Our first week of 2009 started out with great fishing and a fantastic group of guys.
Photo: Andros South Staff
Mike White and Charlie Craven joined us again with a few friends from back home. Upon arrival they proceeded to make quick work of the ice cold drinks found in the Slack Tide Bar. We were also joined by Franz Schneider and Sandra Summers who booked with us very last minute due to an Amazon trip that had been flooded out.
The fishing this week was quite good overall, no giants landed, but the chances were numerous at good numbers of fish. Mother Nature was a bit frugal at times, but she as well produced some stellar weather during the week for all to enjoy.
The second week of January we welcomed back Bruce Chard for another hosted trip (the second since November). Bruce has brought together some fantastic groups over the years and this week was no exception. Guys like Steve Jacobs, Don Jackson, Everett Boy, Mike Glynn and a few others were such a pleasure to have in camp. The jokes were flying even before they made landfall and you could here them laughing all the way from the airport. Quite a few of these guys have spent a lot of time on the flats over the years so when the weather got tough this week they just kept right at it. Persistence is what it takes to be consistent on the flats and these guys had it.
Mike Glynn and Phil Clough spent some time night fishing at Deep Creek and the marina at the lodge. The shark ended up winning most of the battles in the marina due to some obstructions, but they are always a blast to tie into no matter how short the battle. The best part of shark fishing is the cold beer while you’re waiting for the bite.
The third week of January brought us Stewart Gordon from The Green Drake along with a few friends for a return trip in the back half of the week. We also welcomed, for the first time, Ted Truglio from Red’s Fly Shop on the Yakima River, his father Joe and four longtime friends from the Seattle area for a full week trip. It is always interesting seeing two groups from different areas get to know each other while on a fishing trip. These guys hit it off just fine and pretty soon they were all telling stories and jokes like they’d known each other for years.
The weather this week threw a little bit of everything at us, but the guests experienced more than enough great fishing conditions (and great fishing!!). Most of the big fish got lucky this week, but we had some double-digit fish sightings during the week that kept everyone amped up for the chance at one. The barracuda fishing was quite good this week as well which made for some great shots on the flats for toothy critters.
The final week of January brought us another large group of guests from Red’s Fly Shop hosted by Steve Joyce. We also welcomed back from ‘Across the Pond’ Tom Sharkey and Jim Connell for the beginning of another ten day trip. The Red’s group ended up making good on their promise to play poker each night and drink lots of beer during the trip. The weather showed us a bit of everything this week which seemed to be the story for January. And so it went hot, cold, windy, calm, bugs and no bugs for the week.
Fishing was fairly consistent through the week with a couple larger fished corralled to the boat along with a lot of schoolies at times also. Nothing better than honing your skills on a couple hundred bonefish so as to keep you sharp for the big ones. Barracuda made themselves known via troll and fly techniques, but for the most part the larger specimens kept clear of the plugs and flies being offered up to them. Some of the guides thought the ‘cuda’ fishing was off due to the cold front we were experiencing. Fortunately it did not affect the bonefish in the same way.
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