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.
Chow low down, 717 South Restaurant in Tampa with Krista Tucker by Dale Snead
This is our first installment of new series of “Chow Low Down”. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Chow Low Down at 717 South Tampa, Florida

Wednesday brought the 3F Adventures crew ( this time tolerating me) to 717 South Howard Ave. in the SoHo district in South Tampa a long time destination for foodies of the area.
Chef Robert Masson was going to be preparing for us a seafood meal that I did not want to miss. “Chef” has been awarded numerous awards in his 9 years at 717 South and is one to think quickly on his feet. His credo is “Keep it Simple” (for a simpleton like me…well that is just fine) though “Chefs” simple is viewed through a Italian Asian fusion. An interesting twist to an interesting man, an avid fisherman and adventurer (just rolled his Jeep 4-wheelin’ that previous week).
My previous visits have included most recently the chicken picatta (served with mashed potatoes of all things – and it was good!).
The Seafood bisque (a favorite of the frequent there)was prepared and was very good. Not your traditional bisque ( a somewhat secret spice is used and once you learn what it is, you’ll go “oh yeah, that was it!” )however it was warm and creamy full of the delicate fruit of the sea.
The main course was what the crew was drooling over pistachio crusted Black Grouper ( Chilean Sea Bass is also used for this dish depending of the availability of freshness and quality) with a white wine/lobster sauce,with Portobello mushrooms and shrimp. The lightly toasted pistachios complimented well the sweet delicate, flakey fresh grouper and conversely it contrasted it in texture. The simple yet flavorful sauce brought out the true beauty of the dish. The shrimp were not tough and dry but rather just firm and tender, and sweet. We all could have eaten more of that speaking to the appreciating of the dish and not to the portion which was ample. The sides were perfectly cooked (not floppy, but with just a bit of crunch) asparagus spears and fluffy white rice that just oooozzzzzed goodness when loaded on the fork with the fish and the sauce.
Finally, with Thanksgiving just around the corner, “Chef” brought to us his now famous in our eyes “Punkin’ Cheese Cake”. Staying true to form and keeping it simple, he only used 7 ingredients if you don’t count the simple graham cracker crust.

It was both Elegant and at the same time homey, served with a dollop of whipped cream with a mint garnish. My opinion of it? Well lets just say that I plan on making that for my loved ones this Thanksgiving (although, I know mine will not be as good as “Chef’s”).
For most dinner entrees you are looking at less than $20 so the outlay to reward ratio is heavily tilted to your favor. At lunch there is a 1/2 Chef’s Daily Sandwich Special & Cup of Cupboard Soup or 717 Salad 8.95.
When ever you are in the South Tampa area or if you would like to make this a dining destination (they do accept reservations but have a well apportioned bar if you would like to “enjoy a short wait). They also have special nights with Tampa Bay area Celeb Bartenders (such as Joe Madden and various artists, musicians and other sports figures) on a regular basis for giving back to the community.
I highly recommend you go. Say “Howdy” to “Chef” and tell ‘em we sent ya!
Fish Eat Fish World
As soon as I thought the water was actually going to clean up enough for some good sight fishing in Mosquito lagoon and the Northern Indian River, we get another week of high winds that has been turning up the water and making it difficult to see fish again. What do you do when that happens? You go to where you think you know where the fish are and just blind cast like crazy while praying to the fish gods for a bite! It seemed to work for Danny Francis on this breezy day in the Mosquito Lagoon.

On Saturday I hopped on Eddie Oliveras’s skiff to do some exploring in some areas of the Indian River that we haven’t fished in years. Same story, the water was high and dirty but at least the winds were a little calmer for us this day. We poled along a flat that I used to catch some big Trout and started blind casting. Eddie was first to hook up with what we thought was a Redfish because of how hard he was pulling but once the fish was shaking it’s head out of the water, we saw huge fangs and a yellow mouth….Big Sea Trout!

Eddie and I switched positions after releasing the fish.(which by the way is out of season all thru November & December in the South Region.) Since the water was so dirty, I wanted to try something out with my lure. I was throwing a D.O.A. Cal in New Penny color rigged weedless, I then slide a glass bead and a 1/16oz. tungsten bullet weight on that I got from my bass fishing buddy. I tie about a 1 inch loop knot and slip the bead and the weight below the knot which cannot slip back up because the tag makes for a stopper. That rig creates a little rattle along with a brilliant sparkle from the diamond cut glass bead. It seemed to work better this day versus fishing with just a hook and plastic.


After catching some nice size trout, we left them still biting and decided to go find some Redfish. After a short run, we made a stop at a cove where I’ve had good luck with Redfish during higher water. Immediately after pushing up to the spot, we see multiple fish crashing bait on the shoreline. I make the cast with the same D.O.A. Cal/rattle set up and instantly hook up to a Redfish! This was a fat fish and we figured out why after getting it to the boat.

The fish had about a 12″ Mullet lodged into it’s throat and still managed to try and eat my lure!


I have found some big trout in the past with the same thing, but the trout were not so lucky to live thru it. I figured I would pull the mullet out of the redfish’s mouth so it can swim and eat like normal again, the fish was not harmed and swam away healthy!


While in the same area, Eddie gets himself a Redfish on spinning gear as well. We then pulled out the fly rods and poled along the sandy shoreline. You can barely make out a fish in the murky water but it was possible. I get my fish on fly, then shortly after Eddie gets a nice one on fly.




We ended the great day of fishing at Ms. Apples Crab Shack along the Indian River Lagoon for some cold ones and spicy steamed blue crabs! Inshore fishing is getting better and better each day, and it will only get even better as the water gradually clears up.

Capt. Willy Le
321-303-7805
www.nativeflycharters.com
Poor Man’s Pheasant Hunt – South Carolina Marsh Hens
Seems like all of my buds have been taking off for Canada duck hunts and South Dakota pheasant hunts. They’ve been killing me with pics of piled-up waterfowl and flushing ground-birds. Not everybody can just take off for a week of bird hunting up north. Lucky for us, redfish aint the only things roaming our grass flats. Folks have been hunting marsh hens in coastal South Carolina for years and some of us feel obliged to carry on the tradition. In the fall, hunters push skiffs through flooded spartina grass hoping to jump groups of wary mud-chickens. These birds don’t flush until you’re right on top of them…kind of like a saltwater pheasant. Yeah its a close shot…and it seems like an easy one…but most bird hunters aren’t used to their quarry flushing that close. More shots are missed than you would expect. When a cold front pushes through during a fall flood tide, I can’t think of any better way to spend the afternoon. All you need is a hunting license and a migratory bird permit to hunt these birds…and the daily bag limit is pretty darn liberal. Get out an try to flush a few up.
Jay Nelson www.winyahguide.com
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…
Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza
I will not enter into the fray of NY vs. Chi-town pizza war. Suffice to say, if it is pizza – I will eat it.
On the way back from the conclave the other day I decided I would “take one for the team” ( real sacrifice right? : ) ) and stop by the Chicago Hub (http://www.chicagohubrestaurant.com/) in Winter Haven for some pizza. We had been there previously and were pleased.
Well, it was going on near 2:00 and I was “hawn-gry”. I started off with an order of 10 wings ($6.95). I couldn’t make my mind up as to which version I wanted so after speaking with Danny (he loves and runs the place) I was steeled on 4 versions. A Parmesan Garlic was my favorite that day (tomorrow my taste buds may want the Cajun more : ) ) they were unbreaded and fried with a bit of the sweetness or the garlic and a hint of saltiness of the parmesan.The Cajun was a medium butter sauce base with Cajun spices that was very good also. Wrapping it up was the Hot garlic and the hot traditional wings. both were quite good with the taste we are used to with hot wings. The exception being the sauce was a mite bit thicker, clinging to the meaty wings better.
As Matt was cooking my pizza (taking about 20 mins. ) Danny came out to visit with me. I was able to find out of his love for fishing and also his love of food. One of the ways he relayed this was saying, “I love feeding people” . I have come to believe that those loving what they do tend to be better at it than someone that just does stuff for a check.
Then comes the main event…pizza. It was a small supreme ($16) which is large enough to stuff two or to feed three.The crust had just a bit of a light crunch to it. There was ample cheese to it (as witnessed by the string of cheese in the pic) and all the vegetables were fresh. The sweet Italian sausage is home-made and all the other meats (pepperoni, bacon, ham) were piled high. I can not say when the last time was when I enjoyed a pizza so much…wait!…yes I can… the last time I ate here about one month ago.
I had no room to finish off the meal with desert (as we did the last time there) but I can tell you the Lemoncello Mascarpone cake is fabulous as well as the Italian Rum (who knew they distilled rum? : ) ) cake. I am told the brownie is quite the treat also.
Italian sausage sandwich and Italian beef sandwich is on the menu as well and even though I know I will have to try them one day, I will be hard pressed to omit ordering pizza too.
Not the easiest to find as it is stuck in the corner of the center, but well worth the drive
http://www.chicagohubrestaurant.com/contact.html
I do have one minor complaint. Amidst the standard music related to “The City With Big Shoulders” such as Blues Brothers “Soul Man” and various renditions of “Chicago”, I did hear Jay Z/Alicia Keys ”Empire state of Mind”, that’s just not right!…I believe they have that corrected now.
Revisited 11/18
I was in town and decided I’d follow up with an Italian beef sandwich. It is difficult for me to go there and not get pizza but I showed restraint. I did however order some of the garlic parmesan garlic wings and they were just as good as before.
When the sandwiches arrived I was pleased to see that two had been made. Since I had said “make it like you like your sandwich” one had grilled onions and bell peppers (enough such that they were soft and sweet) and the other also added mozzarella cheese. The 1/3 pound, or so, of thinly sliced Sirloin tip steak was piled high in a 6 inch roll. Upon the first bite the predominate flavor was the beef (as it should be), the nice, lean, juicy,tender beef. Not a bit of gristle or fat to be found. There was a hint of italian spices but nothing at all overpowering. This was all about the beef. There were sufficient onions and bell peppers but just enough to compliment the beef which is the main attraction. The side The one with cheese was placed in the oven to melt the cheese which dried the bread just a bit but it allowed it to pick up more of the juice. Again, not disappointed but rather very pleased. And the cost of this taste of Chicago?… only $5.50
Wooden Boat Show – Georgetown, SC
Today was the 22nd annual Wooden Boat Show here in Georgetown, SC – in my opinion this is Gtown’s coolest event. Every year people come from miles around to enjoy the hand-crafted boats, food, and good southern company. If you are into hand-built boats or wooden boats, then you need to add this to your calendar for 2012.These boat-builders have skills – hands down. There’s always some amazing boats on display, but the real highlight is the boat building competition that goes on throughout the day. Contestants get the afternoon to build a small wooden boat from scratch and then race it across a section of the river. There’s always a couple of them that sink, which makes for a rowdy race. If you are interested check out www.woodenboatshow.com – the crowd gets bigger every year.
The Wooden Boat Show didn’t start until lunch so Chad and I slipped out at dawn before the festivities got fired up. The weatherman called for a 5mph wind but we were greeted with a stiff 20mph…imagine that. Our fly fishing plans got 86′d, but we scratched out a few belly crawling reds nonetheless.
Update: After posting this I actually had a chance to meet the builders of the boat in pics 3-5. They were putting the boat in the water for the first time today at one of our local boat ramps. A guy from Georgetown actually had this boat built to be the tender for his yacht (yeah – he’s got it going on). The boat was built by Shearline Boatworks in Morehead City, NC. Check them out at www.shearlineboatworks.com .
Steam engine wooden skiff – damn what a cool boat. They actually fired this thing up for everybody to see.
The young grom you see at the bow of this boat actually built this rig from hand on-site…he was the youngest competitor to ever enter the wooden boat show’s boat building competition. Afterwards, he rowed his boat across the river amongst the competition - the kid is hardcore!
Jay Nelson
www.winyahguide.com
Louisiana Chandeleur mother ship trip, Kayak fishing
9.26.2011
Two months ago John and I drove 10 hours to do a trip in Louisiana only to have the named storm Don destroy our plans. Since the trip was already paid for it got rescheduled for September.
Due to other obligations John along with a few others just could not make it this trip and sold his spot to a couple other Tampa fisherman. The lucky few that go the spots were Jose, Chuck and Chris. These are all good Kayak fisherman that wanted to fish the Louisiana area for a change of pace.
The logistics of carrying all the kayaks was a bit of hassle but thankfully we found a friend(Peter) that let us used a Kayak trailer. This worked out nicely as we how have room on the bed of the truck fit all our gear for the long haul.

Chris was all up for the drive as we rondevu at his house at 9pm. We had to be there the next morning to load up and, yes we were driving straight through and yes, I’m too old to do that. As we packed I wonder how we would kill the time on the drive up. Four guys with all the gear and a 10 hour drive. It don’t sound like much fun but some how we got through it. Talks of fishing, more fishing, the meaning life, and religion debate passed the time. Nine and half hours later we were driving into Biloxi, MS to meet up with the mother ship boat.


With not much traffic on a Wednesday night, we were there quite early. Breakfast at the good old Waffle house, stops at Wally world and a visit the local Winn Dixie for the usual forgotten gear helped to fill some otherwise empty time slot.
We loaded the gear and our Kayak onto the Double Trouble trawler mother ship. With the help of the mates this didn’t take long at all. It gave us time to get our L.A. fishing gear and time to take a few photos of the trip. By 11:30am we were off on the 4.5 hour trip to fish the chain of island called Chandeleur islands.
What to do, what to do now on the journey out. All the gear was all ready and everyone was eager to wet the line and test some lures out. This day the fishing crew was made up of 11 fisherman. 6 in Kayaks the rest, including me was using the skiff to fish out of. Use four was from Florida the rest were from Louisiana and the surrounding area. Indeed, we took home the award for driving the the furthest.
All the guys on the boat were indeed pretty cool and the conversation passed swiftly. If you wanted to sleep you could. The interior of the boat was air conditioned and slept 12 fisherman plus the crew surprisingly comfortably. With two bathroom and a shower, full kitchen, hot and cold water, fridge it had the luxury or a nice cozy town house.
Once we got there the crew unloaded the boats and everyone was off fishing before it got dark. With that being said, the sunset there at 7pm central time zone.The fishing was good. Lots of bait activities and predators busting bait all around us. With only a limited light to fish everyone did quite well with plenty trout and a few redfish.


Dinner that night was prepared by the crew as everyone drank beer and watch the game on satellite TV. Us Florida guys talked of fishing for the bigger red fish in the am but all the other guys spoke of was catching their limit of big trout. By the way, fish limit in LA is 25 trout and 5 red fish per person. Compared to our 4 trout and 1 red fish here in Florida that was quite a jump.
Top water for sure was the ticket for the trout bite

The next morning we started off before sun came up. Our mission was to get on the beach and look for the bigger red fish. Once we got across the bar however, we knew it was not to be. With the big surf rolling in and nasty churned up seas it was not possible to cast out very far or spot the roaming fish school. By lunch time the afternoon storm rolled in and we decided to head in for a lunch break.





After lunch we had a change of plan. This plan brought us out to deeper water to concentrating on filling the fish box and this we did. The boys pack the cooler and brought some nice eating fish back for the fish fry that night. Chris had a nice catch of the day, taking in a 30lb black drum on fly.



The last day of fishing was quite interesting. I awake 2am in the morning to find the boat rocking and rolling while anchor. This was strange since it was suppose to be calm that night. I got up on the back the boat to find two other fisherman awake as well. The kicker was all the kayaks had came loose during the storm and had floated away into the darkness. The crew had been trying to look for it for an hour with a spot light to no avail.

By 3am I was tired and went back to sleep. We decided not to tell anyone since there wasn’t anything anyone could do until the sun comes up anyways. Needless to say the morning was filled with tension as by 9am the kayaks were still missing. The coast guard had been notified and the surround boats had been told about the situation. The crew did a search but with the strong winds and it being over 6 hours later the kayaks could be anywhere.
The kayakers decided to fish out of the skiff so at least they could get some fishing in for the day. After all, sitting on the boat mulling it over would not do anything to find it regardless.


By noon we had heard the good news on the radio. The kayaks had been found by one of the other boats in the area, all in perfect condition. Boy what a relief for everyone involved.

That night the crew cleaned up all the fish and made us jambalaya for dinner to cap off a great two and half day trip.

As the boat takes off we got out side to watch the sun set one more time before left it all to head back to Tampa, Florida.

Did I mention you can catch silver trout all night off the back of boat?
Trip information:
Double Trouble Chandeleur boat trip
Besides cost of getting there and your tackle,
Our cost for this trip was $525 per person + tip, this included all meals, drinks and snacks for the entire trip. You bring your own alcohol.
$30 for the fishing license.
We slept on the boat all 3 nights so no hotel was needed. For the money I think it’s a fun affordable trip. You get to hang out, watch TV, and be near lots of fish first thing in the morning. Not to mention if you wanted to, you get to bring 25 trout and 5 red fish worth of fish home with you to eat.
Useful Fishing information:
10-20lb test spinning combo, medium light to medium heavy depending on lure choice.
Rod 7 to 7.5′ works great.
Jigs, top water lure works great.
Us Florida boys used DOA lures cals, Yo Zuri top water, Mirror Lure topwater and Mirrodine
Fly rods 8 to 10 weight depending on wind. Almost any fly will work but I prefer heavier flies if you are targeting red fish. Chris killed them on chartreuse clouser.
photo notes:
Since I was actually fishing(not just taking photos) for the most of this trip I used what ever camera was available.
I used a combination of iphone, kodak playsport and dslr photos for the report.
BLUE MARLIN CAMPING TRIP – PART 1 by Russell Kleppinger
BLUE MARLIN CAMPING TRIP – PART 1
Every year as sailfish season wraps up and summer approaches boats from South Florida begin preparations to head to the Bahamas for the summer Blue Marlin season. These fish are the Holy Grail for sport fishers and people will spend tens of thousands of dollars per trip for the chance to catch a single fish. While they can reach nearly 2,000 pounds, the typical size fish in the waters of the Bahamas is in the 200 and 400 pound class. Since the western Bahamas is in close proximity to south Florida, it receives more fishing pressure. Having the opportunity to Captain the “Cyclops” a 50ft Hatteras, I chose to venture further south in hopes of having the best chance of tangling with these beasts.

I left Miami and cruised at 10 knots for the first 400 miles down to Long Island. Although extremely boring, I was able to save $4,800 in fuel over our normal cruising speed. My first mate for the trip was Max who fished the Bahamas with me the past two summers and has seen 54 Blues. The second mate was Johnnie, a greenhorn with only sailfish experience who was very excited to come. I pull into the marina at long Island it’s packed with boats. What was going on? I just went 400 miles to get away from all the people. Later I was told there was an article in Marlin magazine about the fishing around Long and sure enough everyone showed up. Note: “Please forget and or burn this after reading” LOL.


The boss Taylor flew in a day later and was happy we were able to save nearly five grand in fuel running slow. After a quick lunch I took he and his girl Lori out for a half day of fishing near the marina. One hour into it, a small Blue slid in up on the teaser and gave a half hearted crack at it. Then she went back and did the same to the long rigger but never came tight. Thirty minutes later another small blue about 150lbs did the same but this time we were hooked up. When that fish jumped so did Johnnie and I think he nearly hit his head on the bridge deck! After a short 15 min fight on 30 lb test, we released the first Marlin of the trip! I looked over at Johnnie and said: “what do think”? He talks a little slow, rarely says much, and emphasizes the last word in every sentence like Forest Gump, but with a grin from ear to ear he responded: “the coolest thing everrrrrrr”!

The next morning we headed south to explore the out islands. Fishing our way down we won’t touch land for the next five days. Weather sucked the first two days with rain and rough seas. We had a few window shoppers, including one Blue over 700 lbs, but the low barometer made the fish lethargic. The next day, the sun broke out and so did the BITE! We raised 9 Blue Marlin and by the fifth bite I started talking like Johnnie. Fishing hard all day we released the last Blue in the dark with the spreader lights on. The last day we were only able to fish in the morning because the boss had to catch a flight back in the afternoon. The fishing remained strong and we quickly released two more blues. Then, a big Blue snuck up in the glare and inhaled the bridge teaser. I grabbed the line and pulled as she swam away dumping line! When it got to the end I took a wrap on the 400 lb test and held on for dear life. The outrigger started to make a groan and the 400lb leader was severed off in the corner of her jaw. With my favorite teaser gone and a mono burned hand we headed in. The boss will be back in a week and so will part two of the trip. Tight Lines
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