Before you come here take some time to learn a few basic
skills or brush up on some old ones.
It can cost up to 450.00 to fish with a top quality
flats fishing guide here in Key West. Couple that with about 2000.00
in gear if you are a serious fly fisherman and then the
whole vacation to get here and stay while you fish. and
you have yourself a hefty investment, making golf look
like a poor mans sport. Why not practice for it......
Lets look at golfers...
Sitting in the office all week long thinking about the
greens of their favorite course. Probably picking their
teeth with a "T". As one of their co workers pass by the
two of them make eye contact together almost
ceremoniously imitating a smooth golf swing. Imagining
as if the ball was right there in front of them in the
office. This action an understood signal to each other
setting a date for the driving range for practice after
work.....
Golfers have it easy
They have putting greens and driving ranges, all sorts
of stuff to get their skills up to par before they show
up on Tuesday (golf day) and try their skills against
the real deal... 18 holes of pure green golf grass. As
they move their way across the grass adding up the score
of Swings and misses competing against last weeks score
hoping for a standard improvement. Shaving a shot or two
off the game.
Why is flats fishing so different?
Now, I know nothing about Golf. In fact I come from a
long line of golf pros from Ft Myers Fla. area. They
tried to get me to play but I had other things to do and
fishing was at the top of that list. I did learn one
thing however... Even as bad as I was, my experience on
the course was more rewarding when I practiced.
To take it seriously, fishing, weather fly or spin takes allot of practice.
Flats fishing takes a ton of practice. If you come here
seeking out the mighty permit or the elusive bonefish
even the Silver King of all, the Tarpon, you had better
get some skills or at least hone the ones you have. This
will ensure that you make the best of your time at the
bow of a boat so that you can go home from your trip to
the Fishing Capitol of the World and tell all your
friends with confidence that the reason you did not
catch anything was truly because of the weather or your
crappy guide...
Here is How you prepare
I will break this up into two sections one for my fly
guys and one for my Spin fishermen. Very much the same
directions with only a few changes. Read on.
Spin Fishermen
Go to your local fishing store and if you do not already
have one buy, borrow or get a 7.5 ft 8-16 lb spinning
rod with a decent reel. Most reels in the 45-80.00 range
are satisfactory Make sure that the reel is a good spin
casting reel. Load it with 12 lb test of what ever line
you like or makes you feel good. Grab some split shots
and head out.
You will need a five gallon bucket or 2 ft tall stepping
stool, a buddy (wife), your rod and reel, the split
shots, and a Frisbee. Find your self a lake, field, Big
swimming pool, or big back yard. Once you have all these
things together go to your practice area.
Your rod should have a small spilt shot on it located
near where the hook would be on the line to represent
the weight of a bait. |
