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 Post subject: Upcoming trip....
PostPosted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 11:36 pm • # 1 
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Location: The southern tip o' Texas
Just to make y'all drool on yerselves :P .

One of my fishin' buds proposed a Florida trip this year. Since I spent (misspent?) much of my youth in sunny South Florida, fishing all of it I could, I was naturally interested. Folks opted in, folks opted out. Started out at Panama City Beach, then migrated down to the Keys. Wanted to stay at Bahia Honda State Park, but it was all booked up. Finally settled on Big Pine Key. The number of commitments dropped from five to two. So........

Jay and I will go down in early September in his motorhome. Seven nights on Big Pine Key :applause . Lee will fly down and join is for part of the stay. Another couple I fish with will be there in their RV. I will take the half weight, the two weight, one of the five weights, the seven weight, one of the eight weights, the ten weight, and (maybe) a twelve weight. The twelve has a sink tip (it's my jetty rod) that may come in handy in the Bahia Honda channel. Doubt the five will even get used, but taking it anyway. The seven will be rigged for bones. The eight and ten for tarpon . The seven or the eight will be the permit rod, depending on conditions. Going to focus on tarpon, try for some bonefish, and hope for a shot at a permit. The ULs will be used at several spots I recall from memory for mangroves, grunts, little grouper, small jacks, and whatever else wants to come out and play. Needless to say, I'm already getting excited!!! Schoolie tarpon are absolutely the most fun you can have with a fly rod; they eat flies readily, jump like maniacs ('cause they are maniacs), and don't stomp a mudhole in your butt like a 100+ pound tarpon does. Hoping for 20 pounders, but they may run up close to 100.

Taking my SoloSkiff, and Jay plans to have a Stikboat. He's buying my 16' utility trailer and we will weld up a framework to carry the Solo and the Stik, with the Torque on top. Lee will use my OK Torque (the wiring fried the first day of my last trip down there, limiting my range, but it's fixed now). He's a virgin in the Keys. Jay's been there. I fished all up and down them in the sixties.

If any of y'all will be there then you're welcome to fish with us, and / or grill some steaks with us, and / or spill some bourbon or tekillya with us. I am soooooooooooo looking forward to it!!! I haven't caught a tarpon or a bonefish since I moved here from Florida in '72. And I've never caught a permit on a fly. My last trip down there (September of 2014) I had a ball with the two weight. I'm hoping to enjoy the half weight even more.

Okay, excited babble over.


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 Post subject: Re: Upcoming trip....
PostPosted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 2:22 am • # 2 
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Location: Georgetown, Texas and Corpus Christi, Texas
This sounds even better than Goose Island! I want to see a 2 wt. snook, Jim!


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 Post subject: Re: Upcoming trip....
PostPosted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 10:40 am • # 3 
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Location: Oklahoma
Jim,
Sounds like a fun trip; don't you think you could work up a little enthusiasm? ;)

Larry


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 Post subject: Re: Upcoming trip....
PostPosted: Sat Mar 03, 2018 2:22 pm • # 4 
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Aaron, I doubt we'll see any snook. I have seen them in the lower keys, but not often. Saw one once on the underwater camera on the Bahia Honda bridge, as a matter of fact. It was a big one, too. Most of the snook I've caught, except on the beach during the spawn, have been tight to cover. I'd need a heavier tippet than I use on the 2 and a lot more backbone than the 2 has to keep one out of the mangroves or bridge pilings. I'll just have to wait until we go after them this fall. And I won't be tossing at them with anything lighter than the 7 or the 8 (unless you've got some trained to shun cover). Snook are one of the fish that are very difficult to work with light tackle, at least in my experience. I have gotten a few in the Miami Waterway on light tackle that I sight cast to just suspended under the surface, away from the banks, but those were rare shots. We used to hook a lot of them in guts along the banks under the mangrove roots; as soon as we set the hook they'd bolt into the roots and be gone.


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 Post subject: Re: Upcoming trip....
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 12:52 pm • # 5 
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Jim, the only problem I can see with your upcoming trip is that you're not bringing enough rods. ;)


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 Post subject: Re: Upcoming trip....
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 4:37 pm • # 6 
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Sounds like you have the rod situation worked out, just don't forget to take some reels to go with them. :eek I know that sounds stupid, like who would do such a thing? :o

Larry


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 Post subject: Re: Upcoming trip....
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 9:40 pm • # 7 
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Location: The southern tip o' Texas
Canoeman1947 wrote:
Sounds like you have the rod situation worked out, just don't forget to take some reels to go with them. :eek I know that sounds stupid, like who would do such a thing? :o

Larry


Hmmmmm............. tenkara tarpon..........

Larry, you're a genius!


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 Post subject: Re: Upcoming trip....
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 10:44 pm • # 8 
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Not necessarily a genius, though I won't deny the possibility. It just happens that I remember a guy who went fishing one day and forgot his reel :o :'( :\

Larry


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 Post subject: Re: Upcoming trip....
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 11:02 pm • # 9 
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Bet I know that guy too.................................... ;)


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 Post subject: Re: Upcoming trip....
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 8:45 am • # 10 
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Sounds like a fun trip. The scenery alone makes it worthwhile. Enjoy!


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 Post subject: Re: Upcoming trip....
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 12:11 pm • # 11 
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Sounds like a fun trip. Great to have the kayaks, skiffs to get out on the water and chase after different species.

Good advice not to forget the reels - good advice on not forgetting the reels, don'f forget the flies either, as I know a guy that has forgotten the flies 2x when going fishing.... :eek


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 Post subject: Re: Upcoming trip....
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 6:34 pm • # 12 
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Location: The southern tip o' Texas
Funny you should mention flies. I have a big box full of tarpon flies I tied for the last trip. Most of them have never seen a tippet. So, what am I doing now? Why, I'm in a tarpon fly tying frenzy, of course. Go figure......


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