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Rathole Studios Has Reopened: Awaiting Key West March Permit
Posted under fly fishing reports by Dave Teper
The original Rathole Studios has reopened for business, not that we make any money doing this. After resurrecting a dead Mac, I threw everything in my car and headed to Key West (Sugarloaf). On the way down, I met up with my friend Jeremy Cameron, whom I haven’t fished with in close to 3 years. There is a reason for the fact that we haven’t fished in a while. I can’t keep up with the dude. He knows his options, there are many, and he always wants to have the best odds, even if that means jumping in the car at noon to make a 4 hour drive somewhere to fish the last hour of light for gar. This guy loves his fishing as much as anyone, and when something is actually caught, he truly understands and appreciates it. It is tough down here. Especially in the winter.
Jeremy and I spent a week bombing up and down the Keys searching for the best options. The weather was anywhere from 40-80 degrees and dictated what we tried to target. The warmer days were spent permit fishing, the cooler days were spent bonefishing, and the coldest days were spent cuda, jack, and shark fishing. There was a lot of pressure to catch “a fish”. We caught nothing, although the line came tight a couple times for both of us.
I needed some redemption. After coming off of a couple months in Louisiana I was very used to catching fish, a lot of fish, and I needed a fix. I got an offer to go fishing with a guy from Islamorada. The guy seemed as if he had been fishing there for like 200 years, and knew everything there is to know about bonefishing. It also sounded like he loves to teach his style of bonefishing, so I jumped aboard his skiff, it was 50 degrees outside, I was shivering.
Capt. George Wood is a salty motherfucker. He is 61 years old and poles a boat around like he is 20. He won’t lie to you, he was taught by the best. I’m not going to go on and on about how much this guy knows about bonefish. Just go to Islamorada and ask around. You’ll get the same answer from everyone. Needless to say, I got my fix, on a tough day.
Now, back in Sugarloaf I sit, working on the full version of Drum, and promotional materials for its release, awaiting some warmer weather and a few permit. We’ll be in studio a lot, so if you are coming down the keys in the next couple months, let us know, stop by and check out the show.
Dave, Will, Bill, Mitchell, and The Rest Of the Crew -
Thanks so much for having me down there. Dave, I really appreciate you using your days with Bill when I was there. Also, Will – thanks for the meals, lettin’ me crash in the ticki hut, all the flies you gave me and for takin’ me out on that terrible freezing day when I know you would have rather been doing something else. I learned more about shallow water tropical fly fishing on this trip than ever before. The importance of “the crab.” The perfect cast and the perfect presentation .. I always knew there were some very fine little details in the retrieve that I was not aware of – and those fine details are the different between being able to “sell” the fish the fly and not. Also, learned a ton about Permit – as prior to this trip I had only seen a couple in my life and to be honest – I had no clue how to fish for them .. and I was really surprised to see how they are not the same as bonefish. Speaking of bonefish! Who could forget the “hook-set heard round the world!” When I set the hook on the bonefish as though it were a tarpon .. and snapped it off immediately! It was an honor to be the but of all the jokes that night and the “green horn of the keys!” .. You guys fish that shallow water tropical stuff day in and day out and you know and understand permit, bonefish, tarpon way more than I ever will. We simply don’t have those species here in the Northeast saltwater .. So, compared to you guys – I am a total rookie! But, that’s what keeps fly fishing fun! There is so much ego in the sport of fishing and it really sucks because fly fishing, when viewed from a global perspective, is not something that can ever be mastered. Certainly, a montana trout guy will know that game and an offshore bluewater fly fisherman will know that game, and a mexico rooster fly fisherman will know that game, a BC steelhead fly fisherman will not that game, etc… — But, its simply impossible for anyone to know every game and be 100% proficient at every possible game. With that in mind, fly fishing is a constant give and take between capitalizing on the things and species and environments that I do know well and putting myself in situations and environments that I don’t know well. It’s good for soul and always humbling and I really enjoy being in those environments that I don’t know to well WITH fly fisherman who do know it well. And, when it comes to the Florida scene or shallow water tropical scene for that matter – I couldn’t have asked to be around guys who know it better. So ya, I used to get by firing streamers off on the trail to baby tarpon, hooking a couple bonefish here and there and pulling a snook out of a mangrove pile once and a while … but NOW, after spending time with you guys, I feel that I know light years more than I used to! And rather just going down there and guessing about a lot of things and/or relying so much on “luck” .. I feel that I have a much more meaningful understanding of the flats, the tide influences on the flats, the wind influences, the different species and their habits, the fly patterns, the casting dynamics and presentation dynamics. The stuff you guys showed me and taught me is invaluable to me .. and, without a doubt, the stuff you guys shared and taught me makes me an infinately better and more well rounded fly fisherman. So, honestly, even though I didn’t land a single fish …. it was my best fly fishing trip to Florida – ever! One that I will never ever forget. Thanks again .. and good luck in 2009!
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