Fishing Wednesday

Wednesday I fished with John O’Hearn and Ted “Eyeballs” Margo. Our target was tarpon, and we left at 6:15 AM up the Keys (which means I woke up at 4 AM) in order to get our day on the proposed track.
We started early in the back, with a fair number of shots at small fish on a shoreline. I had a bite from a baby, but couldn’t convert it to a jump. We left this area in search of larger animals, and Ted had a shot at a good string before we left for parts far away.
As it turned out we weren’t able to get a great spot, and while we had a few shots (one of which turned a few fish out of their line but couldn’t get one to bite) we left fishless, back to near where we started. As we ran south, a large storm was building behind us and to our north. By the time we arrived near the ramp it was building, making very loud noises, and bearing down on us quickly. We sat on a strip of light bottom, listening to our rods buzz with electricity long enough to have a single shot at a group of four fish before we left. Even catching a tarpon isn’t worth getting hit by lightning–after a close call last year in the Del Brown, I have a reduced tolerance for lightning.
On the way home (at this point, awake for over 15 hours) I called Aaron, and we hatched a plan centered around our redemption: we would leave and take a look near Key West for any worm activity.
As it turned out, this was a good decision: after a long day (and a worn-out pair of pants that required amputation), we found a small number of tarpon willing to play ball: Aaron caught a few, I caught a couple, and we called it a day. I must say that the first fish I jumped was perhaps the one I’ve needed most: it felt great to come tight and capture a large animal.
Here are the photos:

I’d like to thank John O’Hearn, Ted Margo, and Aaron for a great day. Tomorrow I’m with Chris McCreedy and Monday with Aaron again, and reports will follow.

ncl