Fishing the Flats

Don't make me hurt you get out and fish

A full day of fishing (mostly looking) and saw a lot of fish.  I had a good day everything worked and I was able to get the set ups I wanted.  Casting was better today.  Today' issue was painful ribs.  I believe I hurt something while repairing the yak, very painful but what the heck.

I did catch my first unguided Florida flats fish on the fly, very small but hopefully it is a start.  My waterproof camera is no longer working so no pictures but the fish was small but the views were magnificent.

Moving down to Big Pine Key tomorrow (Wednesday).  Lots of good spots on the fishing chart!!

Kayak Issues resolved back to fishing

I had some issues with the kayak yesterday which caused some problems in moving around and resulted it in not being able to get the boat in place to fish.  Also the wind continues to take it toll.

Took most of this morning to fix the yak.  All seems ok now.  I got out in the afternoon with my 12 wt.  I got to my spot and the wind was 20 mph and 5 knot current ( the wrong way) and I could not get into position.  I drifted out into the Bay and practiced casting with the big stick.  Used the trolling motor to go home and went for a 45 minutes run.  It is almost impossible to catch a tarpon on the fly in the flats from a kayak.  I will try again tomorrow.

Ironman has taken over as coach and kayak mechanic.

You need to tighten up the rudder 

The transducer need to be glued in properly to work

Ok this is looking better

I want you to get lower into these bars when you ride

View form the back of the camper

My uncle Jerry reflecting on the sunset

The sunset

Windy Keys

"You can't handle the truth...."

The wind blew fairly hard yesterday and it was cold (FL terms).  I drove over to the pool but it was closed due to the weather.  Went for a nice run.  Too windy (cross winds on the bridges) to ride the bike.
Here are some photos it was too windy for the birds to fly.

A Grassy Key No-Fly Zone

The boat ramp!!

Hangin' in the Keys

"Get out there you wuzzy"

No fishing here yet yesterday I did a long bike ride and mile swim.  I rode up to a public pool about 30 miles and got caught in a big storm.  I got the swim in right before the lightening alarms went off.  I got a ride about half way back.  A good adventure riding in all that cross wind on a tri-bike!!  It is quite windy today so I head back to the pool (by car!!) and a run.  My mom gave me an ironman action figure to take on the trip to keep me company above is a picture of him hanging out in the camper. Below are some shots from the campsite:

This guy looks my uncle Jerry

Ah...The Keys at last.

I arrived at Grassy Key yesterday afternoon.  I few days early but I decided to bag camping at Flamingo (too many bad reports of bugs at the campsite) and come down here.  I will be in the Keys for about 11 days.  Today is all about catching up and some nice training.

Training Update

For those of you interested in the Ironman training aspect here is the update.  It is has been a bit difficult to train but so far I have gotten in 2 bikes rides of about 2 hours each and several runs in the 30-45 min range and one short swim.

I am now in the FL Keys and I will be able to train more regularly for the next 2 weeks.  The goal by the end of March is to be up to 3-4 hours on the bike and 1-1/2 hours running and to maintain my swimming at 2-2 1/2 hours.I have completely given up on maintaining any respectable pace and just trying to maintain a fitness level.

Fatigue is becoming a major factor as the effects of the hormone treatment kick in full force.  This is shaping up to be the most difficult physical event of my life.  I hope I can hang in there.

(For Marc, Hope and Tracy) Stretching and TRX have also been difficult to get to, but I am getting back on track and I am generally OK so far.  I miss my treatments and Pilate's!!

Me,my kayak and I

Yikes!! 4 days and three nights on a desolate island in the Gulf of Mexico.  No water, electricity or even a porta-potty.  However I did start catching some fish on the fly rod small (too small to even take pictures) but it is a start.  It was also interesting to spend some quality time with myself.  I did have some adventures like kayaking back 3 miles against the wind, tide and 3 foot waves.  Oh and I fell off the kayak while in a small lagoon no problem I got back on quickly and then yes I saw a very large bull shark cruise by the yak (nice!!).  Each night my campsite was assaulted by a tribe of wild raccoons trying to steal my food and water.  OK here are a bunch of pictures :