The March Merkin just wrapped up, and it was quite the event. Last year set a standard of poor weather, and 2018 was apparently competitive by nature. What could be worse than last year’s weather? As it turns out, we only had to wait a year to find out. Our prefish day was on Monday,…

On Tuesday after I returned from the trip with Steve and Jason I spent a day on the water with Ian Slater. I’d been on a bit of a low-yield run with permit, after the two trips with Chad and Dave Skok, and was looking forward to ditching the 2lb in pursuit of just catching…

The day after the trip with Dave Skok and John boy, I drove to the Everglades for a pair of days with Steve Huff and Jason Schratwieser. I hadn’t fished with Jason since too long ago, and Steve and I were both looking greatly forward to spending some time with him. Jason is, in addition…

After the two tough days with John and Chad I fished another pair of days the following week. For these we were joined by our good friend and Strong Arm Merkin Mastermind Dave Skok. If anyone that reads these reports is unfamiliar with Dave, take a look at our gallery: nearly every photo on there…

After the tarpon extravaganza with Scott Collins I fished a pair of days with John O’Hearn and Chad Huff. Our target remained the 2lb permit record, and I made sure we had ample pre-tied tippets for what I was sure was going to be a great opportunity to put this record to bed. Regular readers…

Two weeks ago (or some other time, I can’t really remember) I fished with Scott Collins. We had a day on credit after missing a weather day in January when Jeff Audette was down, and we randomly selected one that on which we had no other obligations to give it a shot. The weather was…

Last week I was invited to fish with Doug Kilpatrick, as a guest of Wes Smith. Wes had three days booked with Doug and asked me to tag along on day one, which I was glad to do. We got ready in the morning and set forth for [redacted], hoping to find some shots at…

Over the weekend the annual Cuda Bowl took place, and I was invited by Ted Margo to fish with him and John O’Hearn in the spin division. I’ve fished this tournament in the fly division since its first year, and enjoyed a fair amount of success in it with John Benvenuto as well as Aaron…

After the day with Jeff and Scott, I traveled to the Everglades to fish with Steve and Chad Huff. We were once again hopeful that the weather would warm up enough for us to look for a tarpon, and after the last three trips rendered zero shots we were all hoping for a change in…

During our September trip to Punta Gorda (FL, thanks to Irma, instead of Belize as planned), Kat and I found some new friends in Jeff and Laurie Audette. Jeff and I worked together for a while during the blackout, when the status of our life in the Keys was unknown, and hatched a plan to…