David Siskind | Sunday, 28 June 2026
Pardon my brevity this week. I’ve got to get up early to fish tomorrow. I’m in Florida and the tarpon are tough. I'm getting my shots and have blown very few. Nevertheless, I’ve gotten nothing but swings and misses or outright refusals, some with extreme prejudice. Tarpon are great teachers. They’re big enough to be easy to see behind your fly and they are expressive. If nothing else I’ve improved my ability to stay in contact with an accurately placed fly and to converse with my fishy friends rather than just trying to catch up to where they are. More than just swimming a fly past their noses.. My consolation as I write is that my new skills are widely portable and that I’ll have another whack at it tomorrow.
My new club arrived in LA Monday and before heading for Florida I started to learn the basic movements - pullovers, shield casts, swings and mills. They do seem to apply directly to casting a fly. Tuesday I worked with my crab and sinking line combination. I applied the shield cast movement with good results. Actually the reverse shield cast - it helped me power a Belgian cast forward over my off-shoulder. The movement has worked for me as well on the bow of the skiff here in Sarasota. If this stuff has legs, I’ll say why and will post the best applicable videos I can find.
Also, just to follow up, my elbow surgery is healing nicely though my full rehabilitation may take months. We’ll see.
Tonight I joined my guide and tarpon professor Brian and his lovely family at a local pizza palace. We did it last year and I hope we can make it a tradition.
So for now I’ll beat a hasty retreat to get some sleep. Big day tomorrow.
Cheers,
David Siskind