- IF4, International Fly Fishing Film Tour, a special Saltwater Cut for us here in Florida.
- Very Cool trick try this it works awesome.
- Dragon Fly paddle boards in South Carolina Show this weekend.
- Real truth about SOPA
- Natural Laws
- Clay Dyer, can’t help but to be inspired by this guy
- Invisible to the Naked eye water proofing you iphone
- Tuna gets over $700,000 at the fish market
- Real Cyclops Shark found
- White Pelican eating a pigeon
Bottom fishing with D.O.A. Swimmin’ Mullet
Me, my brother and friends ventured out of Port Canaveral in the 22′ Pathfinder TE this past weekend. Conditions were sloppy but that didn’t stop the fish 80ft below from biting. We used nothing but D.O.A. Swimmin’ Mullet to jig the bottom and caught multiple species including Flounder, Red Snapper, Mangrove Snapper, Sea Bass, Trigger fish, Grouper, Cobia, and Toad fish this day.
-Capt. Willy Le
www.NativeFlyCharters.com
East Coast Pigs with Cameron by Kapers
Generally I dont fish during the winter months because the cold gets to be a bit much for this Florida Boy. But recently we have had a fairly mild winter so I thought what the hey let me get out and do some winter fishing.
I gave Cameron a call and asked how the fishing was on his coast ( Florida East coast ) this time of the year? He told me if I was going to fish the East Coast that now was the time. So I packed my gear and hit the road the following morning.
I met up with Cameron at 6am and we began our journey which ended up being a 9 hour day out on the water doing what we love. We started the morning off using MirrOlure She dog top water lure. We landed multiple trout the smallest at 26 inches and me landing my personal best a 30 inch trout.
But trout wasn’t the purpose of the trip. We were in search of Bulls….. Bull Reds that is. So we left the trout and headed to where the fish were known to cruise. We anchored up the Kayaks and waded the area. I feel wading allows for a stealthier approach. These fish are big and they didnt make it to that size because they are stupid. So we wanted every advantage in our favor. And it worked out just the way we wanted.
We both landed multiple fish in the 42-45 inch range but the fish that made it all worth it was My 50 inch Bull and Cameron’s 51 inch Beast. All and all a great day on the water. I have now reconsidered winter fishing in the beautiful state of Florida…
A special day for Kent Johson
Kent Johnson from Montana spends his winters in warmer climates to get away from the frozen lakes and icy streams back at home. This year he is in Florida with his 5th wheel in tow and his wife by his side and they plan to travel the whole state staying in each region for 2 weeks then on to the next. This week he is staying on the outskirts of East Orlando and called me up to target Redfish with a fly rod. Kent has traveled the world with his fly rod and has caught Bonefish, Salmon, Tarpon, Permit, Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, etc. but always had trouble with the Red Drum in Florida. After several attempts in the past years, he has failed to catch one until today, January 10, 2012, which was a very special day for him.
On a sandy flat of 8-12″, we would encounter Laid up Sea Trout, laid up Redfish and also large schools of Redfish. The water was crystal clear and not a lick of wind making the whole river sheet glass, which also made the fish very spooky. Kent had over 50 shots of both Trout and Reds but most of them blew off by seeing the fly line soaring through the air. The ones that didn’t spook off are the ones that either trailed the fly for a few yards before turning away, or ate the fly that imitated a small baitfish.
After landing a few nice Sea Trout (which Kent can also check off his list now) I see a pod of upper to over slot Redfish approaching us. I quickly position the skiff for Kent to fire off a long cast next to the school which he did perfectly without spooking the fish. Once the pod of fish headed towards the fly, Kent makes 3 or 4 quick strips which gets a fishes attention which then turned on the fly and ate. Now Kents first ever Redfish is hooked up on the end of his line and the battle begins.
After about 20 minutes of tug o war with the fish, I give Kent a hand to land his first ever Redfish on fly that he’s been after for a long time.
Kent cherishing the release of his first Redfish which measured 28.5″.
It wasn’t too long after the release of his first Redfish when he made a perfect cast to his 2nd Redfish ever caught.
After a bunch more shots and spooky fish, the wind picked up which made it tough to get the fly in the right spot so we called it a great day and headed back to ramp.
Congrats Kent on your Redfish and I hope you enjoy the memories that these photographs will bring back to you!
-Capt. Willy Le
www.nativeflycharters.com
An iPhone Photo Essay… Space Coast!!
There are several occurances in my world of fishing outside my daily routine that brings me to travel a long distance with flyrods in hand; the Palolo worm hatch in the lower keys during Spring, the big redfish that show up in Louisiana during the cold winters, the False Albies that show up on Florida’s Gulf coast in the Fall… niether of which I had a chance to take part of in 2011. I started this year’s travels right when my buddy Capt. Willy Le (www.NativeFlyCharters.com) informed me that it was time to make a trip North for the weekend. So I packed my gear, threw some warm fishing clothes in the Jeep, and decided to document some of this trip with my iPhone.
Fri, 6pm… check weather!
Fri, 7pm… Make fish food!
Sat, 4am… Departure from Miami!
Sat, 8am… take a boat ride!
Sat, 8:30am… fight Sea Monster, give fly line morning stretches, and try to break fly rod!
… and yes, that is backing
Sat, 8:45am… shake hands with Sea Monster!
Sat, 10am… catch a 38″ Redfish!
Sat, 11am… play with small redfisher until it is time to go!
Sat, 4pm… make quick stop at a local bass pond to use 5wt!
Sat, 7pm… Pho @ Wabi Sabi!
Sun, Noon… get a late start!
Sun, Afternoon… sight fish mega-trout over clear sand!
Sun, evening… back to the barn to make the 3 hour drive back to Miami!
Video + Report via Capt. Willy to come shortly… Stay tuned…
Season 2011 Tarpon Fly season with Capt. Bryon Chamberlin and Nick Angelo
Season 2011 Tarpon season with Capt. Bryon Chamberlin and Nick Angelo
What is special about this video was that it was all shot in the Tampa Bay area. Most people thing you need to be in the Keys to catch tarpon on fly. I think not!
Vimeo HD version.
Great end to 2011 in the Mosquito Lagoon
The last 2 trips for Native Fly Charters was with new clients Kyle and Chip from Georgia on the last couple of days of 2011. This was their first trip to the East Coast of Florida to do some fishing and their main goal was to see and catch tailing Redfish. On the first day of the 2 day fishing adventure, it seemed like it was going to be cloudy, cold, and windy for the first half of the day so I took them in the Indian River along the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge for some big Trout that have been roaming the flats. Making long casts with topwater lures around sand holes resulted in some nice trout and some fun blowups.
Once the clouds finally cleared up, the skies were blue bird and the wind laid down giving us the perfect glassy conditions for an afternoon of tailing Redfish. This day was the first major cold front of the year for Florida, making the fish a little sluggish. Most of the fish refused Kyle and Chips offerings except for this one Redfish at the end of the day that was tailing 10ft from the boat. Kyle made a perfect presentation by slowing down the retrieve and dropping the D.O.A. 3″ Shadtail CAL right in front of the fishes nose.
The next day our main goal was Redfish all day in the Mosquito Lagoon. The morning temperatures were in the 50′s with slick calm conditions and blue bird skies. We found Redfish in small groups pushing on the flats first thing in the morning but these fish were on a mission to get somewhere and were pretty spooky. After chasing those fish around for a while with no luck, we headed to another flat where we would see some single fish cruising around still sluggish from the cold morning and also spooky. They too did not want to cooperate with us. It wasn’t until the sun heated up the flats late in the afternoon when the Redfish wanted to tail and start feeding. Kyle and Chip both had numerous shots at tailing fish but did not quite get it close enough to the fish until the fish saw us and took off. A couple fish did get hooked up but only one came to the boat at the end of the day. Both Kyle and Chip ended 2011 in a great way, they got to see some great Wildlife including a family of Wild Hogs wading in the water, Momma Dolphins teaching their babies how to catch mullet, Manatees, Alligators, Exotic Birds, and best of all they got to see the Tailing Redfish that they came here to see. They get to go home with great memories and great photographs! Next on the list for them is Tarpon so we will be seeing more of these guys in the future!
This was a perfect way to end my 2011. Weather was beautiful, I got to spend it on the water and met 2 new very cool friends that work hard for a living and love to hunt and fish! Happy New Year everyone!
-Capt. Willy Le
www.nativeflycharters.com
Great weather and Holiday fishing
12.26.2011
With the combination of great weather and friends coming in from out town I took the opportunity to do fishing. The weather has been in the 80′s every day this past week and the fishing on the flats has been pretty darn good. I even had a friend catch a snook out on the flats.
The bite out front has been excellent. Flounder, redfish, ladyfish, and and abundant of trout. In the clear water(spooky fish) the trick is to do long cast with artificial. Jigs has been the #1 producer, DOA cals, Mirrolure Lil jon etc.
One of the lure I’ve bee using a bunch lately has been the Paul Brown lures. They are heavy lure that I can cast a mile using braided line. The lure suspend so I can still use it 2′ of water over grass. It has been very productive for trout. The fish of the day though was a nice 29″ redfish on the Fat Boy Jim Brown.
Photo note: All shots taken by the Nikon AW100 16mp waterproof camera Point and shoot camera.
Glass Minnows all over the flats
Night fishing with Kapers
Trout Fishing has been excellent.
Even got my friend to start to catch them on fly.
Sheeps head are moving in onto the flats as well this time of year in Tampa.
My biggest red fish from Tampa in quite a long time came on the Paul Brown Fat boy. Pink is the best producing color this year.
I have been using the TFO Garry Loomis GT series rod. I have to say I’m quite impressed with these rods. The first year they came out they were just ok. The step up in quality and design made a big difference to me. The ergonomic handle is much improved, lifetime warranty, lighter, and the guide is proprietary and more durable.
Kayak fishing, Tampa 26″ trout,Exude Cigar Minnow, first photos with the Nikon AW100
12.15.2011
Being down with the flu this week was a quite a Debbie downer. Especially trying to put all the Salty Fly together along with finishing up the 3F Adventures episode.
I wanted to get out for a few hours today and do a little fishing. Threw the kayak in the back of the truck and met up with my friend Kevin down at the launch. Fishing was a bit slow with few trout and small red fish. The fish of the day was this 26″ trout Kevin got on Exude’s latest lure, the Exude Cigar Mino.
I’m also testing out the Nikon AW100. This is Nikon’s entry into the waterproof rugged cameras world. So far I’m liking the photo quality and speed it turns on. It also does slow motion video in SD. I will be exploring this in the near future.
Meanwhile here are some photos and a sample video clip from the Nikon.
Kayak Fishing for reds in the mud
12.15.2011
Nice video of a couple hard core guys treking through the muck and mud to do some skinny water red fishing. Looks like pretty hard work..!
3F Adventures in Miami with Lauren Alvarez, Captain Joe Gonzalez, and Honson Lau
12.13.2011
Finished the final cut of the 3F Adventures Miami Episode today.
In this episode we travel to Miami Florida to fish with Captain Joe Gonzalez for bonefish.
The adventure takes us to learn how to fly fish with Captain Honson Lau. This was follow by pigging out at the local Greek festival.
Thanks to our sponsors Flats Mafia Apparel and Don’s Bait and Tackle in Homestead, Fl for the support.
