And that’s a wrap. Another year of fly fishing, growing, and experiencing this sweet life in the books. Not only was this a big year in regards to fishing, but 2017 was possibly the best year of my life so far and I have much to be grateful for.

For the last trip of 2017, my family and I went back down to our home away from home when it comes to being on the beach and fishing: St. George Island, FL. The winter can be a difficult time to fish here due to the wind and colder weather, and in the past we have found it to be very hit or miss. This year not only did we have a plethora of rain and overcast skies present, but we also had to deal with the first major cold front of the winter. Although this made the fishing challenging during the week, we still made it happen, especially on the last day of giving it a go.

Winter in Florida is an ideal time to catch large speckled-trout on the flats. Not only will these fish school up in deep troughs by oyster bars, but large “gator” trout will go out on their own and begin to hunt the flats like redfish. Throughout the week, speckled trout were our most consistent option. With a variety of clouser minows and baitfish patterns in the fly box, we landed several trout in the 23-28 inch slot, and this provided constant action throughout the week.

As for the redfish, we found that not many were pushed in on the flats. Whether this was due to the cold front or the poorly timed tides, we were not seeing the number of fish we are accustomed to. Thus, on our last day of fishing, we decided to get in the flats boat and venture to the back country marsh to see if these fish were trying to find warmer areas to lay up in the sun. With a warm day presenting itself, bait was moving everywhere, and we were beginning to see redfish show up. Throwing a larger sized natural-colored slider, we boated about ten redfish and the fish were extremely eager to eat. Fast strips, fish coming on top of flies, as always it was an exhilarating sight to behold! One redfish in particular noticed the fly as soon as it hit the water and the take was as if it was hitting a topwater.

However, the highlight of the trip consisted of catching a species that has been on my fly fishing bucket list for quite some time: black drum. After catching a great number of redfish, we were pulling down a flat and noticed a big, broom tail flapping out of the water. Having seen black drum multiple times in these back marshes we knew it was a black drum and got into position. After a throw right in front of the fish’s head, we immediately saw the fish react and go tail up even more so. After a few slow strips, the fish turned 180 degrees, flared its gills, and the fly line went tight. Fish on!

Using only 12-pound test, I had to be extremely cautious with this fish in that it dogged like no other and is known for having large, sharp scales. After turning the fish and grabbing it boat side, we got a couple of great pictures and a quick weigh on the scale – 35 pounds. A true beast, especially for my first black drum on the fly ever!

After a couple of minutes of gathering the excitement and looking through the photos, we looked up ahead and saw another massive tail out of the water. Another large, black drum feeding on a shallow oyster bar. After a beautiful 60-foot throw to the fish, the fish seemed disinterested and started to slowly move away. We pulled up closer and closer until finally I basically hit the fish on the top of the head with my fly; this got his attention. He fully tailed on the fly and ate it immediately. After another 15-minute we got this fish in, weighing 34 pounds. Unreal. We just caught two 30+ pounders on the fly in less than half a hour.

I couldn’t have asked for a better fishing day to take in the New Year. A week of fly fishing and spending time with my family always makes me realize how thankful I should be for this life that surrounds me, and I cannot wait to see what 2018 has in store.

As always, tight lines and best wishes for the New Year.

Joe