When I started in sales nearly 26 years ago, one of the things that attracted me was the flexibility that the profession provided. The income potential was obviously a draw as well, but being empowered to run my “business” was a tremendous pull. As a sales leader, from time to time I get the opportunities to take time off when others can’t. We often refer to PTO as “Pretend Time Off” instead of paid time off. <grin> This past week I had the chance to exploit that flexibility if only for a half day.

Several years ago, I told my amazing wife (who is an extremely competitive and tournament winning angler) that I thought the pinnacle of all fishing was fly fishing. The challenge of not only sight fishing, but being capable of fooling a predator in to eating a hook with feathers tied on it was something I was dying to try. The incredible Vimeo video, “Riding High: A Season on the Fly” of chasing Tarpon from the Keys to the panhandle of Florida only served to stoke the fire in me that has never died. For my 50^th birthday, my aforementioned amazing wife and favorite angling partner took me on a surprise trip to Andros Island in the Bahamas. If you have never had the chance to visit Kamalame Cay, you owe it to yourself to get there. After our first day of catching bonefish, our guide allowed me the chance to give it a go with the buggy whip. After a long fight with a 1.5lb bonefish, he declared that I was without a doubt, “the worst fly caster” he had ever seen and I had done EVERYTHING wrong. When he took the rod from my hands and double hauled the entire mainline out after a few false casts, all the while talking and instructing me, my wife’s eyes were as wide as I had ever witnessed as she experienced the grace and beauty of a master at work with the tool of his trade.

When I first read this quote from Lefty Kreh 4 years ago…” We used to practice on Tampa Bay redfish to catch bonefish in the Keys, now we practice on bonefish in the Keys to catch Tampa Bay redfish”, I knew that was a bucket list Big Hairy Audacious Goal that I had to pursue. On a one day after the full moon, super low negative tide, my good friend and exceptional angler and teacher, Captain C.A. Richardson put me on a school of redfish. Now it was all up to me. In a steady 15 to 20mph wind, my expectations were low. C.A. not only knows how to quietly stalk fish in his Hell’s Bay Marquesa, he is by far the most patient Captain and teacher I have ever had the pleasure of fishing with. When the first small redfish took my fly, I am not certain if I was more surprised or he was! <grin>.

With the incoming tide, the redfish school made its way back and forth along the trough we were in. Not having enough water to push up on the flat, we felt like we would get several more shots. Patience has never been a big suit of mine. An interesting fact considering how much I love fishing. I have never witnessed someone with as much drive as C.A. and the ability to deploy as much patience as he does. He coached me through several mistakes I was making and his positive attitude is a magnet that makes you want to steal every tip and piece of advice that you can glean. After missing a redfish that picked up my fly, the patience paid off. Casting in to the wind to a school that had eased past us, my best redfish on fly was coming to the boat.

I certainly would never disagree with the legendary Lefty Kreh. However, I do know that in the presence of a Master teacher, anything is possible.