- The only known adult Orca in the world
- IGFA event April 14th and 15th.. Jose Wejebe event
- Fishing TV show Spanish Fly host Jose Wejebe Killed in a plane cash in Everglades City, Florida April 6th 2012
- Only in Florida
- CCA Florida – Tampa Chapter Announces Twenty-Seventh Banquet, April 22, 2012
- Fly like a bird
- Biscayne Bay Estuary deep dredge threat
- A fish named “Ball Cutters”, yes it is exactly what you think!
- Rod Naming contest, Win 1 piece 12 wt Fly rods or Spinning rods, Deadline March 26th 2012
- Ladies Only fishing tournament in Sunny Florida, March 23rd 2012, Chix n Stix
sam
Last of the Saltyshores Hat
I manage to find 5 of these Saltyshores Hats the other day.
There were only 144 made and these are the last of them. Once these are gone there will be no more like them.
I went ahead and put them up in the schwag store. I hear they are very good luck for catch fish. Ask Rick from the Hard Core Kayak Angler’s club. 
“Puffed embroidery with Sandwiched visor.
Dark underside of visor for better Polarization.
100% cotton and Velcro straps for comfort and easy adjustments.
These are the last of the 144 that were made. There will be no more.”
2012 Boca Grande Tarpon season in full swing
This weekend I was down there in Boca Grande Florida, arguably “THE” Tarpon capitol of the world.
Every summer the Tarpon migrate through Boca Grande and gorged themselves on the crabs that gets flushed out of Boca Grande pass.
I did not even picked up a rod while down there. I was basically down there to hang with some friends and get some images. There were plenty of tarpon that has moved in but the bite has been a bit slow all week. This weekend was no exception.
I got on a boat during the women’s tarpon tournament as well as the men’s tarpon tournament the next day. The tournament I’m guessing average about 30-40 fish caught. My opportunity for photos of jumping fish was not the best however. I had a chance at one or two predictable jumps but that was it for the two days.
One thing that stood out was there were not many sharks. I’m sure there are some there but I did not see and hear over the radio of any sharks sightings during the two days I was there.
Big Tarpon jump shots are tough to capture tact sharp and they definitely eluded me this time around.
I did find some spots that might hold baby tarpon and I will have to bring down my SUP next time to do some fly fishing.
Here are some images from Day one. Will get more done of Day two tomorrow.
Tuna Frenzy video
Tuna Frenzy, wow! Wish I was there diving this action with the underwater housing.
This morning’s fishing with Nik and product shots (Iphone 4/4s cases)
Well I had a couple hours to fish this morning so I met my buddy Nik at the launch. It was slick calm, no wind, over cast out there and we thought the fishing was going to be awesome!
We both worked the top water to no avail for probably two hours. Then finally Nik gets small snook on his top water lure. I fished til about 10am until I had to pack it in. So in the three hours I was out there I can honestly say I did not get a single hit. Some days it just was not meant to be.
Of course on the way home.. “right after you left man…. I got this nice red..!” figures..
I got home ate some food and started to work on the must needed shots of the Saltyshores Iphone cases. This way people can see them in much better details. The cases are printed via dye sublimated aluminum. This makes them very vivid, colorful and super durable. I’m working on the retail packing now and they will be hitting the tackle shops here in the near future.(crossing my fingers, everything works out.)
Biggest fish Reid ever caught
Saturday I took my friend Erik and his 12 year old son Reid out fishing. The weather was not the greatest but it was clear skies on a Saturday and the boy wanted to fish.
Making the run across the bay was not pretty and everyone soaking wet in the 3-4 footers. 3-4′ waves isn’t bad for a bay boat but we were in my 17′ Ranger, a solid boat but not meant to be in that conditions for sure.
When we got there my trolling motor battery on my remote was dead so this made for some annoying moments trying to figure what was wrong. After about 45min of zero success we decided to drift and see what we can do. Since we had already crossed the bay mine as well get some fishing in.
With nothing really working we decided to move to the bridges. This was a challenge with no trolling motor but since it is much deeper water, I figured we can use the main motor to control our drift a bit.
This proved to worked quite nicely. We used pompano jigs to try to catch pompano but we caught a nice black drum instead. After a few tensed moment of us guiding Reid how fight the fish and having to drive under a bridge piling we landed the fish. The 10min fight on light tackle exhausted Reid but he was so excited when the fish finally surfaced. “OMG my biggest fish ever!” he yelled.
This made the whole trip worth while.
Tarpon zone by Redzone, Sailfish Iphone 4/4s Cases
Check it out.. my Tarpon image on the Redzone apparel line “Tarpon Zone”
The Saltyshores Sail fish iphone 4/4s case is available. Did not really expect it honestly, but I sold out of first shipment and got more in. I under estimated the offshore base for sure. I guess that is why most of the successful fish artist pretty much only paint Marlin and other offshore images.
This gives me a great idea. I have to get me an epic image of Bass. 
Here is the Sail fish Iphone 4/4s case. They come in Black or White soft rubber. Dye sublimated aluminum so it’s tact sharp and never fades.
I shot this image during the first episode shoot of “Into the Blue” TV show shot down in the Keys with Captain Scott Walker.
The one liner of the show was.. Scott screaming “Goggle eye in the face!” .. you can hear it during the show. lol
UFO in 5,000 feet of water near and oil rig, Well more like UUO, placental jellyfish
Crazy looking living trash bag. Never seen anything like this. Shot in about 5000 to 8000 feet water near an oil rig in April.
My friend Alex works on the rig and sent me this video. He said it’s called the placental jellyfish.
Deck Gear product photo shoot
Did a photoshoot for Deck Gear, a local company that makes custom seats specifically for west coast fishing. Since they have lots of standard products shots already I concentrated more on the creative side. Things like reflections and silhouettes.
It wa a bit cloudy and windy out there. With a little help from mother nature at the end of the day, I believe we got the shot we came for.
Matlacha Babay Tarpon video
Since tarpon season is upon us, I figure it is time to post the Matlacha Baby Tarpon video we shot in conjunction with a group of friends.
Tactical Fishing Clip by Tacticalanglers.com
Cool product I just tried out called the Tactical Clip by the Tactical Angler.
Some guy name Alberto hit me up on Facebook a couple moths ago and told me the next time I’m heading down south he wanted to meet me for lunch. So a month ago I did and hooked me up with these fishing clips.
At first I told him I don’t use clips, I tie knots and which were fast, easy and didn’t weigh my lures down. He insisted I would like these as they were strong and very little hassle. I took them and went on my merry way.
It sat the in the truck for weeks before I decided to try them. Since I have been using lots of plugs lately, a couple weeks ago I gave it a shot.
I was quite surprise how easy they were were to take on and off. With the plugs I was using it did not affect the action little if at all. So now I find myself changing from top water to sub surface depending on the depths of water I am fishing quite often. Since it only takes a couple seconds, I was no longer looking for cutters, cutting my flouro carbon down and retying.
The clips I was using are rated at 50lbs which is more than enough for inshore fishing. They also have them up to 175lbs.
The come in a package of 10 I believe for about $5.99. There is not bearings or moving pars to go wrong so they are pretty darn durable. Unless you get cut off a bunch it will last quite a long time. I’m still using the first one I tied on.