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Tony Petrella and John Gospodarek offer fishing in Florida and Montana. Fishing in Florida is great, but Tony Petrella and John Gospodarek have the best of three worlds: Michigan, Montana, and the Sunshine State.
They’re industrious guides who spend part of each year fishing the fertile waters of Charlotte Harbor’s backcountry, and the rest of the year in Michigan and Montana.
Petrella, a flyfishing industry rep for several companies, also guides on the Au Sable River and other waters in northern Michigan. Gospodarek guides on the Madison River in West Yellowstone, Mont. They joined forces to form Tight Loops Flyfishing. Both love flyfishing. Petrella, who lives part-time in Venice, is a trout enthusiast who loves to cast for brown trout and brookies in Michigan streams.
Gospodarek, who resides part-time near Port Charlotte, grew up in New Hampshire, but has fished all over the east. He headed west and fell in love with the Madison’s fast water and large trout-especially the browns. But Florida’s saltwater species were enough to make them earn their captain’s licenses and set up shop.
“It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time,” said Petrella, who resides on the Au Sable River near Gaylord, Mich. “I’d like to get off the road, and this is a way to do it.” Plus, I’m always having to take clients fishing. It’s something that’s quite natural to me.”
Petrella runs a 16-foot Hewes skiff. Gospodarek operates a 21-foot Kenner. Both boats fare well in the inshore Gulf of Mexico and shallow Charlotte Harbor backcountry. According to Petrella, the fishing has been good in the area for the past couple months. “We’ve been getting plenty of trout, redfish, and snook,” he said. “The fish have been eating.”
Flyfishing is a sport that experienced a rapid growth in the early 1990s, then leveled off. Still, more people than ever are enjoying the activity. Just about any fish that swims in salt water can be taken on a fly. In addition to trout, redfish and snook, flyfishers catch tarpon, pompano, permit, bonefish, cobia, Spanish mackerel, kingfish, little tunny, amberjack, ladyfish, jack crevalle, flounder, and others. And all but bonefish can be taken in local waters.
On a recent outing at Captiva Pass, Petrella and Gospodarek targeted tarpon. “It’s a little early in the season, but there are a few fish here,” Petrella said. “We’ll give them a try and see what happens.”Their angler, using a 12-weight fly rod, floating line and Purple Death fly, cast into the incoming tide, let the fly sink and began retrieving in short, slow strips. Nothing happened until he switched to an intermediate line. Three casts later, a 40- to 50-pound tarpon inhaled the fly.
“There he is!” Gospodarek yelled. “I saw him take the fly.” The angler set the hook, then waited for the tarpon to make a move. Rather than making a run, the fish decided to jump. And when it did, it managed to shake the hook. “That’s the way it goes,” Petrella said. “But that’s worth it just to jump one.”
Another hour of casting resulted in nothing. Few fish were showing, and it was time to try something different. After dropping Gospodarek off at a ramp in Placida, Petrella and his angler headed for a series of flats in Pine Island Sound. The largest trout they nabbed on this outing went about 18 inches, but they did catch a feisty pompano. All fish were taken on a Commissioner Johnson fly tied by Petrella. “It’s John’s design,” he said. “He named it after his brother-in-law.” “The trout and pompano didn’t care. They just liked to eat it.
Tied on a No. 2 hook, the fly features small lead eyes tied atop the No. 2 hook just behind the eye, a gold Estaz body and a wing of gold Flashabou. “Simple, but it works,” Petrella said.
Petrella and Gospodarek will stay through tarpon season, then head north and west for a summer of casting for trout. In addition, Petrella, an avid bird hunter, offers “cast and blast” trips that combine trout and salmon fishing with hunting for grouse and woodcock. Some guys just have it made. Taken from the Herald-Tribune, Sunday, May 5, 2002
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