Author Archive
“Father/Son, Fishing the Keys, Tarpon”
July 14th, 2010 | 
Author: Every year a large group of fathers and sons head to the middle keys to do some straight up fishing and bonding. Life has been very busy lately and my reports are far and few in between. I can tell you that fishing has been great so far this summer. I know I could have some more details in here but this is all the time I have. Here are a few photos from the past week.
Very mis-fortune when a shark snaked this great fish right from under us….
“Fathers Day Tarpon Fest”
Last Saturday four families of Fathers and sons got together to chase tarpon and meet back at one of the families homes on the water for a cold Corona and a BBQ! It was a great time and I hope this becomes an annual tradition. I have only had time to edit a few shots, for the fly box needs serious attention and there just doesnt seem to be enough hours in the day. Here are a few shots of some poon on the fly thanks to Rich Christiaens. Ill post as I edit. Enjoy!
“Mixed And Matched”
A short report – Many different species of fish have been flourishing right now! Let it be Tarpon, Snook, Drum, etc… For the most part, fish have been eating flies very well and hopes that this trend will continue through the summer. Some random photos from the past week. The drum, AKA Big Nasty, that is pictured below would not revive so the angler (my brother), had to keep it….It went to good use. Until next time.
Much like a fly fishing parking lot out on flats Saturday….More fly fisherman than I have ever seen in one location, 9 Hells Bays to be exact….just a fraction of what it looked like.
“Snook Aerials, Tarpon On Fly”
Friday, after closing some business I was off, Eric and Mike picked me up from my dock for some snook scouting with arties, quite a deviation from my dedication to the fly rod but it was a great way to spend a Friday afternoon with great company! The snook are chewing like the big freeze never happened, a great sight to see. We hammered them with a side dish of red, thanks to Mike. Saturday, Rich and I went to fish some poons on fly with good friend Capt Colby Hane who has had the fish’s number the past few days. The morning started a little slow due to the fish wanting nothing to do with what they were eating yesterday. After throwing many different patterns, we decided on an ugly looking bug from my box, Capt managed to get me in front of single swimmer and the fish hammered it! Rich managed to get some HD vid of some jumps and such that we hope comes out good. A day that will not go forgotten. Too many photos to keep up with updates and also keep up with an arsenal of flies, a good sign for the season – keep checking in!
Note: Yes, the fly is in the wrong position but the photo was snapped after the fish gave us the reject finger, we didnt want to spook the fish for a possible second shot. I wanted to put into perspective what you get to cast at this time of year! I should have a filter on to get a better effect.
Posted in Fishing Reports, Flyfishing, General, Inshore, Photography | 
Tags: Flyfishing, snook, tarpon | 
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“Pine Island Poonage On Fly Rods”
The 2010 Tarpon season has officially begun in full force! Rich and I skipped out of work early yesterday to pester the fish I was on last Saturday…it was not but 30minutes we had the first laid up fish eat Rich’s fly, no joke, 8 inches from the bow of my boat! It was a great day, of course Rich hooked muiltiples and we were able to get about a 115-120lb fish boat side for a quick photo. We will be out again this weekend doing it all over again…I think this is going to be an “On Fire Season” ~ Stay tuned
Note: And of course, I managed to miss all the jumping shots!!!
As you can see by the width of her back she was indeed a fatty.
This was kind of a funny Picture..
“I like how the color of tarpons eye matches the purple in the fly”
Posted in Fishing Reports, Flyfishing, General, Inshore, Photography |
Tags: Fly Fish Tarpon, fly fishing, on fly, Pine Island Tarpon Fishing, tarpon |
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“Something”
Not much to show for but I have been trying to catch up and find some tarpon to launch the fly at…Finally I found the numbers I was looking for late Saturday afternoon, I had 2 hours with them, hooking none……I was on a solo mission just scouting, no photo report, I know boring! I have plans to fish with good friend Rich this week and put one of these large silver swimmers in the in the boat on the long rod! The tarpon are around, not exactly where they were last year, but then again, things have changed since then. I have searched a few areas for the laid up giants and finally found them. Hopefully I can finally get some photos of fish…(I feel like it has been forever!). Enjoy the hold you over pics!
Disregard the gesture he really does not know any better..
I saw a half way celeb hanging around cabbage key…Just not sure why he had his motor cover on??
“Jamaica, Pine Island Tarpon”
As most know I have just finished taking that step called marriage! I just got back a week ago and trying to get back in the swing of things. My wife and I had a great time relaxing and not having to think about anything but, what kind of drink should I have next… Upon my return, I had to immediately appear in my good friends wedding and do it all over again. I did however sneak out for a short bit to search for the ol silver swimmers. They are here, but they are not here. I only witnessed about two dozen fish in one of my early season areas and did not hook up. I will be out this weekend, for I think the numbers should have doubled around here. Enjoy!
“Biscayne Bay, Everglades National Park, Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP)Thearpy, Bachelor Party”
This past weekend it was scheduled to be my bachelor “weekend”, for I am getting married next weekend! My brother (best man) was to set it up with my groomsman and keep me in the dark until I was driving south Friday after work. I instructed that I did not want the Vegas weekend, I would rather spend my time with good friends doing the thing I love most, Fishing! The plan was executed perfect, except we forgot to tell the fish it was safe for them to swim the flats once again, it is the end of March, right???? I arrived in Everglades City to stay at my good friend Jesse’s place and make that our base camp. After a great meal at the Cuban Cafe in Chokoloskee (BTW: hands down the best food around Everglades City, huge servings, fair prices, fresh seafood caught personally by the owners uncle), many adult beverages were consumed along with stories from past times and fish tales! We awoke at 5 Am and trailered three skiffs to Homestead where we would fish Biscayne Bay in search of Perms and Bones… The only decent reports I have heard of have come from the outside so, the outside it was. First light we made the run across to be greated with rollers but light and variant winds. Within an hour of poling the winds had kicked up and after the 3rd or 4th wave that came over the bow of the Whipray, it was time to vacate the plan and move inside. The skies were perfect, lighting the flats a perfect sight. We poled for hours on countless flats to see only 3-4 sharks, two rays, and a handful of cudas, that was it, no bones or perms to be found! Very dissappointed, we called it day and headed back to Everglades City to fish Sunday in the park. A similar night took place and before we knew it we were running through the mangrove ditch to Chokoloskee Bay onward towards Lostmans! Idling through a couple creeks we saw some snook so it ment there was hope that the species did overcome the massive freeze! After about 15 minutes I enticed a solid 26.5″ snook into eating my fly, a great way to start day two. Before long the frontal system was throwing high winds and overcasts skies on us. We made the best of it and managed a handfull of fish before the rains chased us off the water. It was a great time with great friends to spend my last trip as a single man!
A little off topic but may be a solution for your chronic pains that come with being an angler!
I have been battling a bicep tendon tear for almost a year now. My company specializes in regenerative cellular therapies, especially in the sports medicine arena. I have been putting off treatment because my life outside the office revolves around spending time in the gym and casting a fly rod (both which put major strain on the shoulder and body)…..I know, habits are hard to kick even when pain is afflicted. Seeing that for the next three weeks I will not be fishing or lifting weights, it seemed like the best time to do it – knowing that Tarpon season will be awaiting my return and a 12wt will surely do some damage, it was time and my friend Rich urged me to do it. My good friend Richard was recently treated by my Partner Dr. Joseph Greco for the same injury and had great success - even avoiding surgery! Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) can be used to treat soft tissue injuries such as tendon and ligament tears along with many other problems (tennis elbow, chronic wounds, hair loss, etc..). I was injected with Orogen Plus, a patented variant of PRP by Orogen Biosciences yesterday and will keep you updated on my progress. I should know if it worked within three weeks! If your interested in learning about this non-surgical procedure visit www.orogen.net or www.bloodrecovery.com.
The three skiffs awaiting the water: Notice this was the busiest I have ever seen Everglades City!
My brother, Justin, and Mike fishing along side of us, I managed to get a shot of them landing a Everglades snook. Great to see the snook alive and moving!
Posted in General |
Tags: biscayne bay, Everglades national park, fly fishing, Platelet rich plasma, PRP |
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“Spring Turkey – Opening Day”
Lately the weather has really put a damper on 2010 fishing for us weekend warriors in SW Florida. The weather this past weekend however, looked stellar compared to what it has been. I received the invite from My buddy Ben to hunt opening day of Spring Turkey and there was no hesitation. Turkey hunting in the past few years, has become one of my favorite types of hunting. The plan was to meet with Eric about 4:30 Friday and drive to the hunting gounds outside of Immokolee where Ben was. We arrived just before six but had a 30-40 min ride into the woods which is the best part of arrival! This place has to rank in the top 10 areas to hunt in the state, I am too lucky to be able to do so. We were driving just as the sun was setting:
Theres something about trying to hunt an animal with eye sight 10X better than yours – not to mention with a shotgun, which is up close and personal! Our Saturday Morning hunt was filled with a whole lota nothing…very little moving around! We ran the buggy around for a few hours scouting but that too yielded very little. We took some rest at camp to have our traditional camp breakfast/lunch. About 2:30pm we decided to pack it up and get an early start on our afternoon hunt. Eric and Ben were off to hunt one side of the property and I took the other truck to the opposite side. I figured the sun was still fairly high, I would drive around to do a little scouting. I made it through the first oak hammok to a clearing and there, about 300 yrds in front of me, stood about 30 turkeys, hens and gobblers!!!! I hid the truck in the oaks and grabbed the bare mininmum and off I went. I finally made it to where I thought they would be and nothing…not a bird in sight…But I did hear a gobble about 150yrds away. I setup in a palmetto head and let a few variant calls fly and then two Toms came sprinting out of the thick trees into the clearing. I made one little squeak and they came right to me!!!! I had my bird within 20min of hunting, not bad!!! Eric heard my shot and met me at camp for a quick photo and we both went back to the same area (same palmetto head) – just as last it took about 15min, a few calls, and we had hens and gobblers working their way to us. He choose his bird – and dropped it with his 20 gauge!! We were too excited that we were able to call in two birds within in an hour!! The next morning Ben hunted by himself but didnt get a bird in range – but, he ended the morning by getting a 225lb boar hog! Spending the weekend in the heart of S. Florida’s greatest hunting grounds with good friends 3 weeks before my wedding will never go unforgotten!! Enjoy the photos – Hopefully ill get to see the water with a fly rod in hand next weekend, as it looks like the warming trend may start to produce some heated flats!! Until then, enjoy the photos from the weekend! Special thanks go out to Ben for inviting us to his property time and time again – He truly has an epic piece of property! BTW – we saw too many deer to count….(I needed a 40omm this weekend to really capture the beauty of bucks in velvet!)
For any of you who hunt, here were the measurements. A pair of respectable birds taken this weekend:
Mine: Beard: 7.25″ Spurs 1.5″
Erics: Beard: 4.75 (see note above photo) Spurs 1 1/8″
Hog: ~225LB
As you can see Eric’s bird looks as though he had highlights done…(this and the short beard is caused from Mites -something I have never seen until this weekend)
Gotta love the orange moon!
