Fishing, east coast style

The last two days I was on a business trip in the Palm Beach area of Florida. Knowing I would be around a lot of water, I left my two-piece rod and reel in the car in case a fishing opportunity should arise.

That moment came on Tuesday when I was in-between appointments and had an hour to kill. I was in Juno Beach proper, and decided to take the highway out toward the beach. Along the way, I came across a mangrove lagoon in John D. MacArthur Beach State Park:


The water was about 3 feet deep all the way across, and I could see fish hitting the water all over the place.

I parked my car, pulled out my gear, and walked over to the lagoon. On my first cast, I watched a large trout swim up to my Yo-zuri, take a sniff, then turn away. My heart almost stopped.

Several casts later, I hooked up with a trout, but like always, just as it got close, it came to the surface and threw the hook. I don't know what it is about me and trout, but I can't land a trout to save my life!

I did get one more hard hit from a trout, but couldn't make the connection.

I was a little disappointed at not being able to land the trout, which would have been my first east coast catch in Florida, but getting an hour of fishing in a foreign land was still nothing to complain about.