Caught One on the Flyrod

I tied on a green micro crab remembering what was inside the BFT I cooked up a while back. I wasn't getting any interest from any fish. I switched out to a mantis shrimp fly and I still didn't turn any heads. I spent the time on the flats practicing my casts - with the wind, straight into the wind, side arm and double hauling. I was a bit rusty, but got back into the groove fairly quickly (but still didn't have complete consistency - when did I ever). After quite a bit of time, I saw a few bonefish, some smaller goatfish and a small school of papio. But it was this guy that took the fly! Obake weke (the Dreaded Nightmare Goatfish - said to give you hallucinations if you eat the head or it guts)! This fish had some fight in it! At first I thought it was another paipo, but the tugs were different. When I got it close, I then thought it might be a small bonefish, but when it got tired and I got it to the surface, I saw it was a decent sized goatfish. On the fly, any fish is a great fish! I have to remember that the New Moon and spring low tide produced these fish.

Fishing Report 9/28/2014

We went to the beach to fish today. I started out with the surf rod, but after not getting any bites for a while (nobody was, and there were more than a few people out fishing), I switched to the flyrod. I tied on a blue "surf candy" type epoxy head fly that was made using blue yard - I had those needlefish targeted... I had one take the fly and get it's teeth caught up in the yarn - I got it to the beach and just as I was going to pick it up and get the fly out of it's mouth, it let go and swam off (leaving me high and dry without a picture of fish in hand). I know what type of fly to use now, so I'll rectify the issue and get a photo of one taken on the fly. I also know that these are 'needlefish' and that most people think of them as a waste of time. I like to think of them as opportunities when other fish that chase flies are not around. While I was on the rocks, I saw a ton of finger mullet swimming in the surfline. I wasn't going to stop flyfishing for those, but I did stop for the school of large ones I saw bunkered down near the rocks. I went back to where I left my gear, grabbed the cast net (good thing I fixed that net yesterday...) and asked the kids if they wanted to check out what I was about to do. I netted seven good sized mullet in the first (and only) throw to that big mullet school. I gave the net to Marlon and he was able to get two nets full!!! Good day at the beach!!!

Fishing Report 9/21/2014

Went out twice yesterday. First stop was at the southern end of Little Talbot Island. I brought the St Croix Tide Master spinning rod, the Cabela CGR 7/8wt Fiberglass Flyrod (with an Orvis Redfish line) and the Orvis Hydros 8wt (with intermediate sink line) to be ready for what was there - which was nothing for me. The surf was bigger than I thought it would be, so I figured the catching would be tough. There were finger mullet swimming in the thousands. I kept an eye out for any predatory fish, but the only follow I had was from a needlefish. I did catch a starfish... The last stop was at the Mayport Beach, closer to the 'Poles' side. Full tide, thick surf and no fish - EXCEPT this lone volunteer that stepped in to ward off the ever-present skunking. Thank you catfish - thank you for ensuring my day ended happily and that even though you lost the game of tug o' war (the surf fishing rig is overkill I'll admit), you still got to gum some tasty bait and you proved that fish still live in the ocean when it's "Victory At Sea". I think I'm going to have to start using shrimp for bait - the formulated stuff is not getting the bites it used to...

Fishing Report 8/21/2014

I took the paddleboard out this morning. I had the St Croix Tidemaster and the Orvis Hydros out with me. I started out by casting a pretty long gummy minnow. Within a few minutes, something had grabbed it, pulled a bit and took off with my fly - good sign. I spent the next 45 minutes trying different flies. I got a few more takes on a chartreuse clouser, but nothing hooked on. I started throwing a popping lure (mullet) and got no interest either. By this time I had also seen three mantas (small ones - 3 foot across) and one shark - maybe a 4 footer. I finally switched out the popper for a 5/8 ounce deep lure and started trolling it (which I think is pretty cool from a paddleboard). I got a hit - smaller Spanish Mackerel. I got another hit - a bluefish. Now is where the fun really begins. I cast the swimming lure again and I quickly got another hook up. This one was bigger and was moving pretty quickly. I did not turn the GoPro on (but really should have). I got the fish in sight and saw color - it was another bluefish - but it started to pull drag and WOOSH!!!! A big shark threw a bunch of water while trying to eat the bluefish. For a second I thought "there is no way that I have that shark hooked... it would have broken off a long time ago - and how the heck am I going to get my lure out that mouth..." - but then I saw the bluefish jumping to get out of the water. I got the fish on deck and decided that it was time to paddle in. That shark was bigger than the 4 footer that I saw earlier - and way thicker... I have not had that much adrenaline flowing through me since I was in Diego Garcia and had a bluefin trevally on the end of my flyline and it was running from a shark!!!

Fishing Report 8/8/2014

We went to the jetty late on Friday - I have been itching to chuck some flies again so I left the spinning gear back at the camper (but Marlon brought his - so we weren't without). We each caught a rock blenny - both on tiny jigs tipped with "Fish Bites" shrimp flavored - yes I know that is bait fishing even if I used fly gear - but I have a good reason. I lost the three flies I brought with me to the submerged rocks (or fish that grabbed the flies and pulled off by snagging me in the submerged rocks - I like that explanation better). I didn't have anything left but the small jigheads and the bait. I was using my Orvis Hydros 8 wt lined with a Hydros Depth Charge - despite the controversy, catching was fun.

SUP Flyfishing for Potomac Shad (again)

I paddled out at Fletcher's Cove again (same trip as last weekend) - this time I brought the Chris Barclay built Epic 686 fiberglass fly rod lined with an Orvis Access Full Sink 6wt line. The line was tricky to cast (and some of my casts looked like total crap - but I did get off several decent looking shots if I might say so myself). I cannot say in words how awesome it was to fish this rod and to pull in decent fighters like these spawning shad. The bend in the rod was so cool! Some of the other pictures below are of me fishing my Orvis Hydros 8wt. I caught one big shad that was exercising the Hydros well - the difference between the rods besides the Epic being olive is the Orvis has two stripper guides (which you can see on the pics). The pink jighead fly worked again this session - I didn't get a single it on any other fly. Oh what fun I had!!!

Me Whacking Shad

Chris S took these pictures - fishing for shad with fly gear on a SUP was tons of fun! Man - the waders and multiple layers I had on this morning make me look like I am 50 pounds heavier... good thing I was having too much fun to care!

Another "To Do" Crossed Off the List

I finally caught a shad on the fly today! I have been trying to do this for a couple of years now but it was not lining up for me. Fletcher's is delivering the goods to me this year - first striper, now first shad. I met Chris S at Fletcher's at 0600. The place was already full of people - crazy! I had the light power St Croix Triumph spinning rod and the Orvis Hydros 8wt flyrod with me. The Hydros was lined up with a 300 grain Depth Charge sinking line and about 18" of 2x tippet. I used three different flies - first up was a short clouser I tied up for last year's shad run. This is also the same type of fly I used to catch the striper last weekend. Next up was the chartreuse fly from the previous post. I kept that on until the hook was bent outward - good fight that was! But the fly I caught the most fish with was a pink jighead fly I tied up last night. I ended up bringing ten fish to hand. I haven't really fished this rod since I left Diego. And if you recall, this was the rod that broke at the lower ferule. But today, this 8wt was AWESOME!!! These fish were decent sized, but they took the fly down stream of where my SUP was - so they had the current on their side. They are great fighters even without the current so I needed every bit of the 8wt to land them quick enough to enjoy the wrestling match and get them back on their way to making a new generation of Hickory Shad. I cannot tell you how good it felt to get hits and a solid bend in the rod - what a great day of fishing!!! Chris S landed about the same number of fish - the shad would come up in waves (schools) so when one boat/fisherman got a hit, the rest were soon to follow. Total carnage and I loved every minute of it (but I had to go at 0830 to make it to the next adventure of the day... next post)