Tour De Force

Three light-tackle anglers and their sage captain were looking for big kingfish about 60 miles northwest of Key West at a spot in the Gulf that sometimes produces magic, but they couldn’t conjure a single king. That’s fishing. Still, we were having a good time catching flag yellowtail snapper when a nice amberjack appeared in the chum slick.

Capt. Robert R.T. Trosset judiciously tossed the fish a few live pilchards to keep it interested while Rufus Wakeman got his fly rod ready. Wakeman presented a large streamer to the fish, which showed no interest in the offering. Wakeman removed the fly from the water, and Trosset went to work. He squeezed a couple of pilchards between his thumb and forefinger to stun the baits before feeding them to the amberjack.

The fish ate the dazed snacks without hesitation. Then the captain pinched the life out of a few more and, finally, coaxed the fish into eating dead baits. Only then did he have Wakeman try again. The fish took the fly without wavering, and Wakeman was fast to his personal-best amberjack, which weighed about 30 pounds.

“It sounds easy, but it takes a real knack to that day. “R.T.’s got the teasing and feeding down to an art form.”