- IF4, International Fly Fishing Film Tour, a special Saltwater Cut for us here in Florida.
- Very Cool trick try this it works awesome.
- Dragon Fly paddle boards in South Carolina Show this weekend.
- Real truth about SOPA
- Natural Laws
- Clay Dyer, can’t help but to be inspired by this guy
- Invisible to the Naked eye water proofing you iphone
- Tuna gets over $700,000 at the fish market
- Real Cyclops Shark found
- White Pelican eating a pigeon
Benzo
An iPhone Photo Essay… Space Coast!!
There are several occurances in my world of fishing outside my daily routine that brings me to travel a long distance with flyrods in hand; the Palolo worm hatch in the lower keys during Spring, the big redfish that show up in Louisiana during the cold winters, the False Albies that show up on Florida’s Gulf coast in the Fall… niether of which I had a chance to take part of in 2011. I started this year’s travels right when my buddy Capt. Willy Le (www.NativeFlyCharters.com) informed me that it was time to make a trip North for the weekend. So I packed my gear, threw some warm fishing clothes in the Jeep, and decided to document some of this trip with my iPhone.
Fri, 6pm… check weather!
Fri, 7pm… Make fish food!
Sat, 4am… Departure from Miami!
Sat, 8am… take a boat ride!
Sat, 8:30am… fight Sea Monster, give fly line morning stretches, and try to break fly rod!
… and yes, that is backing
Sat, 8:45am… shake hands with Sea Monster!
Sat, 10am… catch a 38″ Redfish!
Sat, 11am… play with small redfisher until it is time to go!
Sat, 4pm… make quick stop at a local bass pond to use 5wt!
Sat, 7pm… Pho @ Wabi Sabi!
Sun, Noon… get a late start!
Sun, Afternoon… sight fish mega-trout over clear sand!
Sun, evening… back to the barn to make the 3 hour drive back to Miami!
Video + Report via Capt. Willy to come shortly… Stay tuned…
The year of the Redfish
2011 was without a doubt the “year of the Redfish.” After the massive freeze we had in the winter of 2009/2010, the the redfish population had bounced back incredibly. Days of 70+ sight fished redfish were a common occurance this past summer and reports of redfish being caught in all the islands from Flamingo to the Keys and even on occassion on the ocean side were not uncommon. This was the most incredible redfishing that I had ever seen in my life. We spent the last 2 days of 2011 on the Florida Bay flats catching good numbers of redfish on fly.
The cool morning runs called for jackets and sweaters.
It eventually warmed up enough to shed the thick clothing and do some dental work on redfish.
We headed back the second day on both Capt. Jeremy’s Maverick 18 HPX-V and Dr. Tony’s Hells Bay classic 16 Whipray. The warming weather brought out a more aggressive nature in the reds.
So ended another year of fishing around the Purple Isle. We will look forward to getting back out on the water to experience what the Keys and Everglades has to offer.
I would walk out the door the next morning to meet with a great friend and mentor to start the journey into 2012… only, the flyrods utilized this day on the Maverick skiff would be 12 Weights. There is only one thing that can possess a man to wake up after a long New Years Eve and make the long chilly run into the Everglades backcountry to pole around in what could be empty water… or was it empty?
Stay tuned for the next tarpon junkie chronicle. I would like to wish everybody a happy and prosperous 2012!!!
Redfish Topwater Fly porn… Shallow Water Expeditions style!!
The crew at Shallow Water Expeditions just did it again… another great production and more Redfish topwater porn!!! Check it out.
Gear Review: 2011-2012 Shimano Sustain FG
Shimano unveiled their new sexy black and silver clad Sustain FG earlier this year at ICAST. The new Sustain FG offers many new features such as X-SHIP, magnumlite rotor, rapid fire drag, and reel stand (a first for spinning reels). Along with these new features, all the old features we’ve come to love about Shimano’s premium reels are also found in the Sustain FG. This is a whole new Sustain that set’s itself apart from the rest of its family. The gap between Stradic and Stella is set in place by the Sustain FG and places it truly in the half way point between the two.
New Features:
According to Shimano “X-SHIP takes spinning reel technology to a whole new level. Anglers will experience increased gearing efficiency and power, providing for ultra-light handle rotation. By using a large diameter drive gear, moving the pinion gear closer to the center of the drive gear to provide 20% more power, and by supporting the pinion gear with two ball bearings, X-Ship provides a smooth, effortless retrieve, and also virtually eliminates the pinion gear twist and rotor flex common with most spinning reels when fighting a fish. As showcased in the Stella FD reels, and now also offered in the Sustain FG and Stradic FJ spinning reels, X-Ship provides anglers with smoothness right out-of-the-box.”
The magnumlite rotor use a new CI4 material that is stronger than that found in the Stradic Ci4 to reduce the Sustain FG’s rotor weight by half. This provides a stronger more solid feel, while retaining the reel’s smoothness and light weight.
Rapid fire drag makes for a steeper drag curve. Turning the drag knob half way around will be the equivalent of making two full rotations with other reels. Light tackle snook fisherman and finesse bass fisherman will find this feature very useful as quick adjustments are needed to be made during a fight to pull a fish away from of structure. Every second counts when a big snook or redfish is dashing for the mangroves and you need to set the drag from light to tight to “D” for destroy. The entire drag system is sealed off from the salt, dust, and sand encountered in the fishing environment. As an added safety feature, once the drag is backed off all the way and the spool is pulled off of the reel, the drag knob will stay secured on the spool. To pop the drag off, push the spool down slightly and remove the drag knob before taking the spool off of the reel. This feature helps prevent accidents associated with dropping the drag knob in the water while changing spools, which can ruin a day on the water.
The reel stand will also be offered on the Sustain FG. This will be like a kick stand on the opposite end of the reel handle to keep the reel upright and the bail assembly away from the flat solid surface to bent bail wires and other damages to the bail system.
A list of features from Shimano:
• X-Ship
• New “Magnumlite CI4 Rotor” (1000-4000)
• Aluminum Sideplate
• Rapid Fire Drag
• New “Reel Stand”
• Paladin® Gear Durability Enhancement
• Propulsion® Line Management System
• Propulsion® Spool Lip
• SR® One-Piece Bail Wire
• Power Roller® III
• S®- Arm Cam
• Aerowrap® II Oscillation
• SR® Concept
• SR® 3D Gear
• SR® One-Piece Bail Wire
• 7 S® A-RB (Shielded A-RB) Ball Bearings (1000)
• 8 S® A-RB (Shielded A-RB) Ball Bearings (2500-5000)
• Aluminum Spool
• S® – Concept
• S®-Rotor
• S®- Guard
• S®- Arm Cam
• New Machined Aluminum Handle
• Direct Drive Mechanism (Thread-In Attachment)
• EVA Handle Knob
• WP Drag (Waterproof Drag)
• Maintenance Port
• Fluidrive® II
• Floating Shaft
• Dyna-Balance®
• Super Stopper® II
• Repairable Clicker
• Approved for use in Saltwater
• Rated for use with Mono, Flruoro and PowerPro® lines
The skinny…
I was blown away by the Stradic 3000FJ when I tested one of the field test models this past Spring. Earlier this month, I was presented the new 2011 Shimano Sustain 4000FG as a Field Tester to put through the rigors of our South Florida light tackle fishery. This Sustain 4000FG was combined with a G Loomis 7’9 Greenwater GWR930S spinning rod and 10lb red Power Pro braid (the red color pretty real sexy on the reel), making it a deadly all around combination for light tackle inshore fishing. I could throw half dollar size crabs at permit, medium to large shrimp at bonefish, jigs and DOA plastics to Redfish, and small plugs to snook using this outfit.
The Sustain FG combined many of the great attributes of the new Stradic FJ, Stradic Ci4, and Stella. Featuring an Aluminum body and side plates, the first thing I noticed about the Sustain FG was it’s absolute solid feel. The Sustain FG winds like a refined machine that set’s itself apart from other spinning reels and places it closer to the Stella, but valued in it’s own class just below Shimano’s flagship Stella. Thanks to the Sustain FG’s Magnumlite rotor, weight was reduced to 1/2 of regular graphite to provide for a much smoother handle rotation and smaller size rotor then the previous model (1000-4000 size). The Sustain FG is incredibly light weight. I spent days blind casting pot holes, skipping DOA Shrimp under mangrove overhangs, and ripping jigs through the surf without the worry of fatigue. The retrieve remains smooth and powerful through its coarse of time on the water, in both extreme heat and cool weather. The new drag system was redesigned to surpass it’s predecessors. This drag system feels smooth…REEEAALLLLYYYYY smoooooooth. The sound and feel of the Sustain FG’s drag is extremely impressive. We tested the drag against hard pulling spanish macks off the beach and speeding bonefish on the flats of Biscayne Bay. The sound of the Sustain FG drag zinging to the 100 yard dash of a big bonefish was a sweet melody that all anglers will appreciate. The melody is soothing, while the feel get’s the adrenaline pumping. I almost want to record the sound and make it into an alarm tone. Better yet, I’ll find myself replacing just about all my spinning reels with new Sustain FG reels. The word from Shimano is that the new Sustain FG will be available very soon; sizes SA1000FG size in January, SA2500FG and SA3000FG available in December, SA4000FG and SA5000FG available in February for dealers who have placed their orders early.
Bass to Bonefish…
What to do between the onslaught of high winds, big seas, cloudy days, and pre-frontal rain… go fish for bass or bonefish!!!
Another visit to the Goonies… Grub + Fish Porn + Motion Picture + Bling!!
Our first major cold front swept across South Florida, sending days of rain and overcast skies, followed by lots of wind and some unwelcomed clouds into my home waters. What a perfect opportunity to drive up north and chase the blue bird skies. I left the office last Friday and rushed over to Kissimmee, FL in order to catch the last couple hours of the FFF Expo. Following this day, my buddies Capt. Willy Le (www.NativeFlyCharters.com) and Dominic A. invited me to spend a day in the Lagoon chasing some redfish. A change in scenery is always welcomed… especially when hometown weather becomes unfavorable. I always have a good time hanging with my buddies from the North.
We arrived to a dirt ramp the next day. There was a slight chill in the air this morning but it was quite comfortable. The winds hadn’t really laid down as it was still blowing at 15kts out of the North. With all the wind and rain from past weeks, the water had been high and dirty in the Lagoon prior to this day. We rode through some marshy looking mazes and across some shallow sand bars in the Maverick HPX-Tunnel as Willy scanned the waters for the right sign. Willy backed off on the throttle as we approached our destination. Everything there seemed right… we found that the water receeded to just about the perfect level, had a brownish tinge to it but was shallow enough to spot fish waking and tailing. The ever-present shrimp that would jump out of our path as we poled down the shorelines looking for signs of life. As I watched a redfish crawl around with it’s back out of the water, occasionally exploding on a pod of shrimp, I knew at that moment that we were exactly where we should be.
I armed myself with Shimano’s latest Brain-child… the Sustain FG (Full write-up review coming soon) on the trusty G Loomis Greenwater. The floating grass was thick in certain parts but still wanting to see some head out of the water eats, I tied on a DOA CAL with a Chug-Head on it. This was as weedless as any topwater lure can be. Needless to say, after 3 head out of water eats and a few misses… I got what I had come for…
We swapped off shots the next couple of hours between the 3 of us, catching redfish on both flies and DOAs, filming both follies and successes, and making a not-so-serious fun time out of catching slot redfish after slot redfish. We claimed a dozen fish by the end of the day on the fly rod alone.
The great time on the water was only bettered by our stop at Ms. Apples Crab Shack, on our way back to the barn. Forget about fish camps, burgers, hostile uppity elitists, and sandwiches… the laid back atmosphere and great eats at Ms. Apples is one tradition within a fishing trip I could definitely dig. There is nothing better then Maryland style blue crabs…
The last 3 photos were shot with a new iPhone 4S 8MP camera. Not too bad if I say so myself.
There was still a bit of time to kill after we got back and washed up the boat. We decided to walk to a nearby pond and throw some hoppers/gurglers at some bass and bluegill to kill off the last hour of light. Now I am inspired to go out and purchase a 5wt.
Here is a short video Capt. Willy snipped together…
Back at home now and waiting for the next opportunity for the weather to allow me to get out and chase some bonefish. Stay tuned…
Just before the Chill…
The late summer rains have poured down on us in South Florida a couple of months ago… As fall came, it still dumped on us with no seemingly no end. Between these rainy days, periods of calm winds and blue skies graced us, reminding us that Fall was not very far. But the skies grew thick with shady clouds and dumping rain still for the majority of our days. It hasn’t stopped raining around my home in Miami for the last few days and my other home, the Florida Keys, have got the worse of this. The temperatures are down, reminding us now that Fall is here, but the cold front lingering towards South Florida as I type this, brings to mind that winter is not too far around the corner. We are expecting our first major cold front to sweep across our busy city, bringing strong northerly chilly breezes and our shallow water gamefish headed for deeper waters to hunker down. The fishery is moving into another transition… both good and bad. Mild days will have them feeding voraciously throughout the day, while freezing coldfront impacted days will likely have them running for the deep.
Our fishery in Flamingo is an interesting one; different then the rest of the world. Out warmer months bring hoards of redfish onto our shallow flats pushing and tailing in great numbers while our winter months bring most of them to the deeper creeks and backcountry. It seems to be quite the opposite in other parts of the state, where redfish feel more relaxed tailing on the flats during cooler months.
This Summer and Fall has been without a doubt, the months of redfishing that I have ever seen in Flamingo. The sheer numbers of redfish tailing on the flats was nothing short of spectacular. The high waters of Fall are expected to recede soon with the approaching fronts and cool weather. Recently, I had what could possibly be one of the last epic days of the year for sight fishing tailing redfish on the Flamingo flats. I fished a buddy of mine from Middle School… poling around in skinny water and casting spoons at tailing redfish, a style of fishing he was not very familiar with. So we made adjustments and I made some colorful suggestions so we could meet with success. Heck, I even managed to take the bow for a short time and catch half a dozen redfish on fly before returning to my station up on the poling platform. Between the both of us, we hooked over 70 redfish this day and boated 54 lower to upper slot fish, before calling it a day earlier then I had anticipated. A typical good day of redfishing this year…
The winter fishery brings upon a variety of fishing… stay tuned for what will lead up to the winter…
Work and play… Islamorada, FL
Well, another year is passing and the Owner’s Tournament clock is again reset. Per tradition, Charlie Johnson joined Jeremy and I out on the water on Friday to do some PR and R&D. The field was set in the early AM for shots at the famed giant bonefish that Islamorada is well known for. It didn’t take but less then an hour after we left the dock at the Breezy Palms and 2 shots later for Charlie to catch a world class double digit Islamorada bonefish on fly.
Here’s a cool sequence of how things transpired…
To take advantage of everything that my Maverick 18 HPX-V skiff offers, we then left the clear waters of the Keys and made the run far into the backcountry towards Flamingo and dirty water. We rounded the SW tip of Florida and proceeded north in a timely fashion to take advantage of the tides that would set the stage just right in a little lake that held big tarpon this time of year. We had 3 shots at big laid up fish and managed to feed a black and purple demon fly to a pink backed sleeping tarpon, got the bite, but never came tight.
The tide flushed the fish out so we headed into the Gulf waters and found a tripletail that was willing to eat a well placed bonefish fly, delivery via Charlie Johnson’s excellent fly casting.
We made a quick stop on the way back to Islamorada and made quick work of some weary redfish on fly to prepare for the next day.
Saturday, as Owner’s tournament anglers headed out in their Maverick, Hewes, and Pathfinder boats, I had the honor of having Scott Deal and his son Clay as my anglers for the day. Jeremy and Charlie would join us in Jeremy’s 18 Mirage and we would set out for a morning of photography and shoot some cool video footage.
By noon, the work was over and it was time to play. We split ways and I headed towards Flamingo to find some redfish. This year’s redfishing has been absolutely epic and this day was no less epic. After a little bit of delegating with water depth, wind, and tide, I settled onto a very familiar flat teaming with wads of redfish that were tailing as happy as can be. These fish were unspoiled, relaxed, and ready to chow down. I poled my 18 Mirage into the shallows creeping up on these redfish and was able to watch the father and son of team Deal seal the deal with several doubles on redfish using both spin and fly tackle.
The icing on the cake came to an already great day of fishing for a father, son, and their fishing guide when after a short fly casting lesson, Deal Jr. was able to catch his first redfish on fly.
The winds would shift just in time to assist me as I poled off the flat into the basin. We planed off in the basin and the mid 40mph speeds got us back to the Breezy Palms in a timely manner.
Great times… looking forward to the next year.
Skiff Porn… Capt. Jeremy Alderman’s Maverick 18 HPX-V
Did a shoot with my buddy Jeremy’s Maverick 18 HPX-V this past weekend. We shot some video, caught some fish, and produced some bad ass images. It is a true testament to how shallow this skiff can float, while still being capable of delivering a soft dry smooth ride with unparallelled speed vs horespower.
Stay tuned for more…