2023 has and will be a bit of a crazy year on the work front for me, so a few weeks back when it became apparent I would have my first break of the year scrambled to get something fun lined out. I had 10 days to figure out and book that fun thing and my mind immediately went to one of my bucket list items that I was hoping to tick off, which is mouth grabbing a 100lb plus tarpon. Late April is prime time in the Florida Keys for chasing tarpon so I immediately began the scramble of getting a flight, guide and wife approved hotel. I was nervous about finding a guide with it being prime season and my short lead time, but was pleasantly surprised to find two buddies that had connections down that way and within an hour of starting my search I was good to go with an absolute gem of a guy name Sandy Horn. After a few days of throwing the 10 weight in the pasture and working on my pathetic double haul it was time to head out.
Last day of work before the trip had a meeting that ran until 10 PM and flying out of Seattle the next day at 5AM meant very little sleep and a late night (early morning?) dash across the pass. Travel was easy flying directly into Key West with one layover and in no time were in the ocean swimming. The next three days were the days I had to fish on the trip and quickly fell into a glorious routine of leaving the place at 5:30 when everything was nice and quiet, riding the bike to the cuban coffee joint next to the marina to get fueled up for the day. marina to get fueled up for the day.
All three days of fishing had us jump in the 16ft skiff at the Key West marina and make the hour run out to the Marquesas. Running out into the open ocean in a boat the length of my drift boat with about the same freeboard took a little getting used to, there was only one day with decent swell that made the ride back extra interesting.
On to the extra fun part, the fishing. The flow each day would be to start on the south end of the island where a 30ft deep or so channel with flats on each side ran out of the lagoon into the open ocean. We would work up the sides of the channel looking for schools of rolling fish. Fish were landed every morning and standing on the bow of a boat watching a school of fifty or so hundred pound plus fish rolling forty feet in front of the boat is not something I will forget anytime soon. The most memorable fish from fishing the channel were the first one landed, which was about 90lbs and a 130 or so pounder that was hooked, two seconds later is tailing walking towards the boat, lands about two feet from flying into the boat and then about five seconds later is 60 feet away and on the reel. Unfortunately didn’t have an opportunity to see her up close again as the hammerheads were around and as soon as we saw them we broke her off.
The program in the afternoon was to head to an area of the island called the narrows, where two shallow channels came out of the lagoon into the open ocean with bits of white sand around. The narrows were a total sight fishing game and an absolute blast. It was interesting and a reminder of how fortunate we are seeing the abandoned rafts from the Cuban folks that landed on the island is this area. My favorite part of fishing the narrows were the eats that were close enough to see the big old mouths open up and gills flare as the fish was crushing my fly. There is an interesting technique of being patient in these situations to let the fishes mouth close before setting that I screwed up a few times. Turns out when you are a saltwater noob like me it is pretty hard to say “god save the queen” as I was instructed to do after the fish eats but before setting. Close runner up to my favorite moments on the narrows was fishing across the channel from a boat most of an afternoon and jumping one and landing another while the boat next door that had an angler that fishes a month down there a year for the last twenty years watched.
Once fishing was wrapped up for the day, which was usually 10 or so hours it was IPA and special candy time for the run back to meet up with my lovely wife who worked the whole day. From there it was off to amazing dinners picked by her, my personal favorite was Blue Heaven so be sure check it out if you make it down there. I really don’t have enough good things to say about this trip and plan on making an annual pilgrimage down the last week of April for as long as I can.
Last day of work before the trip had a meeting that ran until 10 PM and flying out of Seattle the next day at 5AM meant very little sleep and a late night (early morning?) dash across the pass. Travel was easy flying directly into Key West with one layover and in no time were in the ocean swimming. The next three days were the days I had to fish on the trip and quickly fell into a glorious routine of leaving the place at 5:30 when everything was nice and quiet, riding the bike to the cuban coffee joint next to the marina to get fueled up for the day. marina to get fueled up for the day.
All three days of fishing had us jump in the 16ft skiff at the Key West marina and make the hour run out to the Marquesas. Running out into the open ocean in a boat the length of my drift boat with about the same freeboard took a little getting used to, there was only one day with decent swell that made the ride back extra interesting.
On to the extra fun part, the fishing. The flow each day would be to start on the south end of the island where a 30ft deep or so channel with flats on each side ran out of the lagoon into the open ocean. We would work up the sides of the channel looking for schools of rolling fish. Fish were landed every morning and standing on the bow of a boat watching a school of fifty or so hundred pound plus fish rolling forty feet in front of the boat is not something I will forget anytime soon. The most memorable fish from fishing the channel were the first one landed, which was about 90lbs and a 130 or so pounder that was hooked, two seconds later is tailing walking towards the boat, lands about two feet from flying into the boat and then about five seconds later is 60 feet away and on the reel. Unfortunately didn’t have an opportunity to see her up close again as the hammerheads were around and as soon as we saw them we broke her off.
The program in the afternoon was to head to an area of the island called the narrows, where two shallow channels came out of the lagoon into the open ocean with bits of white sand around. The narrows were a total sight fishing game and an absolute blast. It was interesting and a reminder of how fortunate we are seeing the abandoned rafts from the Cuban folks that landed on the island is this area. My favorite part of fishing the narrows were the eats that were close enough to see the big old mouths open up and gills flare as the fish was crushing my fly. There is an interesting technique of being patient in these situations to let the fishes mouth close before setting that I screwed up a few times. Turns out when you are a saltwater noob like me it is pretty hard to say “god save the queen” as I was instructed to do after the fish eats but before setting. Close runner up to my favorite moments on the narrows was fishing across the channel from a boat most of an afternoon and jumping one and landing another while the boat next door that had an angler that fishes a month down there a year for the last twenty years watched.
Once fishing was wrapped up for the day, which was usually 10 or so hours it was IPA and special candy time for the run back to meet up with my lovely wife who worked the whole day. From there it was off to amazing dinners picked by her, my personal favorite was Blue Heaven so be sure check it out if you make it down there. I really don’t have enough good things to say about this trip and plan on making an annual pilgrimage down the last week of April for as long as I can.
