Florida Trip Continued…

After a magnificent day of Bonefishing I decided to take the next day and see the sights.  The Florida Keys is beautiful this time of year and the water is so clear I have seriously considered a vacation home in the area.  Do not despair, my first love will always be distilling the finest sipping bourbon our great country has to offer.

 

After taking in the sights, my mind was back on fishing these magnificent waters.  While fishing for Bonefish a few days before, my guide had suggested, very strenuously I might add, that I try to get a charter to fish the Dry Tortugas.  A little bit about the Dry Tortugas National Park.  This is the must go-to fishing destination for any sport angler.  It has everything from wreck fishing, fishing the reef or going deeper for Pelagic species, this place has it all.  As you can see I am getting an education with my new-found passion of saltwater fishing.  The other fantastic reason to fish these waters is that the fishing traffic is very light because a permit is needed to fish the park and only 11 are given out each year.  Because of these facts, my guide was not too optimistic that I would be able to find a charter so quickly.  However, the fishing gods were on my side and early the next day he called me and told me that a charter captain he knows had one spot open for the next day.  As I could imagine, this was a very rare occurrence and I jumped on the opportunity. 

 

When I got to the dock the next morning I went bug-eyed.  Now gentlemen, for those of you who have never stepped foot on anything other than the bass boats we have back home, the flats boat I fished a few days earlier was not much of a change, this, however, was a whole new world.  It was 80’ of pure fishing machine with all the comforts of home one could want.  And since this was an overnighter, I was very happy for that.  The Dry Tortugas National Park is about 70 miles west of Key West and this boat made it seem like a trip across the lake.  The ride out was as beautiful as it gets and I saw an abundance of marine life.

 

Preparing for my first deep sea trip was another incredible experience.  I was like a fish out of water, pun intended.  Now, I have watched the fishing shows and have seen the tackle used for these fish but to rig them up personally something wholly different.  The rods were like telephone poles, at least to me, and the reels could spool 400 yards of 150 lb test line.  I was wondering to myself what on earth, or more like, what in the sea are we going to catch.  I was half expecting Captain Ahab to come up from the cabin yelling something about a white whale.  When we hooked up with our first fish of the day I realized we were going to need every bit of heavy tackle we had. 

 

We spent the day fishing 12 miles out in about 200 feet of water.  It was mind-boggling to just think of how deep this water really was.  The mate set out several lines with fresh bait and went for the bottom in hopes of a nice grouper.  It did not take long for the rod to double over with the weight of a large fish.  Since I was new to this type of fishing the mate handed me the rod.  This was no Largemouth Bass.  45 minutes later I had my first 60lb Grouper on deck.  What a thrill and what a workout.  I consider myself in pretty good shape but I was hard put to muscle this fish in range for the leader man to take charge.  The rest of the day went just as well with several more Grouper a few hogfish and one or two Yellowfin.  Needless to say I slept very well that night. 

 

Well, my friends, I will leave you hear wishing you a good day.  Until the next time, may your live-well be full of large fish.

 

I remain,

Sincerely yours,

Mr. Jeremiah Weed

Hello From Florida

Hello from Florida.  For many  years, friends have wanted me to take a vacation and I have finally taken their advice.  Of course a vacation is not a vacation without a little fishing.  So when I was looking for a place to go I did it with that in mind. 

 

I am in sunny Florida, specifically in the Florida Keys.  I have always heard about how good the Bonefishing was in the Keys and wanted to try my hand at it.  After the first few days of fishing I have to say it is everything, and more, that I have been told.  Since I am on vacation, and will be here for a few weeks and the next several entries will concern my adventures in this magnificent fishing venue.

 

I spent my first day in search of, what is arguably the best fighting fish I have ever tangled with, Bonefish.  Since I was alone in this adventure, I chose to hire out a flats boat which at most carries two people.  Gentlemen, I cannot stress enough if you have the means you must travel to fish this part of our great country.  The water was crystal clear and made for phenomenal site fishing.  

 

I was outfitted with a light tackle spinning rod and reel and fished top-water plugs.  As we were headed to our destination, I was unsure what to expect.  I have spent my life freshwater fishing and this was my first saltwater experience.  When the guide settled us into the area we were to fish for the day I was in awe of my surroundings and spent a few minutes taking it all in.  Blue skies, even bluer water and the myriad of wildlife was breathtaking.  I was jolted out of my reverie when my guide told me to get ready as he had already spotted our quarry tailing just ahead of the boat. 

 

I will tell you that even now it is difficult to put into words how I was feeling.  Exhilaration, anticipation, even a little fear of the unknown when I made my first few casts.  I just want to state right now that I have never been on a guided trip but the guide I had was top-notch.  Throughout the day he was right there giving me tips and advice and even encouragement.  He handled the boat like a seasoned pro and worked than I could have known possible to put me on fish.  That being said, everything went away on my third cast as, what I could have sworn was a truck, my plug was hit and hit hard.  What ensued was what I consider one of the best fight on light tackle I have ever experienced.  With the drag set light the fish made several drag-screaming runs in every direction imaginable.  When I finally landed this magnificent specimen I was all smiles. 

 

I can probably go on forever about my first experience Bonefishing but suffice it to say that I will be making it a point to come back many times to tangle with this great fighting fish.

 

I remain,

Sincerely yours,

Mr. Jeremiah Weed

Fishing in Elkhorn

I made a trip to Elkhorn, near my home in eastern Kentucky over the weekend to test the waters for smallmouth bass.  The weather was nice with clear skies which made for a nice trip.  I began my day fairly early and was able to find a nice little spot that seemed like it would be holding fish.  As it turns out, my instincts were correct and on the second cast of the morning I boated a nice 2lb smallie.  I was fishing an ultra-light rig with 4lb test which seemed to be perfectly matched to the resident fish population.  I used several different bait selections from a 3” bass assassin to strike king buzz baits.  It was my lucky day since it seemed the fish were feeding and everything I tossed in the water was working. 

 

I fished through the morning with a total of 12 smallmouth in the 2-3lb class (which were of course released), and on the ultra-light tackle, they put up quite a battle.  I took a break for lunch when the fishing died down and returned later that afternoon when the tempetures cooled a little.  Unfortunately, so did the fishing.  Well, sometimes that is how it goes, after all, that is why it is called fishing and not catching.  Until next time, tight lines.

 

I remain,

Sincerely yours,

Jeremiah Weed

Spring’s First Fishing Report

I went to one of my favorite, and usually, productive fishing spots yesterday.  It’s a small lake near my cabin in the back woods of eastern Kentucky.  Unfortunately, the cooler weather last week moved the fish into deeper waters and off of their spawning beds.  The wind was up a bit so I moved to the leeward side of the little island I am fond of and started my day.  The water temperature was cooler than normal for this time of year and I was not as optimistic as I usually am, but I was on the water with my lucky pole, and it was a beautiful day.

 

I started my day using a buzz bait to see if I could coax the fish to the top.  After about a ½ hour without a touch I started to realize that the fish must have been hunkered on the bottom due to the cold weather.  I switched to a Texas rigged lizard and within 10 minutes had three 2-4 pound largemouth bass in the boat.  As noon drew near and the water warmed up I switched back to my favorite strike king buzz bait.  With the warmer water the fish were much more active and started hitting. 

 

All in all, it was a very nice first day out, with the weather warming up and some great action.  As I packed up and left for home, I could not help thinking about my next trip, which, I must admit, will more than likely be tomorrow morning.  Until then my friends, take care and tight lines.

Welcome to the Jeremiah Weed Blog Site!

Welcome folks. As you may have heard or read, I am back after a long absence. I’ve spent a lot of of the past quarter century in the hills of Kentucky, every once in awhile passing riders in the woods whose flasks I refill. I so looked forward to the days when I heard the horses of the Weed drinkers coming up the path past my cottage. Those are some of the best people around. Now, the time has come for me to meet some of the other Weed drinkers. We all share a special bond and now finally, we have a venue to interact with one another.

For the foreseeable future, I will be sharing my thoughts on a host of subjects - politics; horseback riding and racing; air force fighters and the military; fishing; hunting and any other subject that is important to Weed drinkers like us.  I, in turn, hope that you will share your thoughts with me.

I very much look forward to our discourse.

I remain,
Sincerely yours,

Mr. Jeremiah Weed