First report for May

I was scheduled to fish in Islamorada with Captain Joe Rodriguez on the 1 and 2; as it happened, we only fished the second day (yesterday).
I drove up to Islamorada in the teeth of a great a many rainshowers, and was there by 10 AM. We left directly, and it was immediately apparent that the fishing was going to be tough. Joe, however, found us a string of critters right away, and we had a passing shot at them before we reset our position and looked for more. None came, and after an hour we left for a second spot; this time, we waited for a half hour before seeing our first string. The first shot didn’t get there (credit is due in part, to one of our sponsors: 30-Mile-An-Hour-Wind-Over-My-Right-Shoulder Industries, LLC. As always, I would like to thank them for providing such a great experience out there!).
Our second shot was close to the boat, and then we had another string that spooked from the boat (thanks again!) hitting the water on its way down from a wave. One more shot followed; it did not work out either.
Our final shot was at a single fish that we saw from a distance, which gave us time to think things through. My second shot got there, and when it did the fish jumped out of the water to eat it. The last thing I saw was Joe’s fly leaving the fish’s mouth as I came tight; no matter, this was one of the best bites I’ve seen from a tarpon in a long time, and it was all the better due to the Grade-A Garbage conditions. The next hour we waited for more to come, saw none, and then we called it a day.
I would like to say thanks to Joe for sticking through the conditions with me; it was great to feed one, and from my conversations with other anglers that fished yesterday we had it better than most.
The conditions are supposed to clear up in the next few days, and we are all looking forward to better fishing when they do.

Regards,

ncl