| 4/14-4/16 Keys Trip Trip Photo Album Todd Jones took some time off of his sea turtle research and flew in from Vancouver, British Columbia and met Scott Baker, Scott Everett and Steve Broad to head down to Ohio Key, near Big Pine Key to do some fishing. First we had to get there. The decision was made to meet in Coral Springs at the store around noon. After the doors were locked it was time to hit the road. First problem, Steve forgot to put his pushpole back on the boat. So Baker(me) and Jones headed off down the turnpike while Everett and Broad backtracked to get the BBQ and the pole. Todd and I hit some serious holiday weekend traffic on the route into Key Largo, but it cleared out nicely as we made it into Islamorada. The weather was perfect, with forecast of dropping winds only made it better. We rented a nice trailer in a RV park on Ohio Key and had two boat slips to tie up the skiffs (even had floating docks which makes life so much easier). After Todd and I checked in and talked the marina attendant into staying a few extra minutes to allow for Steve and Ev to get there before they closed, we dropped the skiffs in and unloaded the trucks at the trailer. After dinner, we attempted some night tarpon fishing with no luck, in fact not a single tarpon was seen the whole weekend. We got up early the next morning and Todd and I headed out to the Atlantic side while Broad and Everett turned toward the backcountry. The first place we stopped looked good, so I jumped up on the platform to check things out. All of a sudden a small ground swell moved through and nearly washed us up onto some shallow rocky outcrops, so we moved way away from there. The next spot was a sweet long shallow shoreline with many potholes and sandy edges. We had 3 nice bonefish fly by us right off the bat and Todd had a nice shot at a permit that went unrewarded. We busted a few nice cudas and decided to head further down island and look inside for some action. We didn't find tons of action, but I did hook a nice bonefish but the hook pulled almost instantly. Between lulls of seeing fish Todd caught a few bonnet head sharks, and some more big Cudas. When we finally saw what we thought was the first tarpon of the trip, I spun the boat and poled like hell after it. As we got close, and the fish turned toward us we realized it was no tarpon, but a giant permit! T made a bunch of cast to her, and finally the crab landed on her nose and she ate. Todd set the hook and, it was a circle hook, ouch. T was so excited the hook pulled right out with the set. No big deal, T fed what had to be a 40+ pound permit. We moved on but with the last of the dropping tide the fish disappeared, so we headed back to the marina for an ice cold presidente T bought at the marina store, 80 cents a piece. Shortly thereafter, the Mitzi Skiffers arrived to join us for happy hour and tales of bonefish schools and nice catches. Both had caught 2 bones a piece, and had a shot or two at permit. We sprayed down the skiffs and headed out for dinner that night. We ate at a place where Todd remembers Dr. Salmon had recommended. We lucked out, Nashville recording artist Darren Aaron was there and put on quite a show for Todd, a big fan of his. We decided to bag tarpon fishing that night and relaxed at the trailer. The next morning both skiffs headed out toward the backcountry with plans of hunting around the Content Keys and surrounding areas. Giant weed lines made it difficult to get out there as both boats would go through periods of overheating. Steve is running a brand new Evinrude E-Tech, so we didn't venture all the way out in fear there may be a problem with the new motor. Both boats ended up on adjacent flats and both were in the bonefish schools. On the Action Craft, we took shot after shot at schooling fish with no luck, they were moving too fast. So we poled in closer to shore and poked around some small bights in the island. Here we found some very picturesque bonefishing grounds. Now were finding fish in pairs or triples. Todd took a bunch of shots at them but didn't hook up. He learned that fishing for bones was tough. After T had taken a shot and lost his shrimp at a bone cruising the shore, I cast from the platform with a skimmer jig tipped with a small squid strip. The fish immediately turned and nailed the jig. When I set the hook it came flying out of his mouth. To my surprise, the fish lunged forward and slammed the jig again and this time the line came tight. After a nice fight we finally released our first bonefish of the trip. We took shots at a few more with no luck. Everett and Steve caught a total of three bones on this day before Todd and I had started the engine and headed back toward the bridges to soak a live crab for tarpon during the last hour of hour weekend. As a group we caught 8 bonefish (Everett 4, Steve 3, Scott B 1) a bunch of Barracuda, and sharks. Todd Jones fed and lost a giant permit guessed at around 40 pounds. We did have shots at 4 or 5 other permit with no takes. We have found a lot of new spots to fish and most of the places had no one else on them. We packed it all up and started for home. Had another great time, the next trip is already being talked about... |
| 1st Annual Keys Trip 2006 |
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