Fishing yesterday with Bobby Paulson

Yesterday I fished with Captain Bobby Paulson. I’ve known Bobby for a number of years now, and we’ve been trying to get out together for a while, but this was the first time I’ve had the pleasure of spending the day on the water with him. Our weather was marginal (it was raining on my way to the ramp) and the water temperature had lost a number of important degrees over the last few days, but we decided to give it a look anyway.
Our fishing area was greatly limited by the cloud cover. Despite this, Bobby found a good flat with some moving water and we grabbed a permit rod, hoping for a shot. It didn’t take long for us to have one, and soon another. Neither fish ate the fly (no surprise there for those of you who enjoy fishing for those fish with the fly pole) and we set forth to new grounds in hope of a few more shots at permit. We had a cast at a school of three bonefish, and then another–the fish were moving around, though we were unable to get a good angle on them. We continued, hoping for more, and found none. One more permit flat and then we were off in search of a tarpon. It didn’t take long for us to find one, but the sun was low by this point and we had a mere 15 feet between us and the fish when we saw it. Another few hours and we were in, happy to have tried but devoid of a trophy.
I had a fantastic time with Bobby, who found enough fish to keep us interested in some very challenging conditions: the sign of a great fishing guide. I hope to fish with him more, if he’ll have me.
Tomorrow I’m fishing with Doug Kilpatrick, and the next day as well. Dave Dalu will be joining us Friday. Reports to follow, perhaps some stories of the six.

ncl