It took a while, but I was finally able to connect with my guide and fish the Everglades.
Started the day with some skinny water snook. They were hugging the shoreline and hiding in the shadows of mangrove overhangs. Very tough to spot against the shadows and roots - especially when they're motionless. Even harder to sneak a cast in there.
They wouldn't come out and chase anything short, and any long casts were guaranteed snags. On the bright side, they were in ambush mode, so any well-placed fly had instant results. I had to shake a fly or two out of the trees, but managed to get plenty of snook in my hands.
We never saw any big snook, so we switched gears and went for reds. These guys were a lot easier to catch. For starters, they were not buried in the trees. They were in the open on mud banks. Some were cruising slow, some were tailing, but they were all obvious. They also weren't very picky on flies.
There were piles of sheepshead on the banks. I really wanted to catch one, but after spooking a few and ruining an entire area, I left those boogers alone.
Went looking for some laid up tarpon, and ran into the cast of characters that makes ENP special. We saw sea turtles, manatees, eagles, sawfish, dolphins, etc.
Finally ran into a few laid up tarpon in the 20-50 pound range, and this is where the wheels fell off. I'm not sure if it was switching from my personal 7wt to the guide's 11wt, nerves, or just plain ineptitude, but I couldn't close... and I don't know when (or if) I'll ever get a chance at redemption. It's been a few days, but I still can't get these scenes out of my head.
