A report from Eric for mikescatchreport.com
I went fly fishing at one of our usual spots on Sunday. The tide was at 0.2 feet and would top out at 1.6 feet at 12:45pm.
I started out at the point and worked my way down towards the parking lot. For about an hour I fished all the spots that looked like there was going to be fish at home but no luck. I finally caught a Trumpet fish, so that was a good sign.
I walked to The Rock and began fishing. Rain was falling and the wind was blowing at around 15 to 20 mph. I fired cast after cast but I had no luck. I told myself, “Three more cast and that's it.” On the second cast it was fish on!
Whatever it was, it did not pull like a bonefish. It took out some of my backing as it headed towards the coral head right in front of The Rock. I could feel its head shake so I knew it was a good size papio (Jack or Trevally species). So I fought it hard and landed a Yellow Spot papio. This fish weighed 2 pounds and I released it to fight another day.
The tide was rising so I got off The Rock and started back to the parking lot but I decided to throw one more cast. Bam! A rock-solid hit. The line was screaming off the Lamson Litespeed reel and the fish was heading straight for the breakers. The fly line was long gone and the backing was peeling out of the reel. Then it all stopped.
I reeled in all the backing and saw that the fly line and leader was shredded like cabbage. That was the last cast of the day. I reeled up and headed back into the park to wash off.
EQUIPMENT: I used a 9 weight Sage rod and a Lamson Litespeed 3.5 reel loaded with a 10 weight Cortland clear saltwater line.