Anyone fishing this weekend? Looks like the middle and upper coast might get a bit of a "flood tide".

Three nights at the Hilton in Moorea and five nights at the Sofitel Private Island in Bora Bora. It was the trip of a lifetime in such an awesome place. I have tons of landscape shots and footage from diving, but here is the only thread-related pictures.









Pup black tips and blue fin trevally would push bait to the shore each morning at our resort in Bora Bora. It was so cool to watch the little sharks fly through ankle deep water with their backs and dorsal fins out of the water with bait jumping and birds diving. The packs of juvenile trevally would race in from deeper cuts into the shallow flat pushing huge wakes as well.

I only fished two mornings in Bora Bora. First morning - started my wade too late and missed the shark/trevally action. I moved down the flat to a reef and had a ~3' moray eel eat my clouser while stripping line off at my feet. He retreated back to the depths of hell from which he came and I broke off on the rocks. Second morning - started my wade on time and was in the water for the feeding frenzy at first light. I was targeting the small black tips with a shark fly. I had a couple refusals from sharks, so I moved down the flat to some deeper water where the trevally had been exploding bait earlier. I was wading in about dick-deep water when the pack suddenly appeared between me and the shore. They were so close and the water so clear that I could see the color in their eyeballs. I **** the bed and lobbed a crappy 25' cast ahead of the pack. Several passed, I picked up and laid another ****ty cast a little further ahead. Two strips later, came tight on this little guy. It was a hard eat and he got to my backing in just a couple seconds. He hung up on a rock for a little while which I think is what made that mark on his side. My gear performed great and it was a lot of fun on an 8 wt. Hindsight's 20/20 but I wish I had fished every morning at that resort.

This is not their normal hectic feeding action, but shows the water depth and clarity. I counted 16 one morning.


Fishing grounds.



Snorkeling with big black tips. We saw turtles, eagle rays, and big lemon sharks diving.

Edit: I'll repost with smaller pic sizes...

Been practicing casts for a while... working on distance, accuracy, back casts, and even left handed casting. Booked a guide in the Everglades yesterday to test everything out from the bow.

We saw 100+ black drum on a mud flat. They were floating high, swimming fast, and uncooperative. I couldn't get one to eat, so I asked the guide to show me how it's done. He caught one on his first cast.



I had more luck with tarpon and snook. Finished the day with 8 tarpon and 2 snook. Really wanted a bigger poon, but it wasn't meant to be. There are some resident 50 pounders that don't migrate, but we couldn't track em down.



Turns out that my practice was kind of a waste of time for Everglades style fishing. Apparently I need a better short game. Quicker, shorter casts at lower angles would have helped a lot. Quicker being the real key. It was frustrating to be so close to the fish.. sounds backwards, but I wanted to back up and throw more line. Practicing is fun, so I'm not complaining.

I use this guide several times a year, and he tells me about places to catch tarpon on foot. To return the favor, I told the him about a place to catch peacock bass. He was skeptical, so on my way home I pulled over and caught one. Realizing I was only a largemouth away from some kind of South Florida fresh-salt slam, I checked the roadside ditches until I closed the deal. Took me forever to catch the LMB. Aside from the drum, it was the toughest fish of the day.