Guides Weekend Off

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to take a weekend off of guiding trips to get together with one of my good friends Matthew Cox from Extreme Backcountry Charters. We had been back and forth about organizing an outing and finally settled on a plan that worked for both of us. The decision was made and we were ready to scout the flats of Islamorada in search of fish.

Matt made the drive down from Central Florida to meet me down in the Keys on Saturday. We hit the water early to find that the wind was not going to be in our favor that day. Despite working against the Mother Nature, we were able to come across a few fish tailing their lives away.

Even on my weekends off, I still find a way to slip into my role as a guide. We were able to connect with our good friend, Matthew Vaccaro, the mind behind SkinnySkiff.com, and his girlfriend who also happened to be down south for the weekend from Central Florida. Right away, we crept into the depths of the Florida Bay. We poled our skiffs side by side as I directed Matt V. towards what looked to be a “fishy” area. Just like that, I found myself simultaneously guiding two boats. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to put my two buddies from the north on some Florida Bay action.

As Matt V. poled his skiff in one direction, Matt Cox and I were busy on our skiff getting rigged up and choosing our weapons from Matt Cox’s arsenal of flies. When out of the corner of my eye, I spot dancing, and that famous walk around the gunnels that we all love so much. Matt V. was on with a big fish. When the fight was over, Matt brought a nice 30”+ redfish aboard. We snapped some shots and sent it on its way.

By the end of the day he had wrestled a couple over slot fish to the boat. Matt Cox and I ended the day with 6 fish in the 27”-30” range. All and all it was a great outing with friends and I was glad to be able to put the out of towners on some nice fish.

-Captain Bollywood
Code Red Charters
(786)505-4831