- 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
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
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000020544798
captruss1 captruss1@bellsouth.net
Port O Conner, Texas
A Tarpon fishing trip last week to Port O Conner, Texas with Capt. Kevin Townsend of K.T. Diaries morphed into a redfish trip when the winds blew out the best tarpon spots.
Capt. Kevin Townsend
Capt. Kevin Townsend and Tony Kirk with a Port O Conner red.
Flats Junkie BBQ sauce by Rich Osgood
Flats Junkie BBQ Sauce
Well….It has been a long time coming on this one! BBQ is and has been a great topic here on Salty Shores. Many of us have tried a ton of different sauces through the years and believe the ones we use on our Ribs, Chicken and Pork to be the best you have ever tried. This may be so in our own opinions, but is your sauce really better than the next guy’s sauce? I have to believe NO! Until you have been to some of these local BBQ challenges and competitions or even a respectful BBQ joint, you probably have not really had even a glimpse of GREAT BBQ!
Barbeque can be defined in many different ways. The way I see it is in the cooking process and not the just the sauce. We can all lather up our meats with our favorite sauces and mask a poorly cooked piece of with a great sauce, but can we cook a perfect piece of meat? I am not great nor am I bad. I have strengths in different ways on the grill or smoker. So, what I am getting at is you can take an average sauce and still have great BBQ if the meat is cooked the proper way. This is only an opinion folks, so don’t get angry if you think your store bought buy one get one free is the best sauce out there!
FlatsJunkie.com is a flats apparel/equipment/forum company run by a couple of down to earth Florida boys. These two guys are trying to offer up industry products for a lesser price than your traditional cookie cutter store does. The product they offer ranges from custom casting platforms to flats wraps all the way to a homemade BBQ sauce. These guys have a great passion for what they do.
One day Ryan Eaton of Flats Junkie called me to see if I would be willing to sample and review his homemade BBQ sauce. I was skeptical because I am very lazy about getting around to writing reviews. He talked me into it knowing that I would be very critical and honest about the outcome. Well, he gave me his sauce six months ago and I am just now wrapping this up. I have not avoided this because of his product. Life happens and I have been swamped. Ryan has even asked me if I am avoiding the review due to a crappy sauce. Not the case at all! Is the sauce great? Does it burn easy? Does it taste like store bought? Is it to sweet or spicy?
The sauce really does stink! I will go on record saying it was no different than my 5 year old daughter’s bedroom creations. O.k. I am just kidding folks! The sauce has a lot of good qualities.
I went to Ryan’s house for my samples and he walked me through the making of his sauce. I was able to pick out most of the ingredients by taste and common sense. He would not give me the lowdown completely. The whole deal from beginning to end is rather neat. These boys are rather comical in the kitchen. Back to the sauce! At first it tasted similar to others I had tried. I was convinced it would be no different than any other good sauce I could purchase over the counter. Onto the grill I would go. My meat of choice would be a boneless chicken thigh. Thighs are pretty easy to cook with a ton of flavor even if overcooked.
The final minutes came when it was time to apply the sauce. Evenly coating and turning when necessary, this sauce was appearing to adhere very nicely. Burn potential is always there if you’re not paying attention. I was ready to taste the finished product. My chicken was cooked just right this day and the sauce on it tasted……..Great! Just right! Why would I buy this over a store bought sauce you ask? I will continue to purchase Flats Junkies BBQ sauce because they have a great work ethic and passion to provide all of us Flats Junkies a great product. Oh and because the sauce is HOMEMADE and tastes excellent.
Chronicles of a Tarpon Junkie, Part II “Rage”
As we commute down the Florida Keys, we look towards the Atlantic and see the sight of many poling skiffs lined up along the flats edges and bay boats floating bobbers down the many channels that run perpendicular to them. Those lucky enough can catch the spectacle of a tarpon jumping at the end of an angler’s line. It is no secret, tarpon season is in full swing. I’ve spent time in both the Upper and Lower Keys and had a chance to see some really cool stuff chucking flies at Tarpon. We fly fished for tarpon as we do each year in every different way or form. We’ve already had some big days on the water this year with a seemingly unlimited amount of shots some days and even a double digit number of hook-ups a day. Heck, we even filmed a major fishing show that will air in it’s next season. Wait until you see some of the epic shots.
Watching a bait under a cork being pulled under by a freight train, ticking a small fly in front of a string of tarpon on the clear ocean side and pulling a fish away from the school to eat your fly, dropping a fly in front of a big laid up backcountry fish… there is certainly something special about tarpon fishing in all it’s different froms.
Tools of this trade to get the job done!
We had a few big number days throwing flies at big laid up Tarpon in Florida Bay…
It seemed we have thrown at an unimaginable number of fish stringing along on the ocean side of the Keys…
…and we met with great success on days when the fish decided to chew…
Collin R. Putting some heat on
Sometimes staying home is not an option. When you get the hall pass to go fishing, the seas seem to know and decide to kick up a notch to try to scare people away. This is why I decided to buy a bigger boat this year, but one that can still pole with stealthiness and ease, while being able to tackle the demands of running through rough weather and fighting big fish that pull you offshore when winds kick up to 20kts+. My new Maverick Mirage HPX-V 18 has proven to be an AMAZING boat for ocean fishing.
raging tarpon in raging seas...
No matter where you are feeding poons, once the steel makes contact with flesh, the majestic gentle giants revert to rage-driven silver missles, leaving traces of fury and anger in a frothing sea…
The infamous palolo worm hatch should happen any day now and it has caused a change in mood for both fish and fisherman. Many tarpon fisherman are trying to rally up their buddies and arrange to call in sick days at the office to drive down to the lower Keys to catch this worm hatch, where fields of tarpon will be sipping these small worms off the surface with the tide sweeping them out from under rock and coral. Many tarpon themselves are reluctant to swim during the day, and hunker down by the bridge to await the meal of worms. What is it about these little worms that turn out Tarpon into crack heads? This still boggles my mind but I’m not complaning as long as I can still tie a red rubber band to a hook and feed it to tarpon thats feinding a worm fix. We found another type of hatch before the worm though and I got to drift around and watch a couple buddies pull on some bridge tarpon.
This is definitely the heart of tarpon season. I beleive the best has yet to come as fish are gearing up for pre and post worm mode as we speak. I think it’s time I got off my laptop now and resume my duties on the water to catch the remainder of my favorite time of year. So until next time….
Stay tuned for more of this stuff!!!
For those travelling down to the Keys to fish during tarpon season, here are a few restaurants you should consider:
- Key Largo Conch House (Breakfast and Tea or Coffee)
- Lazy Dayz, Islamorada (Dinner)
- El Sibonay, Key West
- Square Grouper, Sugarloaf Key (Must try the seafood stew)
- Ms. Mac’s Kitchen, Key Largo
- Village Gourmet, Islamorada (Wraps and Croissants)
- Ziggy Mad Dogs, Islamorada (Top Shelf dining)
- Green Turtle Inn, Islamorada
A kiss to the victor of this battle...
Kayak Fishing/Camping the Dry Tortugas Part 2 of 2
This is part 2 of 2 of Kayak Fishing and Camping the Dry Tortugas
The adventure started well before the departure date of May 1st 2011. From buying gear, to what seem like a hundred phone calls, May 1st couldn’t come fast enough.
We decided to drive there a day earlier so everyone would be on the same page. Besides having to load at 6am that morning it was definitely a smart move.
A quick stop at Robbies to check out the ever present tarpon is always a treat when I go down there. Besides it gave everyone a chance to chill and have a good time documenting the tavel.
Getting there:
Since the Dry Tortuga is basically an island 70 miles in the middle of the no where there are limited ways to get there. Unless you or your buddy has access to a big boat you are limited a sea plane or a ferry to get there.
Another option is hire a charter but that can getter very expensive really fast. The sea plane option is cool if you only planning on hanging out then coming back. The cost isn’t too bad at about $250.00 a person.
For us the only way we were going to get all our gear there including the Kayak was the Yankee Freedom II. The cost of a regular day trip was $165 + tax and the cost for taking camping and kayak was about $200.00 after taxes. You are limited to 60lb of camping/fishing gear. Of course this does not include your water, food, cooler or your kayak. Extra cost to remember is the parking across the street from the marina is $13/day cash only and tipping the crew for loading all your gear.
The boat is 100′ long and 60′ wide catamaran. Air conditioned, comfortable and very clean. The crew were friendly and helpful. On the way over the winds were blowing 20mph with 4-7′ seas. I have to say the ride was very impressive. The boat was well over my expectations. Did I mention they even serve beer and cocktails when the boat is at sea.
Arrival at Fort Jefferson is a 10:30am. You get a camp ground orientation then you are free to set up your camp ground. Once that happens before you fish you need another orientation by the park ranger. Remember no trash left behind. Bring lots of trash bags as everything has to go back with you on the ferry. There are no trash cans there in the park.
Clothing:
Since you are limited to weight (not including your water and cooler) it just isn’t practical to bring a lot of clothing. Most of the guys limited themselves to minimal packed clothing.
Hats:
This is a must on these hot summer days. A couple guys the Tilly hat but any wide brim hat will do. My normal everyday visor and cap worked fine but when I’m out there with the sun beating down a wide brim hat is definitely preferred.
Sunglasses:
Sunglasses are very important if you want to fish in Florida waters especially the keys. They need to be polarized. You will be wearing this all day. Not only will it protect your eyes but it will definitely let you see the fish cutting down the glare in the water. I am currently using the Costa Del Mar 580P ambers. Ambers gives you better contrast and the polycarbonate not only is cheaper but much lighter as well.
Shirt:
Micro fiber shirts were the way to go on this. They are comfortable, if you get them wet it drives very quickly and has very good sun protection. I only brought 3 shirts me and rotated them. Many of the guys wore the Salty Fly micro fibers from the tournament made by Redzone Apparel.
A light rain jacket should be brought with you, just in case.
Pants:
Best option is the convertible pants that changes from long pants to shorts. The Guide series made by Simms worked great. They were comfortable, light weight, breathable and great sun protection. They are durable as well. Since they dry quickly, I brought two pairs and just alternate them.
Shoes:
You will need two pair of shoes on this trip. One shoe that is comfortable to fish out of and stand on rough rocky terrain with. The other pair is for the end of day to hang out and relax with.
The fishing shoe for me was the Columbia Drain maker.(This was great way to test out the water shoe that I just got.) The shoe was super light weight, drained water really well, super grippy and it provided some really good protection when we were walking on those jagged rocks. The 2nd pair would be a comfortable sandal. This will let your feet breathe well and sand passes through. I do not recommend wearing sandals when fishing. The rocks there would slice you up.
Sun Protection:
Besides your normal UV protection gear mention previously you definitely want to bring with your favorite sun protection. The sun can be brutal out there especially this time of year.
A UV Buff face mask is almost a must to protect your face. Buff also makes a new light weight “Water Glove” that came to good use down there as well. It has added sun protection as well as protect you hands from blisters when you a paddling all day.
Camping:
You are designated to camp in a certain area. Campsites are first come first serve. Each site gets a charcoal only grill and one bench. There is a maximum of three tent per site and cost is three dollars per day per person.
There is a bathroom facilities there but do not expect any running water. Bring a lot of baby wipes to clean yourself up daily.
A cart will be provided for you to carry gear to your camping area.
Tent:
A wind resistant tent is a must. Since it is an island, if the wind is coming from an unfavorable direction you risk the chance of getting your tent blown away. A rain fly is a must have there. Though the showers are not heavy brief showers can happen any time.
A couple of the guys had issues with setting up their bigger tent. All of them agree that for the next time they will bring a much smaller more wind resistant tent.
I believe Jose and I had the most ideal tent for this type of camping. Not sure what brand Jose had but I was using the MSR Elbow room 2. It is a two person tent that was very wind resistant, light weight and pretty darn easy to set up. It comes with a rain fly and a ground fly. The tent sells for under $200.00 at Flintcreek.
Sleeping bag:
I recommend a nice and light weight sleeping bag. The lighter the better as you won’t be feeling very cold down there especially this time of year.
Bugs:
Bugs were very minimal there. I actually brought along the 3m Ultrathon and Thermal cell but we never really needed them.
Food/Water/Beer:
Since there is nothing on island, all food and water should be brought with you. Sure you can eat fish for every meal but that gets to be a hassle when you want to be out there fishing.
One gallon per person per day is recommended. We went a little overboard and brought two gallons per person per day. Let’s just say we and a bunch left over and ended up giving them all away when we left.
If we had a chance to do it all again we would just do the one gallon per person per day. What we would bring more off is beer. Since alcohol is allowed it is just a nice way to end the evening. Besides theirs is nothing to do on the island after dark so you end sitting around the picnic table going over the day’s event.
As far as food goes, again we went overboard. We had lots of canned foods and snacks left over. For dinner we ended up eating the steaks first night then the rest of the time we either had the fish we caught that day or the freeze dried food by Backpaker’s Pantry.
The freeze dried food was actually much better than expected. We ate the Pad Thai, lasagna and even the freeze dried ice cream sandwich. The coffee was excellent and actually tasted a lot better than the instant coffee.
Next time here is what we would do:
Bring breakfast bars for breakfast. Everyone is usually in a hurry to launch we never did do anything big for breakfast.
Lunch will be peanut butter and jelly or, since the ferry comes daily, lunch can be bought for $5.00 between 11 to 1pm. This would save a lot of time, money and weight.
Dinner will consist of the catch of the day or the Backpaker’s Pantry meal. A tub of pull pork also would go a long ways for lunch and dinner.
Fishing:
Inshore fishing via kayak is limited to a one mile circle of the camp grounds (Garden Key). Outside of this is a study zone where fishing is prohibited. However on calm days, If you go a little further the zone opens up.
Limitations:
With the exception of the dock(when the ferry leaves) and the sea plane beach there is no fishing around the island itself because it is designated “swimming area”.
Fish you would encounter when Kayak fishing:
Barracuda, mangrove snapper, yellowtail snapper, mutton, permit, tarpon, sharks, Goliath grouper, hound fish, black groupers, spanish mackerel, snook, yellow jacks
Topography:
At the docks there are plenty of mangrove snappers to be had. If you had bait you can pretty much catch all you want. We used 1/4oz DOA shrimp and caught a few before they wised up to us. The docks also held tarpon, goliath and snooks.
The harbor when we were there were full of tarpon rolling when it wasn’t too windy. Since we wanted to catch them on the flats we did not target them much. The ranger there tells me we should drift live crabs for them.
The surround area was really nice lush grass flats and coral heads. The grass flats contained snappers and permit with the occasional tarpon laid up. Barracuda were plentiful as well. When we were there, we only saw a couple sharks but they tell me sharks are plentiful as well.
Beyond the breakers it dropped off to some really nice hard bottom. The area was full of turtles, yellowtail snappers, birds diving on bait. It was a shame the weather was not cooperation as we did not have much of a chance to explore beyond the reef like we wanted to.
Fishing:
Note you are able to harvest whatever is in season when fishing the proper zones. However you are not allowed to target Goliath or land a shark in the park.
Spin Gear:
I would bring two rods. A 4000 series reel with 15lb braid with a medium action 7′-7’6″ rod works great for the snappers and inshore fish. A heavier 6000 to 10000 series reel, 50lb braid and medium a heavy action 7′ rod works great for tarpon and near shore species.
Lures:
We brought along lots DOA lures for this trip. We mainly used the DOA shrimp, bait buster, swimming mullet, and terror eyes. The shrimp worked the best for the coral heads 15′ or less. When you got deeper we used the terror eyes and swimming mullet.
Fly Fishing:
A 10wt setup will do just fine for 90% of the fish we ran across in shore there. Bring a 12 wt just in case you find lots of tarpon on the flats. When we were there the temperature was still on the low side. The tarpon unfortunately was most in the deeper waters of the harbor.
With high winds and unexpected low water temperature the only fish we caught on fly were snappers and barracudas. We had limited shots with permit and tarpon. I am hoping to revisit soon when the temperature is a big higher.
Kayak
Note: You must have and wear at all times a coast guard approved PFD. You also need a whistle. Many of use opted for the inflatable units. At first I thought it would be bothersome but to be honest I forget I even had them on most of the day.
We had 3 types of kayaks going on this trip. Three out of the six kayaks including mine was the Hobie revolution complete with the peddle system. The peddle system makes going against the strong winds and current much easier. I added a standnfish pontoon system to make standing up and sight fishing a lot easier.
My setup consists of 2 fly rods (10wt and 12wt), one light spinning and one heavy spinning for any occasion.
Accessories:
An anchor system is high recommended. A normal anchor with 50′ of line for deeper water and the Wang Anchor with Steel Tip were used for the shallow stuff.
Cost:
So here is the basic run down in cost to do the trip. This is on a per person basis. Obviously I can’t include the gear and supplies you will buy for the trip. That will be up to your personal needs.
$75.00 hotel (Since we had a 7 hour drive we decided to get down to Key West the night before. Load time is 6am)
$200.00 Ferry cost
$53.00 4 days of parking cost (divide this by who many took the trip down with you)
$9.00 for park camping fees (This is for 3 nights for camping per person. You are limited to 3 nights there.)
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