Kelly and the Box Cutter

I have good trips bad trips average trips and some times weird trips. Today was a weird trip. My angler Kelly from the great white north is vacationing in the Keys for a couple months. Smart guy. He rented a boat and wanted a little fishing 101 trip. His rods and reels are perfect for brim and crappie, but just a touch light for saltwater. Since we were doing a Bayside Spanish Mackerel and usual suspects trip I brought along one of my 12 pound spinning outfits just to make sure something came to the boat.

The first spot we hit was a bit closer in than I normally fish. Nice spot, plenty of bait and we saw mackerel but they were not feeding very actively. So we relocated a little further out and started over. Despite the wind against the current there were plenty of mackerel there. Kelly had lost a few with his light rod so I had him fishing my outfit. No mackerel bites at all.

I am beginning to get a little ticked off. I tell Kelly that if I put out his ultra light outfit I guarantee a mack will hit and since his line is old and the drag (it was a rear adjust drag reel) it will break the line. Sure enough, four casts four hits four lost fish. Luckily, the fish ripping line off his reel cleaned the drag washers enough the I could set a fairly reliable drag. After that the light rod got hit every cast and we actually boat good size fish.

So what is the moral of this story? Murphy's law of tackle: The biggest fish will always hit the weakest, lightest and most neglected rod. An old customer of mine used to bring a high end ultralight outfit down. After he got his butt handed to him a few dozen times I told him that he had brought a knife to a gun fight. He responded that he didn't even have a knife, only a box cutter. Kelly brought a box cutter too.


Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

Tight lines,

Capt. Dallas