World Angling

Here's a nice little ditty for your Sunday morning. I LOVE the flat calm conditions shown here. It's not only beautiful, but very relaxing to fish in. I know that a lot of folks hate fishing in flat water because it's easier for the fish to see you, but this guy loves it.

I didn't know that the guy from The Hangover fly fishes for tarpon.....



If you're like me and want to see who the World Angling guys are, check this out...I just need to know if they've got an extra couch for me to sleep on....hell with the couch, I just need a corner for me and my Thermarest.

Inane Randomness

I'm still bummed that I missed out on Lamb of God and Shadows Fall yesterday at Mayhem Fest, You'll have that when you're spending all your time fishing I guess....

The Tampa Bay Rays have lost 5 in a row and their team batting average is in the .100's but they're still only 1 game back from the division lead.

Bonefish & Tarpon Trust Director of Operations, and personal favorite fly fishing ninja and author, Dr. Aaron Adams, was interviewed by online fishing blog GoFISHn about the current state of the tarpon fishery. More importantly, the interview lists precautions that all anglers can take to reduce harm to tarpon while practicing catch and release.

Don't forget to listen to Kayak Fishing Radio tomorrow night (Thursday) at 8pm Eastern for all the goodness related to kayak fishing. I may or may not be a guest on tomorrows show due to a previous engagement, but one never knows. You know how people can be.

The Legend Of 2 O'Clock Charlie

There's something in the water here...the makings of an angling legend of epic proportions.

We call him 2 O'Clock Charlie - He usually hits right around 2 O'Clock...when we're on our way back in.

Recently, almost every time that I've been fishing out at Sand Key, someone has a run in with a large fish - either a big snook or a tarpon - that manages to break the line or straighten a hook....tow around the guy who hooked it. We always seem to run into him in 8-10 feet of water. I've seen it several times and it's right around the length of a yardstick.

Last Sunday, it was on a DOA Shrimp with 10lb Power Pro. I thought I had him, but he broke off when I tried to tighten the drag down too much.

Give it some time and it'll be 8 feet long, have teeth like sabres, and has 3 heads. If you fell out of your 'yak, he'd swallow ya whole.

2 O'clock Charlie, Why do you torture me so.....

Weekend Update - A Close Call

Wow! Hard to believe I haven't posted or written anything in a week. It's not that I haven't been fishing. I have been. I've taken a bit of a break due to un-birthday parties, busy at work, and other things.

Since I have off every Friday in July, I've been taking full advantage of my 3 day weekends. Friday, I went to the always popular Sand Key to "the spot" and fished the outgoing tide for a while on some deep flats. Large needlefish were harrassing my lures and flies, so I caught one and turned it into chum....next thing I know, my 12 weight is SCREAMING with that sound every fly fisherman wants to hear....Zeeeeeeee....zeee...zeee....

An 80 lb tarpon took off at light speed across the deep flat towing me along with it....leapt clear of the water twice before rolling over and seperating line from leader....A black and red Keys style fly with holographic dome eyes was the ticket. Didn't even see it before it started taking off with it.

Kayaking Hangover And The Silver Kings

After fishing all day Friday and Saturday, by the time I was crawling up the beach with kayak in hand Saturday afternoon and sleeping the rest of the weekend away, on Monday, I was suffering the kayaking hangover.

Not like a drinking hangover where you're swearing you'll never drink again. The refreshing, relaxed, my hand feels like it weighs 300 lbs, I'm too tired to write sort of tiredness.

Friday Morning, I met Keith at Sand Key at first light. The tide was dead low and just starting to turn. We headed out of the Pass and worked along the rock jetty. When we go to the end of the jetty, there was a HUGE school of threadfin shad. The next thing I saw was a pod of tarpon about 60 yards away, headed in our direction. My plan was to hold within casting range of the threadfins (which were holding roughly in the same place) and wait for the tarpon to start feeding on them.

The tarpon approached the school....and kept going. I pulled my anchor and started paddling after them as fast as I could. They must have had other things on their minds....and managed to keep just out of range.

A while later, we got on a school of black sea bass. They were undersized but fun to catch.

Saturday morning, met up with Keith and Pettay. Same spot, but we paddled over to W island. Caught a few trout with Keith getting a really nice 20 inch specimen.

The was a school of bait right where we were fishing and a boat full of less than scrupulous folks decided to kick us off our spot in order to catch said bait....why do people have to be such douche bags?

It was a beautiful few days of fishing.....

Crabs To Yield Bigness

I'll be on the water by the time you're reading this, but thought I'd share.

Every full moon during the summer, tarpon swim out hundreds of miles offshore to spawn. Right before the full moon, they like to eat a lot for their journey...to fuel up, as it were. This time of year, large numbers of swimming crabs are sucked out of the passes on the outgoing tide. Crabs happen to be one of the tarpons favorite things to chow down on....

I hope these crabs will help me on my quest....

2 inch Gulp Peeler Crab

Location X and Keys Style Flies

Big Eye Hommassasa Deceiver

Tarpon Killer X 2 - Ego Vs Common Sense

This sickening story came across Twitter today via Skate The Fly blog. Apparently, this guy likes to kill huge adult tarpon and try to get his name in the IGFA.

Anyone who knows the odds of a larvae far out at sea growing into adults like these wouldn't even think about killing one.

Disgusting. You should be ashamed Tom Evans and Capt. Al Dopirak....

Gordons Stiff Worm

In honor of the Atlantic Palolo Worm Hatch going on in the Keys over Memorial Day weekend and I'm not there to be a part of it, I'll post this fly pattern I found on Saltwater Fly Fishing Magazine

Materials
HOOK: Gamakatsu SL12 1/0 (silver) or Owner Aki 1/0 (black)
THREAD: White, flat waxed
BODY: White fish hair
COLOR: "Clay Rose" #137 Prismacolor marker
FINISH: Silicone (Goop) and two-part epoxy

Step 1: Cover hook shank with thread base, and snell leader onto hook with approximately 8 to 12 wraps (depending on line diameter). This is more wraps than necessary for knot integrity, but a huge snell knot imitates well a worm's upper head. The rings of the knot are almost identical to the worm's bumps, with the same light, translucent look. Furthermore, the knotless appearance of snelling also helps tremendously with picky fish. I try to use silver hooks on light bottom situations and a black Owner hook over grass.

Step 2: Layer on white fish hair. I don't think brand is important, but different types absorb the color from the marker differently. Layering the fish hair rather than clumping it all on at once simply adds to the fly's durability.

Step 3: Color the upper layers only, as the worms have light bellies.

Step 4: Silicone the material into a straight form and allow to dry (at least one hour).

Step 5: Epoxy over the hardened silicone body, including a light coat over the back of the knot. I have tried using only silicone, and I have tried using only epoxy. Silicone alone gets mushy, and epoxy alone is too heavy and hard to work with, and it distorts the color. The combination has served me well and adds to the translucent look.

I wish I could be there for this, but you can just bet that you could cross 7 Mile Channel stepping boat to boat and never get your feet wet....

Interview with Aaron Adams

For those of you who don't know of him, Aaron Adams is a fly fishing marine biologist.... or marine biologist who fly fishes. He also writes books, which I highly recommend.

Here is an excerpt of his formal bio from his website (I tend to like the informal one better though) -

"Aaron holds Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in marine and environmental science, in addition to a Captain’s license, and has studied marine fish ecology throughout his professional career. A life-long angler, Aaron had the great fortune of cutting his fly fishing teeth on the flats of the Virgin Islands, while working there as a fish biologist."

This gentleman flat out knows fish, knows fly tying, and I would advise you to read his books, articles, and anything else you can find if you're remotely interested in becoming a better saltwater fly fisher.

Aaron is also Executive Director of Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, where the Mission Statement is:
"We support education, conservation, and research to help understand, nurture, and enhance healthy bonefish, tarpon, and permit population.
We serve as a repository of information and knowledge related to the life cycle, behavior, and well being of the species.
We support research and the gathering of information related to the condition of these fisheries as well as their behavior and life cycles.We provide educational materials to fishermen and the public.
We work with regulatory authorities and the public to assure the passage and enforcement of laws protecting these species.
We interact with government agencies to assist in the management and regulations related to bonefish, tarpon, and permit".

Tarbone.org and Aaron Adams are also involved with the new Pirates of the Flats series on ESPN2, featuring Tom Brokaw and Michael Keaton.

Without further ado, Dr. Aaron Adams.....(APPLAUSE)

Q. I often wonder why snook don’t pay attention to any of the flies that I present to them under dock lights at night and often times on a flat .This is including all sorts of presentations to not spook the fish. They tend to just ignore, not spook. Is there a scientific explanation for this? Do they really only eat when they feel like it as opposed to when they see an opportunity like largemouth bass?

A. If I knew the answer to that one, I’d be rich! You might be surprised, but largemouth can be selective, too. There are a lot of reasons that a fish might not eat – whether a fly, lure, or bait. Weather, tidal stage, time of day, predators nearby, etc. Some of what I think are at the top of the list of why they might not eat are below. Sometimes the fish are keyed in on a specific prey, and don’t seem interested in anything else. This is probably a big reason for those snook under the lights at night. They are often focused on very small prey, so only small flies (size 6 or even 8) will do the trick. Other times, I;ve found these nightlight snook to be focused on larger prey like scaled sardines, and other times on shrimp. Sometimes it takes a few lights and multiple flies to find the right one for that night. Other times they seem to be aggressive toward anything that moves. I find this is most common at dawn and dusk and during fall, when they put on the feedbag some days as they get ready for the cool water temperatures of winter. Also, it takes hours for fish like snook to digest prey, so if you happen to fish for them in the few hours after they ate heavily, they might not be hungry. In Florida, I think a lot of the snook response to flies and lures (and even bait) is due to the fishing pressure. Whenever I see fish just ignore a fly or actively swim around it, my first thought is that they are pressured fish. If you have a chance to fish for snook in Central America or some of the Caribbean islands, where they see less angler pressure, they tend to be more aggressive to the fly. Same with largemouth – the fishing on an unpressured lake or river is 99% of the time going to be much better than in an area that receives fishing pressure. Same for trout, bonefish, etc. That’s one reason I think it’s so important for anglers to fish carefully and responsibly – spooking the fish by fishing poorly is just as likely to ‘educate’ the fish as actually catching them.

Q. When you have those days where the fish won’t cooperate, do you ever toss something off the wall just to see if it’ll interest them?

A. Of course. Although sometimes I’m accused of tying flies that are kind of like that anyway. My tying philosophy is to try to figure out characteristics of prey that cause a gamefish to try to eat them, and to incorporate those characteristics into my flies. On days when the fish are not in an eating mood, I go through my fly box and try flies that have different characteristics, whether it’s motion, color, profile, sound, or size. The fish have to think the fly is food, so even if we think the fly is ‘off the wall’, it has to represent something they think is worthwhile to pursue. You can read a lot more about my fly tying philosophy on my web site www.fishermanscoast.com.

Q. I’ve read your book Fly Fisherman’s Guide To Saltwater Prey, which I really like and refer to it often and I’m currently reading Fisherman’s Coast which I should have read a lot sooner. Any plans to write another book in the near future?

A. I’m happy to hear that you like the books. Fisherman’s Coast is temporarily out of print while I negotiate with the publisher on reprint rights, etc. I expect that will be resolved and a new printing will be out in early 2010. Saltwater Prey is still in stock, so should remain available for a while. I’ve had the pleasure of talking to many guides and anglers who have told me that the books changed the way they fished, which is fantastic. The goal of the books was to persuade saltwater anglers to start to think about their fishing more in the way that trout anglers have for countless years – more analytically and more from the fish’s perspective. That positive feedback has me working on a third book. That’s all I’ll say about it right now, it’s still in the early stages.

Q. Is there a fly fishing/ research dog?

A. Sadly, there used to be – Lucy. A chocolate lab. Her favorite was when I fished the beach for snook, or when we lived in the Virgin Islands when we walked the beaches fishing for any fish we could find (snappers, barracuda, jacks, bones). She died earlier this year, she was almost 14 years old.

Q. Have you ever researched what effect a hurricane or tropical storm has on the fisheries? If so, What were your findings? Do fish stay put or do they relocate?

A. Oh boy, that brings back memories. I’ve had three research projects interrupted by hurricanes – two in the Virgin Islands and one here in Charlotte Harbor (Charlie). The answer to your question – it depends. Small fish, like mosquitofish and killifish, as well as fish that are territorial, like a lot of coral reef fish, generally stay put. Their populations can take a hit from strong hurricanes, but they often bounce back quickly. One exception to the pattern of bouncing back was with some of the mangrove creek fish in upper Charlotte Harbor. It took those fish populations years to rebound, and I don’t think they are quite back to the numbers they were just before the hurricane. Larger fish like snook, reds, etc seem to head for deeper water. And colleagues working on sharks saw sharks leave the Caloosahatchee River the day before Charlie and return the day after. Remember, these coastal ecosystems have been through this thousands of times, and are able to respond. We (people) often don’t handle it so well. In the Caribbean, though the hurricanes can be devastating, the preparation and response by people is more even-keeled than we tend to see in Florida, probably because they’ve been through it so many times before. One final note – often, a week or so after a hurricane, the fishing can be out of sight. Typically, you don’t hear about it because everyone is concerned with more important things.

Q. Do you ever use the “Gurgler Technique” when fishing redfish in heavy grass?

A. This is the approach that I use most of the time in this situation. As a matter of fact, the gurgler is my favorite fly for redfish because it is so much fun. And in late summer and fall when the juvenile (finger) mullet are abundant, the gurgler is a perfect imitation. You can read more about my gurgler approach here: http://www.fishermanscoast.com/flies/topside.html

Q. Where is your all time favorite place to fish for yourself, no research involved?

A. It’s tough to choose just one place, but I’ll give it a shot. I’ll answer the question by species. For striped bass – the sand flats of Cape Cod. For bluefish, Cape Cod beaches in the fall. For bonefish, Bahamas, probably South Andros. For tarpon, hmmm…The Everglades for the backcountry aspect, Cuba for numbers. For permit, Belize. For snook, Belize, though I hear other parts of Central America are far better. For reds, right here.

Q. Tell us about www.tarbone.org – do anglers still keep bonefish and tarpon? What can we do to assist in preserving the fishery and the species?

A. Bonefish &Tarpon Trust, previously known as Bonefish & Tarpon Unlimited, was founded in 1998 by anglers, guides, and scientists in the Florida Keys concerned about apparent declines in the bonefish and tarpon fisheries. Their plan was to start a conservation program, but they soon learned that very little was known about the biology of bonefish, tarpon, and permit. Having an effective conservation or management plan isn’t possible without at least basic biology information on the fish. So the group became, and continues to be, a science-based conservation organization. BTT has created a framework that summarizes the status of knowledge for each species, as well as the top research and conservation needs, and then funds (or conducts) the necessary research. All funds are from memberships, donations, or grants from foundations.
The assumption is that bonefish, tarpon, and permit are in fine shape either because they are catch and release fisheries or because they are primarily recreational fisheries. But the truth is that there are problems. Based on anecdotal information from anglers who have fished the Keys for 40 years, there are 85% fewer bonefish in the Keys now than there used to be. Habitat loss and water quality declines are probably part of the problem. In other locations, harvest by netting is a problem. This occurs in many places in the Caribbean, including Belize, Cuba, Bahamas. In some places, bonefish abundance has declined significantly because of netting. Similarly, tarpon are harvested in many locations throughout Central and South America and the Caribbean. Since recent research has shown that tarpon migrate long distances (such as Florida Bay to Chesapeake Bay), our concern is that this is one large regional population, and heavy harvest in any location may be detrimental to the whole region. The keys to conserving these fisheries are: 1) learn enough about their biology to manage the fisheries; 2) push for conservation and restoration of their habitats; 3) to push for halting of netting in the places where it occurs, and for additional conservation measures; 4) use responsible catch and release practices; 5) fish responsibly and respect the habitats; 6) join BTT.
For permit, harvesting occurs throughout their range. Although the population should be able to handle reasonable harvest, no fisheries management agency has ever done a stock assessment of permit, so they have no idea what the population looks like and how it is (or might) respond to fishing pressure. Unfortunately, the fisheries management record is full of collapses of fisheries that came about because of a lack of information on the fishery. And since locations of permit spawning aggregations have been identified, we are concerned that harvest of these aggregations may be problematic (as has happened in the Caribbean for Nassau grouper and mutton snapper).
The real challenge is that BTT is being proactive in their research and conservation approach. If we wait until fisheries collapse before taking action, it may be too late. And just like proactive medicine, proactive conservation is much more effective and cheaper.


Thank you Mr Adams!

Tarpon Migration Video

Via Midcurrent can be found here thanks to the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust - has some cool music with it.

Crazy Kayak Fishermen

The folks on Captain Mel's Forum posted this yesterday.

http://forums.capmel.com/post?id=3511331

For those of you that don't know, tarpon can grow up to 200 lbs....this one appears to be in the 80 lb range if i was guessing....and to be fishing for them in a kayak is just insane.

Way to go guys....great photo! Try it with a fly rod! See if you can get towed into the sunset!