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I was fortunate to share a week with all my girls and my son-in-law in a comfortable, Gulf-side rental home in the middle of the Florida Keys. I had access to as much water as time, weather, and a kayak allowed, and I tried to make the most of my opportunities, while also trying to keep things relaxed, simple and fun. Date: December 19 - 25, 2022 Body of Water: The Florida Keys - Grassy Key, Florida Moon Phase: Approaching, through, and past the New Moon on December 23 Boat: Occasional kayak, but also dock and wade fishing With: Generally alone, but accompanied by A, K and A at times Target: Whatever I could find, but ultimately focusing on barracuda and sharks Time: Whenever I could and as weather allowed, but usually starting with sessions before sunrise at 6:30 AM, then some sort of mid-day effort, and ending with a dock session at dusk Conditions: Varied; a few days of calm and bright conditions with clear water, but sharply degrading with a historically powerful, named winter storm to very windy and muddy by Friday night. Normal temps of 73 overnight to 83 during the day, but then falling into the 40s with highs less than 60 at week's end. Day 1 - Monday, December 19 Arrival After picking up M in DC and sharing a pleasant weekend visit with my mother, there really wasn't any time for anything but arrival and gear preparation. I rounded up the kayak and a life vest, and tied on a small swim-bait and top-water walking plug for the next morning. I was glad to squeeze in a walk to the end of the dock before dark, and glad to find four or five feet of clear water, despite the day's wind. It looked like we would be comfortable and well-positioned for the week! Day 2 - Tuesday, December 20 Learning A small white swim-bait has a chance of working anywhere, anytime. My first, pre-sunrise cast from the dock got hit, but it took a second cast for me to land the first fish of the trip. It was just a small jack, but it pulled! This was a promising start. After a lull, I switched to the walking bait, and this produced several strikes and a fish in very shallow water near shore. My first top-water fish of the trip was a small barracuda. Just legal, if I'd had a bait knife it would have made good bait for sharks! Instead, it swam free. I switched to the kayak and headed into the 10+ mph ENE wind. This proved to be the limit of sea-worthiness for the kayak, but at least the water coming over the bow was warm. I alternated paddling with throwing the swim-bait. This produced several short strikes over flats adjacent to mangroves, but no solid hookups. This also revealed how limited my radius might be; my body did not easily tolerate the restraint and constraint of the small kayak. Live shrimp were only a few hundred yards away, so I picked up a couple of dozen and a few popping floats. Back on the dock, bits of shrimp on tiny hooks produced a steady parade of small snappers (lanes, yellowtails and a single mutton), jacks, and fortunately a couple of pinfish! Even though the pinfish was too big for my taste, I set one out under a float, with the rod in a holder and the drag loosened. I was bent over the shrimp, re-baiting when I sensed rather than heard the drag slipping. Then, it was singing! I gradually tightened the drag and finally turned the fish. It was a dogged fight, but unspectacular; I think it was a sizable nurse shark. Unfortunately, the fish turned to the southwest; I had a boat lift with a 30 (+) -foot center console on my left shoulder, and I got rubbed off on the outermost piling. Darn it! Still, I was pleased to connect with a heavy and fast fish. It had been a good, first day introducing me to the local fishery. Day 3 - Wednesday December 21 Kayak Success and Dock Heartache The dawn was quiet and calm, and so of course I started with a top-water. I fan-casted my favored Rebel Jumpin' Minnow. I'd already raised a few small fish (jacks, barracuda and/or needlefish) when the calm was explosively interrupted with the most dramatic top-water hit of my career. With a hint of weight, I swung and instantly cut through my 30-pound leader, perhaps 18 or 24 inches up. Whatever it was - shark, tarpon, barracuda or snook - had inhaled my hapless lure. Apparently, I'd found flesh, too, because my lure never re-surfaced. Losing another big fish hurt, but what an experience! Plus, clearly there were big fish available from the dock. After a short stint for work (???), I mounted a kayak excursion to the west, where I could see a prominent point and a long stretch of mangrove shoreline. Heading into a mild wind under clear skies and a brutal sun, I found some good habitat, a rumor of a tarpon from a fellow kayak fisherman, and a spooked school of something (bones? reds?) in about 6 inches of water. The catch was just a few barracuda for me; I caught these on white flukes with weighted swim-bait hooks, over shallow, varied bottom. These only stretched to 21 inches or so, but were still fun to catch. I intended to keep one for bait, but after resting in a docile state for about 20 minutes at my feet, it suddenly leapt to freedom and quickly swam away. Returning to the dock, my body failed me. I could not extract myself from the kayak without help and I could barely walk. That was the end of kayak fishing for me for the week. That evening, I floated frozen ballyhoo plugs from the dock. Once again, the drag singed and I was tight to another big fish. After a long battle with a suspected shark (blacktip? I'd seen one earlier...), I had finally turned the fish away from the boat lift when I felt my worn leader part. Ugh, another lost fish! Other highlights from the session included a nice extended view of a graceful spotted ray, and hooking an elusive filefish! This odd guy had been hanging by the dock for a couple of days and stealing baits intended for pinfish. It surprised me with speed and unexpected athleticism, and I dropped it at my feet. There's a cool picture of this fish at key-west-fishing.link/filefish.htm Day 4 - Thursday, December 22 Oooh, Barracuda! I was treated to another beautiful, gentle and calm sunrise. I casted a variety of baits without success, and things were slow at first, but I had faith in my ballyhoo under the float. When I lost the float, I simply placed a fresh chunk on bottom for the first take of the morning. With an instant, giant jump and long run, I suspected a tarpon! Fortunately, it ran north and east, away from the dock. I gradually tightened my drag and turned the fish. I played it lightly and slowly brought it in. Now with a 4-foot barracuda at my feet, I couldn't really be disappointed that it wasn't a tarpon. With no real way to land this fish, I simply admired it. It took only a slight change in angle and a shake of its head to cut through my leader. No picture; but still a legal, saltwater catch as my leader was within the rod tip. It was a great, if still somewhat unsatisfactory, experience. I continued my morning session with a few smaller 'cudas on flukes (and a few cutoffs, too.) I ended the morning when a large but lumbering fish pulled me into the boat lift and rubbed through the line. I don't know if it was a ray or a nurse shark???I didn't feel too bad about losing this, but now I was just about out of hooks! Mid-day, I grabbed my 9-weight fly rod, some pliers and a handful of flies. Wet-wading the flat immediately in front of our house under bright skies, I enjoyed landing five small barracuda to perhaps 20 inches (a first-time experience, for me) on a green-over-white Clouser Minnow that I had tied a couple of winters ago. Surprisingly, the 'cudas seemed to prefer a slower presentation, and would follow, but not strike, a popper. I found myself running out of weather, too, and yet I had to go shopping? Bass Pro Shops was just 22 miles up Route 1, and I bought more than enough to keep me going for the rest of the week. I hit the float again at 3 PM until dark; there were plenty of troublesome, pesky fish chewing my baits, but no real chances other than a box puffer and a needlefish. I also managed to explode my light lure rod with a power stroke after I had hooked the dock on an errant back-cast... self-imposing another unnecessary limitation on myself for my remaining fishing time. Day 5 - Friday, December 23 Impending Weather Change Gray skies and a bit of westerly wind greeted me at the dock's end, while thunderstorms rumbled way offshore to the north. I started with a Rapala Skitter Walk, and raised a couple of small fish almost immediately. A small but feisty jack crashed the bait on about cast six. That was followed up by a topwater lizardfish (?!?!?!). By 7 AM, the bite has slowed and I switched to bait fishing. I deployed pinfish and a variety of cut baits. I had just one bite, another cutoff that occurred without notice. I prepared a 40-lb leader with about 15 inches of wire tippet for the next session; I guess I was now officially targeting toothy critters. Mid-day, I tried fly-fishing for barracuda again. Using different Clousers under gray skies. I managed only a single eater that fell for a small, pink-over-white fly. I finished the day with a great evening session with K and her husband, A. It was A's first fishing experience! We used a variety of live and dead baits, both under floats and free-lined. These were chewed, but not eaten by the right fish. A did a great job supplying baits from behind the flowing chum bag. In addition to lots of pinfish and small snappers, A added a couple of Blue Runners to our list of species for the week. Their enthusiasm provided a good recalibration of my attitude, as it was a pleasure to share such a simple expression of the sheer enjoyment of fishing. This was good for me, and came just in time, because at about 7 PM, a wall of north wind hit and temperatures started to plummet. Day 6 - Saturday, December 24 Cold Front! It happens every trip! But this front was a bit of a historic doozy across the entire country, and it finally reached southern Florida. The day topped out at 55 degrees or so. With 20 mph (+) north winds, the Gulf-side water was too roiled and muddied. I opted to wade the Atlantic Side flats, so I hit Route 1 and headed north. The water at my first stop, Tom's Harbor, was too deep for safe wading. With current and deeper water, I casted flukes and swim-baits from a few shore perches, but found no fish other than a nurse shark passing by my feet. After a couple other scouting stops, I ended up at Lower Matecumbe Key near Anne's Beach. The patchy brown water looked promising for wading and possible barracuda encounters. After throwing a swim-bait and a Rapala Skitter Walk, I settled on what I knew worked for 'cudas; a white fluke. I saw a few and had a couple of taps, just no hookups! Still, this was worthwhile and pleasant enough. Joined by the nurse shark, a bonnethead shark, a couple of small snappers and a variety of White American Ibis, I was flats fishing in the Keys! I was in the game, and something good could have happened. At 4 PM, I thought I perceived (but was mistaken) a lessening of the wind. I finished my fishing day by drifting dead baits under floats from the dock into the teeth of the wind. Muddy water, weeds and wire leaders led to an uncomfortable session without any encounters. Day 7 - Sunday, December 25 Merry Christmas! The North wind continued and there were better uses of my time than fishing. We simply spent a quiet and companionable day together. My fishing was done; the wind would continue well into Monday, and we were due to fly home. What do I have to say about this? I was on the edge of something really good... but not quite there yet, fishing-wise. But everybody else was super happy with the accommodations and set-up, and overall it was a great week, without doubt. But, ending 0-for-Big Bites!?!?! Ugh! Part of it was the set-up from the dock, and there's not too much I can do about that. I did turn the athletic shark before it rubbed me off. I saw the giant barracuda at my feet, and it took only a slight change in angle to get sliced off; I was fortunate to have at least seen this fish. And, I experienced the most impressive top-water strike ever, so there will be good memories to bring home. Still, I'm not sure I am ready to start thinking about the next trip; it's probably going to be ice fishing! I was slow to switch to wire. After all, what was I actually fishing for? Not surprisingly, my bites dried up when I did so. Maybe some 60- or 80-pound fluoro will come with me on future trips. I was super pleased to have spent a session with K and A. Our few hours were a fun, action-packed intro to fishing. K has long been my fishing buddy, and it was great to expand our fishing experience through her to others. Not surprisingly, A proved to be an enthusiastic and quick learner. I look forward to many future sessions. Have I mentioned that Best Top-water Strike Ever!?! Who can argue with that? The fish took away my floating plug, so I connected well enough. I lost considerable leader, so it took it deep; or, a sharp gill-plate found my line. What was it??? There were a bunch of other (minor) firsts this trip, including some random species (needlefish, lizardfish, box puffer), Florida success on top-waters (barracuda, jack), and 'cuda on the fly. Other than exploding my rod, I had no tackle issues at all! And I really liked my LL Bean travel rods. Finally, A says it was her best vacation ever (by far!!!) I certainly cannot argue with that. I'll end 2022 simply recognizing that I am a very fortunate guy, even when I am not on the fish I dream about! Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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