Just another day in the Keys

Fished with Capt. Scott Yetter again today, as I do many days he is not guiding. This number used to be a lot more, but he has become so damned popular that my opportunities are fewer. I am certainly not complaining as I really don't want to fish several consecutive days anymore, as it is only half of the reason for wintering in the Keys. The other half being resting, reading, watching the day go by, etc. I am very fortunate to be able to fish other flats Capt.'s too, Capt. Morgan, Capt. Tipler, Capt. Gorton, and John Arnold when he is here too. John is of course in MT this winter doing a fine job creating new web sites this blog site, along with Julie. All of these fellas are terrific and I encourage anybody coming to the Keys to utilize their local knowledge to increase your opportunities while fishing for these often difficult gamefish. I will get back on track...fished with Scott again today. Out at 9 am and perfectly calm coupled with blue sunny skies. Poked around for a few redfish, blank. Wind had come from nowhere, which means out of the north sucking the moisture right off the suface and suspending it in the sky in the form of dark grey clouds. Shit, foiled again.

The weather wherever you fish is so freakin' fickle!...Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

It is really all one can do. Keep your head up and secretly pray to the fish gods. If that doesn't work, then lots profanity usually make me feel better. This generally does not help matters either, but it is one of the most common paths fisherman take to relieve the pain.
Scott and I had decided to head back to the marina and call it an early day. But wait...in true Capt. Yetter fashion...we went searching for another baby tarpon spot. Scott knows a ton of these locales, and is always on the hunt for more. We ducked out of the wind in a nearby canal. Urban style. If you have not been to the Keys you may not know that there are literally thousands of these canals that were created to build vacation homes. Therefore giving waterfront to many more homes that would originaly fit on the landscape. These canals are perfect for rearing tarpon. Protected, warm, and full of bait fish. We wandered around through the mazes talking and looking for rolling fish. Nada. By the time we exited the canal system the sky was blue once again. Aborted the respite and safety of the marina and ran to a nearby flat. Still heavy winds out of the NE and hid behind a east-west facing key. Now out of the wind and looking for a couple bones. 15 minutes of staring at beautiful water without seeing a target. If you have not saltwater fished, and your experience is trout based, you may be in for a rude awakening. There are hours filled with waiting with fly in hand poised to cast at a bone, permit, tarpon...we spotted a pair of little permit, 5 pounders, sniffing the edge hoping to find a morsel to chew on. In hindsight I was successful. This only means that I didn't spook the fish. The magic wand, aka fly rod, can scare the shit out of a permit merely by waving it around, not even getting the fly in the water! I made 4-5 perfectly executed casts in the direction of the permit, and he did not eat the fly. He also did not see the fly. Anticipating where to cast a fly at a meandering permit is like trying to predict the mood swings of a teenager, or your girlfriend. Failure. Or is it?

Is not spooking a permit with your fly considered a
success?

I say yes! It is really easy to spook those bastards. The fish did elude me and swam in a direction unbeknownst to either Scott or I. That shit just happens. They are ultimately wild creatures and permit are known to disppear into space. I felt pretty good about the experience, I will sleep just fine tonight. So the days go as I spend the reamining 2 weeks of my short 2 1/2 month truly wonderful stay in the Keys. Back home to Montana and the Missouri soon. I really am looking forward to it. I will remember all of these moments frozen in time this summer as I enjoy just another day in Craig. But until then, there will be a few more catches and exponentially more misses. Just another day in the Keys.

Captain Scott is a wonderful flats guide who just adores Tarpon, he is really good at finding them! To fish with Captain Scott Yetter in the fabulous Lower Florida Keys http://sightfishfloridakeys.com/ or give him a shout @ 305/304-6132