The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1941-06-05

you had to do here IN Florida to
catch mess OF fish was climb
into some old clothes, gather up
your tackle and head in most
any direction. for every lake,
stream, bay or bayou teemed with
EN-.
I've always insisted that this
state was the original and only
genuine ''Fishermen's Paradise.
and if / couldn't argue guy into
my way of thinkin' I'd take him
out and PROVE it. The fact is
I've Dragged so much about
Florida fishing over the years
that folks come to me from up
country and say "All right, we're
here to check on you and your
fish stories and you'd better make
good.
That's exactly what happened
to me last week when Vernon
Ramsey from Suffolk, Virginia,
blows in the office and starts
talkin' like a guy from Missouri
he's gotta be shown.
Well, / knew that most of the
lakes around here didn't even
have any water in 'em, let alone
fish, SO | decides not to take any
chances and | takes him down to
Lake Okeechobee. At Bill John
sons camp they tell us the fool
fish have just naturally been
tearin' the lake apart; they've
been strikin' like flock of de-
Tense workers, and BIG ones.
So we rents a boat and kicker.
hires a guide, and we're off to
do battle with the bass. / don't
know about Vernon, but ] per-
sonally made one thousand nine
hundred and sixty-three more or
less perfect casts, harvested a
ton and a half of pepper grass,
and never got fish ONE.
Accordin' to the guide, the
wind was too high and the water
was dirty, but it ought to be all
right in the morning. Well, bein'
suckers for salve and feverish for
fish, we're up before breakfast
and at it again. We slung spoons,
plugs, bucktails, rubber frogs
horsehair mice and other assert
ed hardware from hell to break
fast, whippin' the lake into a
slitherin' foam, and our reward
for all this labor was FOUR
count 'em--four little bass AID
none of 'em old enough to vote
or sprout a whisker. The guide
explained that it was too calm
and the water was too clear
you really need little ripple,
but it ought to be just right late
in the afternoon. M
BY this time Vernon is focusin'
me out of the corner of his eye
and is startin' to humble in his
beard and my red face amt all
chargeable to sunburn.
Hold everything. | says,
beatin' him to the draw. Il got
better idea: well go salt water
fishin'--it amt far to Fl. Myers
and the waters around there are
so full of fish YOU can't cast
without hittin' one-mackerel.
trout, reddish, shook, mango snap
per, tarpon, ladyfish, jacks-and
they'll hit anything.
Bein' a patient and tolerant
guy. Vernon lets his faith in hui
man nature get the better of his
good judgment, and acceptin' my
explanation about cur experience
at Okeeehohee bein' zone of those
things we head for TT. Myers.
| stumbled onto Grover Hack
ney who was with the Conserva-
ton Department for years and
knows more about fishin' than
the guv that wrote the book. He
assured us we'd come to the right
place and tells us where to go to
get the best boat and guide in
/ those parts. We made deal to
60 out the next mornin' and sat
+ Ground the fish camp all that
evenin' Iistenin' to stories about
Florida fish and what they do
until We were fairly pop-eyed.
But you're sure the fish will be
runnin' tomorrow" I asked.
-Runnin'g" he saws. why they
run as consistently as Jerry Car
ter"
Well, the guide was regular
fellow, the beat was honey. and
the weather was perfect This
time I knew we were in the
! groove and on the beaua and q ton
OF fish was nv conservative es-
inmate of what CTR catch should
- FIR the dav hased On only
fifty nercent uf The stories we'd
heard hein' true,
We fsshed 40 stream and down
stream. inside and outside. back.
forth and sideways We used ike
bait ard dead bait. plugs and
plasaicss spoons ard spinners. we
estssed and we prayed ard heIs
the rTuner thgGght--hss ali 10
% avail Al the end a eseht