The most perfect day. Ever.
Guiding's not just about catching a lot of fish; it's about understanding the resource also, respecting both the fish and the fishery. There's nothing better than locating a school that'll send one back on your line with every cast, but at the same time you have to be careful not to overfish an area. Overstay your welcome at a hole, and it might not be the same the next time you come.
This fishery is constantly changing, partly because of nature, partly because of man. What works one year could be entirely different the next. There's a group of guys I've been taking out for years now, probably forty to fifty days a year. Several Januarys ago, I joined them at a house on Bull's Bay for five straight days of sightcasting, the first of which couldn't have been under worse conditions; the dock was completely blanketed in ice, and the conditions on the water were brutal. We braved it out all day, catching only two fish. It undoubtedly sank our spirits.
We woke up the next morning to unfathomably glorious conditions: clear, warm blue skies and flat calm waters. We located a tremendous school of reds in the Bay, and they were biting on everything we threw at them-flies, spinner bait, you name it. We caught at least fifty fish that day. And every day after that we had the same unseasonably beautiful weather, and caught as many or more fish. Overall, we had boated over 200 redfish that week. Those four days really stand out for me. Fishing under those perfect conditions, and knowing that we might may never see a day that good again-I can't remember ever feeling so alive and appreciative for what this place gives us.
-Peter Brown
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