I had just shut the engine off and was getting the push pole chocks when i hear Chuck, a little excited, call out "there's a fish, there's another fish, ooooh, there's fish everywhere"! I still don't have sunscreen on my feet but i hop up on the poling platform and try to get Chuck into position. By the time i get up there, oriented and pole to the bottom, fish are scurrying every direction. If we were seeing fish here, then their would be plenty of chances. I told Chuck to take a breath and i would get him on to some fish that we hadn't run up on and were not so spooked.

Chuck is Chuck Burges. You guys know him as Didya Getny. Chuck takes fly fishing for rough fish as serious as i do and that makes for a great companion on the water. He also likes to stop down to enjoy little things like birds flying by, pretty flowers on the shoreline and wildlife. We get along just fine.

Once we settled in and started spotting fish we hadn't run up on with the boat Chuck got a shot at a couple of Drum that followed the fly to the boat without eating. They seemed interested enough, just not enough to pull the trigger. I made a suggestion to strip a little faster on the next fish, try to trigger a strike. Chuck took the advice and the next Drum crashed the fly. Sometimes i get lucky and sound like i know what I'm talking about. The Drum wasn't as big as i had hoped for, maybe three pounds. In the deeper, cooler water, it fought like a champ though. I had hoped to get Chuck into a Drum close to ten pounds. I have seen them at this place this time of year but, not today. We moved on down along the shoreline and, after taking a shot at a really big Gar that wasn't interested, Chuck unconsiously let the fly sink to the bottom. once our hearts settled down a little from seeing that size of a gar swim by Chuck lifted the rod and was hooked up. With a fish, not the bottom, as you might suspect. Turned out to be a Carp, and a dandy one at that. I told Chuck a fish is a fish but i know he thinks like i do. If you don't spot the fish and sight cast to it, it doesn't count. Might as well be poaching. Thats one of many things i like about Chuck. He understands the unwritten rules about being a sportsman - they're important.

After a few more "no takers", we cranked up and ran to another one of my Drum flats. I handed Chuck my seven weight with a streamer that i tie specifically for Drum, still hoping to get Chuck tied into a big one. It wasn't a big one but the Drum devoured the streamer, the kind of eat that makes you think of Redfish. Chuck brought him to the boat for a quick photo and back the fish went. There was not many Drum and no Carp on this stretch. I was a little disappointed. This flat usually holds more and bigger fish. But Chuck got a Drum and that's worth something. We finished poling the little flat out when we came across a gar that was laid up in some grass, just below the surface. Chucks made a cast and i guaranteed him that fish would not eat. Chuck slid the fly almost on top of the fish's nose and it snapped the fly up like it was mad at it. Chuck set the hook and i gave a half - hearted apology.

After that, Chuck told me he wanted to try for a Carp - properly. I cranked the engine and we ran to a nearby flat that Chuck and I both know well. Chuck has fished it from his micro skiff for a few years and I have fished it from my jon boat for a couple decades. We were running short on time, Chuck had to get home early. We got a few shots at some Carp but the flat just seamed to be over run with Buffalo. I don't think that had anything to do with it but the Carp just did not seem interested in a fly at all. We ran out of time without getting to experiment with different fly patterns and presentations. But, that was ok. We hadn't set out to get a rough fish slam and falling a little short wasn't going to bother either one of us. As a matter of fact, we didn't even talk about it. The more important thing was that we got to spend some time together in a place we really like, doing something we really like. And i can promise you, Chuck Burges is welcome aboard my skiff anytime.

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Good story and great read.

Thank you sir, I appreciate it.
You got any big trips planned?

Nice!

Love this. You got not one, but two, big smiles out of Chuck. And I'm sure there were plenty to go around. That, in and of itself, is a great day!!

Jeff titled this post Hat Trick but I would have called it Drum School. Because I got schooled on all things Drum.

Drum are worthy fish. I know that. They can be very aggressive and put up a great fight. But when I stepped on the bow of Jeff’s boat and he says he wants to put me on some drum, I’m thinking ‘now just exactly how you gonna do that?’. Put me on some carp, ok I get that……put me on some buffalo, there’s zillions of them on the flats……but put me on some drum? Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I was thinking the endeavor wasn’t worthy but the concept of specifically targeting drum had never even occurred to me. Fortunately, my response to Jeff was, “okay”.

We chatted over the noise of the outboard as we ran from the ramp to Jeff’s first spot. He kills the motor and we drift forward bleeding off our momentum. I step up onto the casting platform, take a look………and there’s fish everywhere. Three targets are close and I select the closest for my first shot. I strip some line, take the shot but the fly slides by without enticing a strike. Meanwhile, Jeff is hustling to grab the push pole, climb up on the poling platform and slow our progress before we spook the pod. As it turned out, the first shot was the only shot as we drifted into them before Jeff could get us under control. No problem because clearly we were in the right area and we would certainly find more fish. And we did.

Over the next couple of hours, I was blown away by Jeff’s knowledge of drum. I already knew of his prowess for carp, and photography for that matter. But drum?

As Jeff said, we didn’t exactly kill it that afternoon but we did kill it in terms of having a great outing. And regarding the large gar that Jeff mentioned above, we were in 4 or 5 feet of water (couldn’t see the bottom) and I stood there and made repeated casts dragging the fly in front of the fish’s nose but it wasn’t having any of it. As we watched it swim off, I had allowed my fly to sink to the bottom. I lifted my rod tip to retrieve and sure enough a really nice carp was attached. I turned and looked at Jeff and he had this look on his face like “what the…….”. I laughed and said “no, I didn’t see that fish”. We both got a kick out of it though.

Folks, I’m here to tell you, Jeff is the real deal. When it comes to anything one might encounter on the flats, Jeff has got it down. I’m sure there are others as good but I doubt very many are better. We had a great day on his boat and I feel privileged to have been invited aboard. I hope this was just the first of many many days of chasing the rough fish with Jeff!

There’s no doubt about it he is the flat master of Ray Bob and any other flats I’ve seen decades of photos that we have gone through with Jeff of flats fishing both salt and freshwater that’s awesome glad y’all had a great trip!!!May the memories be everlasting.

Awesome post.