Young Angler Takes Big Bonefish in the Florida Keys

Father's Day is coming soon, so I will be writing stories
dedicated to Dads fishing with their kids.


This is a story my oldest sister Lindsey wrote.
It was published in a newspaper called "Fishing the Florida Keys" about 10 years ago..
She is still a great writer and loves being on the water.

Dad and daughter have memorable experience.

The horizon was barely visible in th early hours of the springtime morning.
With only a few wispy clouds in the sky, and not more than a breath of seawind.
The day seemed perfect for bonefishing. I was looking forward
to the fishing trip my dad and I had planned.

We launched the boat in the early moring hours near Duck Key,
and ran the oceanside
for several miles before he pointed out our destination. Framed by a rippling
channel, the flat had a distinctly calmer appearance.
He slowed down as we glided gently toward it,
the hunter stalking it's prey.

Small fins alerted us to the bonefish's presence on the first series of flats.
Since my fly casting was a bit rusty, I quietly rigged a spinning rod and waited.

Using his pushpole, dad guided the boat through the shallow water.
He motioned for me to cast the shrimp just short of the closest
fin when we were within 25 yards.
It landed closer than I had anticipated, and the fish exploded,
leaving the flat a blur.
Unfortunately when he spooked, the rest of the bonefish followed.
We polled across a channel to the next flat.

Ten minustes later, determined not to startle the next fish,
I cast the bait about 5 feet short of a bonefish, which was 30 to 40 feet away.

I was unsure whether to re-cast or leave the bait where it was.
Dad whispered to leave it. I waited.
Sure enough, I felt the grab and struck. The hook was set, The water exploded
and the fat reel sang!
It ran about 100 yards before I was able to get control. With a pull-up
and wind down motion, I reeled in the 9-pound bonefish. Dad helped
me take out the hook, and release the fish. Now that was fun.

We moved on to another flat, but the bonefish were not alone.
Several lemon sharks cruised the same area.
Dad found a lone bonefish near the edge of the flat
and made a cast. Obviously hungry, it spun on his bait, dad struck but missed it.
The fish didn't spook. It spun in a circle, still looking for the bait,
so dad cast again. It took the bait and ran.
What an energetic fish. Took a while to land this one.

We quickly released it once it was up to the boat. Nice, fat 10-lb bonefish.
He was eager to swim away. We were happy to let him go on his way.

The sun rose over head, heating the shallows and driving the bonefish into deeper channels.
As we broke for lunch, my dad and I discussed the day's events.
I noticed how hot and humidit had become.

More clouds had formed over the water, and the salty breeze was on our backs as we rode
toward home.

What an awesome day.

Fishing in the Florida Keys is an experience to be treasured.



Keep it reel.

Luke Spear

"Shark Bait"

Story of the Shark photo

Traveling on US 1 down to the Lower Keys.

We packed up the boat and left Islamorada about 7:00am.
Dad knew fishing in the Lower Keys would be good.
He likes it in the Spring for Tarpon,Permit and Shark fishing.

Got down to Little Torch Key and put the boat in the water.
The weather was a little cool still. You can see I have on my fleece.
Bringing a couple of fly rods along for John Hunter(my brother)and Dad
was a good idea.
We saw 2 Tarpon right away. They were moving pretty fast so we didn't bother
with them.
Then the fun started happening.
A ton of Permit. JH through a fly out in front of them. He made a couple of good casts,
but nobody was biting.
I through out a crab on a spinning rod, they didn't want that either.
When Dad got a crab right in front of the Permit and they wouldn't eat
it, we figured they must be too picky or not hungry. Permit are touchy
fish to feed sometimes.

I will be telling you a ton of great fishing stories of people catching Permit.
Some world record Permit and just some good ole lucky Permit stories.
Now to the Shark story.
We moved from that spot and found a bunch of sharks all together. We
all love the thrill of catching sharks.
I through out a bait of lady fish about 15 feet from the boat.Bumped it 3 times
and bam! He was on it. Gave him a good yank and the battle was on. We danced (that means I fought to get the Shark to the boat)for about 15 minutes.
Dad got him up on the bow quickly and got that great picture.
Put him right back out into the water to go back and play with his shark friends.
Or whatever Sharks do.
We caught about 10 more and then called it quits for the day. My arms were tired.
We headed back to Islamorada and hung out with our friend Jim Hole from Canada.
He's an Outfitter there. Great guy. Loves fishing in the Keys too.
Check out his website. www.classic-outfitters.com
Hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did.
Leave me a comment.
Keep it reel!
Luke

  

Fishing in the Florida Keys


Hi,
My name is Luke Spear. My dad has been a fishing guide in the Florida Keys for 30 Years.
I have heard all kinds of incredible fishing stories all my life.
People from all over the world have come to fish in the Keys because it is such an awesome place.

Fishing for tarpon, bonefish, permit, snook, snapper, grouper and all kinds of other fish is what the stories have been about. Some of them tell of going out in the back country and chasing bonefish all over the flats for a day and landing that one huge fish.

Oh, sometimes I've heard about being in the middle of a school of tarpon( that means a whole bunch together) that are so hungry they will go after any fly you throw in front of them.
You get them to eat it, then they jump up out of the water and you hang on for dear life til you reel them to the boat.
I caught a world record tarpon in the Pee Wee division of the IGFA when I was about 7 or 8.
Had to work really hard to get that one to the boat.
I'll post a picture and tell you the whole story of that one later.

My brother, John Hunter Spear was the youngest boy to catch an IGFA Inshore Grand Slam.
A Grand Slam is a tarpon, bonefish, and permit all in one day.
He was 7 when he did it. You can see and hear that one later too.

I will put some pictures up and maybe even some video as I get the stories together.

Rick Ruoff, Steve Huff, Dustin Huff, Diego Rouylle, Timmy Klien and Craig Brewer are some of the guides I have heard stories from.

I hope you will come back often and enjoy all the stories I'll be posting here.

Keep it reel.
Luke