<H3>• #24: Islamorada Journal 2014…01 FEB </H3>

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On Wednesday this blog, ConnecticutSaltwaterFishing.com, went over 1,000 hits in a day for the first time. We truly appreciate our loyal readers. Sunset on Wednesday: Click on any photo to enlarge Shoo-Fly coming into port with Wayne of the bow and Mat on the stern. Chokoloskee Chickens. Actually they're ibis. The Chokoloskee Chickens nickname apparently comes from an allegation that certain residents of Chokoloskee, FL [population 400, more or less] fry them up for dinner. Thursday night's sunset. Friday was Mat's last opportunity to fish before heading back to the north country... ...so he joined me on Shoo-Fly while the rest of his clan went with Wayne on the Action Craft. Mat and I got into a mess of jacks including one that got crunched in half by a shark...and the shark came back before Mat could get his hook and half-jack out of the water and chomped the rest of the fish...hook and all. Here he holds a nice jack that avoided getting chewed by sharkie. Here's Mat's daughter, Sidney, fighting a fiesty ladyfish under the watchful eye of Capt. Wayne. And Mat's son, Theo, taking a break from hauling in fish. [Probably snacking on some goodies as any boat time not spent fishing by teenage boys is most likely spent eating.] We certainly caught more than 100 jacks, ladyfish, and bluefish between the two boats...which apparently wore Mat out...so he flaked out on Shoo-Fly's foredeck on the trip back. Most exciting part of the day on our boat was when Mat, using my 7-weight fly outfit, hooked a 80-100 lb. shark on a white Lefty's Deceiver. The fish ran the reel quickly into the backing and then bit through the wire bite tippet leaving Mat with an empty line and bruised knuckles. Thing that got me was that I had my super shark-attractor fly in the water at the same time, very close to where Mat's fly was, and the darned shark hit his fly. There's no justice. Friday night's sunset.

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• Meanwhile, in other news...

• Fly Fishing the Florida Surf

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“Often, big jack crevalle can be seen charging just offshore, their yellow fins and sheer mass giving them away. Then other days, it’s mackerel, mackerel and more mackerel. And then one day, an unexpected rise in water temp, it’s tarpon. Photo from, and please visit this link to read the full article: FloridaSportsman.com

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