I planned on fishing these two types of venues:
Marshes
Drainage Canals
Day 1:
Tied up a bunch of these little buggers and headed out last Saturday to the marsh where I caught my first back in February.
This local suicide had pity on me:
That was the only fish of the day although I had a few short strikes as well. It's a thrill to see a Tarpon of any size blow up on a topwater. I also tried some Clousers, but I noticed that when they got hit, the leader would get frayed right above the knot. That evening, I tied some Clousers on mosquito hooks for the next morning.
Day 2:
Headed out at first light to a drainage canal where I had seen some rolling fish a month before. It's a little disconcerting walking through the tall grass with low light when you know there are gators present. I chose a wide canal to be able to make longer (read: less accurate) casts. This was the only fish of the day:
Day 3:
Having a little more confidence in my casting ability, I opted for a narrower canal. You can see the width in the second and third pictures:
Day 4:
Did some scouting and found a couple small lakes with some rolling fish. The smaller of the two lakes was literally the size of 4 parking spaces. They were connected by a culvert and had good flowing water. Got these two on a Clouser:
And this one on a Spider:
Day 5:
Day 5 was difficult. Very difficult. Got skunked in the morning and again in the afternoon. My last chance was the evening bite and I paid the price in blood and flesh to mosquitos and deer flies. Totally worth it.
Day 6:
Started looking for even smaller canals and pulled this little beauty out of the weeds:
And this one from the lake:
Day 7:
This was my last day and I only had the first part of the morning. A phenomenal morning it was. Jumped a bunch of little fish and lost a BIG fish after 7 jumps. Twenty pound leader wasn't enough to hold her. But it was for this fish:
For the most part, I fished alone. One evening, I had a videographer. I love how this little fish hits in one place and comes out of the water in another:
I learned a lot on this trip. Caught a few fish. Had a great time. Can't wait to go back. That place is...magical.
UT
