One of the big benefits of being a fishing guide is the people I get to share the boat with during my charters. Friendships have developed over the years as the faces become very familiar and memories start filling up my angling archives.
For three days this week I shared the boat with angler Chris Lineberger. Chris lives in Connecticut and is an avid fly fisherman. The problem is that he is a very busy guy who works in Manhattan where fly-casting is not very common. Chris and I had emailed each other several times and I knew I would enjoy his company. His views about the outdoors were similar to mine.
A gusty wind was in store for us. Chris’s only interest was fly-fishing, so we worked very hard to find some protected areas for him to cast. The first day we had a strong southwest wind, so we found some calmer areas where snook and reds were showing. Chris hooked up one snook that was laid up in a sand hole, but after a short run the fish got off. We had some nice opportunities, but in general it was the beginning of tough fly-fishing conditions.
After canceling my next trip due to the wind, I was out again. Chris had asked me to take his nephew Danny for a boat ride and to catch him a trout or two. We had a relaxing day and we caught some seatrout, as well as enduring another windy day.
By Thursday I had a familiar face on my boat. Angler Cameron Campbell. He is one of my customers that have become my friend. We have fished many times together and along with his son, Tom we were going for some live-bait fishing. Tom is going to college in Texas, so his time off from school was a perfect opportunity to come to Florida to visit his family and do some serious fishing.
Early in the morning I went and filled up my livewell with sardines. I cast netted them over grass using my “always reliable” 10’ cast net. Soon after I was arriving to Cameron’s dock to pick up the guys for our outing, the tide was low incoming, so I decided to go to a flat and fish the deeper depressions until the water came up. We caught several seatrouts, including a 4lb that was caught by Tom.
As the water reached the appropriate height, we moved to an area where the reds liked to congregate. Tom was the first one to connect, after a nice run and a few jumps, a 28” snook came aboard. This was a nice sign of things to come. Redfish followed the snook, with more snook and then, well, you get the point. We ended up with double hookups with both Tom and Cameron catching snook, reds and seatrout. Reds were the main catch; I think we caught around 15 of them.
The rest of my charters were live-bait outings that produced some small snook, seatrout and a few redfish.
The week ended with Chris and his brother Jeff. Jeff likes spin fishing, so we took him to catch a few small snook and he also caught an 8lb redfish. Earlier in the day Chris had a shot at a few reds tailing, but again the conditions were tough for fly-fishing.
A week with old friends and new friends have come and gone. A reminder of what it is really all about, to value the surroundings and solitude of being in God’s magnificent country.
Tight lines,
Capt. Rey
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Capt. Rey's Fishing Report