The Other Florida
Florida, land of sunshine, ocean breezes and sandy beaches but also backwater swamp with tannic waters and toothy denizens. While many tourists flock to more scenic destinations in the state, Collin and I are more focused on what lies beneath the state’s waters. While more glamourous species like Seatrout, Spanish Mackerel and Redfish occupied the first leg of our trip to the panhandle, we were both arguably more excited for the “rough” fish of the state’s interior. Blackfish, Grinnel, Mudfish; all derogatory terms for a great American native, the Bowfin. This disrespected fish is the last living member of a family of fish that dates back over 100 million years, a true dinosaur. Though Bowfin are a native and hard fighting fish, many anglers hold them in low regard. Collin and I have long discussed chasing these fish and they occupy the top of the list of species that I desire to catch. Chain pickerel as well as Spotted Gar rounded out the toothy trifecta we were hoping to catch today.
Being that we like to fish for many non-traditional “game” fish Collin and I are no strangers to sideways glances at our fly rods. In this part of the state especially, our whippy sticks immediately showed us as outsiders. All the better we hoped, these fish may just be all the more susceptible to our flies and unfamiliar methods! We researched what we were able but much of this expedition was a true shot in the dark. It seems that few non-tourists fish Holmes creek and the Choctawatchee river drainage where we found ourselves on this hot summer day.
It has been seriously hot on the coast these last few days but here, sheltered amongst hundred year old cypress draped with low hanging Spanish moss, it was positively stifling! High heat and humidity dominated the day until an early afternoon thunderstorm caused a massive change in temperature and pressure. Just fine with us, a little rain was a welcome respite from the pounding sun. We launched on Holmes in the late morning as just the second boat at the ramp. Water appears slightly down from recent levels and gifted us about 10 inches of visibility beneath its thick tea coloration.
The adventure, the new experience, the learning always makes a fishing trip a success (at least in some way) to the intrepid angler. That means that even when we fail in our goal we may still find success in some other way. Today was a lot like that. We quickly found some Spotted Gar in a little side channel where we landed a couple each, a first for Collin. Later though, we grinded hard making hundreds of casts over a 7 hour span for fish that we never saw or touched. The Bowfin hunt was a bust despite our best efforts and innovations. Even the Pickerel chase was slow and punishing with Collin bringing a 15+ incher to the boat while I lost one of a similar size on its explosive jump. Tough. Though it may be some time before we return to the Choctawatchee and her tributaries, I hope that I will give myself an opportunity for redemption against the elusive “blackfish” of the South’s swamps here in the coming months.
Fishermen: Collin Fuller and Jacob Eanes
Species: Spotted Gar, Chain Pickerel
Methods: Streamers
Flies: Ehlers’ Craw, Nylon Gar flies, Olive Zonker Streamer
Gear: 10’ 7wt Arctic Silver Zense - 9"‘ 7wt TFO Axiom II // Lamson Liquid 3 // Cortland 7wt Streamer Series 210 Grain // 1x leaders/tippet
