Back from the Keys

[goosefish]

Back yesterday. Worked today on the pond, and what a beauty of a day it was. If this weather holds we'll be seeing our first plankton bloom. We keep a sharp eye on the plankton because this is what the oysters eat. After the plankton comes everything else that we all know and love.

Phytoplankton then zooplankton then silversides then winter flounder then herring then stripers.........................

The Keys. A low-budget trip: no guides, no boat rentals, no real big Florida tackle purchases.

All fishing was done from a canoe. I'm no expert when it comes to fishing the "skinny water" but I had a blast of a time, boating one slammer bonefish of about eight pounds. This was my first bone, and boy do those fish run some line. Took a live shrimp.
Got some small tarpon back in the mangroves. Fun fish on eight pound test. Busted off many small tarpon because of this. Run under the mangroves, goodby tarpon.
Plenty of cudas and snappers. Got one five-pound gray snapper that fought like all hell.
Plenty of small sharks on the flats, which is really cool. I just liked watching them swim around in two feet of water, their dorsal fins slicing the surface.
One of the highlights had to be seeing a big hammerhead swimming next to the canoe; the fish making both my brother and I a little nervous about the size of the fish and the size of the boat that we were in.

Feels good to be back---if that makes any sense at all.