Yesterday with Joe

Yesterday Joe Rodriguez and I were scheduled to fish the glades on 6, though inclement weather forced us to reconsider.
We opted instead to fish out of Key West, as the only thing we could do was to fish for permit. This wasn’t a bad thing considering the great permit fishing this time of year, and even though the cloud cover began at near 100% it was lifting and we decided to go.
Our first stops were weather related. As we waited for a large cloud and rain bank to vacate, we fished. We saw plenty of life but no permit, and within an hour or so we were changing locations.
Within minutes at our first stop we saw a few small permit tailing, and I had a shot in them before the clouds took over and forced us to wait until they spooked before we could see them. In a few minutes we had another shot, then a group of fish led us down the bank. I had maybe 4 shots into the group before they disappeared. We were about to leave when Joe spotted a fish on the crown of the flat, swaying in the current. I threw the fly, and immediately the fish got behind it, tipped up, and I took a long strip. I never felt weight; instead, the fish tracked the fly for another few feet and tipped on it again–typical permit behavior, especially when they’re behind the fly. In the end Joe remained convinced that we’d been bit. I couldn’t see what he could, and there it is. Ah, permit fishing.
We fished hard for the next four hours, looking and looking, not finding but a few shots and a group of permit that looked upset before we even got close.
As always it was great to fish with Joe, and we hatched a plan for a pre-trip assault on the 6. I leave on 18 October for NYC, and before then we are hoping to get at least three days in.

This looks likely to happen beginning Monday next, and I will of course update this page with a report.

Regards,

ncl