The Essence of Fishing

Captains David and Elliott Peralta Working a Tripletail On the Fly

The essence of fishing is not catching fish. It is about spending time with your friends and family. Some of my more memorable fishing trips are when fishing was hard and catches were few. Saturday was one of them. Given busy schedules, it had been a couple of weeks since Elliott (my son), David (my brother) and I had fished together. For us, this was an unusually long time between fishing trips together. Our plan was to launch an hour before high tide and target Trout then switch to tailing Redfish at the top of the tide. The plan went south almost immediately. A strong breeze made for choppy conditions in the Wando River. This made for poor water clarity and the Trout bite was slow. Dave and Elliott managed to catch a few on Z-Man MinnowZ (Houdini) lures. I caught zero. A fact pointed out (often) by Elliott and David.

At the top of tide, we left the Trout (they were not biting that well anyway) and moved to an area of the marsh that was supposed to be submerged by the high tide. Unfortunately, the tide was not high enough to allow Redfish access to the area. Historically, per the moon phase and tide cycle, this was the ideal location. We checked a few more areas with the same results (not enough of a tide to flood the marsh). With Plan A (Trout) and Plan B (tailing Redfish) a total bust, we drifted along the marsh edge discussing Plan C. About then, I spotted a small Tripletail hanging around a marsh point. Elliott has never caught a Tripletail on the fly, so this became our Plan C. Elliott jumped up on the poling platform, Dave handed him his fly rod and I positioned the skiff for a good downwind fly presentation. With nothing left for me to do, I settled in to watch Elliott and David work the fish. The Tripletail refused the first fly (a Clouser minnow). So, David selected a shrimp pattern for Elliott to try next. We held our breath as the Tripletail slowly tracked the fly. Only to turn away at the last second. Elliott, David and I exchanged “did you see that” looks. We repeated this sequence until the falling tide forced the Tripletail into deeper water. Elliott did not catch his first Tripletail on the fly.

From a fish catching perspective, it was an awful day. From a family experience perspective, it was unforgettable.