- 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
A little Fishen
Finally, I’ve been able to get out and do a little more fishing. The tide was perfect last night for reds and with a last minute decision we set out. After getting to the bait grounds it took about a good 20 minutes of chumming and a few more throws of the cast net than I wanted to but we ended up with some beautiful shiners. With the high tide we were able to get back into a nice creek with good water flow. We did end with our two reds, some trout and for some reason the catfish were hungry too. Here’s a few pics from the last month-
Tarpon Fly Reel Specs… Choose your weapon!!!
I often wondered why nobody has ever printed a side by side spec sheet of today’s most popular Tarpon fly reels. Perhaps it was printed somewhere and I missed it? Well, in any case, here is a spec sheet for all to use as a reference (no biased reviews, just hard specs).
D.O.A. 2012 Post Tournament Report
This report written by Mark Knowles of the HardCore Kayak Anglers Club
Hats off to Mark Nichols, Jerry McBride, and the entire DOA Lures team for putting on yet another great tournament ! As always, the tournament was well thought out and the Captain’s bags included a full Plano box of about 50 DOA lures, hooks, jig heads, Deadly Combo’s & accessories that were identical for each participant, a vinyl 321fish measuring board, and a commemorative T-Shirt. Also included in the entry fee was a BBQ lunch that was catered in for the weigh-in.
The HCKAC had a record 19 members participate in the DOA Tournament on April 21, 2012. Many folks bunked up at the River Palms Cottages & Fish Camp where the Captain’s meeting and event was held, others selected nearby local hotels, and yet others opted to camp out. Some folks arrived Wednesday night or very early Thursday morning to get 2 days of pre-fishing in, others arrived on Friday morning early to get in 1 day, and some even arrived Friday night just before the Captain’s meeting with no pre-fishing opportunities. Talk about a mixed bag !
The River Palms is a quaint little place with a group of small cottages on the property. Pricing for the tournament was reduced to $89/night for a single room with 2 queen beds, a small fridge, microwave, & coffee maker.
Other local prices ranged from $60 upwards of several hundred depending on how extravagant you wanted to be. The guys that camped had their prices down to something like $10/person for several nights. There were some local freshwater ponds on the Savannah Recreation camp area and the guys pulled out a few bass.
http://www.stlucieco.gov/parks/savannas.htm
The weather controlled most of our pre-fishing actions. The wind wasn’t too strong most of the time, but the afternoons were challenging. The best time of day for the winds was the early mornings, but you couldn’t always get the fish to bite at sunrise. Most guys were successful in getting slams or doubles on Thursday. Friday was a bit tougher, but several HCKAC members recorded slams or doubles while others like myself struggled. Tournament Day was supposed to be the worst with very low pressure plus high winds from the SE at 25 mph from late morning and into the evening with lots of rain predicted as well. OK….so all of the weather guys were 100% wrong. It was lightly sprinkling at 0630 launch time and quit less than 30 minutes later. The wind actually died to almost nothing, but was changing direction constantly 360 degrees. Go figure. It did make the fishing the most challenging of the weekend. About 1:30, most everyone had packed it in and headed for the weigh-in.
Tampa based HardCore representation
The “HardCore” table at the weigh-in
Out of 120 anglers, only Mr. Bob Gallot turned in a legal slam to take 1st place and a new 14’ Hobie Pro Angler
Our own Chuck Statham took 2nd place and elected to receive a new Humminbird 385Ci chart plotter/fish finder
Jeff Harrell of Finatic Design walked off with 3rd place and a new Ocean Prowler 13 kayak
Logan Narcowich took the Junior division title
And the luckiest guy of all was Chip Gibson. He won a new Ocean Prowler 13 during the raffle
Here’s a few more fish that were caught over the long weekend.
Rick Klosicki and a monster 28.7” Trout on Tournament day
Ron Henderson with a 30” Thursday Snook
A2OZ’s 27.8″ Tournament Day Snook
Jose’s 15 lb Jack on light tackle
Ridgeback’s 30.7” Tournament Day Snook
A2OZ’s fat Friday Trout
Please feel free to add any pictures you took at the tourney to this post.
Once again, big thanks to the Mark, Jerry, and the full team at DOA Lures. I recommend that you get your reservations in very early next year after the tournament date is announced. The event was capped at 120 anglers and I was told there was in excess of 25 on the waiting list.
Cool Salty Fly 2012 write up in Fly fishing in this month’s Saltwater Magazing
4.19.2012
Sweet write up on the Salty Fly 2012 in this month’s Fly Fishing in Saltwater Magazine.
FFSW is the largest Saltwater fly fishing magazine in the world!
A short Keys and Flamingo trip
This past weekend I made the 3 hour drive down to Miami to fish with good buddies Capt. Honson Lau and Capt. Jeremy Alderman to do some Tarpon fishing in their home waters. We launched Honson’s 18ft Maverick Mirage HPX at Jeremy’s house in Key Largo and made the long run all the way to Islamorada. The 115 Mercury Pro XS made the run a piece of cake, and man, that motor scoots!
Fishing the Tarpon migration is not easy. You gotta know where to sit, what direction to point, what tides are doing, what fish to feed, what flies to throw, how to strip the fly, where to put the fly and so on, and these guys know it all, and exactly what to do.
Sure I wanted to catch a Tarpon on fly while I was down there, but what I really wanted were some good action shots of Tarpon jumps. I was on bow a couple times and had some good shots at some laid up and cruising fish, had a few follows but no takers. I had Honson take my place on the bow while I was behind the lens and Jeremy on the push pole. Sure enough after a few shots, Honson jumps a nice fish that gave us a spectacular air show! The cool thing about this fish was that the first cast at this fish, it tracked the fly all the way to the boat but didn’t eat because the fly was fouled, Honson quickly picked it up, fixed the fly, slapped it back in front of the fish and next thing you know, there’s explosions in the water. Of course like what most Tarpon would do, this one gave us a good short show then shook the fly out of its jaw. You can see the fly ejected from the fishes mouth on some of the photos.
In this first photo, you can see the fouled fly and the Tarpon just thinking about crushing it.
Next up on the bow was Jeremy with Honson on the push pole and me behind the lens again. After sitting at a spot waiting for fish to show up only seeing a few here and there, we decided to leave since it was a little slow. As soon as we were about to power up. a pod of 50-60 Tarpon come heading our way and Jeremy quickly grabs his rod, strips out some line and fires out a shot into the pod and hooks up! The fish never knew it was hooked and stuck with the school just daisy chaining around the boat and then shortly after, th hook pulls without a jump. Frustrating, but that’s the name of the game. After that, we called it a successful day and made the long run back to Key Largo.
The next day, my friend Ramiro invited Honson and I to hop in his Maverick Mirage HPX-T and fish the Everglades National Park. The conditions were horrible with 20-30kt winds and some storms brewing so it was going to be a short trip. We launched at Flamingo and made a good run to some spots that were holding a bunch of Redfish. It was too windy for fly rods so we all threw some D.O.A. Cals on spinning outfits. The fishery down there is amazing, beautiful water, healthy grass and lots of fish. We caught Redfish, Snook, and Sea Trout until we got chased out by storms. Great day on the water with great company, that’s what it’s all about!
I’ll be back down very soon for more action and hopefully better conditions. Stay tuned for part 2….
-Capt. Willy Le
www.NativeFlyCharters.com
Cobia Iphone 4/4s cases arrival, Saltyshores Iphone case
The Cobia iPhone 4/4s cases arrived today along with some back orders. Those of you that ordered last week and didn’t get it yet it goes out today priority mail.
If you have not checked them out yet here’s the unique Saltyshores iphone cases.
http://saltyshores.com/wordpress/iphone-cases/
Tarpon Party tonight .. April 14th.. Coasters.. Indian rocks beach
Low Country boil party at Coaster’s Indian rocks beach.
5pm to 2am…
1309 Gulf Boulevard Indian Rocks Bch, FL 33785
| (727) 596-3332 |
And So It Begins…….
When priorities are re-arranged, relationships are tested and a whole lot of excitment begins…Poon Season! Stay Tuned
Lowcountry Soft Shell Crab
If you’ve never eaten a soft shell crab before, you need to do yourself a favor and call your local seafood market. Every spring, our blue crabs go through a molting phase and shed their hard shells, leaving behind an entirely soft body. The entire blue crab is edible after the crab has molted – even the legs and claws. There’s very little prep involved…just remove the gills or “dead man’s fingers” and cut off the eyes and mouth with a pair of culinary scissors. Dredge the crab in your favorite seafood breader and drop it in the fryer.
Unfortunately, once spring redfish in SC have had a taste of a softshell crab, they basically go lock-jaw for a short period of time and won’t eat anything else. I will tell you from experience, it HURTS to put a soft shell crab on a hook and fire it off into the sea. However, you won’t find a more effective redfish bait on a spring day when the fish won’t cooperate. Here’s one Carl was forced to feed a crab to this weekend – the crab barely settled to the bottom before this fish came along and roped it. Thank God the redfish are back on a mullet diet and things are normal again – no more fishing with culinary delicacies.
Capt. Jay Nelson
HardCore Kayak Anglers Club 2012 Post Tournament Series Report
Written by Mark Knowles ( Tournament Organizer) of HCKACLUB.com:
On March 24, 2012, the Hard Core Kayak Anglers Club, based in West Central Florida, kicked off their highly anticipated 2012 Tournament Series presented by Hobie Fishing. The Tournament Series consists of five individual inshore slam events (Snook, Redfish, & Spotted Seatrout) over the course of 2012 in the Tampa Bay area and promotes the sport of kayak fishing and conservation through a catch, photo, and release format.
The 1st place winner will receive a new Hobie Revolution 13 courtesy of Hobie Fishing and a cash award from the HCKAC. 2nd place will receive a $500 prize package courtesy of sponsor Hook1 and 3rd place will receive a $500 prize package courtesy of sponsor YakAttack.
Below is the list of all of the very generous manufacturers and organizations that are supporting the 2012 HardCore Tournament Series. Their involvement and support has been nothing short of exemplary. Thank you very much for all of your contributions !
The first individual event of the five-event series was held on the “South Shore” of Tampa Bay, FL, and was a huge success in regards to angler participation. Of the sixty HCKAC members that signed up, fifty-one participated in the first individual event with thirty-five of those anglers choosing to enter the full five-event Tournament Series.
The check-in and distribution of the Captain’s Bags for the tournament began bright and early at 0530 in the parking lot of Mama Iguanas in Apollo Beach, FL. The Captain’s bag contained a unique scoring token by YakAttack, scents from Pro-Cure, and an “Invis-Swivel provided by AquatekO. Smiles, greetings, handshakes, stories, and encouragement mixed with coffee set the light mood for the morning. Air temperature hovered around 65 degrees and destined to get to the low 80’s by midday. Inshore water temperatures were in the mid-70’s. The wind was calm, but a weather front was anticipated late morning that would push the wind gusts from the SW towards the 20 mph mark. The weather coupled up with an early morning minor solunar and good flowing tides set the stage for very favorable conditions for the anglers. Upon getting checked-in, everyone loaded up and proceeded traveling towards their publicly accessible launch locations within the designated boundaries hoping to be back at Mama Iguanas by the 2:30 p.m. deadline with a slam large enough to be in the winner’s circle.
Angler’s started to slowly drift into Mama Iguanas around 1:00 p.m. to turn in their YakAttack score card tokens, get re-hydrated, and to grab some lunch. There was definitely a “buzz” to the conversations as many of the anglers had caught some very nice slams. As the 2:30 deadline approached, the Tournament Committee busily tallied all of the scoring data that was turned in and Adrian “DayumSon” got all of the video, microphones, and electronics set up for the UStream live feed for the awards ceremony.
After all of the results were tabulated, it was very evident that the day was a “fish catching” success. Of the fifty-one anglers, twenty-one of them presented slams, which is a significantly higher percentage than typical past tournaments. Twenty-five Snook, thirty-four Redfish, and forty-two Trout were checked in. One of the Snook, five of the Redfish, and approximately fifteen of the Trout were over-slot.
Long time HardCore member Rick Klosicki took top honors for the first tournament with a cash award of $510 and a $75 Hook1 gift certificate. Rick finished with a personal best slam of 82.9 inches for the day. Rick’s catch consisted of a 32.5” Snook, a 27.9” Redfish, and a 22.5” Trout. He also has the current top spot on the leader board for the 2012 Series Championship.
Here’s Rick’s Snook and Redfish in his typical “fish moustache” pose.
HCKAC member Chuck Statham, well known in the HCKAC and Tampa Bay area fishing community for his strong kayak tournament finishes, took 2nd place with an 80.0 inch slam. His total was comprised of a 28.5“ Snook, a 29.75” Redfish, and a 21.75” Trout. Chuck received a $306 cash award and a $75 Hook1 gift certificate. He currently ranks 2nd on the leader board for the 2012 Series Championship.
Marty Meakin, a consistently strong contributor to the HCKAC since its inception, recorded a 79.25 inch slam to take the 3rd place award consisting of a $204 cash award and a $75 Hook1 gift certificate. Marty completed his slam with a 34.5” Snook, a 23.5” Redfish, and a 21.25” Trout. He currently ranks 3rd in the hunt for the 2012 Series Championship.
The “big fish” sponsor awards were given to the anglers other than the 3 slam winners above for the longest fish of each species. Tide1On (Steve) posted an upper-slot 32.4 inch Snook and received a Wang Anchor, Dodge (Olin) caught an over-slot 29.25 inch Redfish and was awarded a new paddle from Aquabound/Bending Branches, and Silver K presented an over-slot 24.75 inch Trout to take home a VisiCarbon Pro light/flag combo from YakAttack.
After the main awards were given, we proceeded directly into the sponsor’s raffle. Our sponsors have been very generous with providing high quality and high quantity prizes. Again, let’s thank them for all of their support and generosity.
AquaDream spoon 6-pack
If you weren’t able to attend or missed the awards & raffle event, here’s a link to go view it
Next Tournament
The 2nd leg of the 5-event series is right around the corner on April 28, 2012. The boundary area is Upper Tampa Bay, Weedon Island, and the Ft. DeSoto area. A sign-in post with the official boundaries will be initiated by the Tournament Committee in the next few days on the HCKAC Forum.
Until then, Keep it HardCore !