On the run out, I made the usual stop in calm water for some practice casts. This lets anglers get familiar with the scenario and test sea legs, while I mentally evaluate skill level, before we venture into the choppy ocean. This tiny, but competitive runner easily transitioned from delicate floating trout line to a beefy 9 Wt. RIO Intermediate Striper line, and as soon as we hit the choppy ocean, the albies were there to greet us. We did a lot of bouncing, moving, casting and cleaning of salt crusted sunglasses, and with every pod of fish, she got closer to hooking a fish – this gal had game!
At one point we took a detour from a really crowded albie spot, to an inshore wreck, just five miles off the beach. It had been loaded with Spanish and king mackerel. As I pulled onto the wreck another friend/guide was landing a king caught on live bait. This was a great opportunity to try something different. It was also a much slower way of fishing, allowing us to talk more and not just me barking orders. I pulled out a Sage xi3 9wt. teamed with a 300 grain RIO Leviathan. I gave a quick demonstration on how to cast and feed line, and then turned it over to her.
