(scroll down for english)
Iako je bilo tek 5:30, to jutro sam se probudio lako. Prelako, s obzirom da sam dan prije toga presjeo četri aviona/leta, proputovao gotovo pola svijeta i završio dan sa previše pive. Sve je počelo u New Yorku, zapravo ne, počelo je u Pazinu u Hrvatskoj al New York je bila prelomna točka. Tamo sam se našao sa prijateljem iz Njemačke, Geraldom, koji će mi biti ribolovni drug na ostatku putovanja. Tamo isto tako doznajemo da nam je let ogođen za 2 i pol sata, pa iznervirani od “puta” počinjemo lokat da si prekratimo vrijeme do sljedećeg leta. Isto nastavljamo nekoliko sati kasnije, tada smo već bili u Jacksonvilleu (FL), u kući Drewa Whitea prijatelja kojeg sam upoznao u Hrvatskoj pred 3 godine. Tada su on i Betty, sada već njegova žena punog imena Betty White (da, malo je smiješno), bili gosti na mom brodu na užasnom danu ribolova di nismo ulovili apsolutno ništa… “osim” prijateljstva…
Sa kućnog praga pogled odmah pada na kamin i iznad njega repliku/preparat jednog od Drewovih snookova, mislim si u sebi “jbt mora da ima 10 kila” (ekvivaletn po bitnosti i težini ulova je naš brancin). Sa desne strane je šank a iznad šanka je, ne tarpon nego tarpončina od 100+ kila. “to sam ulovio u Tampa bayu, bilo je i većih al ovaj je mjeren za IGFA rekord. Radi se o rekordu za mlade ribolovce, koji sam držao 5 godina” -“bravo” odgovaram začuđeno. Pričamo i pijemo satima, što nas vraća na početak teksta. 5 i 30 je, Drew kuca na vrata sobe: “your coffe is ready” iskačem veselo kao da sam spavao danima. Tu sam zbog ribolova na Redfisha, po meni, jedne od naljepših riba na svijetu, spavat ću kad budem doma. Redfish je riba koja živi u plitkim vodama gotovo cijele Floride međutim najveće se love upravo tu. Brzinski srčemo kavu, ja jedem ostatke hrane od sinoć i isšuljavamo se do broda, što nije daleko s obzirom da nam je brod zavezan za terasu i mogu ga vidjeti iz kreveta, doslovno. Krcamo stvari i sporo se “vučemo” redovima velebnih izdanja (ne mogu ih nazvati kućama) do glavnog kanala kuda ćemo punim gasom krenuti ka 40 minuta udaljenim pozicijama. Zapanjuje me bogatstvo koje me okružuje. Iako je još poprilično mračno jasno vidim kompletna naselja na vodi povezana uskim kanalima a kraj kanala kućerine, a ispred svake te kućerine poseban mol sa dizalicom samo za njihov brod, veliki brod, lijepi brod.
Glisiramo po glavnom kanalu koji više liči na rijeku nego more. Nad nama se razlila zora, preliva se u tisuću nijansi crvene i narančaste boje, podsjeća me na naše zore i kilometre koji me dijele od doma. Prekrasno je iako je zima. Na putu do pozicije razmišljam o tome di sam zapravo, koliko me daleko odveo moj ribolovni štap i zašto, pritom provodeći vrijeme skrivajući se iza malog frižidera koji u ovom slučaju predstavlja jedinu zaštitu od hladnog vjetra.
Na poziciji smo. Pokušat ću vam dočarati što je to “pozicija”. Znači cijela Florida je izrazito, ponovit ću: “izrazito-totalno-najviše što možete zamisliti” ravna, najviša točka uopće ne može biti nazvana brdom. Isprepletena je sa bezbroj kanala veličine rijeke Save. Da bi vam dočarao koliko tih kanala ima, zamislite da krente Savom i njenim pritocima iz Zagreba u Rovinj (!!) pa iz Rovinja drugim putem u Gospić i od tamo u Dubrovnik. To sve pomnožite sa 3 i otprilike imate veličinu terena na kojem se može loviti. Onda u obzir uzmite i to da prilikom velikih plima okolna područja (travnjaci, šume, polja) bivaju preplavljenima i da su upravo ta područja najatraktivnija za ribolov. Sada bi vam već polako trebalo biti jasno o kakvom se ribolovnom prostranstvu radi, proteže se gotovo kroz cijelu Floridu. Taktika je sljedeća, na određenim područjima sa većom aktivnošću ribe skreće se iz glavnog kanala u manje kanale iz tih manjih kanala skreće se u još manje kanale iz kojih se skreće u uske i po nekoliko stotina metara duge uvale koje često nisu dublje od 20-30 cm, e tu je riba. Najveće jedinke ulaze u te plitke, plimom natopljene, uvale di se hrane mrtvim račićima i ciplićima zaglavljenima u đepovima vode malo većima od kade koju imate doma. Naguravanje broda preko sprudova i kroz preuske kanale mi je bilo interesantno međutim mrvicu apsurdno za shvatiti da ćemo od svog tog prostranstva baš tu u toj kaljuži uloviti našeg velikog redfisha. Tako je bilo sve do trenutka kada sam čuo strašan pljusak - “gle!!” povikao je Gerald. Nisam vjerovao svojim očima, stajali smo u kanalu ne širem od 5 metara i ne dubljem od pola metra, a 20ak metara ispred nas, sa pola tijela izvan vode, stajao je ogroman redfish pokušavajući se iskoprcati nazad u vodu. “oh, ovaj je stvarno gladan, izletio je na obalu ganjajući cipliće” prokomentirao je Drew. S obzirom na vjetar fly oprema nije dolazila u obzir pa smo spinali silikoncima montiranima na weedless udice, jedina montaža koja ima smisla na spomenutom terenu. U predhodnih nekoliko sati već sam uspinao morsku pastrvu solidne veličine i za tu vrstu vrlo velikog Floundera (nešto ko naš romb) što je priznajem faktor sreće jer su vrlo rijetki, pogotovo te veličine. Svi na brodu smo svijesni da ukoliko ulovim dobrog redfisha ulovio sam north florida slam pa narano stalno pričamo o tome što mi, naravno, stvara presing i nervozu. Florida je daleko, a čak i ako se vratim ko zna kada ću uopće sljedeći put imati prilike vidjeti floundra…nema veze mislim si, dok ti ga tu nisu spomenuli, nisi ni znao da spomenuti slam postoji. Ipak, zabacujem ko lud, ne jedem i ne pijem ostatak dana međutim gladnu ribetinu više nismo vidjeli. Svako toliko vidim ogromna leđa u superplitkoj vodi onda 10 m ispred broda viđam površinske valove koje rade velike ribe prestrašeno bježeći od broda. Ni sam ne znam koliko pokušaja sam napravio na odeđene ribe, nisam postigao ništa osim različitih varijanti ignora. “Drew, one ne jedu” komentiram sramežljivo” -“temperature vode je drastično pala u zadnjih nekoliko dana, ove se samo griju, već je kasno odradit ćemo ovaj slijepi kanal do kraja i vratit ćemo se sutra sa kozicama” mislim si: dobro ajde i vidit sve ovo je već dovoljno. ALI “mrtvi se na kraju broje” mijenjam taktiku i više ne zabacujem po obližnjim đepovima nego sada svaki zabac gađam najdalje što mogu, vjerujem da će riba koja još nije osjetila brod ipak uzeti. Zbog vjetra često zabacujem u travu umjesto u uski kanal, stalno sam na na krajnjem dometu. Kad pogodim sredinu kanala kanal koji je često uži od 2 metra, odlovim prvih 5 metara onda brzo namotam nazad i zabacim ponovo kako bi uštedio vrijeme. Na taj način znam da lovim samo onaj dio terena “di se još ne vidimo” što vjerujem da mi uvelike povećava šanse. Sad više ni ne stojim na povišenom dijelu broda, ta mjesta sam prepustio dečkima, lovim tako daleko da mi to ionako niš ne znači. I iz te pozicije i dalje vidim da tu i tamo prestrašimo ribu, mali valovi koji u obliku slova “V” odlaze od broda nisu neka fora. A onda vidim jedan veliki, sigurno 4 prsta visok val koji se kreće dijagonalno u odnosu na nas, prema našoj desnoj strani i to na neki 30 m od broda. Ova ne bježi ova jede. Sa laganom montažom koju imam nisam siguran da mogu dobaciti tako daleko pa čekam još sekund. Iako val dolazi prema meni znam da ukoliko budem čekao previše izgubit ću je. Zabacujem najdalje što mogu, gađam otrpilike 2 metra ispred-desno od ribe i pogađam. Nagla dva twicha-stop-GO, namatam i ne vjerujem svojim očima, val skreće. Stanem na kratko, ništa, ubrzam i gledam kako upredenica pada na vodu, namatam u prazno. Nalet adrenalina je nenormalan znam da je uzela mamac i pliva prema meni, namatam još brže i sad je već toliko blizu da vidim kako se veliki redfish okreće od brod sa mojim mamcem u ustima. Kontriram i ne vjerujem, ko da sam aktivirao bombu, vraća se “uzvodno” ko da ni nemam kočnice zatežem je još malo i uživam. Cijelo vrijeme mogu vidjeti tijelo velike prekrasne ribe kako se prevrće, skreće, muti vodu iza sebe, respektabilan i užasno atraktivan borac. Drew ovaj put mora uskočiti sa podmetačem što uspješno i čini…ajme koja sreća, još jedan slam je u džepu (!!) sav put se isplatio a nismo ni počeli.
U sljedećem tekstu opisati ću ribolow na južnofloridski slam tj. na tarpoona, snooka i bonefisha. Do onda možete uživati u video (kojeg ćete pronaći na našem youtube kanalu) sa drugog dana ribolova na Redfisha kad smo ih lovili na kozicu:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNScra_0Reg&t=8s
ENG:
Even though it was only 5:30, I woke up easy. Too easy, considering that I had four planes / flights the day before, traveled almost half of the world and finished the day with too much beer. It all started in New York, not really, it started in Pazin, Croatia, and there was a turning point in New York. There is where I was meeting with my friend from Germany, Gerald, who would be my fishing budy for the rest of the trip. There is also where we find out that our flight is delayed 2 and a half hours, so annoyed by the "path" -we drink, to kill our time until next flight. The same thing continued a few hours later, but now we were already in Jacksonville (FL), in the home of Drew and Betty, superkind people which I meet in Croatia 3 years ago. Then, Drew and his girlfrined, now his wife by the full name Betty White (yes, it's little funny) were guests on my boat on a terrible day of fishing, when we caught absolutely nothing ... "except" friendship ...
From the doorstep, view immediately falls on the fireplace and above it a replica of one of Drew's snook's, I think to myseld “f**k it must be 10 kilos in that fish" (equivalent in importance of the catch and weight is our sea bass). On the right is bar, and above the bar is not a tarpon but a 100+ kg monster. “this one I caught in Tampa Bay, there were bigger ones, but this one was measured for the IGFA record. It's a record for young anglers, which I kept for 5 years” I didnt see that coming - "bravo". We talk and drink for hours, which brings us back to 5:30 am, Drew is knocking on my bedroom door: "your coffee is ready" I'm jumping happily as I've slept for days. I’m here because of redfish, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful fish in the world, I will get my beauty sleep when I come home. So, fast coffee, some leftovers from last night and we headed toward the boat, which is not far. I can see it from my bedroom, literally. We load things up and slowly "drag" ourselves to the main channel where we will continue our trip at full speed for another 40 minutes. I’ts still dark but I can see the wealth that surrounds me, in front of each huge house (that means every house) is a separate dock with a crane only for house owners boat, his large boat, beautiful boat.
We glide along the main channel, which looks more like a river than sea. Dawn spilled over us, overflowing the sky with thousand shades of red and orange, reminding me of our dawns and the miles separating me from home. It's beautiful though it's cold. On the way to our fishing spot, I think about where I really am, how far did my fishing rod took me, and why. While spending time hiding behind a small fridge, which in this case is the only protection against the cold wind.
We're in position. I'll try to explain what "position" means. So the whole Florida is flat, I will say again, "distinctly-totaly-most you can imagine" flat, the highest point cannot really be called a hill. Everything is intertwined with channels the size of the river Sava. To show you how many of these channels there are, imagine going from Zagreb to Rovinj (!!) and from Rovinj other way back to Gospić and from there to Dubrovnik. Multiply everything by 3 and you will get the picture how big is the fishing area is. Then consider that the high tides flood surrounding areas (lawns, forests, fields) and being flooded these areas are the most attractive for fishing. By now, it should be clear what kind of fishing areawe’re talking about. It extends over all of Florida. The plan is: in certain areas with a larger fish activity we exit from the main channel into smaller channels from these smaller channels we turn into even smaller channels from which we turn into narrow and several hundred meters long bays that are often no deeper than 20-30 cm, there is a fish. The largest individuals enter these shallows and feed on dead shrimp and small fish stuck in pockets of water slightly larger than your bathtub. Pushing the boat across the shalows and through the narrow channels was interesting to me, but it is absurd to realize that this is the place where we will catch our big redfish, right here in this bilge. That's how it was until I heard ‘the splash’- "look !!" Gerald shouted. I didn't believe with my eyes, we were standing in a channel no more than 5 meters wide and no more than half meter deep, and 20 meters ahead of us, with half body out of the water, there was a huge redfish trying to land back into the water. "Oh, this is one really hungry." Drew commented. Given the wind, fly fishing was out of the question, so we fished our spinning rods with ruber lures mounted on a weedless hook, the only thing that made sense in this type of terain.
In the past few hours I have already caught a solid size trout, large Flounder (something like our Scophthalmus maximus) which was a luck because they are very rare, especially in this sizes. Everyone on board is aware that by catching good redfish, I have caught northern Florida slam, so of course we are constantly talking about that, what of course creates pressure and nervousness. Florida is far away, and even if I come back who knows if I am gona be able to even see flounder like that again... never mind, until someone mentioned, I didn't even know that this tipe of slam existed. Still, I was going crazy, I didn’t eat or drinking for the rest of the day, however we did not see the big fish again. Every now and then I would see a huge back in super-shallow water then 10 m in front of the boat I see surface waves made by big fish swimming away from the boat. Neither do I know how much casts did I do on some of the fish, and I achieved nothing but different variations of rejection. "Drew, they don't eat" I commented -" The water temperature has dropped drastically in the last few days, these ones are just getting some sun, but it's too late so we will wrap up with this next channel and we'll be back tomorrow with shrimp. Well let's see that, all this is already enough BUT (!) war is not ower yet. I’m changing tactics and I’m not fishing nearby pockets anymore but now I cast all my casts as far as I can, I believe fish that have not felt the boat yet will still eat. Because of the wind I often land in the grass, not in channel infront of us, I am constantly on my max cast. When I hit the middle channel, which is often only 2 meters narrow, I fish my lure for the first 5 meters, then I quickly reel back and I'll throw again to save time. That way, I know that I fish only a part of the water where "we didn't see each other yet", which I believe greatly increase my chances. Now I don't even stand on the elevated part of the boat anymore, I left those places to the boys, I’m fishing so far out that it doesn't mean anything anymore cause you are not able to see so far under the water anyway. And from that position, I can still see scared fish here and there, the small V-shape waves that are going away from the boat are not a fun. And then I saw the one, 4-finger high wave moving diagonally towards us, to our right at around 30m from the boat. This one is not running away from us, this one is eating. I’m using light rod and I'm not sure if I can get that far so I wait a second. Although the wave is coming in our direction I know if I wait too long I will lose my chance. So I throw the furthest I can, about 8 feet in front of the fish and little bit right. Twich-stop-GO and I don't believe my eyes, the wave is turning my way. I pause for a moment, nothing, I accelerate and watch the line fall on the water, no tension on my reel. The adrenaline rush is crazy I know it has taken the bait and she swims towards me, I reel in even faster and now the fish is already so close that I am able to see a big redfish turning from the boat with my bait in her mouth. I set the hook and it was like hooking the rocket, she returned "upstream" like I had no brake at all so I tight her little bit more and rodeo started. All the time, I could see the body of large beautiful fish overturning, flushing and muddying the water, what a fighter!! This time Drew had to help me with the net to land my lady and he did a great job... one more slam is in the pocket (!!) the trip is paid and we haven't even started.
In the following text, I will describe fishing for South Florida slam: tarpoon, snook and bonefish. Until then enjoy the video of our second day of fishing for Redfish, when we were fishing them with live shrimp.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNScra_0Reg&t=8s
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