I went out scouting with Susie today. She has a fly fishing charter with an outfitter from Belize tomorrow and she needed to locate some fish and I wanted to show her one of my favorite fly fishing spots when the tide is right.
Running through a western lagoon, we found numerous reds that could possibly tail for Susie and her client around first light tomorrow. Making a sweeping pass out onto the white sand, Susie spotted a good concentration of reds where she had left them a few days ago so now she had at least two spots for her charter. Then it was off to my special fly fishing spot.
Upon arrival, I explained to Susie that poling was the only way in and out of this special western venue. She said she was up to it and wanted to see what it was like inside this hidden lagoon. Not being able to stop myself, I grabbed a spinning rod and climbed up on the casting deck as she set out poling us through the narrow passage. Almost immediately, we began to see mud boils and fish movement but cloud cover hindered our ability to see very far out and beneath the waters surface. The bow of the boat kicked up a nice sized trout and then a red or two. Finally, we got a small break in the clouds and spotted a redfish who's back was barely covered with water in the shallow flats. He ignored my gold spoon offering but that was OK because another red was lingering out just a bit further. My excitement was high and my casting was a little rusty. Again, the fish ignored the lure. I began to think that I wasn't using the right lure or that conditions weren't quite right but I realized that we had no choice but to continue on poling to the exit pass so, I might as well keep on with what I was doing. It was fun (better than another day of watching TV) whether the fish hit or not. During the next break in the clouds, I spotted a red moving slowly from left to right. I had to make at least two casts before I got it right but once he saw the spoon, he pounced on it! It seemed like he fought forever but finally, the 27 inch fish found the bottom of the net. Cloud cover prevented us from being able to see any more fish far enough in advance to cast to them. As she poled us through the exiting passage, Susie thanked me for showing her a new place, I thanked her for poling me through it.
Now, she not only had another place to try tomorrow, but any time the
tide is high enough to float her boat across this placid little lagoon.
