I'm just back from the Keys & wanted to share my fishing experience with you. Here in Apalach, the Redfish are biting! Hope you can get out on the water during your spring break! -Kathy-

I'll bet you are wondering what the wife of a fishing guide does when she wants to go fishing. Of course the last thing a busy fishing guide wants to do on his few & far between days off is to have to take the wife fishing. Luckily I just happen to know a few great fishing guides! Let me talk to the ladies who love to fish for just a few minutes.(Guys, you can read along too.) Perhaps you are like me and the thought of dining solo or taking yourself to a movie alone is not something you are fond of doing. Do you think you deserve to treat yourself to a day's entertainment on the water? Let's face it, as women of a certain age, we probably have as much or more discretionary income than many of our male counterparts, so it's not a matter of the expense. As the booking agent for more than 2 dozen friendly, professional fishing guides, many that I have personally "Test-fished" I can attest that the comfort level for a single gal, once you make the commitment to yourself to actually go fishing, is way up there. And knowing these guys personally, I can match you with the guide best suited to your skills & interest level.

Let me tell you about my recent experience flats fishing with a Robinson guide in the Florida Keys. I flew down last Tuesday to spend a week in the sun with Tommy (Tommy & Chris fish the lower Keys in February, March & April for permit, tarpon, etc. with Jason "in training") and learned that Capt. Jason Rucker had a day free for scout fishing so I generously offered my services as "Bow Weight" to make it easier for him to pole the flats and look for permit. We met for breakfast on Cudjoe Key then left the dock around 10:00 am. Jason was interested in checking out some previously undiscovered flats on a particular tide. On the run to start fishing, Jason made sure I was comfortable physically then began going over the plan for the day, beginning to instruct me on overall technique, as well as specifically how best to cast to permit if we happened across them. (And don't they always say that women are so much easier to teach because WE LISTEN!) Within just a few minutes I was on the bow with a spinning rod in my hand, a live crab on the hook and Jason was on the poling platform, skimming us across the crystal clear shallow water. We discussed how he would direct me to the fish he spotted - the front of the boat (bow) is 12:00, hold your rod out and move to the 11:00 or 2:00 position, or wherever the fish happens to be. I'm not that great with distances but just knowing which direction the fish are is a huge boost to spotting them and he made the best way to hold and cast the rod simple to understand and easy to do. Permit are extremely fast and spooky - we saw several before the tide caused us to leave that area, but I got a chance to practice casting at some sharks and a Jack that was doing laps zooming around & around a ray. And no I didn't hook a permit but I actually saw the ones that Jason guided me to. (Evidently, if you have the instincts of a fishing guide, you can learn to fish just about anywhere and Jason is as instinctual as they come.)

Jason is typical of most fishing guides I have encountered, including my own favorite, Tommy. He is not only a gentleman but he is also gentle - if he told me "Good Cast!" once, he said it 50 times, making me feel as if I was actually doing a good job - whether I was or not. He didn't make me feel intimidated or un-coordinated or uncomfortable at any time during the day, even when I had to - well you know. Later that afternoon we poled around in the lee of some mangroves, where I cast to (and caught) barracuda from about 4 feet long to the smallest one I ever saw that was only about 6" long. Still had scary teeth though and man do they fight & jump! I caught fish until I couldn't hold the rod any longer, then Jason cast at several for about a half hour. It was a gorgeous day that I couldn't have spent in any better way and I highly recommend it as an instant stress reducer. Give it a try!

FYI - if you're in Apalachicola and need to check emails - stop by & connect via Robinson's wireless.

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