With the hurricane season officially behind us and the more common northerly winds filling our days I had a chance to reflect on a few memorable afternoons back in September. I reckon as we get older those days where school is called off because the prospect of an approaching storm are simply no longer welcomed. Hell, many of us Floridians burdened by excessive windstorm premiums feel blessed another season flew by unscathed. These parts ain’t a cheap place to call home and that is with certainty I say this.

While we avoided the cone of death (which can be defined as the only justification necessary for Miami TV stations to go into non-stop hurricane coverage and scare the crap out of South Florida residents) and the general BS media hype associated to it, the repercussions of nearby misses did have some effects. Typically the late summer months into October are characterized by extreme high water on the flats. Combine this with a near miss swell or surge and what we have is extremely high water, i.e. zero tailing fish for days.

I suppose every once in a while those days that you expect the least are the ones that end up surprising you the most and on one particular day this would prove quite true. When your day starts with doubled over fly rods, a pair of nice bones and an old friend…………it’s hard to get better but it did.

And while we barely saw any water low enough for tailing fish it did prevent our common late afternoon boiling water temps and the fish were on the feed……………and we gladly welcomed them

fish kept coming to hand……………..

we were damn blessed and we knew it………….

by day’s end we had tagged 8 fish for Bonefish & Tarpon Trust http://www.tarbone.org/ after nearly a dozen bites.

Needless to state a good day of fishing always provides some motivation at the vice……….

Somethings never get old or ever lose their luster, particularly bonefish with a fly rod…………………..guess when that happens time to take up golf

Back to regularly scheduled wintertime exploring I guess.

Happy Thanksgiving……………lots to be thankful for that is for sure.