I’m a backcountry fishing guide in Islamorada and I live on the water. This is a windy time of year, so I keep a close eye on the forecast at all times. One afternoon recently, I saw that a little calm window might be coming. When it looked like the prediction was right, I dropped the boat in the water, grabbed my little fishing buddy Rico (3 year old rescue chihuahua from Puerto Rico) and headed out.
The wind kept dying more and more as I stopped and looked at one area after another. On my third stop, the water around me suddenly went glass calm. The instant that happened, two permit tails popped up about 100 yards in front of me. It’s hard to be patient when monster fish tail, but it’s the only way to get near them. I took some deep breaths and started quietly easing up on the fish.
When I got a long cast away, I grabbed my rod and made a couple of conservative pitches near them. If they did see the crab that I threw, they didn’t react to it. Finally, I got a little more aggressive, eased closer and landed a shot right in front of one’s nose. The fish dropped down, picked up the crab and started easing away with it. I closed the bail and came tight. The Islamorada sleigh ride was on!
Rico and I chased and battled the monster for about fifteen minutes. I was contemplating landing the fish when I saw a friend and fellow guide passing by on his way back from a trip. He came off a plane, yelled a greeting and asked me what I had on. I told him what it was and he took some great photos of the landing of the fish. We were stoked! Rico however, wasn’t quite sure how he felt about it. I revived the beautiful creature and it swam off healthy and happy.
My buddy bade me farewell and headed home with his client. The wind was starting to pick up and I was contemplating my next move while I enjoyed a killer after glow. I decided to run a little bit farther and check one more area before the forecasted west wind started ripping. Not long after I stopped the boat at the next and final spot, I heard a big splash about sixty yards upwind of me. I scanned the area for a few moments when suddenly two big permit tails popped up. I noticed that they seemed to be more active and animated than most laid up fish, as I eased forward and tried to get upwind of them.
As I got parallel to them, I saw them swirling hard and a giant shrimp started popping out of the water repeatedly above them like crazy. It was a Discovery Channel moment for sure! I finally got up-wind of them, grabbed my rod and pitched the bait towards the commotion. The crab that I cast nearly hit the jumping shrimp in midair! It was incredible!
The second it hit the water, one of the big permit snatched it and bolted off at nuclear speed. After another epic battle, I landed the fish, took a quick pic, revived it and released it. By then, the west wind had started blowing considerably. I packed it in and I headed home, Rico at my feet, for a celebratory cocktail.
Update:
The next guided trip I had after this day was with a lovely family who had a six year old son named Nick. He naturally took a liking to Rico, so we took him along to fish with us. It was flat calm in the morning, so we searched for permit on the way back to The Everglades. Lo and behold, Rico the Lucky Dog came thru for us and we found a group of tailing permit! The first and only cast we made produced this beautiful creature! It was released safely after some epic photos!
