After a nice long summer, followed by some November pike fishing, then a little more fishing on the James River for musky, I was more than ready to be warm again. Maybe it was the musky fishing in single digit weather? Or maybe just the fact that flip flops are way better than wearing “real shoes”. Either way, I packed my bags, a few fly rods and some shorts and headed to South for The Keys for about a month.

The trip started just in time. The day I hopped a flight in Montana, it was about -20 out and blowing like crazy. Landing in Boca Grande later that evening was a comfortable 75 degrees. Perfect!

Boca was a good time. I spent about a week exploring the backcountry waters for redfish, snook and pretty much anything else that swam by. A little tough getting to know the tides down there, having never been, but I managed a few nice reds, snook and jacks. Even made it out for a little night mission with friend and guide Captain Austin Louder. We splashed the boat around 10pm and fished until 4am. The snook action at night was nuts. Wasn’t really keeping score, but 50+ fish were easily boated. The snook bite was crazy, with a few jacks, ladyfish and others scattered in as well.

All in all, not a bad place to hang for a bit. It was my first time to Boca Grande and I will most certainly be back. Stay tuned for the next installment, from the lower keys.