Fishing last week with John

Last week I fished two days with John O’Hearn. On the first day we were joined by Kathryn Vallilee.

Day one started out with a fair amount of pomp when Kathryn fed a medium sized pon on her frst shot. She came within inches of the release before breaking the fish off, and was sufficiently amplified. On her very next shot, she converted her enthusiasm to another bite from her second shot. Sadly, this fish threw the hook before we could get it to leap.

All this was great, though as soon as I stepped up on the bow the fishing dried up. I had a single shot, which was foiled by a large lemon shark that spooked the target. After a few hours of tarpon fishing we made the move to look for a permit. We found a few and had a couple shots that didn’t work out before heading home.

The second day I fished with John alone, and we had a single bite from a pair of pons that never stayed connected. After that we permit fished, and experienced a great bite from a giant permit. While I am glad to be getting some bad luck out of the way before the March Merkin, it was tough to feel what would have been the largest permit I’ve ever caught go slack after I set the hook. More tough love came from a school of tailing fish that I threw into. I let the fly fall and watched the shadows converge on the sinking fly, coming tight right when I thought I would. As it turned out I was indeed tight (and stayed tight)–to the bottom. Tough love indeed.

Tomorrow and the next with Doug Kilpatrick. Reports to follow.

n