Fishing with Mike Driscoll (Drizzz…) and Joe Rodriguez

On Thursday I fished from Miami with my good friend Mike Driscoll and Captain Joe Rodriguez. While we put this day on the calendar months ago, it turned out to be a great call: the weather was warm and visibility was good. Our discussion about what to do with this day soon focused on tarpon; I brought the 6 lb, Joe threw in a 12 weight for Mike, and by 8 AM we were on our way into the glades in search of tarpon.
Mike was up first, and Joe had us skirting a group of fish at our first stop.
Mike never had a decent shot, and after the wind picked up and the fish ceased their activities we moved on.
At our third stop we found a concentrated ball of fish, and even though most of the fish looked too small for the record I grabbed the 6 and threw a few casts. I had two fish eat the fly in ten minutes, never keeping tight to one long enough to get the hook in.
Michael hopped up, and it took him 20 minutes (and at least two missed bites) before he connected solidly with a medium sized tarpon. He fought the fish like a boss, and in short order I grabbed the leader and held the fish in the water for photos.
I went back to work on the bow, but the fish had since dissipated and I only had a few shots at far fish before we moved on.
We returned to the fish we found in the morning, and while they were there they were so low in the water that we had all of two seconds between seeing them and their flight away from us. Frustrating to be sure, but also par for the course in January when the water’s cold and sun low.
We finished after one more stop, declaring it a tough but more than worthwhile day.
As always I’d like to thank Joe Rodriguez for a great day on the water, and congratulations are due to Mike Driscoll for a job well done.

More to come on 14 January, when I have a trip to the glades planned with Steve Huff.

ncl