Escape from Winter

Work hard, play harder right? Well I take it to heart so in the beginning of January I found myself in Florida for a quick 4 day trip full of fly fishing. Trip was great. Unseasonably warm with average midday temps in the  83-86 degree range. This to Michigander in January is AWESOME.

I arrived late at night into Fort Myers International airport. With a few flys on hand (understatement of the day)

 

The following morning, bright and early, I was on the water. I fished with Captain Chris Rush (http://www.rushcharters.com/) out of Port Sanibel Marina. This was probably the 4th time I have fished with Capt. Chris and as usual I wasn't disappointed. Chris is one of those guides that is just great to be around. He puts you on fish and puts up with me when I bounce flies off his head! If you are in the area of Fort Myers call him and book a trip. Trust me! Anyhow  we went out nice and early. The tides were super low which gave me some opportunity to get out and wade while the other guys fished deeper channels with bait. Ended up being a very cool morning! 

This is me shortly after being dropped off. 

Wading the flats of Pine Island Sound

Excellent place to be in January!

 I didnt have much luck while wading. Had the redfish pushing at the fly several times, but no takers.. After wading I jumped back in the boat and we traveled to an area of deep channels and sand flats. Wind picked up so we set up to drift over then. As luck would have it the speckled sea trout were hungry for my flies. This "gator" was a fan! 

23" Speckled Trout. Midwest Custom Fly Rod w/ Allen Alpha II Reel

After we sorted through some specks, we moved on to some other areas for reds. My uncle (not blood, but an uncle if you ask me) caught a couple nice reds using some cut bait. Here is one that was hungry. 

Some more wading towards the end of the day.. Of course in this pick I was changing flies! 

I will post Day 2 of my trip soon! Another adventure of course!