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The day started off with the sunrise coming up over the Caribbean once again, a little breezier than yesterday but still nice enough. After 30 minutes or so of looking for bonefish, the permit showed up and gave me some good shots but no eats. Probably better off that they didn’t eat as I had my 7 wt. which isn’t the best option for Permit on foot. Blah blah blah.

The day got interesting later as we started the hunt for Permit in the central cayes of the atoll. First drift saw some permit and had some spooky shots at cruising fish. Took a short break during which I broke my 10 wt making stupid casts and nothing. Old’ eagle ray showed up at this point so I made a cast and he ate. I broke it off after 200 yards or so of backing got out rather than bare the pain of an hour-long tug of war at the poor helpless critter.

We ate lunch after that and then the reaming began. Four hours of permit after permit, eating, grubbing, tailing, circling. Coming into the shallows and out on the feed. The light came and went so not all the shots were great, but some were near perfect. I was fishing a 10 wt line on an 11 wt rod in a stiff cross wind, but still managed to get the fly in front of enough fish and follows that it is hard to believe that not one ate my fly. I fished to more eating permit this afternoon than I have my entire life. Not one eat…not one…until at the end of the day on the last cast at what looked like two permit turned out to be 40 bonefish. A fitting end and a lesson learned…Don’t f@#$ with the eagle ray.