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Meet the Band

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Ladies and Gentleman… The Band

Everyone has that group they fish with. Sometimes it is 10 close friends, sometimes it is just a few but they know it as the team, or squad, or whatever. Our spots stay between us, flies and lures that work are kept close to our chest…and so on. Well you have seen photos of this bunch and you will see more so I should properly introduce them. Look, I don’t mean to pump these guys tires but…

Mind if we Dance with your Dates?

Up first, we got Guffy, it is a mix of a nickname with his last name that I never spell correctly and lets be honest, there are plenty of Matt’s in this world but so far we have only seen one Guffy. We have been fishing together now about 2.5 years. He came to work in our office as a writer, well more of a wordsmith and creative storyteller honestly. He really should be writing all of these but y’all are just going to have to make do with me. Anyway, his fishing knowledge and experience was limited at the time but wanted to soak it all in like crazy and is a really fishy dude. He dove into flyfishing head first. Started building his own fly rods, tying flies and we got him out on the ponds to work on his cast before he took his first shot at a redfish. His chosen stick is always a 7 weight on the redfish flats and he slings it well.  His first redfish was a perfect cruiser on a grass flat, laid down a great shot with a gurgler, and he got to see the redfish eat in gin clear water. That will be one I can always look back and see in my mind. He is a big LAX guy, goal scorer, hockey guy, unparalleled sense of humor, Jaguars Fan, sports a hell of a beard, Fly The W guy, got a solid Top 5 Babes list, student of the rap game, Patagucci fan, loves Trout in the snow and his dog. 

Catch Redfish. Go Jags

Next up we got Taylor Belinger(one L), he just pretty much just gets called Taylor and he is ok with that. Taylor joined the team at work as well and had some fishing background. He really wasn’t steeped in the fly game yet but he flocked to it like the salmon of Capistrano. He is a graphic designer by trade and enjoys coloring pictures. You would think since he sits behind a camera so much that the lens might not love him, but you are dead wrong. The camera loves him, he is really the 2019 Tom Selleck in Magnum P.I. but with a dad bod, which is really in right now.  Builds his own fly rods, ties a mean fly, *Cheat Code* is his go to pattern and can shoot ropes. His first red on fly was on a gurgler a well. There was a small group of tailing fish on the back edge of a flat and a few blown shots didn’t discourage this new fly fisherman and the one that worked was a killer shot off the edge of the feeding school when one fish broke away and slammed it. His rod of choice is an 8wt and can send it. He is a big TB Rays guy, lives for a good rope hat, loves skinny bitches, keeps his ear to the street for sick beats, keeping dad bods sexy, big UCF guy, loves weddings, a digs a long frisbee on the beach. 

Magnum P.I. Poon

There you have it, you will undoubtly see more of these two so if they offend you, better bow out now. 

Couples That Fish Together…

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The wife and I have known Jason and Cathy for a number of years now and they were one of the first couples we became friends with when we moved to Central Florida from Jacksonville.  Jason and I fish together a bunch, we have traveled together, fish locally, fish tournaments, you name it, we have chased it.  The wives are great together too and enjoy a day on the boat as much as a day by the pool. For all the trips and days on the water, it was brought to my attention, Cathy had yet to catch a solid Redfish up on the flats. Needless to say I was surprised, she bass fishes with Jason and also has caught Bonefish in Mexico along with a host of other saltwater species… how could the redfish have eluded her? Well, let’s do this. 

Full disclosure…(Flashback) I found this out one afternoon when Jason and I were planning on chasing some tailers on a summer evening and Cathy wanted to join and just relax on the skiff.  We had a few hours one evening, the storms dissipated and we made a break for the Lagoon. Foss (jason) had a hot hand on the bow and grabbed a few tailing fish before he let me take a few shots.

I connected with one before taking my place back up high and as we approached a small group of tailers, Cathy says, “You know I have never caught a redfish like this”. I about fell off the platform. So obviously she was up, right now. The first group didn’t go as planned and light was fading but a upper-slot fish appears out of the grass not 10 feet from the bow.  She gives a shot backhand with the jig and since shots like that rarely work…. shit, HE ATE IT!  Cathy leans on him as he proceeds to cut a swatch across this grass flat, the Stradic is screaming, Jason has his fist in the air and I am cheering… The Line Goes Slack… My heart sinks and expletives fly from the pretty blonde on the bow. Although the few hours were great by most standards, we all felt the wind out of our sails when that hook pulled. The hook was sharp, the knots held… sometimes weird shit happens. 

Fast forward to now, a few months later, Cathy is still talking about the one that got away, and we all remember it a little to vividly.  Got the new skiff, and it is a calm January day, perfect for us to get Cathy on one she deserves.  We launched in the north end of the Lagoon as the water was clear and I had been following some solid fish in the grass over the past weeks and it was setting up to be ideal.  Although a little convincing was needed she was first up. We pushed a low water, slick shoreline that had clean patches of grass where the flat was beginning to wake up. Cloud cover was present but it played into our favor as we were in skinny enough water that full sun might have given our location away to the sharp eye of over-slot redfish.  If they were in here, we would see their backs out of the water and could approach with caution. 

Ahead, there were signs of a redfish slow cruising, a long, lazy wake with just the very tips of his tail peaking above the surface. Cathy, on the casting platform was armed with a DOA and ready to take her first shot. The fish paused and put his head down to eat and now was her shot. Direction was good but she over shot him a little and as he got back to cruising, the line grazed his back and he was gone. No worries, plenty of fish here, and not 40 feet up the shoreline was one going away from us super tight to the mangroves. He ducked behind a small island about the size of the skiff so I made the decision to cut him off on the other side. Two quick pushes and he came around the island just as we approached him. “It’s a nice left to right, go head and give him a little room and he will swim right to it”, I told her. “What if I throw it in the mangroves?”….. I said ”you won’t, let it go”…

It was a textbook cast at a shoreline crawler. Her lure landed softy about 10 feet in front ,and as he approached, I told her “hit it once and he will jump it”… she did, and man did he crush it.  He went from 30 foot off the bow out to 100, in a split second. It was another impressive run by a Redfish but the hook held this time and Cathy countered his runs by gaining on him little by little. Pretty soon he was taking one step forward and two steps back until she eased that over-slot red into the net. Not sure who was more excited and relieved, Cathy, Jason or me! A few quick photos, healthy release and toast of a cocktail, Cathy had her skinny water Redfish and it was a gem.  Even Jason snuck in on the photo, they joked and said this is how married couples with no kids do a Christmas card! 

I had to cut all the excitement short as there was a tailing fish about 80 feet and closing quick. Cathy graciously deferred the bow to Jason and what seemed to be all in one motion, he stepped up, made a cast and was hooked up as soon as it hit the water. All I did was a quarter spin to give him a better angle and I was back down to net his fish. Of course his was smaller, which we joking was fitting but as we released him, Cathy and Jason both said, “Your turn”. Now I don’t get on the bow much, mainly because I enjoy putting people on fish but it seemed right to try and all get at least one each. Well Jason wasn’t on the back long as another crawler was tight to the shoreline.  I took my shot and lead him about a rod length and all it took was one hop and he had it and was headed to the horizon.  Cathy played net lady, I eased him in and after a quick photo he was on his way again. 

Sometimes things just comes together and we made one stop and didn’t have to push more than 50 yards of a shoreline for all three of us to get on the board. Jason grabbed another tailer before we had to head in but it was an eventful few hours on the Lagoon. 

FRIDAY

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I know ya love redfish, I know this. And I’m gonna get you a redfish on fly cause it’s Friday, you got the day off and you ain’t got shit to do…

Sometimes it just all comes together. 2018 is nearing the end, you have a few vacation days to blow, although the weather men are calling for some wind, there are very little clouds in the forecast.  Anyone one who has fished the flats, or guided on the flats knows they would rather have wind and no clouds rather than clouds and no wind, generally speaking. Y’all know my thoughts on clouds, I have the stickers to prove it…

I had my boy Guffee on the bow for the trip as he too snuck out of the office. The weathermen were right on both accounts, there was wind and there were no clouds! Thankfully plenty of redfish to be found but there was also one of the first cold snaps of the year, so it had the redfish in a slight funk. We hopped around to some of the typical haunts as the sun got up but I had a feeling they would be in Mosquito Lagoon that has softer, slightly darker bottom looking to warm up with the bring sun.

On our second mud flat we started seeing fish. I pushed one shoreline that wrapped an island and dead ended into one of the famous mosquito ditches and found 3 redfish sunning. Two casts at these uninterested fish and we decided to push into the ditch as we could see activity down what was a long hallway of mangroves. Casting was tight and difficult and the fish still seemed lethargic so I spun the boat and out we went.

We didn’t make it 50 feet before I spotted a lower slot fish actively working the shoreline with his eyes down searching. It only took Guffee one shot to put it in the zone and two bumps of the black/purple and the redfish was on. Beautiful smaller fish and love the energy they have during the winter. Great fight, shot a couple quick photos and off he went.  That wasn’t the only fish we came tight on but the only one we got our hands on, shit happens and you loose fish, but it is always good knowing you fooled them.

As with most fly fisherman we love accessories, some are worth it and some are worthless. One of the good ones comes from Carbon Marine with their LineLair II, mine is in Ice Blue but they have a number of other colors to match your skiff. Plus, they work as good as they look at keeping your fly line on the deck and help keep it from turning into a cluster.