When someone dockside hands you a five-weight, you smile and give thanks. Then turn and hand it to the guide, while rolling your eyes.
But the wind hovered under 8 kts, and the initial gesture was followed by a convincing “don’t fear it, just try it.”
Will do, Mr. Cook
Walking a flat with tools better suited for trout feels kinda bad ass. Especially when there are surprises.
MG signing off (to rethink the whole eight-weight thing)
Went on an Easter egg hunt today …
Found plenty, though they were all the same color (and different sizes).
MG signing off (taking bonefish over bunnies for holidays and 100-meter dashes)
When engaged in fly-fishing travel off the beaten path, it is important to follow a rigorously tested set of guidelines, thereby ensuring a prosperous expedition. Thankfully, yours truly is a bonafide hack certified beta tester for adventure travel policies and procedures, and since I got stiffed on my retainer didn’t request compensation for the latest excursion, I am going to outline a few of the more important points fearing no copyright, trademark or other infringement …
Message in a bottle
Courtesy of BTT, FWC Approves Bonefish and Tarpon as Catch and Release:
At their Wednesday meeting in Lakeland, The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), unanimously approved new regulations to make tarpon and bonefish catch-and-release-only fisheries, making Florida the first State to do so. The deliberations by Commission members were brief and entirely supportive. Commissioner Brian Yablonski said, “this is the most significant thing we can do for tarpon.” Following their favorable ruling, Chairman Kenneth Wright added, “there will be a chapter written in a book about what this commission did today.”
(h/t Save The Tarpon)
MG signing off (with nothing else to say. for once.)
Not to minimize the importance of impending regulations on what kind of rigs can be used to catch fish in Boca Grande pass, but Save the Tarpon gets to what yours truly considers the meat of the matter…
Final Rules for Tarpon and Bonefish – The proposed final rules would make tarpon and bonefish catch-and-release-only. To accomplish this, the allowance for a tarpon bag limit would be eliminated and replaced with an allowance for possession of a single tarpon in conjunction with a tarpon tag for the purpose of pursuing an International Game Fish Association (IGFA) record. In addition, all tarpon regulations will be extended into adjacent federal waters. The existing bonefish tournament exemption that allows registered tournament anglers to possess a bonefish for the purposes of transporting it to the tournament scale would also be eliminated.
Of course, one could just eliminate the tag allowance for pursuing a world record, and we’d actually have a real game on our hands. But the above is certainly a step in the right direction. The only way to speak your mind is to attend the meeting? Not! You can also email the commission to voice your applause for the above proposal.
A 100%…1000%…one hundred quadrillion percent hat tip goes to Save The Tarpon for getting the issue this far.
MG signing off (in hopes that true fans of conserving shallow water gamefishes will have their voices heard)
My friend Nick Kelley is headed south, way south. As in the farther reaches of the Southern hemisphere.
Eventually he will find trout, but right this moment (or within the last six hours) he is departing for Santiago, via Caracas. From the looks of the pics he’s sending back, it is obvious he lingered for a bit on the last stop…
Follow Nick’s travels, in photo, via A Pursuit of Chimichurri.
MG signing off (because I bet I could catch a few of those careless bonefish with a piece of grilled meat)
This time it’s Ms. Bonefish…
Photo by Tosh Brown
…taking a bite out of Spooner’s Sorry Charlie, a shrimp pattern with crabby accents, inspired by a Charlie Craven special. The angler, of course, had nothing to do with the catch.
MG signing off (because it’s wet out, but the bonefish don’t care about the weather)
Mr. Bonefish saw Spooner’s Pink Kitten, then rushed it like he hadn’t eaten in a week.
What Mr. Bonefish did not know was that the Pink Kitten was wrapped around a #4 Gamakatsu and secured to one of the angler’s hand-tied leaders, which in turn was attached to an Airflo Ridge Bonefish WF8-F.
Photo by Dustin Carlson
Mr. Bonefish went home with a sore lip. Sucks to be him.
MG signing off (because it doesn’t suck to be here, even if we did pull out early due to rain)
Who in their right mind would waste such otherworldly fly specimens on carp?
Certainly not I.
MG signing off (to chug Kaliks while awaiting the hop to Congo Town)
My smallest fish was this big!
Now get me another beer.
Yeh, you might think such a comparison, between stalking the flats for the voracious, invisible speedsters and hooking everyone’s favorite salmonid, is borderline reaching. I wrote the posts, which means your probably right. But read them anyway – you might learn something (even if it’s just how to scribe a thousand words that sound like you know what you’re talking about).
And of course, Part 3: How to Drink Beer Like a Bahamian Flats Guide While Standing in 40 Degree Riffle Water, doesn’t come until next week. So you are forced to stay tuned anyway.
MG signing off (because saving the best for last is even more distracting than the fishing)