Now that May is here I can finally catch my breath a bit while
enjoying some of the year‘s best fishing on the island. This is
the time when the winter tourists start thinning out and life
gets back to a more sedate pace down here. Looking back on the
season so far, despite the outrageous winds and tricky fishing,
business was far better than expected.
I was booked solid from the beginning of last December. My new
Beavertail skiff has been a fantastic investment and has put my
anglers on more fish than I ever realized were out there. We’ve
also had more than our share of kicks on the days when I wasn‘t
out running a charter. Amanda and I have done everything from
sailing the Drake Passage around Tortola on her parent‘s
Beneteau 38, to chasing huge bonefish off Culebra with Capt
Chris Goldmark, to riding shotgun with
Jimmy Buffett
in his seaplane while scouting out surfing spots here on
Vieques. So far, it’s been an unforgettable season.
When I look back at all the notable personalities who graced the
bow of my boat this year, I never would have imagined that my
favorite day on the water would be spent with two beer-chugging
truck drivers from Long Island.
John booked me online over a month ago and when I met him and
his friend Eddie at the gas station near my house, and neither
of them was what I was expecting. Almost half of my customers
seem to be New Yorkers nowadays, but these guys were the real
deal. They were big blue collar types and I could instantly tell
that they were all about working hard and playing even harder.
Within ten seconds of meeting them they were busting my chops,
as only true New Yorkers can, about my beat up, twenty year old
Jeep they’d be riding in with me that morning. I felt like I was
in a scene from “Goodfellas,” with De Niro in the right seat and
Pesci in the back. I liked them immediately.
After several months of dealing with twenty knot winds and
anglers struggling to cast fly rods, John and Eddie were a
welcome relief. The hell with being a hero, they just wanted to
catch fish, and chucking spinning rods was more than fine for
both of them. Before I set up the gear I was amazed to learn
that not only was this their first flats fishing trip, but that
Eddie had never even been fishing before in his life. That threw
a lot of pressure my way to get these guys hooked up and
addicted to a new sport.
Of course it would be Eddie, the rank amateur, who hooked up
first. After needing only a few minutes to master the spin
fishing technique, I had him jigging a small bucktail lure along
the edge of the Ensenada Honda mangroves. Twenty minutes later
his rod doubled over and the eight pound line started peeling
off the spool. The fish dove into the deeper water and kept
pulling straight toward the bottom. This seemed like the classic
fighting style of nice snapper and that’s exactly what it was.
Eddie’s first fish was a five pound mutton snapper, one of the
most beautiful and best tasting fish that swims. I wrote about
this species last month, and how rare they were to catch on the
flats up in the Florida Keys. Down here in Vieques they’re
almost an everyday sight. Eddie was now officially a veteran
angler.
John was now in the batter’s box and he was about to knock one
out of the park. I really wanted the guys to hook a bonefish
since that’s the one species that really makes an impact on
first time flats anglers. What we saw swimming right towards us
was an even better target. The three black finned fish were a
small school of permit, the most elusive species down here. John
fired a perfect shot and one of the permit raced forward as soon
as his lure, a brown DOA Shrimp, hit the water. Permit are
notoriously indifferent to artificial baits, but this fish was
possessed. It attacked the rubber shrimp three different times
before finally snagging the hook less than a rod’s length from
the bow. Then it was off to the races.
Over the past three years I’ve had dark cloud hanging over my
head with these fish. I have never landed a permit down here in
Vieques. I’ve had dozens hooked up and they all manage to break
off or the hook simply pulls loose. I’ve boated several hundred
of them up in the Keys, where they’re far more common, but none
down here. I call it my Permit Curse and try not to talk about
it too much. This day felt like the day the curse would be
lifted, and it was.
Even though it was a small fish, eight pound line is no match
for a six pound permit if it’s not handled just right, and
fortunately, John handled everything just right. After quite a
few tense minutes, the fish was up on the surface next to the
boat and its tail was in my hand. It was John’s first permit and
the first one that Vieques finally decided to let me have. Curse
lifted.
Over the past three years I’ve hosted rock stars, best selling
authors, corporate CEO’s, and some really talented anglers. I’ve
had my share of great fishing and pure frustration, but I can’t
remember being any more satisfied than on this recent morning
with two truck driving, rookie flats fishermen. John and Eddie
from Long Island, with their big snapper and small permit, are
easily my Anglers of the Year. I can’t wait to see them again
next year.
Capt. Gregg McKee,
WildFly Charters
