Well I finally got a chance to get out and chase some Saltwater fish on the Fly. Those fish are pretty cool and they do pull hard. Roosters can be a very frustrating fish, but when you hook one it is well worth the effort. John, Zach and Jeff were very patient with the rookie and I learned so much. I am looking forward to my next shot at some more Saltwater action.
Day One-We got picked up at our place on the beach and rolled north in the boat to find some bait and hopefully some Roosters. Within 15 minutes John had one on in the other boat. Within an hour I got my first fish on the Fly in Salt, a 3-4 lbs Ladyfish. After another couple of Ladyfish landed, Zach hooks into something and his reel starts screaming. A few minutes later he brings in a 6 lbs Sierra Mackerel.
Check out the chompers on this fish.
After that we headed out to a different spot to try and find some Roosters. We pulled up behind the Giggling Marlin and found a large school of some smaller Roosters. The next hour was awesome. Hooked 6-7 fish landed 3, Zach probably caught as many or more. It was really cool to get into them that quickly, I thought it was going to be easy at that point, the next couple days showed me that it was anything but easy. After that we headed out for some billfish, had a Marlin come up, but it would not eat. Just an awesome first day, it was hard to sleep that night as I could not wait to feel the tug of those fish again.
Day 2-We hung out closer to Rohmer’s and Debrown’s boat in the morning, those 2 were into them. They had the bait and switch dialed in and it was educational to watch them work. They had a couple of doubles and boated 15 Roosters in the 3-5 lbs range. We were a step behind and had many chases with a couple of eats, but me being a rookie probably cost us some fish. It was still a lot of fun to watch. From there we headed out for more billfish. Within 10 minutes Zach had a nice 20-25 lbs Dorado on, a couple jumps and it was off. We had a couple of close encounters with some Marlin, but left the water with nada day 2. The beer was still cold and tasty…
Day 3-John and Zach were messing around on the beach before the boat came and within 5 minutes Zach hooked into a ladyfish. It must have been the saltwater version of the first cast curse, because we did not catch another fish the rest of the day. There was some illegal netting going on the night before as well as a full moon. None of the other boats did anything either, we had some close calls and I pulled the trout hooks set out for 2 fish, which we probably would have hooked if I did not pull the hook out of the fishes mouth.
All in all a great trip. I wish I would have caught a few more, but learned so much and will be much more prepared for what is happening next time. Thanks to John, Zach and Jeff for their patience. The place was sweet and Jeff took us out for some great local food. Zach and I spent a decent amount of time walking the beach, but it was just a little too early and the big schools were not in yet. I can’t wait to go back.
