Eye of the dolphin

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

What’s for dinner? Before I answer my own question, let me explain ...

Early one morning last week, I was fly-fishing the banks of the Intracoastal Waterway in search of trout. I started with a top-water fly, but when that didn’t produce, I went to deeper water (dropoffs), and used a weighted fly and an intermediate fly line. An intermediate fly line has a slow sink rate. The combination of the fly and line allows you to present your offering at deeper depths.

As I proceeded to fish, I noticed an unusual amount of dolphins in the Intracoastal that morning, likely because of the abundance of bait. After watching some of them explode on the bait, they seemed to move on their way. A few minutes later, I hooked into my first trout of the day.

It was about 23 inches long — a feisty fish that didn’t want to come to the boat. While it was putting up a fight, I noticed over my shoulder on the opposite side of the boat about 10 feet away that there was a dolphin hanging around. The trout had taken me under the boat a couple of times and then headed back out to open water. When I finally got the trout to the side of the boat, I looked over, and the dolphin was still there. It was acting anxiously.

When I reached down and grabbed hold of the leader to lift the fish on the boat, the fish shook its head and flopped off the hook. (I crush the barbs on my flies to make for easy hook removals.)

As soon as this happened, I looked over my shoulder to see where the dolphin was, and before I had a chance to turn my head, there was a huge explosion in the water where the trout had been. I was in awe at how fast that dolphin swam under my boat and how it seemed to know exactly when the trout came off the hook.

Bon appétit, Mr. Dolphin!

Manatee zone update
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is still deliberating whether to make the three miles south of the State Road 100 bridge a no-wake zone. This is all because of manatees, even though there is less than one manatee death per year.

I believe in conservation, but this is wrong considering the small amount of navigable water we have here in Flagler County. It seems animals have more rights than humans nowadays. Boaters and fishermen should get involved. Let the FWC know what you think about this matter before it’s too late.