Tweet
It's been hard fishing for me in the marsh the last few days. Saturday the only thing caught was a very big sting ray. Cast to a wake that I was sure was a red and hung on to a ray that probably didn't even know it was hooked. Never actually saw the ray even though I was in only about a foot of water. The wing tips were breaking water at about the size of a wash tub (example for those of you who are old enough to even know about wash tubs - for those of you who are not that old they were about 3 to 4 feet across). Any way, I paddled the kayak over to the ray sitting there on the bottom, and very carefully cut the tippet. Glad to give the ray the fly just to get away from it.
Sunday made a good presentation to a red that had about half its back out of the water. Hooked it but it ran straight toward me and by the time I could get the line tight, the fish was gone. That proved to be the only fish catching opportunity for the whole morning.
Monday paddled hard throughout the marsh for about 2 1/2 hours and caught only one 18" red. Water was low with no noticeable incoming tide.
Today was one os those special mornings that keeps me going back.
I have a singer/songwriter friend named Darden Smith who wrote and sang a song entitled "Perfect Moment." I caught the first red of the morning just after the sun broke over the horizon. It was a single crawling through the grass line. It was a good catch but nothing really special.
At the risk of sounding maudlin or melodramatic, the second fish was when everything came together and I had the perfect marsh moment. A pod of about 8 to 10 reds started cruising the shoreline about 100 feet ahead of me coming in my direction. I quickly got in position about 20 feet off the shoreline and stripped out about 40 feet of line and then just waited. At just the right time, I made a perfect cast (very uncharacteristic and most unusual for me) when they were bout 30 feet away to the lead red and the fly landed about 6 inches in front of its nose and it inhaled the fly without even breaking stride. I strip set the hook and the fish and the fight was on.
For me the perfect moment is not about catching any fish, or a bunch of fish, or even an especially big fish. Its about A whole lot of disparate variables coming together just exactly as you have planned, and in one flash of insight the world for one brief moment in time makes sense.
Fish were released thoroughly frightened but unharmed.
Sunday made a good presentation to a red that had about half its back out of the water. Hooked it but it ran straight toward me and by the time I could get the line tight, the fish was gone. That proved to be the only fish catching opportunity for the whole morning.
Monday paddled hard throughout the marsh for about 2 1/2 hours and caught only one 18" red. Water was low with no noticeable incoming tide.
Today was one os those special mornings that keeps me going back.
I have a singer/songwriter friend named Darden Smith who wrote and sang a song entitled "Perfect Moment." I caught the first red of the morning just after the sun broke over the horizon. It was a single crawling through the grass line. It was a good catch but nothing really special.
At the risk of sounding maudlin or melodramatic, the second fish was when everything came together and I had the perfect marsh moment. A pod of about 8 to 10 reds started cruising the shoreline about 100 feet ahead of me coming in my direction. I quickly got in position about 20 feet off the shoreline and stripped out about 40 feet of line and then just waited. At just the right time, I made a perfect cast (very uncharacteristic and most unusual for me) when they were bout 30 feet away to the lead red and the fly landed about 6 inches in front of its nose and it inhaled the fly without even breaking stride. I strip set the hook and the fish and the fight was on.
For me the perfect moment is not about catching any fish, or a bunch of fish, or even an especially big fish. Its about A whole lot of disparate variables coming together just exactly as you have planned, and in one flash of insight the world for one brief moment in time makes sense.
Fish were released thoroughly frightened but unharmed.
LIVIN THE SALT LIFE 
Comment