In another slap in the face of superstition, Friday the 13th was a gem of a day featuring cloudless bluebird skies, light winds, and excellent flats fishing. The juxtaposition of new moon stronger tides that were high early in the morning promised cooler water lapping the shorelines as the dawn sun made its debut in SOFLA for another day. These conditions are especially important during our hottest months as they give the temperate-loving species like bonefish a feeding slot for the day in the shallows that will no doubt in a few hours start to bake as El Sol rises high in the sky accompanied by the whirring chirping symphony of cicadas nestled in the shoreline Australian pines.
My preparations for these kinds of days begin in the wee hours and my arrival on the flats is still in enough remaining darkness that my running lights have to be on. As I anticipated the location of bonefish movements, I "chummed and soaked" flats waters that were impossible to see into until King Egg Yolk rose past my head-height. This early method yielded two bonefish of six pounds. As the visibility into the water grew, I repositioned the boat over a white patch in the middle of a Thallasia field and waited to spot the actual fish pushing into the last hour of the incoming tide. I feel that bones coming off the grassy pastures are sometimes better takers than fish crossing a long sandy expanse. This period yielded two more bonefish of the same size as well as a boxfish of ten pounds that I simply could not -or would not- resist casting to: the run of a huge boxfish can exceed one hundred yards- and it did! I particularly like its' striking adrenal colorations as the fish is brought alongside for release.
By 10 a.m., all the ambient heat and sunbeams reduced me to a sweaty reddish-tinged raisin; enough of a kick-in-the-head signal that it was time to quit. An afternoon of trip planning for distant shores in air conditioned comfort with my pals PC and Diet Coke was a welcome prospect!
Jan
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