Instagrams @scssam
“Winter Snook ENP ~ Winter Red PI” Happy New Year
Happy New Year to all Salty Shores readers and followers! We are having a mild winter here in SW Florida, which means if this trend continues, our silver friends will show early and hopefully happy to eat our little bugs. In the mean time, the snook fishing in the ENP has been on fire along with reds and trout. Between three skiffs and two days, we boated over 40 reds, 50 snook, and unlitmited amounts of trout. We ran south of Everglades city, we ran north of Everglades city, making it about 140 mile two day trip! The standard was – we found hungry fish everywhere we went! This is also the time of year where we find our negative low tides and tailing redfish in abundance. Our home waters of Pine Island Sound, Matlacha, Estero Bay and Charlotte Harbor have proven top notch so far this year. I have noticed more redfish than I have seen in previous years, making trips on skiffs and or kayaks too much fun!
And of course – pre-trip time at the vise is always necessary!
Superior Equipment is your best friend on the water.
This is the common sight this time of year on negative low tides ~
Happy New Year and God bless – To all!
Great end to 2011 in the Mosquito Lagoon
The last 2 trips for Native Fly Charters was with new clients Kyle and Chip from Georgia on the last couple of days of 2011. This was their first trip to the East Coast of Florida to do some fishing and their main goal was to see and catch tailing Redfish. On the first day of the 2 day fishing adventure, it seemed like it was going to be cloudy, cold, and windy for the first half of the day so I took them in the Indian River along the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge for some big Trout that have been roaming the flats. Making long casts with topwater lures around sand holes resulted in some nice trout and some fun blowups.
Once the clouds finally cleared up, the skies were blue bird and the wind laid down giving us the perfect glassy conditions for an afternoon of tailing Redfish. This day was the first major cold front of the year for Florida, making the fish a little sluggish. Most of the fish refused Kyle and Chips offerings except for this one Redfish at the end of the day that was tailing 10ft from the boat. Kyle made a perfect presentation by slowing down the retrieve and dropping the D.O.A. 3″ Shadtail CAL right in front of the fishes nose.
The next day our main goal was Redfish all day in the Mosquito Lagoon. The morning temperatures were in the 50′s with slick calm conditions and blue bird skies. We found Redfish in small groups pushing on the flats first thing in the morning but these fish were on a mission to get somewhere and were pretty spooky. After chasing those fish around for a while with no luck, we headed to another flat where we would see some single fish cruising around still sluggish from the cold morning and also spooky. They too did not want to cooperate with us. It wasn’t until the sun heated up the flats late in the afternoon when the Redfish wanted to tail and start feeding. Kyle and Chip both had numerous shots at tailing fish but did not quite get it close enough to the fish until the fish saw us and took off. A couple fish did get hooked up but only one came to the boat at the end of the day. Both Kyle and Chip ended 2011 in a great way, they got to see some great Wildlife including a family of Wild Hogs wading in the water, Momma Dolphins teaching their babies how to catch mullet, Manatees, Alligators, Exotic Birds, and best of all they got to see the Tailing Redfish that they came here to see. They get to go home with great memories and great photographs! Next on the list for them is Tarpon so we will be seeing more of these guys in the future!
This was a perfect way to end my 2011. Weather was beautiful, I got to spend it on the water and met 2 new very cool friends that work hard for a living and love to hunt and fish! Happy New Year everyone!
-Capt. Willy Le
www.nativeflycharters.com
Instagram photo app for iphone and droid(in the works)
Currently available only for the Iphone but the android app is around the corner. Instagram currently boost over 50 million users.
For all you photography peeps out there this is a very popular program that is must have. Well a must have if you don’t want to carry you camera every where you go anyways.
I gotta say I love this Instagr.am program. I was a bit hesitant to use it at first but after seeing how easy it was to take decent photos and connecting to people I know it was a breeze to get addicted.
The built in easy filters makes most photos look better and one touch it’s posted to FB, Twitter, Tumbler etc. Allows people to “like”, “comment” etc. Good stuff.
It is a great social media tool and very fun and easy to use. Did I mention it was free?
Here are some photos I’ve taken with it the last couple weeks I’ve been using it.
To follow my photos: http://followgram.me/scssam
Pro: easy to use, great interface and free.
Con: no cropping, very little editing ability except for the built in ones.
Short Kayak Fishing Clip
So I finally got around to making a kayak fishing clip. The first of what I hope will be many more. Enjoy
Great weather and Holiday fishing
12.26.2011
With the combination of great weather and friends coming in from out town I took the opportunity to do fishing. The weather has been in the 80′s every day this past week and the fishing on the flats has been pretty darn good. I even had a friend catch a snook out on the flats.
The bite out front has been excellent. Flounder, redfish, ladyfish, and and abundant of trout. In the clear water(spooky fish) the trick is to do long cast with artificial. Jigs has been the #1 producer, DOA cals, Mirrolure Lil jon etc.
One of the lure I’ve bee using a bunch lately has been the Paul Brown lures. They are heavy lure that I can cast a mile using braided line. The lure suspend so I can still use it 2′ of water over grass. It has been very productive for trout. The fish of the day though was a nice 29″ redfish on the Fat Boy Jim Brown.
Photo note: All shots taken by the Nikon AW100 16mp waterproof camera Point and shoot camera.
Glass Minnows all over the flats
Night fishing with Kapers
Trout Fishing has been excellent.
Even got my friend to start to catch them on fly.
Sheeps head are moving in onto the flats as well this time of year in Tampa.
My biggest red fish from Tampa in quite a long time came on the Paul Brown Fat boy. Pink is the best producing color this year.
I have been using the TFO Garry Loomis GT series rod. I have to say I’m quite impressed with these rods. The first year they came out they were just ok. The step up in quality and design made a big difference to me. The ergonomic handle is much improved, lifetime warranty, lighter, and the guide is proprietary and more durable.
Mosquito Lagoon Exploring
Did some exploring in the Mosquito Lagoon yesterday with buddy Capt. Justin Price. Justin and I decided to check some areas where we haven’t been in a while, and guess what? That’s where the fish were hiding! With the water in the lagoon still dirty and high, it makes for tough fishing and the fish are more scattered. We should have gin clear and low water this time of year but with the Summer conditions we are still having while we are ending December and going into the New Year, things are going to stay Summer-like until the temperatures drop.
I’ve heard a lot of “not so good” fishing reports of where the fish should usually be, instead of going to those spots, we decided to go and look around where not a lot of people check. Boats normally run past these areas to get to the “hot spots” that are normally crowded with boats pressuring the schools of fish with trolling motors. With no other boats in sight, Justin and I did some work with the fly rod on some pretty aggressive and unpressured fish, these fish happily took most of our fly offerings that we presented to them. We had a successful day of finding fish that were tailing, cruising shorelines, and were not spooky. Hopefully they will still be that way for our charters that we have lined up next week!
Capt. Willy Le
www.nativeflycharters.com
Nikon Coolpix AW100 for $259
…and free shipping from B&H. This is the camera Sam has been playing around with lately.
Kenny Smith
Realtide, Tide app for Iphone video review. Also Android Tide app.
Real Tide is an iphone app for Iphone that I have recently discovered. I have tried a bunch of different tide programs both on droid and iphone and this the best one I have ever used imho.
It’s fast, stable, easy to find your location, does current speed, sunrise sun set, and best of all the interface is super easy to use. One button finds your location and gives you the tides. Slide you finger and you see it all. Low tide,mean low tide, high tide etc. Everything is just there and easy to find. If you’re not satisfied click on the map and pick the one tide station you want.
The company that make this app is called Fly To Map. The app is priced at $1.99 but I believe it is worth it.
They also make a version for the Droid which is free. The droid version is not as robust and lack a few features but a still a nice app for free.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/realtide/id440949286?mt=8
Cool website: Fly Fishing Map
Cool website I came across this morning. If you’re into fly fishing and travel it is worth checking out.
The website lets you put up your own photos and videos via the google map. If you’re a guide or shop you can add your info on there as well.
Besides that it thought it list usual resources like ramps, lodges, fly shops these destinations. Could save you tons of time googling.
Along with the map you have a search feature complete with a filter system.
Loon Outdoors “Nip N Sip” – Holiday Gift Idea
Came across a cool product from Loon Outdoors that I thought I would pass along…its is called a “Nip N Sip”. When fishing aboard someone else’s boat, I’m always fumbling around trying to find scissors or something to cut leader material and braid with. The Nip N Sip may be the answer – it is a line cutter on one end and a bottle opener on the other end. Two things that can come in handy on a weekend fishing trip. There’s also a needle for clearing hook eyes. The Nip N Sip is a solid piece of stainless steel that should stand up to plenty of abuse and bottle openings – and it fits easily on your key ring. Would make a great gift or stocking stuffer for the angler in your life. www.loonoutdoors.com
Instagrams
