This week we had down fellow fisherman and longtime friends Jay Mermelstein and John Deutsch. These guys fish the Northeast salt pretty much all season and are veteran fly-fisherman. They have fished many saltwater flats destinations around the world and both were eager to get shots at Permit.
Jay Mermelstein's first Permit
After a somewhat frustrating day one chasing schools of finicky Bonefish, they were able to see there very first Permit on the flats near our home waters. This got the blood pumping for day two to say the least. The Permit were showing on the late morning incoming tide, so day 2 involved casting to tailing Bonefish in the morning, then setting up on the edge of a Permit awaiting the flood tide. Well, it didn't take long to start seeing small schools of Permit move between these two anglers. John had several follows and one short take on his crab pattern, and Jay was able to land a small fish. He spotted several big ones estimated at close to 30 pounds, but the small fish jumped out in front in each case
John "JED" Deutsch with a Belize Permit
On day three it was back to the Permit flats for more shots and the possibility of some larger fish. Within minutes John was hooked up on his first Permit. Great job guys. Again, each school had larger fish, but the small fish made it difficult to reach them.
After the week was over, the guys estimated that they saw close to 300 permit on the flats. It was truly one of those amazing times when the time and tide are right and it puts all of these fish on the flats to feed. Thanks guys, good luck with Stripers in the Northeast this spring!!!
