. For the uninitiated, “flats”, are the shallow, clear water habitat for a variety of aquatic life, rich in the foods that bring gamefish out of the deep in search of an easy meal. Large migratory tarpon start to show up in the month of March, but tend to gather in large numbers in the lower Keys area during the May/June time frame. It’s an annual event that brings fishermen from around the world to test their skills against the mighty “silver king”. As many of you know, fly fishing in general is a sport that tends to conjure up images of tranquil trout streams, lush greenery, and the gentle rises of fish sipping flies from the water’s surface. Fly fishing in saltwater however, offers up a completely different scenario. While there are peaceful tranquil moments to be savored, it’s more often than not a series of anxious moments endured between opportunities, tense make-or-break casts demanded of you, followed by either uncaring rejections from disinterested fish, or, if you’re “lucky”, you’ll get to set the hook into an animal that will leave you speechless as it rips two hundred yards of line from your reel in the blink of an eye. Sounds relaxing doesn’t it? More luck might have you watching in awe at acrobatics that make the Cirque du Soleil cast look like a bunch of zombies. It’s addictive to say the least, and sadistic to be most honest. If you doubt that statement, consider the fact that one in ten fly-hooked tarpon come to hand boatside. One in ten. Bait and lure fishermen fare better, but not by a whole lot. Sane people question why anyone would put themselves through such anguish, all in the name of fishing. I am not qualified to answer that question, or more accurately, cannot assess my obsession with it without a lot of unnecessary self-reflection. We all have our faults.
So, the crux of this brief fishing story is that we got our asses handed to us this year by Mother Nature and the tarpon. The fishing days felt more like we were trying to cast from horseback than the bow of a skiff. We had guys fall in the boat, guys fall off the boat, and yet they came up smiling. Hell, the stories at cocktail hour rivaled any of the great fishing stories I’ve ever heard. This was my fifth trip in four years, and it has become an annual pilgrimage for me. Considering the difficulty the weather put upon us on this go around, it’s really not all that surprising that we’ll all be back for more next year, with fingers crossed of course, that the weather gods look more kindly upon us. I don’t have a lot of images to show for the effort put in, so I’m including some shots from the past few trips to show that we’re not all crazy in pursuit of this great gamefish. One, as you’ll see, is an epic fish that certainly would be in the running for top honors all-time, and after all, isn’t that what we all hope for? I would be remiss if I did not mention how fantastic the food and accommodations were while at the tarpon venue. Billy, our very own private chef for the week, did his hometown of Boston proud once again. Ridiculous five-star meals, great d.j. music selections, and his great sense of humor kept all of us happy when not out on the water. Did I mention the oceanfront villa, the pool, the open bar . . . ?
The outfitters we use for our Keys tarpon, permit, and bonefish, reef and offshore packages will be featured on our website in the coming months. Please call me if you have any questions or would like to get a trip on the books.
