Last week I fished a day with Ian Slater to finish up Frankie’s trip down filming, and then followed that with a day with Simon Becker and Kat. With Ian on Sunday: The time we had to fish was cut short by Ian’s shift starting at 2, so we got a early start with hopes…

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I fished with Doug Kilpatrick. The plan was for Jason Schratwieser to join us, but this was foiled by an onset of the office flu that Jason had picked up at IGFA HQ. He politely declined to introduce the virus into the middle of tarpon season in the lower Keys, and…

I’ve been slacking on these reports slightly, which is nothing surprising during this busy time of year. I’ll catch up to the present with this post and have a fair amount to report after next week. Frankie will be in town fishing with Ted Margo and John O’Hearn, my parents will be fishing with Aaron…

At the beginning of last week, after attending Ralph Delph’s memorial service, Steve Huff and I drove north to Everglades City for another crack at the six. Jason Schratwieser completed the team at 6:04 the next morning at the Island Cafe, and we headed to the ramp to splash the boat after breakfast. Last April…

On Tuesday, I was invited by Howard Davis to fish with Captain Sandy Horn. Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of sharing a skiff with Howard, and it has been too long since I fished with Sandy. Based on this, I was very excited for our day on the water–even though the weather wasn’t…

After the Merkin ended, I went out for a day offshore with RT as the guest of Tim Vallilee. Our target wasn’t anything specific, though there was a general plan to look for a cobia–something Tim has been chasing after for a while. Joining us on the trip was John Vallilee and his girlfriend Ashley,…

Over the last week, I fished in the March Merkin, once again with John O’Hearn. Our fishing started Monday morning, with hopes of finding some fish to throw at and get into the right head space for the tournament. Our fishing was decent, though the fish weren’t in as good a mood as we’d hoped.…

On Tuesday I fished with John O’Hearn. In the week leading up to the March Merkin, it was the only day we had on the books. With the wind blowing near 30, we left the barracuda rods at home for a grind at permit. We started in places familiar to us, and found mostly wind instead…

In the beginning of last week, I fished with Steve Huff and Jason Schratwieser. Our target was, once again, the 6 lb tippet tarpon record. For most of the readership, there isn’t much of a point in recounting how much time and energy (and pain, and hard work, and failure) we have invested in this…

I am still behind on these reports, so I’m trying to catch up as best I can. Given that these are fishing reports that have morphed into a blog of sorts (at the expense of an update of current conditions on the flats) I thought it might be prudent to provide an update of the…

Let me begin this post by apologizing for the lack of fishing reports of late. We’ve been updating computers and software in the shop, which for me (someone who can barely do much of anything computer related without becoming combative) has been tough. We’re about through sorting through the issues, and since I’m (barely) now…

Given that the weather has been windy and cold, the fishing has suffered lately. Unfortunately, there isn’t a whole lot that can be done except wait it out. The weather will turn, and when it does I’m sure that we’ll be lying in wait. Frankie gets here on Wednesday, and while I was scheduled to…

Night before last, I arrived at home and decided that somewhere the permit had to be tailing. I’m lucky enough to have a large number of people I can call that wouldn’t be totally put off by my need to observe (let alone discuss) this fact, but I figured that Ian Slater would be someone…

Yesterday I fished with RT as the guest of my father in law, Tim Vallilee. We also brought along John Vallilee, Kat’s brother. Also on board (and receiving by unanimous decision the Hardest Worker Award for the day) was Patrick, RT’s mate. Over the last few years, I’ve had some tough luck on the offshore front.…

I was thinking about the fishing reports the other day, and realized that I had neglected to include a day with Zack Stells a few weeks ago. After returning from the Everglades and getting everything sorted out in the work/sanity/pre-Christmas department was able to get on the water with Zack for a day. When I…

Last week I traveled to the Everglades to fish once again with Steve Huff and Jason Schratwieser. We were again in pursuit of the six pound tarpon record, and again we had some fair weather in which to get it done. Day One: We started at 6 with breakfast as usual, and headed out in…