OUTDOORS

20 THE SUN OUTDOORS JUNE 15, 2022

Reel Time

RUSTY CHINNIS

Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines learning as "knowledge or skill acquired by instruction or study."

As most anglers will attest, that’s how we’ve gained the ability to successfully target (occasionally) different species of fish. That learning probably came from a plethora of sources. I count fishing guides, experienced anglers, the internet, television, books and magazines for a lot of what I’ve learned. If you’ve been around the water for any length of time, you’ve probably experienced that one of the best teachers of all is the mistakes we’ve made along the way.

I often vocalize the fact that "The more I know, the more I know how much I don’t know," but recently that phrase came into sharper focus when I was fly fishing with an accomplished angler who is younger than I am. During several days on the water, he commented on several things I was doing that he thought, if changed, could improve my fishing. During that same time, I had a few critiques for him as well. At the time, both of us assumed we were right and the other was wrong. As it turned out he was right and so was I. I think in the end we both became better anglers as a result.

He criticized the fact that I trailed a few feet of fly line in the water when I was on the bow. I developed that habit as a way of getting a cast off quickly by being able to load the rod sooner, avoiding extra false casts. When I argued that the line being right beside the boat couldn’t possibly spook fish, in my mind I was right. As it turned out he was right and I was wrong, but for a different reason. As it turned out, not having that line in the water avoided getting it fouled with floating algae and grass and potentially blowing a shot at a fish. As it turned out, now that I have a few years of casting under my belt, I can get a cast off in plenty of time with less line. The trailing line wasn’t needed most of the time.

When he stepped up to the bow that same morning and didn’t stretch his fly line it was my turn for a critique. I make a habit of stripping off the line I think I’ll need and then cast it out and stretch it to be ready for a presentation. Most fly lines have what is called “memory” from sitting on the reel and form coils that can foul a cast in the guides if not stretched. The stretching relaxes the line. The day after that trip he texted me to say I would have laughed because he had chased a school of jacks on the beach and when he went to cast, the unstretched line fouled in the guides.

There are times when having a trailing line is useful, for example, when there’s poor visibility, and then only if you watch for floating debris. The same can be said for not stretching line when using a line with little or no stretch.

The lesson I learned in all of this is not to get fixed in doing something a certain way and becoming inflexible. Now I’ll attempt to listen first, reason, and argue later. The bottom line: Keep an open mind and never stop learning.

Never stop learning

RUSTY CHINNIS | SUN Stretching fly line before casting might not be necessary, but it's a good idea to check for memory.

Fishing as good as it gets

CAPT. DAVE WHITE

Although it’s hot in the afternoons, fishing is as good as it gets around Anna Maria Island, and you can pretty much target any species you’d like.

Inshore, snook, trout, sharks, gag grouper and mangrove snapper are the primary targets for our half-day trips right now using live pilchards as bait. Tarpon have flooded our area in the last week or so; using threadfin herring and crabs has yielded success for our hard-core tarpon enthusiasts. This week should be stellar with the full moon.

Offshore, American red snapper are filling the fish box. We are also getting red grouper, gags, mangrove and yellowtail snapper, and sometimes we get the occasional kingfish and blackfin tuna on the troll. The weather this week looks extremely accommodating and we look forward to putting more clients on trophy fish! Tight lines!

CAPT. DAVE WHITE | SUBMITTED Jason Ellis, of Bradenton, shows off an American red snapper in the 23-pound range caught with Capt. David White of Anna Maria Charters.

Dinghy dock replacement underway

Last week, Duncan Seawall, Dock & Boat Lift began the replacement of the public dinghy dock near the Bradenton Beach Pier boardwalk and the Bridge Tender Inn. The project is part of a larger Community Redevelopment Agency-funded project that includes adding perpendicular finger docks to the public day dock next to the pier to provide additional short-term public dockage. The CRA also hopes to expand the existing floating dock platform further east to provide additional space for more finger docks. The project has been delayed by a permitting issue regarding the use of the stateowned submerged lands between the end of the existing floating dock platform and the T-end of the pier. Manatee County will reimburse the CRA for 50% of the total project costs.

JOE HENDRICKS | SUN The pilings have been driven for the new dinghy dock near the Bradenton Beach Pier.