“He Who Has a Why, Can Bear Almost Any How”

Fishing has always been my why it seems. Its the thing that pushes me through the hows of daily life and gives it purpose. Maybe its being in nature or the simple pursuit of the unknown. Something about fishing has always done it for me. From largemouth bass to red fish, I’ve aways found it to be my getaway. Wheather it’s getting through a day at work or pushing through near impossible enviromental conditions, like rain and heavy winds, I’ll endure it to be on the water. April 14th in particular gave me another why that has pulled me farther into the fishing underworld than I ever imagined. Going out and targeting a gator seat trout was where my mind was. And a theory on how to get her was more than enough to get me through the suffering of what an angry lagoon had to throw at me.

 The theory was big topwater, big trout. It was reasonable. The largest sea trout ever caught on rod and reel ate a topwater. Observing the phenomena of trout eating something half their size helped the theory. I had it in my head somewhere, large sea trout were like muskie or peacock bass. Upon inspection of a larger than life noise making surface lure, they couldn’t help but react (naive I know).

 The weekdays Preceding the 14th, I stumbled upon the writings of Capt. Chris Bush and Mike McBride. They showed pictures and told tales of  monolithic speckled beasts caught on artificials and described how they targeted them specifically. I had caught gator trout before, they always fascinated me. Bet they were never caught intentionally. They always came as a bi-product of fishing for reds. I never knew they could be targeted. They were just so rare. After those first reads I became infatuated. I had to try my hand at catching one on purpose. Was my limited skills and knowledge of the area enough to find me in the presence of such a mystical creature? By that point I had done little reading about big trout. But, all I could think about was putting my hands on one. And hey, it’s simple, just bang around a big topwater, right? (I was too blinded by visions of tidal-wave topwater explosions to see my ignorance).

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 Three hours after a bumpy and wet ride out, I had zero to show for my efforts. Fatigued from slinging a pro tuned rover (5” topwater) and being beat up by wind and waves, I was beginning to lose hope. I pulled into an area known by locals of Mosquito Lagoon as goats creek. Earlier in the winter I had seen trout here that were very large. The retrieve of my third cast to the shoreline was met by a violent strike, leaving only a big foam ring and even bigger boil in place of my rover. Line began to peel off the reel. Was it? Could it be? A large yellow mouth broke the surface in protest, revealing, yes, it in fact was the gator I had been searching for. After an aerial acrobatic and head shaking performance only a sea trout can enact, the spec found itself victim to the net. I was in disbelief. It stretched the tape to the 27 1/2” mark. Something about holding that fish changed everything. The challenge of hunting it and the reward of holding it sparked a fire in me. I had to know more.

 This metamorphic experience made me turn to some reading on big trout by the men mentioned above and more. I found it takes more than just banging around a big topwater. The 14th was more of a right place, right time, right bait thing, not so much my knowledge and experience. But hey, a blind squirrel finds a nut every once and awhile. After reading more, I found out how little I knew. It put a spotlight on my ignorance. Big trout were definitely not muskie or peacock bass. This opened my eyes to the multiple dimensions that help dictate trout feeding patterns I was blind to. Things like salunar activity, moon phase, majors and minors, and even tides (Mosquito Lagoon has very little tidal movement). Careful planning according to the moons, along with previous and current day whether patterns has now helped me find my highest percentage waters and when to be there.

 From that day till now I have managed to put my hands on a decent number of these gator trout and the feeling never dies. It justifies all the suffering endured from a day described above, and in a way life itself. In those tiny moments of sheer bliss, it brings to light a quote by Nietzsche, who said, “he who has a why can bear almost any how”. The rewarding feeling of putting a hand on a mirage-like creature that few have ever seen, let alone touched is well worth any how. Wind or waves, rain or shine, the daily grind of life even. Trophy sea trout are now and for the foreseeable future, will be, the why.