Trout hunters make a run at the Tarpon

[teleee]

So this may or may not work, but I know Snapt, Underoos and hopefully Skifishbum are headed to the Keys in the next few weeks to join me in chasing the annual poon migration. Figured it would be cool if we had a central thread to post the stoke (if there is any).
Good luck dudes, hope you slay em!
Im in the Salt Lake Airport doing a preflight for my red eye.

[skifishbum]

snappy t and underoos too
well fuck me
when the goin gets tough and the funticket accounts empty
time to nonrev w/ a new credit card
fish you salty mag trout weenies
mon night or tues
text me a final address

[snapt]

Good luck telee. Looking forward to seeing how you guys do. Been a rough stretch for me between the lady's job moving her away and one of my best friends suddenly passing. I need this trip, bad! Cheers guys.

[schwerty]

Still jealous! I almost called Hook yesterday to weasel a spot for a day or two but after I looked at a quick 2-3 day trip down I left the phone on the hook. Shitty timing this year.

Go Team Poon!

[skifishbum]

make the call
i'm only doin 2 days of fishin
hell i'm handlinin or trollin w/the 2hander
cause it's all i gots
team poon bumpers


is captain edibles comin down from CO?

[warthog]

Got the text from Hook too late this year. No way I could swing it. Good luck out there. You using Hook's secret weapon, or you staying on land?

Guess I'll have to practice with the fly this season, and plan a trip next spring.

I will be hitting up the Tarpon run up here in the next few weeks, so I might be able to post some "non Keys" Poon. They have to go through there to get here, so I figure it counts.

[Underoos]

Well?

I've heard the W has been an issue on the ocean side, but there are lots of fish heading south.

Heard some worms are around.

If you guys are in the Middle Keys at all, we should grab a beer. We will probably fish down south one day this week.

Supposed to snow a foot today and tonight. I can't wait to get the fuck out of here.

I'm not bringing a single piece of tackle with me since I never end up using any of my own shit anyway. Feels weird.

[teleee]

So the first few days have been brutal to put it mild. The W has been howling the entire time. We have seen a grand total of 3 tarpon roll after hours and hours of fishing. Pretty sure the conditions have them offshore and or hunkered down on the bottom.
Yesterday we said screw it and went shark hunting with fly rods. Catching a shark on the fly is highly under rated! My arms are seriously aching!



Dibs I will call you this morning as soon as my post fishing hangover subsides a little. Warthog, I am bummed you couldn't make it down, we need to get together again. Underoos it would be awesome to hook up for a beer or 2. I think we are headed out to the Marquesas (spelling?) for a few days so I am not sure of my schedule, this isn't my rodeo I'm just here for the ride.

[skifishbum]

listed on the redeye 2 night
slim pickens nonrevin into the keys
so gonna rent a car and drive down
see ya sometime tues.

[snapt]

Sounds like W, W, and more W. I get in tuesday night.

[teleee]

Well that pretty sums up the weather

[mushmouth]

Agree about sharks in shallow on flies...loads of fun and big hungry fish.

[warthog]

Sounds like W, W, and more W. I get in tuesday night.

Sorry to hear that. The wind doesn't blow too hard on Duval. Different type of fishing though.

[Underoos]

Well, I had a good follow today. So there's that.

[skifishbum]

saw 2 poons this morn and a couple hookups last night
ive been catchin a hell of a buzz
and I"M THE MOST EXTREME BACKCOUNTRY FISHERMAN
ON THE WATER

[teleee]

Sorry to hear that. The wind doesn't blow too hard on Duval. Different type of fishing though.

I would only do that if you were my wing man.

[Underoos]

Got one.

[warthog]

I would only do that if you were my wing man.

Ha- you don't need to chum for Tarpon though.

Did you ever find my family treasure? Did they feed you beers again?

[teleee]

Got one.

Ya buddy! We finally managed to land on as well. 30 minutes before we packed it in on the last night. God the wind was fucking brutal the entire time.

[teleee]

Ha- you don't need to chum for Tarpon though.

Did you ever find my family treasure? Did they feed you beers again?

Happy to report that there was no chumming, although Skifishbum tried camo by turning green.

We found the treasure it's still safe and secure, no beers, that must be reserved for owners only.

[Underoos]

We did it this time.
We fucking did it.



I'd been awaiting this trip for a year.
I'd been salivating over it since the plane tickets were booked last fall.
All the while, I tried to remain calm and be prepared to fail.


Winter has not let go around here.
This was my drive to the airport.



So ready for the beach.



Flying over the peninsula, I was sad to see clear evidence of the dewatering of the southern Glades.
That road is the Tamiami Trail, which effectively cuts off water flowing from the north.
You can see the results.



Thalweg picked me up from the airport and we wasted no time getting on the water.
Deep in the backcountry.
Salt life, brah.



Down in the islands, they hadn't had a lick of rain or much wind in months.
True to form, that all changed when I showed up.



But I'm no stranger to adverse conditions, and I know when it's a better idea to pursue other activities besides beating your head against a wall.



We pulled the last of the season's crab pots.
We even soaked some bait, which is good from time to time.
Later I admitted that I was glad I did not catch a tarpon on bait. Thalweg agreed.



I hijacked Thal's scooter to go on a beer run. It almost made me feel like a local, barring the pasty white feet.



Next day, it was clear that going out on the boat was a bad idea.
We got a late start and ended up going with plan W.



The canal had oodles of different fish. We didn't catch most of them.
I snagged an unidentified cichlid in the forehead.



Thalweg caught a Mayan.



The wind blew.
It rained.
We huddled.



After the rain, I caught a 6 inch bluegill. All that weird ass shit in that water and I caught a fucking bluegill.
It ended up being 1 of 2 fish that I caught (fairly) the whole trip.

On our way home from the bike ride, the W laid down and the sun came out.
We had a short window for some ocean fishing.



It was choppy.
We saw a manatee.
We saw a few big sliver fish, one of which I had a good shot at.
The fish followed my fly almost to the boat, which was the closest I had yet come to hooking or catching one.
I was thrilled.


Next day, Thalweg said we should go fish in the mud.
I didn't argue.



Turns out, he was quite right.
We got one.

We didn't get any jumping shots or head shots so I'll give you guys the whole story so you'll at least have something.



We pulled into the first spot for the day, cut the motor, and started looking and listening.
No big silver fish were evident.
We had a brand new rod on the boat that was to be my weapon for the day, so I was casting and messing around and generally reminding myself that I'm not a great caster.
After maybe 20 minutes, we hadn't seen any fish.

Thalweg goes, "Alright, another minute or two. Make one more cast and we'll go somewhere else."
CE goes, "Cool.'
....
From behind me I hear, "There's a roll, way over there. We'll give it another minute."
We saw a few random rolls, then a group.
The group was coming right for us.
A big one rolled close to the boat.
"Throw it in the hole she left and start stripping."
I made a not-so-great 40 ft cast.
A few strips, and BANG!
I forgot to strip set, but the fish ran a little ways and the line came tight.
'Hit her!"
I hit her a couple times and she came out of the water.
That's when my brain melted and I saw what I was connected to.
It was fucking huge, and wide. I was fairly certain that I had no chance of landing something that big.
But something wasn't right. I still had coils of fly line on the deck.
I looked and made sure it would clear. I worried about my fingers getting caught or bashed.
But nothing was happening.
Thal was on the same wavelength.
"Let her run! Let her run!"
"I'm trying! She's not going anywhere!"
"Stomp on the deck!"
We both did the hippo tap-dance. That's what she needed. Off to the races.
"Oh my god. Oh my god."
I couldn't believe that we had an eat, a hookup, and I was actually going to fight this thing.
"We're on dude! We're fucking on!"
I looked behind me, and Thalweg was smiling, too.

That all happened in about 2.5 seconds.

Thalweg coached.
We battled.
It was very hard work for me.
After not too long, the fish was alongside the boat.
"We're calling it 110," said the man in charge.
Thalweg put a hand on the leader, the fish surged, and it was over.







Got him, Cap!

[snapt]

Good shit. 2 more days.

[skifishbum]

Happy to report that there was no chumming, although Skifishbum tried camo by turning green.

.

ya know ifin them flats boats were designed for 4-8' waves they'd have leg locks
i'll try n sift through the 500 or so photos for the dozen worth postin
super stoked 4 you underoo

[schwerty]

Good news Underoos!

Sorry bout the W down there guys. Guess I had a good year to be grounded. Looking forward to fishin' for some of those dinky lil trout with a few of you.

[mushmouth]

Nice! I'd trade my three days for those 2.5 seconds.