200+ # Lemon Shark and a whole lotta rain

A Florida Keys Scarecrow

Considering the less than fortuitous weather forecast, Rory and I hit the Florida Keys this weekend armed with the 14/0 senator, enough rods to put World Wide Sportsman out of business, and enough provisions to last 48 hours...or at least through one epic rain storm. We took our time sliding down card sound, stopping along the way to cast net a few dozen mullet. Aside from the ominous cloud formations, we were stoked (soon to be soaked) for a night of solid snapper and shark fishing. As our luck would have it, the shark bait was more plentiful than the snapper populations, even though Rory did pick up a nice keeper mangrove.

Our menu of shark bait for the evening was limited to bonnet heads, lady fish, and frozen Spanish mackerel.

One of my personal best ladyfish

The weather turned for the worst soon after we had all our rods rigged and in the water. We caught it bad as soon as the sun went down, with band after band of tropical storm quality thundershowers pushing through in rapid and relentless succession. The butterflied bonnet head we had set out on the 14/0 just before the rain really started to pound us had only been soaking for about thirty minutes before el tiburon showed up...and right in the middle of the heaviest downpour of the night.

By the time we made it back into the tent after releasing what Rory estimates to be a 200 plus pound lemon shark, the term "drenched" doesn't even describe how saturated we were. Considering EVERYTHING we had on the bridge with us was equally as saturated, we made the best of the situation and chomped down two of the best chicken subs perhaps ever assembled in the United Stats (that's right chik-fil-a, i'm calling you out).

The rain continued to hammer our shelter for another hour or so after the fight. The chill set in shortly afterwards, making the venture out of the tent a great idea of influenza was the end goal. I decided to wait out the weather in style: curled up, shivering, freezing, cursing myself for not buying better rain gear to replace my old busted (but trusted) Bass Pro rain slicker.

I woke up just as cold as when I passed out. Fortunately, the bite turned on for a hot minute before the sunrise, which was enough motivation to venture out into the darkness in search of snapper.

All i caught was a baby goliath grouper.

All in all, a very wet, very exciting, and very refreshing trip to the keys. I love that we have the option to get so far removed from the hustle of Miami. Helps keep the brain straight.