Written by Nick Cassidy
I knew that I wouldn’t do much fishing this trip, but figured I would at least be able to find a few chances to go after a tarpon or bonefish. We got in at about noon yesterday and were greeted by monsoon rains and high winds. We went to our hotel to hang out for a bit and once the rain stopped we ventured out for a bite to eat at Sloppy Joes with hopes of listening to local musician Terry Cassidy (I am serious!). Unfortunately, Terry was sick so we had to settle for his back-ups.
We watched the sunset on the west side of the island and then walked around for a few hours until we hit Mallory Square. That is when I heard some splashing off the docks. Tarpon were everywhere and were feeding aggressively. Unfortunately, it was already 10:30 pm and I didn’t have a fishing license.
I didn’t fret too much because I had a charter trip planned for today, but with the high winds it was postponed. AJ and I decided to rent a car and drive to mile marker 37 and Bahia Honda State Park. I heard there were a few flats there that offer decent fishing and it has what was voted “Best Beach In the US” (at least it was in 1992). This time, armed with a fishing licence I took a walk and found some promising water.
I went back to the car and before I even got out my stuff I realized that I left my leader material in my bag back at the hotel room. Instead of driving back 7 miles to the bait shop I decided to go over to the docks and see if anyone had a 10 foot piece of mono they could give me. At first no one was there, but I found one of the “Discard your Line Here” bins and decided to see if I could find something there that would work for a leader. There was nothing in there longer than a foot, but then a guy came in with and started prepping his boat. He was kind enough to cut me off a 30 ft section of mono and then I was back to finding my fish.
I drove back down to the flats where I planned on fishing and started getting my stuff around and that is when I noticed that I couldn’t find my fly rod. After searching the car I decided to call back to the car rental company in Key West to see if I somehow left it there. After I asked Bob at Tropical Rentals if he found a black tube with a fly rod in it, he said “Yup, you left it layin’ on the counter. I bet it is tough fishin’ without it. Have you tried attaching your reel to a long stick?”
Anyway, I scrapped fishing for the rest of the day and got some sun on the beach with Andrea. Honestly, it was probably too windy to fish, especially with my limited casting ability. Maybe I will find those Tarpon again tonight. I am supposed to go out fishing on Sunday with a guide, but only if the weather improves.