I received an email from a local fly shop inviting me to attend a Tarpon presentation yesterday. I love fishing for Tarpon. The reason that I attended was again a poor weather forecast for the day with winds at 15 plus mph and temperature in the 50’s. It was either stay home and ties flies or receives first hand knowledge from the Keys & coffee & donuts.

I had never meet captain Drew before and soon found that he was very personable and did not mind sharing his knowledge. He mentioned that an angler could somewhat read the motivation of fish by their color. I had never heard this. Black & brown backs are good, blue or lighter colors was not as good and if cast at and a refusal occurred…move on to the next fish. Presentation of casts to laid up fish and to sliders (moving fish) was covered with power point and briefly outside.

Drew emphasized the importance of casting accuracy & lead. He mentioned that the speed of the fish’s movement, position in the water column and size & sink rate of the fly all came into play. Try casting to different fish within a school or daisy chain of fish if your previous presentations did not work. If you make a good cast at a daisy chain and a fish ignores it…leaving it for the next fish can be a strategy.

It was a great class. If you are going to the Keys… you might give him a call. I plan on a trip there this year. I find that you can never know enough about the Silver King. Hope you will get out and fish soon or at least do some lawn casting.

Thanks goodness for Neoprene waders. We have had an unusually cold streak of weather here in central Florida. I believe that 7 days straight in the 30’s or below is a record that the region does not want to claim. Trout and Redfish in this area, along with thin blooded Southerners, have no use for such silliness. A friend called me and said “if we were to go…Thursday was the day;” the warmest day of the past two weeks.  So we loaded up the canoe later than usual and hoped for the best.

We arrived around 10 AM and the weather and wind was just as we expected. Friends who fished the Indian River on Wednesday, a colder day, let us know the bite that they experienced happened after the water temperature had climbed 4 degrees. We hoped to find fish moving into the shallows to warm themselves and possibly feed. The water was clear if only the winter sun angle would have been higher.

We did not have to pole long before we moved some Redfish. A few casts later and a 3 lb Trout was in the canoe. We noticed this many times during the day, that the Trout and Reds were hanging close together in the warmest areas. Minutes later a Chartreuse Clouser retrieved very slowly produced a nice 29 inch Redfish. The key to catching both fish was the slow strip of the fly which kept the fly near the muddy bottom.

We were able to fish within a quarter mile area for most of the day. The fish were laid up, some laying in the mud and others seeking warmth in sand holes. I cast at Reds, Trout and a lot of Black Drum today. My best fish was a feisty 4 lb Seatrout. We did wade some and I also managed 3 smaller Trout while search casting the area. The Chartreuse Clouser minnow was the ace fly of the day. The clear water and beautiful sunny skies with cold water made the weighted minnow the perfect fly choice for the day.

It was a great day on the water. I only have one request “Please give us back our warm weather.” Happy New Year Everyone.

I do not have any photos for this post, but most resembled the “rat” Red that I posted last. The water was beautiful and air temperature about perfect; and following the 2 hour rain out that I experienced on Wednesday, it made watching football expendable. Besides a few muddy places that Mullet had been frolicking and or a Ray mingling the water was quite clear.

The Reds were very interested in the Baitfish pattern that I tied with “Steve Farrar’s flash blend” material. I did modify it slightly by adding larger eyes and a red throat. We each also landed a slot sized trout even though we had no intention of keeping fish due to the seasonal closure. In keeping with fisherman’s luck…I lost a beautiful trout after getting her close enough to touch and to “painfully” notice that the hook that was once in her mouth was barely hanging on in the underbelly.

Yes, I lost her. I actually did laugh when I saw the hook and before the Trout escaped. It was like hearing a great joke that you have heard before; just as the punch line was shared. We saw quite a few nice fish throughout the day.

We visited a few different places on Sunday. Both the Redfish and Trout were finicky. I guess they wanted to save themselves in case a better deal presented itself at a later date.
I did manage to catch a couple more smallish Redfish later in the day as the sun climbed higher and visibility improved. Often the improved visibility only meant that I would be able to see the fish, cast, and then watch it swim over and inspect “the fly” and reject it.

Keep your confidence all sales personnel and fishermen. It is just the beginning of the sales season. I’m hopeful that sales will continue to improve. Good luck on your next outing.

We had to fish behind the spoil islands on the eastern side of the Lagoon. We would be fishing shallow water and found some spooky Reds right away. We found out that our casts must be presented quickly and precise. Visibility was poor with low wispy frontal clouds blocked the sun at all the wrong times. We had a few fish spook with the cast and a few actually nose the fly…but no takers.

When it was my turn on the bow we were on a windward shore with clear water and a mottled bottom that I had to blind cast due to cloud cover. I tied on a pink Clouser minnow on a #2 3407 hook with a mono weed guard. I paid attention to pinch down the bard of the hook with all the wind and two partners that I shared the boat. I tried to cover the water as best as the 15 plus MPH winds would allow the skiff to be poled. It was not long and I hooked and landed a smallish Red. A few photos were snapped and off it went back into the water after an easy release as a result of a barbless hook.

Each of us had 2 turns on the bow this day. We covered a lot of water. Boat handling, casting and seeing fish was challenging. We saw a good number of Redfish, most of them after we approached too closely. It probably would have been a good wading day. Most of the fish we saw were “laid up” and actually seemed to prefer the windward shoreline. The day was enjoyable; spent with two friends and a lot of promising water.

My friends and I were a team from the Backcountry Fly Fishing Assoc. from Orlando. We were greeted by Captain Bryon Chamberlin, Leigh West, and long time friend David Olson of the Fly Shop of Miami who made our drive seem short. In all, I would guess that there were between 30 to 40 casters participating in the fun.

The “Big Gun” was composed of teams of 3 competing at “casting stations” for a point score based on your casting success. The casts were timed and usually started at a distance of 30 feet and ended at 70 feet. Casting a fly thru a hoop, under mangroves, into Frisbees and into a cup simulated casting challenges encountered while fishing. Leigh West’s team won; congratulations to them.

You might have been wondering why the event was called “Big Gun?” A distance casting station was also part of the competition. Casters who could cast a line over 100 feet qualified for the final event. I believe 15 casters made the final. The best of 5 casts determined the final winner and “Big Gun.”

The winning cast measured 134’ 3”, second was 134’ and third measured 130’. This was my first year competing in the event. I hope to participate in future events, it was fun. Last year’s winner Dave Chouinard finished third. David Olson, my friend, finished as the winner. I finished second with my last cast just 3 inches short. Congratulations David. If you were not my friend and such a great fly angler & caster I would be bummed out. Thanks to Tampa Bay Fly Fishing club and tight lines to all the events anglers.

As I normally do, I had tied on a black fly for the first casts in the low light sunrise conditions. I had no luck with my black fly. I changed quickly to the baitfish fly I posted last. The wind from the NW had pushed pods of mullet into the area I was fishing. I could not have made more then five casts and I hooked a nice Seatrout, the biggest of the day, at about 24”. The water was not overly clear but not muddy.

I hooked and landed another 5 trout within the next hour. They were all nice fish between 21” and 19”. I would like to think the “flash blend” material was a success. It could also have been helped out by the cooler weather that seems to energize the larger Trout this time of year. I like the fly. If you are going to tie flies with it…keep it sparse if you want a subsurface fly.

I may have to use larger and heavier hooks for the Deceiver baitfish patterns. I tied the flies I used today on Eagle Claw 254 hooks. I liked the shorter shank and wide gap design of the hook. I have never used it before; and so far so good. I also should say that after catching any of the day’s fish that the “flash blend” had no bad hair moments. That is a big reason I tried it, along with that it tracked and cast well. I will be buying some different colors and incorporating it into different patterns. It also works for Clousers.

I’m fairly sure that I have walked by the product a few times already but this time it caught my eye. The tying material is named “Steve Farrar’s Flash blend.” It comes in quite a few colors that look fish friendly. I bought the natural color. I wanted to try it out and see how workable it was before over indulging.

I got it home and the longer that I looked at it I could not stop myself from tying just one more fly. One fly led to another and so on. I used the material to tie a few Clouser minnow’s and then as I planned for a few Deceiver baitfish flies. It looks great. It was so easy to shape and trim to size. I can hardly wait until Sunday to get them wet.

The photo above is the baitfish pattern I tied. I will probably use a sharpie on it to add barring or spots. The material is very translucent and also provides firmness without weight. I have my fingers crossed that it will cast and track well. I will let you know…

We saw a few Redfish hugging the shore as we paddled North in my canoe. We were on top of them much to fast. The low light did not give us much time to prepare even when we were casting ready. We eventually pushed a small pod of Reds. They were very happy where we found them so we obliged by allowing them to settle down and then restarted our pursuit.

Mike was first to land a fish, a trout, and then another. Both were in the 17 inch range and each put up a feisty battle. A smallish gurgler fly fooled both fish. I changed flies and again used a borrowed pattern, an EP baitfish: the sun had climbed above the horizon. Three consecutive casts moved our Reds. The fourth cast provided a wider birth. The cast, I paused, moving the canoe to keep both fly fishers in casting position. I resumed stripping the fly and “BAM”, as Emril would say, a Redfish hookup.

The Red measured out at 30 inches and bit my thumb hard as Mike took its picture. I returned the relieved red as it did its job well. The water where the Reds hung out was surprisingly clear for this time of the year. We made several more passes thru the area, each time allowing the fish to settle; and we did see more of them, but we managed no more strikes.

We did sneak up on a few more Reds while we paddled the shore. I managed to entice a strike with another fish ten feet or so from the boat. I blew it on the strike. Manipulating the fly to trigger the strike was “cool”.  We paddled back to the ramp with another great day under our belts.

I cast Sage’s new Xi3 fly rod. It is a fast action saltwater rod that is an improved version of the Xi2. It casts great, it looks great and the lighter weight of the rod is impressive. I also cast the Sage TCX. WOW! It is very light and very fast. I cast it along with the Xi3 and last years “fast” TCR. The TCX in my opinion wins hands down. The rod has the power to cast well over 100 feet of line and also cast 40 and 50 feet with little effort at all. Buying a TCX will cause you to retire all of your other rods.

I was also shown a 2010 model Tibor matte finished reel that is made exclusively for “The Backcountry Fly Shop” of Vero Beach Florida. Captain Eric Davis displayed the Gulfstream model matte Tibor. The reels will be limited to 100 each of the models Everglades, Riptide and Gulfstream. They have a red handle and can have different fish engraved on each model. Perfection can only be changed slightly.

I also visited with Captain Scott Hamilton of Stuart and Russ Hampton as they created amazing salt water flies. According to Scott, “91 species have been fooled” by the creation I watched him tie. It was a synthetic version of the “Deceiver pattern.” Russ was tying more flies for his next offshore trip to Mexico. He is truly an expert in rigging and tying flies planned to catch Sailfish. They are so good that his outings are called “Catching Trips.”

The highlight of the day was a “Tarpon Symposium” with Tarpon experts Bill Bishop, David Olson, Mark Hatter, Captains Pete Greenan, Leo Henriques and Frank Catino. The room was packed and all of our Tarpon catching questions were answered. The opportunity to listen was as they say “priceless.”

Overall the day was very enjoyable. The event was well planned and anyone who attended should have had a great time. Thanks to all the vendors for being there.

OCTOBER 23 & 24, 2009

RAMADA CELEBRATION RESORT

6375 West Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway, Route 192
Kissimmee, Florida 34747

Special Room Rate Available Includes Breakfast
Dial 877-467-5786 and ask or the Federation of Fly Fishers Special

SPONSORED BY
THE FEDERATION OF FLY FISHERS FLORIDA COUCIL
PUBLIC INVITED

Two Day Show Admission Just $10
Children 15 and under Free

Fishing Show with Manufactures and Tackle Dealers
Fly Casting Lessons ~ Fly Tying Instruction
Fishing Seminars ~  Numerous Raffle Items
Saturday Night Banquet and Auction Admission $35

For a detailed lineup of speakers, seminars, workshops and fly tying demonstrations please click here to visit their web site