Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Official G Loomis NRX Flyrod Launch in South Florida.

 08.13.2010

Location: Flyshop of Miami

8243 South Dixie Highway
Miami, FL 33143
(305) 669-5851

Time:  8:00pm-9:00pm

Come join me at the official launch of the new G Loomis NRX line of flyrods at the Flyshop of Miami on August 13th.  There will be horderves and drinks served for this event.  It took many years for G Loomis to finally release a new fly rod.  From what I have heard, G Loomis has implimented the latest resins and highest modulus graphit into their new NRX series of fly rods.  The top shelf components blend together to make this the most sensitive and lightest weight fly rod G Loomis has ever produced.  Will the new NRX top the old GLX Classic series of rods in line feel, light weight, and sensitivity?  Will the NRX be more powerful of the G Loomis Crosscurrent series?  Come and find out for yourself.  Feel free to contact me or anybody at the Flyshop of Miami for further details.  We look forward to seeing you all there.

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Report by Mark Knowles

The 3rd of six HCKAC 2-man club tournaments for 2010 was held on June 19th.  15 HardCore teams braved early morning rain, a “not-so-great” tide, and late morning sauna-like conditions (90 deg F and 90% humidity) for this event.  Anglers were provided with an assortment of lures featuring Exude soft plastic baits including D.A.R.T., Rt Slugs, Shrimp, and cajun crabs.

BIG THANKS to the Mister Twister Co. and all of our sponsors for their support and donations.

All teams checked in between 5:30 and 6:00 a.m. just before the 35 cent toll booth at Fort DeSoto.   After checking in, the teams departed in search of a slam.

Not long after launching, Mother Nature added her influence to the slam challenge. For those out in the open, winds picked up quickly to approx 20 mph and the skies darkened giving way to a 30 minute shower. Luckily, there was no lightning associated with the storm and most groups just fished right through it.

The morning shower passed and the teams “doubled down” with most throwing all of the Exude lures in the bag trying to get the fish to turn on.  There were many fish caught but only 2 teams were able to complete their slam. BTrain (Bobby) did manage to attract an adult manatee who seemed quite curious as to why there were so many kayaks on the water.

Upcreek (John) and Snookin (Eugene) had the hot hand of the morning landing a beautiful & healthy 35.2” Snook. Rumor has it that just after the Snook was caught by Upcreek that an estimated 30” Red was on Snookin’s line only to be broken off boat side. Two of Pinellas County’s very recent high school graduates Fishmaster892 (Merrick) and Redfish (Jesse) fished all the way down to the wire and brought home the only other slam of the day. Congratulations guys !

Final results of the day :

• 1st place ($300) Team FlatZtalkers (Upcreek & Snookin)   Snook=35.2   Redfish=19.5   Trout=20.6   Total=75.3
• 2nd place ($180) Team Skinny Water Culture (Redfish and Fishmaster)   Snook=26.5   Redfsih=27   Trout=18.25   Total=71.75
• 3rd place ($120) Team Slik n Cider (Limecider and SlikNik) Redfish=26.25 Trout=15 Total=41.25

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This past Sunday my buddy Alex and I were in search of the wild hog. Alex has never shot a hog before so I desperately wanted to get him one and also get it on video. Right off the bat I saw two deer, big deer at that. Those guys have to wait until archery season. Any how, we walked for about 1.5 hours before seeing our first hogs which were way to big to take. They were easily 200lbs and I am not draging something that big, not to mention draging it a mile. As we continued we finally found two that we were able to take, we stalked these guys for about 30 minutes before we decided there was a shot opportunity. Unfortunitly this day Alex forgot the “dead sled” so we had to drag this thing by her legs and it was a real pain. The heat index had to be a 100 degrees and humid as can be. I am pretty sure I don’t want to do that again. DISCLAIMER: turn up the volume, there may be some curse words, and the video is shakey as my heart was pounding and I was trying to watch where I was walking in an effort to not spook the animals.

So yesterday Capt. Rich Osgood and I got out for an attempt at fishing the falling tide. The wind and storms put a big damper on us but all was not lost. We landed a decent snook and trout before we had to call it quits and make a run for Rich’s buddy’s house. The lightning was everywhere and approaching fast; there was no way we were going to make the ramp. We stopped off and took shelter for about an hour where Rich cleaned his friend’s pool for him. (thought that was a nice gesture) So after this storm cooled off we were headed for home until we noticed some baby tarpon rolling around. I grabbed Rich’s fly rod and made a few casts. I had one eat by tarpon and ended up catching two lady fish. The fish were still rolling heavy and I told Rich, “hey if I was to end up hooking one of these tarpon I would like to get it on my fly rod”. Rich was more than happy to hook me up with a gurgler on the end of my line and away I went. I saw two fish roll next to each other. I made two false casts and dropped my fly about 5 feet from the rolls, I stripped about 3 times and BAMN! Fish on. I could not believe this was happening, what a high I got from this. To top it off we landed this bad boy. I have caught tarpon on rod and reel before but never on fly. In fact this was my first time ever casting to a tarpon with a fly. Thanks to Capt. Rich for setting me up in the right spot with the right fly and good instructions. Also, Rich gave me the fly which I will place in the frame with one of the photos taken of my fish.
Photo Note: Earlier in the day I was playing around with my new 8mm fish eye lens, Rich was taking photos with it and it’s all manual. We were to engrossed in the fish and didn’t want to risk changing the lens for losing the fish by me doing something dumb. Sorry some of the pics are not the best but I had to post them any how. Fish taken on furled leader with 20lb test on the end.

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I recently had the privalege of attending the 2010 DOA Lures Outdoor Writer’s Festival in Jensen Beach.  The accomodations were provided by the River Palms Fish Camp and Cottages, which proved to be an excellent location this is centralized amongst the great snook fishery that the St. Lucie River had to offer.  The many fine sponsers in this event ranged from top manufacturers in the industry from Minnkota to Shimano.  Minnkota had a chance to showcase their Talon shallow water anchoring system, which was pretty impressive in my opinion.  I like the fact that everything is contained into one unit and is able to be unplugged and removed when needed. 

We also  got to test out a bunch of latest gear that spinning Shimano had to offer.  I got to fish the new 3000 and 4000 size Stradic Ci4 spinning reels and I was extremely impressed.  I will likely be replacing my Stradic Fi reels and adding the new Ci4 series reels to my arsenal.  The 3000 and 4000 Ci4 Stradics feature carbon fiber reinforcements, a bigger spool (2500 and 3000 have same body, but 3000 had bigger spool), and different handle knob.  I also had the pleasure of being able to fish the latest Stella 1000 on an ultra light G Loomis Trout rod.  The combo was refined, smooth, and extremely light weight.  I have been asked on many occassions if Stellas are worth the high price tag.  My answer is “definitely.”  Stellas are the flagship reels in the lineup and the top of the line reel in the industry.  The refinement in finish and smooth operation scream out Lamborghini Murcielago.  Catching a 5lb snook on this mini outfit felt like pulling on a fish twice it’s size… definitely lots of fun for catching smaller fish and plenty of power to cast a light DOA Shrimp a country mile.  I was also told to keep an eye out for Shimano’s new line of clothing and accessories as they will be releaseing an entire apparel filled with technical fishing clothes, rain jackets, and even lures amongst other surprises.  Starting with the launch of G Loomis’s new NRX series of rods, Shimano’s Terez rods and Ci4 reels, there will be great things to anticipate coming from Shimano/G Loomis in the next couple of years.  The new Ci4 Stradics will be released this September, while the NRX Series of rods will be released August 13th. 

The fishing was only bested by the comraderie.  We had a fun two days on the water.  I was fortunately paired up with my good buddy Capt. Eric Davis of the Vero Backcountry.  Capt. Eric and I fished together earlier in this year’s Maverick Boats Vero Backcountry Fly tournament.  This warm summer day, we were joined by a represntative from Shimano.  Our morning started strong as I pulled the hook on a big snook first thing while throwing a DOA 5.5 BFL.  We kept the streak going as we started pulling out plenty of snook and a few other surprises from underneith the docks using the venerable DOA Glow shrimp and DOA CAL shad tails.  I don’t know what the highlight of the day was as we caught about 30 or so snook, rescued a pigeon that was entangled in monofilament under a bridge, hooked some freshwater gar, and pulled the hook on a huge largemouth bass.  Despite the windy conditions and dirty water, I think we pulled off pretty well.  Upon returning to the docks, those who fished for bigger snook were successful bouncing the bottom with DOA Terroreyz and Shrimp as there were quite a few 40 inch class snook caught.  We had some bad ass BBQ that evening and then followed it up with a short fishing trip the following day.  Upon leaving the event, I was already looking forward to next year’s.  Thank you to Mark Nichols, DOA Lures, Minnkota, Shimano, and the rest of the sponsors for making these events happen. 

New Minnkota Talon

New Stradic 3000Ci4

they do eat from behind sometimes

Operation Pigeon rescue

Flounder caught on Stradic 4000Ci4, Teramar Rod, and DOA CAL

Snookzilla

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I had the pleasure to fish with friends Eddie Oliveras and Andrew Mizell today on the Mosquito Lagoon this morning. The plan was to work a shoreline where we found schools of happy reds a few days before but today seemed very slow in that area for some reason so we decided to move to a spot where big tailing redfish will cause you to do weird things like pull your hair out or walk off the deck of your skiff or something. These fish have been pressured daily with charter boats and recreational anglers throwing live/cut baits at them with good results. We knew that we had no chance with flies or artificials on spin, but we also could not resist throwing at them while they were finning around with no other boats in sight. Hours pass, we are frustrated and we have already thrown everything in our boxes so we decide to leave them in search of some smaller fish that are willing to cooperate. We end up finding schools of lower slot fish that are in less than a foot of water with a sand bottom. We had to hop out and wade in some areas where the water was too skinny for my HPX-T…it was kinda like how they bonefish in the Bahamas. Andrew ends up popping a couple fish that did make runs resembling a bonefish while I was messing around with Eddies Canon Rebel with a 8mm Sigma Fish Eye lens. The fish eye lens is a very fun lens to shoot with, I’m definitely looking into getting one for my Nikon in the future.

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As I hammer down paperwork and prepare some presentations for important corporate meetings this week, I thank God that I had the opportunity to make a 5 day trip up north this last week to take a short break from the madness ahead and relax on a short sabbatical.  The first leg of the trip brought me to meet with my buddies Capt. Will Le (Native Fly Charters) and Capt. Ron Wilter for a few days of redfishing in the Space Coast (Mosquito Lagoon, Banana River, Indian River Lagoon).  Capt. Ron had a little local private fish camp that I was able to stay at named “the Wack”.  While on the water, we had some tough shots at many weary and emotionally distressed redfish but we were able to capitalize on feeding some of these Goonie redfish using custom tied redfish flies, Sebile Topwaters, and various DOA plastics.   I would have to say, if it weren’t for being able to throw a full clear Monic Fly line, some of the redfish I hooked would not have been possible.  Besides the great time I had on the water, time off the water was great as well as I got to experience a little of what a surfing community was all about and sample some of the fine cullianry delights the space coast had to offer… think Mango Mahi, fried soft shell crab, crab meat stuffed blackened grouper, Oak cHill chowder (gator tail, clam, and red chowder fixins), and some local Italian dining.  The Space Coast of FL from New Smyrna Beach to Cocoa Beach offers a great inshore fishery for redfish and trout.  I can’t wait to get back…

I almost had my fill on the first leg of my trip but there was more ahead.  I left “the wack” after a few days of redfishing and headed to the big snook central of FL near DOA Lures headquarters.  Stay tuned for more…

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This morning I fished with my buds Ryan and Jon. I took em’ back to a little creek that opens up to a slightly untouched area. I love to fish this this place but sometimes it can be really tricky to get back there. Lots of chances to ding up your skiff getting in. Over hanging trees, branches under water covered in barnacles, etc. High tide is the only way to get in and when the tide is ripping out you have limited time to fish the area or you can’t get out. We were able to fish for about two hours there. We only landed 1 red which you will see in the vid and the pic. We did have a few other blow ups but couldn’t get the job done. The red in the video was awesome. On the platform I got to see the eat and he absolutely inhaled the lure from the front. It was bad a$$. I cut the video short because I did a poor job at handleing the Kodak Play Sport. I was on the poling platform trying to hold the boat in place and video at the same time. That’s right, all the talk with the play sport I had to get one and I love it. My video editing is poor as of now, I am trying to learn this editing program and I suck at it. Any how, here it is….

O’ya, vid also shows a good example of poor fish handling.  Little excited in the moment and the fish had an excellent release

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July 18th 2010

As you can see in the upper left hand corner the Gloomis NRX threads has been super popular the last few days. So to give the people what they want went through more of press kit.

Here are the official press release photos of the conventional(spinning/baitcasting) NRX series of rods from ICAST 2010.

The photos are all in thumbnail but are attached to the high res version for more detail, so click on them to see the larger version.

The spinning rod looks like the first 2 and tip are ceramic the rest are recoil guides.

Here are the specifications I got from the PR kit.

FYI: C at the end stands for Casting rods. S at the end of the number stands for Spinning rods.

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July 18th 2010

A couple more small clips of things that a caught my eye. Again, I shot these with the Kodak Playsport.

FishouFlage LED hat and visor I thought was pretty cool. There’s lots of hat lights but this one is not so bulky and you can’t “forget” to bring it along.

Croakies Arc, sunglasses holder. This is product is similar to the Cablez that was so popular last year and won best accessory.(I use the cables). The offering from Croakeis is that it’s removable and it comes win different sizes, as far as I can tell.

note: Helping me is Stephanie Pancratz from Bonnier Corp.

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According to several reliable sources, it is published that the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf has finally be capped off and the flow has gone from a small trickle to a complete stop this afternoon. The only thing left to hope for is that the cap will hold and final measures to completely seal off the leaking pipe will go through with success. Many lives in the northern Gulf coast have been impacted by the Oil spill that started April 20th. The recovery period will be along one but the road to recovery has begun with the end of the flow of oil. This is indeed a small light at the end of dark tunnel.

This is my first sigh of releif in the 85 strenuous days of watching the leak closely with just about every free second I had available. Luckily, the beaches and shorelines of my home waters in South Florida have not been impacted by this BP Oil Spill. Our waters are still pristine and full of life. With proper management and a movement towards a greener tomorrow, let’s hope we can avoid this same type of dissaster in the future.

From the Weather Channel:

BP: No Oil Leaking into Gulf from Busted Well
by The Associated Press , on Jul 15, 2010 4:00 pm ET

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A tightly fitted cap was successfully keeping oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time in three months, BP said Thursday. The victory – long awaited by weary residents along the coast – is the most significant milestone yet in BP’s effort to control one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.

Kent Wells, a BP PLC vice president, said at a news briefing that oil stopped flowing into the water at 2:25 p.m. CDT after engineers gradually dialed down the amount of crude escaping through the last of three valves in the 75-ton cap.

“I am very pleased that there’s no oil going into the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, I’m really excited there’s no oil going into the Gulf of Mexico,” Wells said.

The stoppage came 85 days, 16 hours and 25 minutes after the first report April 20 of an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 workers and triggered the spill.

Now begins a waiting period to see if the cap can hold the oil without blowing a new leak in the well. Engineers will monitor pressure readings incrementally for up to 48 hours before reopening the cap while they decide what to do.

Though not a permanent fix, the solution has been the only one that has worked to stem the flow of oil since April. BP is drilling two relief wells so it can pump mud and cement into the leaking well in hopes of plugging it for good by mid-August.

BP has struggled to contain the spill and had so far been successful only in reducing the flow, not stopping it. The company removed an old, leaky cap and installed the new one Monday.

Between 93.5 million and 184.3 million have already spilled into the Gulf, according to federal estimates.

Source:

BP Oil Spill Stopped

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