Fishing with Doug Yesterday

Yesterday I had the pleasure of fishing with Captain Doug Kilpatrick. Doug has been busy with his new lodge in Wyoming (the Wapiti Lodge), and since he was back for a week in October I secured the day after the vote to fish with him. It was either going to be a very tough day or a huge relief; as it turned out, it was more of a victory lap. With the taste of victory still heavy in our mouths, we went for a fish.
We started at 8:00, and even though Doug hadn’t been here for a few months the boat still knew where to go. Within a half hour we were at a small point, surrounded by a school of large bonefish. They spooked when we first showed up, but Doug held us there and when they returned we were able to catch one. It’s worth mentioning how great it is to see a great school of large bonefish, especially when the bonefish population in the Keys has suffered since the freeze.
Following this capture (of which I do not have a photograph since I released the fish in the water and fumbled him when I tried to get closer for a picture), we went in pursuit of permit. We found none at our first stop, and at our second we saw two. I had a shot at each, but neither was very good and we looked elsewhere.
Throughout the day we saw some more bonefish and the occasional single or small school of permit, but were unable to make any of them bite. No matter: we were so amplified by the recent election that we could have been fishing in dry mud and had a great time. After a long day we headed in.

Saturday morning I leave for Belize, and while I won’t be able to update from there I will have a report to post when I return. I even bought a camera to take some pictures with.

Regards,

ncl