A lot of people have heard, some haven’t, some care, and others don’t give a shit. A couple weeks ago we had an unusual weather event that cooled our water down to levels that were too low for certain fish like snook, tarpon, and bonefish to survive. I was unable to go out and witness the carnage first hand because I was in the rat hole finishing up our video for the fly fishing film tour this year. Most of my friends (guides) were ultra-depressed and all doom and gloom about the scenario, but everyone was aware that this kind of thing happens. Thousands of fish died. Big hit to the fishery.
Or is it? What percentage of our winter resident snook and tarpon actually died? It seems like nobody really knows. Over the last few days we have heard that some biologists and scientist types have been booking up days with Everglades fishing guides to assess the damage. It looks like it was a serious enough event to require professional interaction. I can’t wait to find out.
In the meantime all we can do is come to our own conclusions. Most of the initial talk on the internet is very negative. Things like “we didn’t find any life” or “all we saw was a lot of dead fish.” Now don’t get me wrong there has been a bunch of good things posted, but none really good enough to really offset the bad vibe. Until now…
I’m not going to get into the details of it, but five days after I finished editing a part of our new movie about the best snook (fish) of my life, I go out fishing once, when the fishing is supposedly as bad as it has ever been, and catch a snook that was better than the one I just spent all this time trying to tell about. The fish was a bit longer, and probably weighed about the same, but none of that is what it is even about. It’s got nothing to do with even catching the fish. What it is about is hope. Now granted these fish are down, beaten up (some to death) and very vulnerable (a perfect time to actually stand a chance with a fly rod), and I will honestly say that I went out looking to kick something big while it was down. But in the process of catching and releasing her, great respect was paid not to wear her down too bad and to make sure she swam off exactly how we found her. And she did. It was at that moment that Jeff and I realized how symbolic it was. At a time when many lost all hope, there was still a trophy out there willing to eat my stupid little fly and prove to all of us that it is FAR FROM OVER!
Our Fly Fishing Film Tour project is coming down to the wire. We have just shy of 6 weeks left to turn it in, and are getting ready for quite possibly the best two weeks of our lives. Will, the Bear, and a few others are on there way to Everglades City as I type this, to hook up with Jeff and I for our last main shoot of the year. Our plan (what there is of one) is to head out into the everglades and explore deeper than any of us have ever been before. We have a boat for just about every situation we will encounter, and aren’t afraid to use them… If you see a caravan of Hell’s BayWhiprays or a tiny boat that you don’t recognize (Skate) in the park over the next couple weeks, it’s probably us. Feel free to stop by and see whats going on.
The fishing recently has been nothing short of spectacular. With the warmer than usual weather and light winds, we have had no issues finding fish to throw at. The redfish have been where they should be. Snook have started to move into their backcountry haunts. Tarpon have been laying up on the calmest days. And when the tide has been too high to sightfish, the albie (bonito) bite off the beaches has been on fire.
The Ninth Annual Tournament, held in honor of the late Del Brown, came down to the wire as Justin Rea, angler Greg Vincent, Mike Allen and I [Will Benson] battled it out atop the leader board. With near perfect conditions on day one, Mike and I went four for seven to take an early lead. Rea and Vincent were one of many teams to post one fish after the first day. Day two saw the winds die and the attitude of the fish change. While Mike and I remained confident that our score from day one would sustain through day two, we concentrated on catching a big fish worth 250 points. We did manage to catch a nice fish, which was not quite big enough to score the 250pts, but we remained comfortable with our strategy given our three fish advantage from day one.
Then came the shocker! Day two saw yet another round of teams catch one fish with the big exception of Rea and Vincent who posted a whopping five fish to take the overall lead by one fish worth 100 points. Mike and I clearly had our work cut out for us the following day if we wanted to earn the Grand Champion title. With almost identical conditions as day two, we set out to do what we do best…whack permit! By 9:13 we were back in first place, having caught a fish worth 150 points. Needless to say, we were pumped. We did what we absolutely had to do, and now we just had to hope we could eek it out. Although we found fish and had shots, it wasn’t meant to be. Rea and Vincent also caught one fish worth 150 points to preserve their lead and claim the title. As we shook hands and congratulated each other on an excellent competition, Justin told me how his day two score came together with five fish caught on five different flats. My hat goes of to him and Greg on this point. That is simply good guiding and good angling hands down.
In the end it was truly a great tournament. Such a dramatic finish between two rival Sugarloaf guides is just cool. Congrats Justin and Greg on a great victory. Mike and I look forward to next year’s tourney and the opportunity to challenge you guys for the highly-coveted 10th annual champion title.
If ever there was a school for permit fishing, and Permit 101 was the first course, the first thing they would teach you about is a man named Del Brown. Del Brown caught the most permit in the world: 513. It took him about 25 years fishing 100 plus days a year. The next thing they would teach you is, if you think you will ever catch that many, you are crazy. The truth is… most of you students will never pass this class. It takes a near total devotion to the pursuit, at least $100,000, tremendous skill, and a weird kind of patience. And that’s just the first hundred! Imagine what it would take to beat Del’s record. For most people Permit fishing is an elective or a class we stumble into looking for something else. Kind of like philosophy, no one actually majors in it. Except Mike Allen…
On monday Mike Allen actually passed Permit 101! We caught number 100 (thankfully not a little rat) in the afternoon and then quickly made sure we wouldn’t get stuck there by catching number 101. We celebrated with some champagne, then finished the flat. Congrats Mike! Keep throwing those pies and catching fish. You never know what might happen.
W
P.S. Does anyone know who might be in second, third, fourth? … Not that it matters.
Featured, Fishing News, Fishing Report | Dave Teper | 
January 28, 2010 2:37 pm | 
Comments (0) 
Subscribe
