Jay Nelson
Visit to Mosquito Lagoon & New Smyrna Outfitters
Was fortunate enough to slip down to New Smyrna Beach last weekend to visit my bud Eddie and fish the Mosquito Lagoon for a couple of days. In between changing diapers and peeling shrimp at JB’s, Eddie operates New Smyrna Outfitters, a kick-ass fly shop on Canal St. Lucky for me, Eddie’s back was hurting from standing behind the counter in the shop and hanging fly tying materials all day, so he agreed to pole me around the Goon for a couple of sessions. I was reminded how challenging a pressured Mosquito Lagoon redfish can be…or how bad I suck at casting. We had plenty of shots…made some work…and tucked our tails after others. Won’t even go into the baby manatee of a trout that followed my fly briefly. Here’s a few pics from the trip. Thanks to Eddie for the hospitality. Make sure to check out New Smyrna Outfitters if you are in town to fish the Lagoon.
Colorblind Redfish
Here’s some pics from my recent redfish outings. Thought I’d post them in black and white. Seems like a lot of us (myself included) get caught up trying to enhance our photos with crazy amounts of color and generally over-editing them to death. There’s something a little more honest about a black and white photo, so here ya go. Thanks for checking them out.
South Carolina Tarpon – Lowcountry Tarpon Tournament
Haven’t posted in a while, but wanted to share a South Carolina Tarpon report and try to raise awareness for a tournament we have coming up. This year’s Lowcountry Tarpon Tournament will be held September 13th & 14th out of Georgetown, South Carolina. The tournament is an annual event that benefits tarpon research conducted by the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust. Virtually all of the tournament proceeds go to BTT for the study of migratory tarpon along our coastline. It’s a 2 day format with a really fun awards ceremony at the end of the second fishing day. Members of BTT will be on-site for presentations and Q&A. If you are interested in learning more about South Carolina’s tarpon fishery, then please consider fishing or just joining us for the awards ceremony on Saturday evening. We will have some great auction items this year including some of Sam’s lifeproof cases, local artwork, fishing gear, and more. More info can be found at www.lowcountrytarpon.com . We are really stoked to have Paul Puckett from Charleston, South Carolina as this year’s tournament artist. Paul is a very talented dude and if you haven’t checked out is stuff then do yourself a favor and click on www.paulpuckettart.com . Here’s the official print from Paul, which will be featured on this year’s tournament shirts donated by Patagonia.
Here’s some tarpon photos from a couple of fish that Douglas Miller, Brit Rodgers, and I caught this past weekend in Georgetown. One of them was Brit’s first tarpon ever…and a South Carolina one at that…a pretty dang exciting moment for all of us. I’d say they are here in pretty good numbers leading up to the tournament. I also included some pics from this past flood tide because I thought they were pretty cool. It almost feels like fall outside and the fishing is really starting to get right. Hope to see y’all at the tournament.
Middle Keys Trip – May 2013
Just returned from our annual spring trip to the keys. As usual, we spent hours in the shallow water trying to convince tarpon to eat our flies. I’ve got an elevated respect for guys like Honson and Collin and the Florida guides and recreational anglers who are feeding these fish on a regular basis…this is not an easy game. We endured countless rejected shots from ocean swimmers, but it is worth the price of admission to watch them stream by the boat in clear water. Not to mention, I feel like we are learning a little more about these awesome fish with every failed attempt…which is really what it is all about. Fortunately, there’s always a tarpon around willing to eat an artificial lure or a live mullet at a bridge…allowing us visitors a chance to put some fish in the air before they make it up to the Carolinas. Looking forward to next time.
Chilled Everglades
Cold front…these two words are especially troubling as you are packing for your South Florida fishing trip. However, we remained optimistic that the wind wouldn’t blow 25mph, and that the temperature wouldn’t take a dive, and some straggler tarpon would ultimately hang around. Yeah right…I think it was the coldest week in the glades since the big freeze a couple years ago. Sure it made fishing tough…and prompted the tarpon evacuation…but we made the best of it. My friends Honson and Shafter put us on some fish and gave us an awesome introduction to the park. Caught my first snook on a DOA airhead, jumped a big tarpon, and covered some ground in one of the prettiest places on earth. Totally satisfied and grateful for the experience.
My first snook ever…not a monster by any means…but a snook! We used the new DOA airheads quite a bit this weekend. I like how they suspend in the water column and hang out right in the fish’s face. I’m thinking these will be great in the Lowcountry marsh.
We were fortunate enough that Honson still had the new 2014 Maverick HPX-V 17 in tow. Honson, Perry, and I put the boat through its paces this weekend and I’m impressed with the improvements and modifications Maverick has made to this boat. There’s more bow space, a circular live well centered on the back deck, immaculate wiring, and other improvements. Due to the weather, we were forced to cross some nasty chop in open water and the boat handled extremely well. As a Maverick owner, I’ve been dreading the day my yamaha 2-stroke 90 kicks the bucket, largely due to the lack of replacement options. After seeing the way the F70 performed, my fears have subsided…I think Honson got 42mph out one point this weekend.
Hats off to the Blue Moon Expeditions crew…they really put on a first class experience. They cooked three SOLID meals per day and provided us a unique opportunity to remain in a remote location for multiple days of fishing.
We don’t need no push pole
Having a hard time telling November goodbye – the fishing has been pretty damn good. But being that it was 78 degrees in South Carolina on December 3rd, I’m optomistic about the month ahead. One of the coolest things I’ve noticed this week is the number of migratory birds we’ve got hanging around for how warm it is – we had a pair of green wing teal follow us around spooking redfish the better part of the afternoon one day. Why is it when you are hunting ducks you end up with redfish tailing in the decoys and when you are fishing you have teal swimming along with your boat?
Pardon the lame grip-and-grin photo, but this fish was kind of cool…even more so because I haven’t had a heck of a lot of bow time since the girls were born. Saturday I take my father in law fishing (his first time on a skiff or redfishing) and throughout the day he is catching fish but won’t give up and about letting him pole the boat. Now I’m not letting the father of my wife fall off the platform into the oysters, so I refused every request. I turned him down all day and then at the end of the day he starts pushing the boat along with my stick it anchor…I’m like what are you doing man…and he says get your fly rod and get up there. Sure enough he poles me into position with the stick it anchor and I stuck a couple on fly. Won’t ever forget that. Thanks Ronnie!
Here’s my father in law’s fish…sight casted all on his own.
The Peace-man trying to decide whether to turn back around or head home to kid duty…
Capt Jay Nelson
Salty Fly Bahamas – Abaco Beach Resort
Regretfully back from Marsh Harbour following the Salty Fly Bahamas. We scored bigtime with the weather and fished glassy conditions for several days. Hats off to Sam for putting together a successful destination tournament. The fishing was a little challenging, but everyone found fish and got plenty of shots. Would do it again in a heartbeat. Here’s some pics from the trip…
Managed to catch up with one of my old college buds, Lloyd Williams, who moved to Marsh Harbor following school. He picked me up from the airport and put me on some fish the first night. Gotta love Bahamian hospitality. He and I also had a chance to slip out to the marls on sunday morning with Capt Jody Albury. If you ever have a chance to fish the marls, freaking DO IT. One of the coolest places on earth…with lots of hungry bonefish. Jody is a first-class captain with an intimate knowledge of the waters around Abaco. I highly recommend calling him if you are planning a trip.
Capt. Jay Nelson
Lowcountry Tarpon Tournament – South Carolina Tarpon Fishing
The 3rd annual Lowcountry Tarpon Tournament was held in Georgetown this weekend. My friend Antonio “Cheech” Castellvi came to town to fish with me and Capt Douglas Miller. He caught his first SC tarpon that was subsequently fitted with a satellite tag by members of the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust. We’re looking forward to seeing some data soon. Congrats to Capt Steve Roff and his anglers for the win and to Jordan, Newman, Stump, and Heath for also catching a fish. 4 total fish were caught in two days of fishing. Thanks to the tournament organizers/supporters for all of their hard work. Please check out www.lowcountrytarpon.com and consider participating next year.
The organizers try to plan the tournament around the mullet run each year. I’d say they hit the nail on the head.
Here’s a short video clip from Cheech’s fish… South Carolina Tarpon Video Clip
We even had time to get Cheech on a few redfish before he headed home…
Jay Nelson
Early September in the Lowcountry
Finally, you can feel fall starting to creep in. Don’t get me wrong, its still hot as hell in SC, but there are other signs that indicate my favorite season is just around the corner. The trout are biting and the blue wing teal are making their early push south. This is the one time of year where it is truly impossible to do all the things you would like to do in a day…there are that many options. You could tarpon fish, chase tailers in the flooded grass, throw nets for shrimp, trout fish, drink beer, watch football, catch big reds in the surf, dove hunt, deer hunt, and the list goes on. We only got to do a few of those things this week…here’s some photos from our outings. Stay tuned as things are heating up here in the lowcountry.
Everybody gathering at the ramp for a little pre-dawn planning session…
Couple of trout macros…
More Flood Tide Redfish
Been awhile since I had the front end of the boat – until last night when friends Perry & Jamie had me along for some flood tide redfishing. My mother-in-law gave me a hall pass from new-baby duty, so I jumped all over that. The fish didn’t tail that well until some weather started bearing down on us, at which point we got a few decent shots. I don’t own a farmers almanac or check barometric pressure, but I swear these fish get fired up right before a storm almost every time. We used flies by Dan Johnson – called the redfish candy – Perry and Jamie have been using them for years in our marsh and they seem to work pretty well. http://www.customsaltwaterflies.com/
Here’s my version of Dan Johnson’s “redfish candy”
Photo Credit: Many of these pics were taken by Perry Peace. If you are ever looking for a really nice place to stay while fishing or vacationing in the Georgetown, South Carolina area, make sure to check out Debordieu Beach. Perry can set you up with a great rental whether you are here to fish or just relax on the beach. Check them out at http://www.debordieurentals.com/
Jay Nelson