# A bit different night trip....



## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

This is the time of year when many guides get busy and it's been that way now for a couple of weeks in this corner. I'm dividing my time between the backcountry of the 'Glades and fishing nights locally in Biscayne Bay. The backcountry has been pretty good but hasn't broken out yet - the night fishing has been very good, night after night... here's one trip that was kind of a break from my usual. An afternoon phone call and someone who wanted to catch that first tarpon on fly, that's the kind of phone call every guide needs to hear from time to time

I hooked up with my angler on very short notice and we headed down to the ramp. As usual with a first time "tarpon on fly" type I did a few drills with him to prepare him for the strike, hooksetting, line management, and a few other details for safety reasons. Things went pretty well and after a few misses we hooked up under one of the larger bridges that connect Miami to Miami Beach and it was off to the races with a nice 30lb fish. Things went well and we worked the fish to the skiff for a quick photo and release. We were able to jump a few more before one last nice one that stayed connected all the way to the release. It was a great trip that almost didn't happen....

When I got that phone call about a trip I had serious reservations since the angler is blind.... That's right, Tony Caroleo is a skilled, accomplished fly angler who's been blind for many years.... I was worried about safety on the water, and with the fishing as well since small tarpon can get in your face in a heartbeat. I got smacked in the face myself just a week before by one at really close quarters. Tony handled it all like a pro. He even gave me a pointer or two on things someone without sight might find helpful.... 

Here's a photo or two of that first fish...





















The rod was brand new, I took the plastic wrap off of the cork handle once we were on the water. My hat's off to Tony. Not many would have the courage to go by themselves out on the water at night with someone they didn't know. It was a night I'll remember for a long time.


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## Yoreese (Oct 15, 2009)

Nice catch!


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## ihuntfish (Jul 22, 2009)

Thats awesome!


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

That's great Bob, kind of heart warming too. Aside from the learning experience, I think its nice to get a reality check now and again. We easily forget what it might be like to do what we like to do with out all of our senses helping us along. I bet you never forget this trip.

Reading this now, you have me thinking though.  As counter intuitive as it might seem to non-fly fishing anglers, I would think that of the various types of casting, fly is probably best suited to being blind. Once you get a feel for the "tug" at each end of a cast, you can count false casts and get a pretty good idea how much line is in the air. I'm not saying its easy by any stretch. But I do think the physical feed backs you get when fly casting can work for you when visibility is limited or non existent. Whereas with plug or spin you don't have the same sense for how far the lure has traveled on one forward stroke. 

Anyway, enough of my musings, I'd be very interested to hear how Tony's managed his casting distance and more so, direction, especially at rolling or moving fish on short notice. I'm assuming you used some variation on the clock system, but that can be hard enough with people that have 20/20 vision. 

Can you explain how you guys worked any of that out? I'd think it would be interesting for all of us to read.


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Teach a man to fish...

Awesome story


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## SOBX (Sep 29, 2009)

By far the best post I have been fortunate enough to have read on this site!!! [smiley=1-thumbsup3.gif] 

Kudos to both you and the angler and bless the fish for showing up and making the experience complete!!![smiley=1-thumbsup3.gif]

Good Fishing!!!


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## Green_Hornet (Nov 1, 2008)

How cool was that!
Congrats!


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## Shadowcast (Feb 26, 2008)

Great trip for angler and guide!!


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## DSampiero (Oct 18, 2009)

Great write up and tip o' the hat to you for getting him on a Poon! 

Just out of curiosity, was he Canadian? I've a buddy up here in St. Aug that used to fly fish for Trout with a blind man when in Canada. Buddy claims that the guy would just listen for the pops and cast, and then out-catch my buddy on a consistent basis.


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## Taterides (Nov 10, 2008)

Thanks for sharing that one. We all need a little wake up sometimes to how fortunate we are.
Great Story.


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## dacuban1 (Sep 9, 2008)

WOW!!!! Great story, thanx for sharing.


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## birdwelljax (Nov 9, 2009)

Great report!


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## ou18582 (Jan 18, 2010)

Great for both of you. Enjoyed the report. 

Tight lines, Chris


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## makin moves (Mar 20, 2010)

awsome!!


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Thanks for all the kind comments... I've been booked both night and day so this is the first time I've been able to reply...

For Deerfly, the night fishing is like working the edge of a flat while staked out.... the fish come from either directiion but the distance is the same... Now just translate that to fishing at night under a bridge where fish are ghosting up and down the shadow line right in front of you. It's actually sight fishing them from a fixed point (I'm holding the skiff next to a piling by hand, usually with my angler standing right next to me...). Tony wasn't able to stand up on the platform so I had him in the well just behing the platform.

Once we were in positiion (and I'm looking at more than a few tarpon right in front of us....) I had Tony make a couple of casts until the distance was correct (you need the fly about ten feet out into the light so fish can see it as it moves toward the shadows where they're waiting to hammer it). Once we had the range I had him begin casting, letting the line touch the water, then piick it up again to get into a pattern without stripping the fly at all. Once he was laying it out there, the next thing was to get him to move the cast a few feet in each direction so the pattern became center, left, right on command. That way I'd be able to direct the cast where it needed to be as I watched fish go by. The last element was learning to strip the fly the moment it touches the water (lots of anglers have trouble with this one since they can't seem to hang onto theiir fly line on the cast, then they fumble around a bit before starting to strip - we're fishing up current and the slightest delay means the fly is drifting back towards you... nothing will touch it unless it's moving a bit faster than the tide...). 

It took a few minutes to get the routines down but when the right fsih came by, and the fly was in the water in the right place, I had him begin stripping the fly so that it crossed the shadow line right in front of the tarpon. The night fish are only under the bridges to feed, if they spot something coming that looks like a shrimp they feed instantly... Once we were hooked up the tricky part was getting the fish back through the bridge so that we could fight him downcurrent. That was a big worry since it's all about firing up the motor and quickly reversing the fish with the current while keeping it from goiing around a piling. My biggest worry was that Tony would end up on his head, but he kept his feet (and his cool) while the fish was really carrying on around us. Once we were out in the open things settled down and I had time for the camera, etc.

Glades, this might be the same guy since Tony's from New York, and said he's caught atlantic salmon up to 30lb while wading.... (I'm not sure I could do that and I'm not blind...)

It was a great evening. I think one of the reasons we all chase fish is the memories that come at odd moments on the water. Whether you're the angler, the guide, or just someone along for the ride - there's nothing like it in the ordinary world.


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## mark_gardner (Mar 18, 2009)

awesome bob, hats off to you for showing this guy a great time


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