Sunday with Drew, Monday Tuesday with Joe

Sunday I fished with Captain Drew Delashmit and Ted Margo. We had incredibly tough conditions, but made the best of it with our effort. We fished for 8 hours, in the clouds and the near 30 mph breeze, for a few shots. There isn’t much to say about it except thanks to Drew for sticking with it in hopes of a nest that we couldn’t find.
Monday the weather continued, and Joe Rodriguez and I left look for sea creatures of the scaled variety. We fished Islamorada, where the storms chased us off the water by the early afternoon. We drove home, ready to try again the next day, when we were to be joined by Dave Dalu.
We had a few decent shots in the morning, and I had a decent bite from a string that led to a jump and a spit hook. Soon, Dave had a good shot at a pair of fish that led to a massive bite. The fish, in its excitement, threw the fly out of the water and didn’t connect–no matter, Dave stripped the fly and the fish doubled back and ate it again, at which point Dave set the hook and was off to work. The fish was larger than average, and Dave had to put some muscles to work, but in short order had the fish next to the boat for Joe to grab (check out the series of pictures below that show it all go down!)

Following this, we had a few more shots. I had a great bite from a large single near the end of the day, and Dave had another bite at some point–I can’t remember if it was before or after his big fish.
I’d like to thank Dave for coming along and Joe for the extra time he spent in pursuit of a fish for me; sadly, I couldn’t connect with a battle and went home without a fight.
Friday I fished with Dave Dalu and Scott Collins, which will be a longer report and posted here tomorrow. Monday I fish with Aaron Snell and Friday again with Aaron, where we will be joined by my friend Adam Tondu, on loan from Chicago.

More to follow,

nathaniel