Gulf side CIS 4.16
Posted: April 17th, 2008, 8:46 am
The plan was to fish St. Joe with Noleflyfisher on the fly. Nole had work come up so It was to be a solo trip. Hit 98 coming in from Wewa and saw the gulf was as smooth as a mill pond so since the pressure of having a partner was off I decided to roll the dice and run to the gulf side of CIS to see what was cooking. Got to the landing and watched a guy's Hells Bay Guide slide off the trailer and into the dirt. he was lucky that it was soft sand, the trim tabs buried in the sand before he could wench it back up. 
Left the landing about 11AM, about an hour after I put the boat in, due to tech difficulties with a oil alarm. Once I got outside there was bait everywhere with birds diving. Didn't see anything with fins though. Ran the beach about halfway back to MX beach and ran into a big school of Jack Crevalle that were about 8-10lbs. I'll just be honest here, I choked. Just couldn't seem to get it right. The fly seems to hook everything possible on the boat 
The school was moving pretty quick and I couldn't keep up with them with the troller so I had a very small window to get a cast or two off to them, then motor up ahead of them and wait for them to come by again. Never hooked up..had two or three follow but no joy. Did land a nice 5 lbs tripletail, a first on fly. Took me two or three tries but I finally got him to take the toad. 
For a five pound fish, they pull like a train. He made at least three good runs on me before I got him to hand.
The East wind that had the seas laid down had been moving around and finally settled into a SE that was approaching the upper end of the 10-15 that was predicted so it was time to head inside about 3-3:30. Ran back to the flats and fished a grass line and landed another first,trout. Nothing huge but a keeper at 16.5 on the same toad.
The wind was getting nasty a little after 4 so I headed to the hill. Pulled the boat out of the water about 5 and was on the way home. Not a banner numbers day but was a good day of first. I think we could have abused that school of Jacks if Nole would have been there. Would have loved to see a 10-15 lbs JC ripping line of the reel. Oh well....maybe next time.
Left the landing about 11AM, about an hour after I put the boat in, due to tech difficulties with a oil alarm. Once I got outside there was bait everywhere with birds diving. Didn't see anything with fins though. Ran the beach about halfway back to MX beach and ran into a big school of Jack Crevalle that were about 8-10lbs. I'll just be honest here, I choked. Just couldn't seem to get it right. The fly seems to hook everything possible on the boat The school was moving pretty quick and I couldn't keep up with them with the troller so I had a very small window to get a cast or two off to them, then motor up ahead of them and wait for them to come by again. Never hooked up..had two or three follow but no joy. Did land a nice 5 lbs tripletail, a first on fly. Took me two or three tries but I finally got him to take the toad. For a five pound fish, they pull like a train. He made at least three good runs on me before I got him to hand.
The East wind that had the seas laid down had been moving around and finally settled into a SE that was approaching the upper end of the 10-15 that was predicted so it was time to head inside about 3-3:30. Ran back to the flats and fished a grass line and landed another first,trout. Nothing huge but a keeper at 16.5 on the same toad.
The wind was getting nasty a little after 4 so I headed to the hill. Pulled the boat out of the water about 5 and was on the way home. Not a banner numbers day but was a good day of first. I think we could have abused that school of Jacks if Nole would have been there. Would have loved to see a 10-15 lbs JC ripping line of the reel. Oh well....maybe next time.
Awesome day Mills! Next time youve got to go solo, holla. I may cant fish with the long pole but I can push the long pole you keep clipped to the side of the boat while you fish!! 
