The Fishing is Great... In My Head

Took the Bote board out the other morning to practice paddling.  The Gulf was calm and I was surprised with the clarity of the water after all of the wind the day before.

After about thirty minutes of paddling up and down the beach I noticed some bait jumping out of the water.  I paddled over to take a look.  I could see the bait and then I noticed a large mass of fish below.  It was a school of large jacks just cruising around the bait.  I stood motionless as the jacks swam circles underneath the board.  I could only watch as I did not have a fishing rod onboard.  I did imagine casting a clouser towards the school and watching the aggressive jacks fight to see which one could eat it first. 

Hopefully we will get some light winds over the next few days and I can try to create some real fishing memories.  I may flub my casts and miss shots at the next pod of jacks or cruising snook but it'll be better than just standing there watching.

The Lure

Ever since I sold my boat last summer before moving from Washington to Florida the siren song of owning another vessel has been a weight on my shoulders.  That is no longer the case.

Last weekend I had a three hour drive to a marathon on the East Coast of Florida and was hot to trot as I saw the boat of my dreams listed on craigslist.  It was within my price range and had the exact outboard I wanted (Honda).  Over the long stretches of pavement I kept thinking about the launching, storage, maintenance, and other associated issues of boat ownership.  These thoughts became a major buzz-kill to thoughts of the wind in my hair and being able to fish almost anywhere.  It was a heavyweight fight between the reality of ownership and the dream of boat ownership.

Reality won as thoughts from my past came flooding back.  I started remembering how much I enjoyed fishing from a kayak back in the Pacific Northwest.  I even wrote about the limitations of kayak fishing back in August of 2011 here.  I came to the decision that I was happiest when I was the horsepower.  I had already sold my kayak so I needed a new fishing platform.  There are differences between saltwater fly fishing in the Northwest and Florida so I decided on a Stand up Paddleboard.

My new boat is a Bote SUP and I cannot wait for the winds to die down a bit to test it out.  I have a ton of learning to do but I look forward to the higher casting position a SUP gives.

Here's to a summer of adventure and here's a little video of the board I just purchased.


BOTE HD 12'6" Stand-up Paddle Paddle Board from BOTE Board on Vimeo.