May is here and I’m packing up and heading north to Florida for
the rest of the season. Usually I stay in Puerto Rico until
June, but this year the tarpon are showing up early around Pine
Island and my wife and dog are already up there waiting for me.
So it’s farewell to Vieques a little early this year.
Once again Capt. Franco Gonzalez will have sole custody of the
bonefish here on the island. For those of you who don’t know
him, Capt. Franco was the first, and for several years only,
full time fly fishing guide here on Vieques. He started the
Caribbean Fly Fishing Co. over ten years ago and introduced the
bonefish of Puerto Rico to the angling public. One particular
angler he made a big impression on was me.
Back in the summer of 2004 I was just finishing up my ninth
tarpon season in Key West and I wasn’t happy. The wind had been
blowing a solid twenty knots since New Year’s and didn’t stop
until right after my last charter headed home. Just spotting a
fish in those churned up conditions was a minor victory on some
days. In addition, the number of guides working around Key West
had practically tripled from the previous decade. Even if you
could find a good spot out of the wind, someone else was usually
there already. I wanted out of the Keys and Vieques was the most
likely candidate at the time.
I knew I wanted to live on this island before the wheels of the
Twin Islander even touched the runway. Mile after mile of
shoreline and no other charter boats except Capt. Franco‘s. I
envied the hell out of the guy and I hadn’t even spoken to him
yet. And truthfully, I was afraid of actually doing that. Franco
had something down here that was completely unheard of up in
Florida. Absolutely no competition.
When I first got started in Key West there were about twenty
five full time guides and some of them welcomed me like the news
of a tumor. One notable veteran threatened me with a serious
beating after I got too close to him on a big tarpon flat. I
apologized profusely back at the dock and then pointed out to
this particular vodka-sponge that I was twenty years younger and
twenty pounds heavier than he was, and I‘m not a very big guy
for starters. We settled on an uneasy truce after that and I
never crowded him again. Petty little guide-wars were just
another part of the Key West landscape and I quickly got sick of
them. But what would it be like down here on Vieques where there
was no guide community, and only Franco to contend with?
I got the answer on my second trip to Vieques when I spent a
month down here looking at real estate, fishing from shore, and
asking everyone who knew him if Franco would tolerate another
guide fishing alongside him. I finally worked up the nerve to
call him on my next to last day of that trip and book a charter.
I decided on the phone to spill my guts and tell Franco that I
was another guide hoping to move to Vieques and start running
trips in a few months. I braced myself for a barrage of Spanish
profanity but instead got a very measured response of, “Well,
thanks for telling me that.”
So long story short: Franco took me out the next day, showed me
the entire south side of Vieques, including his two most
productive tarpon bays, and hooked me into my first Puerto Rican
bonefish within five minutes of stepping onto his favorite flat
in Ensenada Honda. I put a deposit on a house later that day.
Capt. Franco Gonzalez had the island of Vieques to himself and
could have said “No way, Gringo. Don’t even think of stepping on
my toes down here.” A lot of other guides would have done
exactly that, but Franco didn’t. He did the exact opposite and I
can’t thank him enough for it.
Over the next few years we saw a big increase in tourism on
Vieques and two boats were a necessity on several occasions when
groups of anglers would visit. Our guide services complimented
each other for the most part and Amanda and I have really
benefited from having Capt. Franco as a friend down here.
So once again I’m handing my share of our Vieques bonefish back
to their original owner until next year. They’ll be in great
hands. Capt. Franco Gonzalez is a not only a rock solid fly
fishing guide but a true conservationist and the perfect
ambassador for the flats of our island. If you’re coming to
Vieques anytime soon and want a perfect day on the water just
give him a call at (787)450-3744.
Tight lines, Franco. See you soon.
Capt. Gregg McKee,
WildFly Charters
