An unforgettable day

Here are some pictures of my first Keys Bonefish on fly: Photos by Rick DePaiva

Well I accomplished something yesterday that I have wanted to do for a long time, land a keys bonefish on fly. It all started with a last minute invite to fish in Key Largo with Capt. Rick DePaiva. Rick as many of you know guides in Fort Myers but was on a busman's holiday with his good friend David Mcleaf and they had a couple great days with lots of shots at bonefish. David could not fish the third day and Rick was not done so I got to be the replacement player and man am I glad I got the call. I guess these guys weren't really on a holiday because they both are great photographers and they were working to get some good shots of bonefish. These fish are notoriously tough to catch on anything especially on fly, but I was up for the challenge. I have only fished for bonefish in Florida a few times with my good friend Capt. Jorge Valverde (954-822-0647) and we have always had great success but all the fish were landed on spinning rods. Not to take anything away from catching them on a spinning rod because no matter what tackle you catch them on they are an unforgettable fish. I have caught bonefish on fly in the Bahamas but it was not the same. The fish there are smaller and easier to catch, again not to take anything away from the Bahamas bonefish because I would go back quicker then a bonefish can get you in the backing!



Our first goal was to just catch one so we could photograph it, and then from there on it was fly rod all the way. Rick landed one on a spinning rod giving me a great opportunity to photograph a species I have yet to capture on film (disk space?) I was really pleased with my photos and I had to share a couple here. Rick and I are both bonefish rookies so we were like a couple of kids filled with excitement every time we saw a school.



All in all it was an unforgettable day with a good friend and perfect conditions. I also have to give a quick thank you to Capt. Honson Lau (786-298-1436) who gave me the fly the night before. Honson tied the fly and promised me they would eat it and he was right. To anyone who is reading this, if you have yet to accomplish the Florida bonefish give one of these guys a call. I can't say it enough it was unforgettable! Thanks guys.

I still have 3 more flies to post for the Cabin Fever Fly Tying contest, before we start the voting. Two of the flies I have and I am still waiting for one more in the mail. I think everyone will agree that the flies so far have been well tied and very creative. I will try to post the last 3 flies some time soon but, the holidays have been kind enough to bring me lots of charters so I will be working quite a bit over the next 10 days. Stay tuned for more fishing reports and more flies. Believe me I have lots of interesting posts coming up, and maybe I can get Honson to send me some more info on his bonefish fly. I know it works!

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If fish only ate with theire tails!

Here are some of Rick's shots of me with a nice trout at sunset and the new micro fiber shirt.

I had the absolute pleasure of getting another invite to fish with Capt. Rick DePaiva over in the Pine Island sound. I drove over the night before and was able to get there early enough that Rick took me to one of his favorite spots to photograph birds and other wildlife. David McCleaf joined us and we all captured the last hour of the day. Rick claims it was only a 2 on a scale of one to ten as far as the amount of birds, but I was perfectly happy getting the shots I got. It was very cloudy so the light was not the best and all of my shots were taken at an ISO of 640. It did make for a very orange skies at sunset and the wind was none existent. Here are a few of my shots that I captured that afternoon.

Egret in the grass

Blue Heron


Another egret


for you Gator fans


Ibis in orange sky

The next morning we were greeted to calm winds and clear skies, a recipe for a great day and a great day it was. Rick is not only an incredible photographer but one of the more knowledgeable guides you will find in the Fort Myers area. He is diligent in his game plan and knows how to follow it. Everywhere we went Rick call it before we got there, a sign of a true professional. We had shots at redfish all day long some cruising but most were tailing. Now I know I said in an earlier post that I planned on taking pictures of the tailers before fishing for them but, I did not have the will power to grab the camera. You see even though photography as a good hold of me, fishing has a bear hug on me and I still wanted to throw the fly before clicking the shutter. I would have been better off with the camera because one thing I learned is that redfish do eat with their tails! I did manage one redfish on fly but, in all honesty I am better then I performed because I blew shot after shot.

After getting a bit frustrated at them not eating my fly, even on some good casts, I switched to a DOA shrimp. Now most of you have seen me fish the DOA's and I am usually pretty efficient at it, well not this day. You see redfish in less then a foot of water do not like being hit on the head with a piece of plastic. At this point, since I was blowing most shots I took over the push pole and quickly poled Rick to the first tailer. Of course he proceeded to slap me in the face by catching one on the first fish we saw. I got a chance to take some pictures today and I really enjoyed that opportunity as much as the opportunity to fish with Rick again. I did redeem myself at the end of the day. Rick really wanted a big trout to photograph and I managed to catch his subject a nice 27 inch trout. Rick was able to take some incredible shots like the one at the top of this post and we both went home very happy. Rick has become a good friend and I am sure you will see some future posts with him mentioned. If you are ever visiting the west coast of Florida give Rick a call 239-246-8726 because not only will he give you a great day on the water but you will have pictures that are worth a million bucks. The pictures below are the shots that I managed to take yesterday of the redfish we caught.

I have 3 more flies to post so stay tuned they will be up as soon as I can photograph them, and the voting for the first cabin fever fly contest will begin.

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