It was hot, as July in South Louisiana always is. Temperature and humidity soar to create an endless sauna. Sweat was running down my back as I was standing on the front of a boat in a large marsh lake, my buddy Mike was on the poling platform, and likely sweating more than me. We were working a shoreline with the morning sun at our back and the wind coming from our right, it was blowing perpendicular to the shore. Mike had positioned the boat angled slightly nose in toward the wind, and rather than pushing the boat directly forward, he was moving the boat along with the port side of the bow leading the way. After a short distance Mike said “Ron”, I recognized the tone to mean that he saw a fish, “Ron” he repeated slightly louder and more forcefully as I searched the water looking for the fish, “Ron, LOOK” he said, momentarily forgetting to use the clock system. I turned my head enough to catch him in my peripheral vision and saw him pointing somewhat to my left and ahead of us. I turned, searching the water, expecting to see a fish of 6 or 8 pounds as is typical for this particular pond, instead I saw a large red torpedo moving ahead of us. I made a quick cast delivering the fly just ahead of the fish, because Mike had positioned the boat quartering to the shore, I was able to let my back cast sail over the starboard of the boat behind me without worrying about hitting Mike, the push pole, or the platform. The fish didn’t accelerate, flare his gills and explode on the fly as redfish often do, instead it subtlety angled up a few degrees, opened its mouth just enough to eat the fly, and sipped it in. What ensued over the next few minutes is akin to what can best be described as fighting a fire truck. We soon had the fish boat side and marveled at catching a fish that size in this spot. The fish weighed 22 pounds.
At its best, fly fishing from a flats skiff is a dance, an angler occupying each end of the boat, one with a push pole, one with a rod, both making each move mindful of the other. An experienced push poler moves intuitively to position the boat to afford the angler on the front the best angles at the right distance to deliver the fly to often spooky fish, all while keeping eyes on the water, continually scanning for any tell-tell signs of fish.
Flats fishermen who have fished together often of the course of years develop a rhythm and grace not unlike that of dance partners, moving fluidly across the flats while fly line arcs gracefully above the boat. Fishing from a flats skiff can indeed be every bit a team sport, with both angler and poler playing an equal part in every fish caught, and sharing equally in the satisfaction. I enjoy flats fishing with another angler, particularly when that angler is a well weathered fishing buddy who knows all of the steps to the dance. After years of fishing together you know the measure of each others cast, the preferred angle of approach to a fish, and you develop the same understanding of where “40 feet at 10 O’clock” is. The smoother and more well practiced the dance becomes, the more success you enjoy.
One of the challenges and pleasures of working as a fly fishing guide, is getting new dance partners every few days, adjustments have to be made quickly to what hand the angler cast, strips and reels with, what their casting ability is, in terms of distance, accuracy and how fast they are able to make the cast, as well how well they see fish. At the beginning of the first day with a new angler I like to take a minute to go over the “clock system”. Regardless of which direction you’re looking, 12 O’clock is directly out of
the front of the boat, 9 O’clock directly left of the middle of the skiff and 3 O’clock directly to the right. I’ll have them point or cast to 10 and 2 as well, all to make sure that we’re dancing to the same tune. To help the angler on the bow spot a fish, I’ll have the point their rod and direct them “left, more left, closer’ etc.
When it’s a first dance, we may step on each other’s feet a few times, but usually, we both make adjustments and adapt to each others rhythm. While guiding and on the push pole, you are generally the partner that “Leads” the dance, but it’s an equal partnership, and each fish brought to the boat is a fish that “we” caught.