Fishing Fun in Southwest Florida

JANUARY 13, 2008

The first real cold front of the winter hit southwest Florida the first week of the new year, plunging nighttime temperatures to the mid-30s in Venice, and even into the 20s inland.

Predictably, that pretty much shut down the superb fishing we?d been experiencing. Besides, who wants to even THINK about getting on the water with sustained winds 20-25 and gusts to more than 30 miles per hour?

Not THIS Captain, I can tell you THAT right now!

It?s shaping up to be a beautiful day for the free fly-casting clinic I?m doing with Dusty Sprauge at Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters. Much calmer than yesterday, when I guided Greg Mounts, his wife Irina, and Nicholas (9), and Julia (5). More about them in a minute.

First, I?ve gotta tell you about the total dedication that Julie Watrobka brings to the sport of fly fishing.

She and husband Greg (from Chicago) own a house near Marathon in the Keys, but made a five-hour drive up here and stayed at the Venice Holiday Inn (where my anglers get a special rate) for two nights.

All because my good friend Joseph Meyer, who owns Once More Cast fly shop in suburban Chicago, INSISTED that I was the one to teach her to cast.

When I first took Greg?s call, I politely told him that it was a long drive that would chew up two days of potential guide trips for me. ?No problem,? he replied, ?we?ll come up to you. We?ve never seen that part of Florida. It?ll be fun.?

What we ultimately decided was for them to meet me at the Holiday Inn around 1pm on Wednesday, and we?d spend several hours on dry land, working on casting nuances with both of them.

As it turned out, Joseph already had done a pretty good job with Greg, because there were only a few minor glitches to iron out.
So, Mrs. Watrobka got my undivided attention. Both on the grass and the following day, when we put the Hewes in at Indian Mounds and cruised around Lemon Bay.

Brother, was she a GAMER! Even when the wind kicked up, she refused to put down the fly rod. ?I?ll take a little rest,? she said at one point, ?but I really want to get this down. So far, I don?t have the feel. I need to keep at it until I get the feel.?

What a great attitude! Even though she didn?t catch a fish (Greg did, however). I don?t think it?ll be too long before she?s pitching 60 feet of line with that dedication!

Friday morning I met Richard Ives and his brother-in-law, Bob Morgan and we once again hit Lemon Bay.

Richard is a developer from Sterling Heights, near Detroit, so we had a lot to talk about, comparing notes on fishing the Pere Marquette, and even the upper Manistee, where Kate and I live half the year.

Bob, who retired from the police department in Raleigh, NC, really jolted me when I asked where he was from.

?Ohio,? he said.

?Yeah? Where in Ohio?? I replied.

?Youngstown.?

?No kidding! I grew up in Niles (10 miles away). And my mom was from Youngstown.?

Now, the bizarre part about this is that just last week, when I was guiding Lance Avery, John Hopkins, and Randy Gould, I found out that Randy was also from Youngstown.

Talk about ?Old Home Week!?

To make it even more bizarre, Bob Morton had once been the chief of security for Carlisle?s department store, where my mother had worked for a while.

?What?s her name?? Bob asked. When I told him, he immediately replied, ?Yep. I knew her!?

Oh, yes. About the fishing. I?d say the highlight of the day was Richard?s five-pound jack crevalle. It yanked him all around the boat for several minutes before I could ease the large net underneath and lift it from the water.

Bob, who?s still pretty new at fly fishing, got on the board with a couple of decent trout, but overall, it was slower action than we?d been having before the front blew through.

Now for the Mount Family.

?We live on a canal in Siesta Key,? Greg told me, ?but we?ve never caught a fish. We see them, but they always refuse our lures.?

Hmmmmm.

Well, that WASN?T the case yesterday morning. Within minutes of stopping the boat and tossing out the sea anchor, little Julia was screeching in delight as she reeled in a small trout.

A Kodak Moment was duly observed, then Nicholas (not Nick, thank you) let out a whoop as his rod bent over in a handsome arc. An even larger trout came into the net, but yours truly bungled The Family Portrait. Turns out that after the fish was released, I realized I hadn?t made the picture.

Dead batteries in the camera!

Fortunately, I had fresh ones inside the console. Because it wasn?t long after Julia boated a 12-inch lizardfish (?No picture, honey, because lizardfish have lots of sharp teeth. See!? ?SCREEEECH!? Julia replied), that they doubled up.

I think Julia hooked up first, but a carbon-copy ladyfish inhaled Nicholas? jig within seconds. Yes, lines were tangled. Yes, the fish were landed. And yes, as you can see from the Featured Photo, the guide managed to do his job properly.

This time Julia was eager to hold her prize. Still a little bit of high-pitched shrieking, but hey?don?t we all get just a little bit excited?
Especially when you?re five years old!

ENGLISH SETTER UPDATE

Conan The Barbarian?a.k.a. Manistee River Heart?is officially seven months old. Seven months of big, strong, lovable, affable, enthusiasm.

And that?s putting it mildly!

He bangs around the house like a tornado, constantly nipping at Ghost (the 10-year-old) and egging her to play. Which she does. To a point. Then it?s like, ?Kid, I TOLD you I want to snooze for a while??nip??YELP!?

We?re still working on ?Whoa.? He learned ?sit? and ?biscuit? and ?ride? pretty darn fast. But the Big W eludes him. When it really matters, that is.

See, he KNOWS the word, and actually will whoa when I set a biscuit, or even his food dish, on the floor. But when the adrenaline?s pumping, uh-uh.

Well, I have 10 days to drill him before we meet The Delaney Brothers (Bill, Mike, and Kevin) for some quail hunting at Dream Lakes of Florida.

I?ll keep you posted!

Till next time,

Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony