- 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
Surface Film II
I was honored to participate in this worthwhile cause this year and have my entry voted runner up to Copi Vojta’s entry. His photography is in a league of its own.
Hit the link to see all of the entries.
http://midcurrent.com/photography/surface-film-ii-fly-fishing-photo-gallery/
RED FLAMINGO
Those of you who fish the flats out of Flamingo know the predatory pecking order has changed. The venerable spot-tail, better known as redfish has virtually taken over the waters around Flamingo’s outside flats. I found out one day last week.
If you haven’t experienced this phenomenon, just reach out to Benny Blanco, master guide of Flamingo, Florida Bay and beyond. He knows where to be and when to be there. You won’t believe the numbers!! Plenty of nice trout, too.
Here are some of the images from that day. Click on them and enjoy.
—Interesting spinning rod—
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- Flamingo “Ace”
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- Flamingo “Deuces”
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- Flamingo “Trips”
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- Nice Trout
Biscayne Bay Estuary deep dredge threat
The Biscayne Bay estuary which provides Miamians and tourist alike a miraculous salty backdrop is fighting a war regarding the dredging (600 days of structured unwater blasting!!) and extension of our seaport. Please watch this video and sign the petition. It is simple and the very least we can do to support this conservation effort. Collin
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/stop-the-deep-dredge/
Canon 5d Mark III demo day in Lakeland Florida, March 21st 2012. Also the C300 will be there
If you want to check out the new Canon 5d Mark III or the C300 tonight’s the night.
The Canon rep will have a demo day at
Fresco’s Bistro in Lakeland Florida between 6pm and 9pm
I will be there with a couple friends to check it out and down a couple beers. I should have small write up of the event along with sample footage tomorrow.
http://www.frescosbakery.com
132 S. Kentucky Ave
Lakeland, FL 33801
Phone : 863-683-5267
Fax : 863-683-5617
My DragonFly Boatworks SUP video review
As many of you have already read, Sam posted a write up on fishing from the DragonFly Stand up paddle board. I had taken some video with the GoPro and Canon Vixia while on the water so I could make this quick video review. Check it!
Board shorts made for fisherman, Mojo board shorts with pockets
I have always liked the looks of board shorts I see these surfer guys wear. The only issue I have with them was they were not very comfortable for everyday use as the fabric does not stretch. Well in recent years they have changed that and made them out of 4 way stretch fabric material.
This was great. The shorts were very comfortable, dries quickly if you get them wet and got some cool patterns from the surf industries. The only draw back, when it comes to daily use if you were not surfing was the lack of pockets. Since they were made specifically for surfing there were no need for more than one pocket really.
Mojo realized this and came out with their line of board shorts made specifically for fisherman. With plenty of pockets, 4 way stretch fabric and even a reinforced side pocket designed to hold pliers. Good progressive thinking on their part. It’s one of those concepts that gets you to think, why didn’t anyone else think of this before.
http://www.mojo-gear.com/ecom-catshow/board_shorts.html
Salvaging an evacuation…
Not too long ago, reports of epic bonefishing in the Keys brought my buddy Jeremy and I back down from my home in Miami for a day of fishing in some of my favorite bonefish haunts. Having been off the water for more days then I can care to want to remember, the only thing we were able to go on were some fishing reports, knowledge and experience of how these flats worked, and great expectations. There are times when that alone is enough, but this day was not one of them.
We slid my newly Mercury repowered Maverick 18 Mirage into the water and showed up in the AM, waiting out the light to fish a small flat on my favorite tide. The water was right, rays were present, sharks roamed aggressively, but after a detailed scan of the flat… nothing. We moved on looking for permit and found a change in terrain that may have caused a drastic difference in how some of these flats fished. We didn’t stick to permit fishing for long but waited around to see if there was a rouge tarpon that would swim down that ocean side shoreline in the Upper Keys. We waited for a couple hours… nothing. This prompted us to head in for an early lunch stop at a local restaurant by water. At lunch, we decided to stretch some fly lines out and bend a rod in the reliable backcountry sight fishing tailing sheepshead and redfish in gin clear shallow water. While doing so, we would wait for a different tide to resume our search for bonefish.
A quick run to the backcountry allowed us to sight fish several tailing sheepshead and a couple of decent redfish before we ran back out to the oceanside. Again we searched to find a great tide with empty bodies of water. This was an absolute total evacuation; one that I have witnessed before but none so discouraging. With the light starting to subside, we made a last ditch attempt to run back into the backcountry. I would have hesitated to do make the long haul had it not been for the new Mercury ProXs reassuring me that we would make it there, be able to pole around in skinny enough water to look for tails and wakes while still being able to make it back home with plenty of light to spare… we did just that. We crossed into the Everglades National Park boarder and spent the last hour of our day tossing flies at schools of redfish. With a 40mph cruise and 50+mph top speed, we made it back to the ramp burning very little fuel and avoiding the night time biting bugs.
The Maverick 18 HPX-V with the Mercury 115 Optimax ProXS is proving to be the perfect setup for my style of fishing. This setup is the perfect compromise of speed, stealth, fuel economy, and polability.
My favorite time of year is right around the corner so stay tuned for the chronicles…
Updates 3.11.2012
Just got back a few hours ago from a week at Long Island Bahamas. Besides a quick email check at the local phone company, I had no internet access, no phone, and no TV for 7 days. That means no updates on Saltyshores.
We did some wade fishing for bonefish at DIY lodge at Deadman’s Cay, Long Island Bahamas. Very cool concept if you are looking for Bahama bone fishing trip and want to save a few dollars.
The weather kind of beat us up a bit the first few days, but when the sun came out, the scenery was phenomenal.
Not much time to download all the images at the moment but I will be working on a write up here in the next day or two about the trip.
Cape Canaveral Cobia fishing 2012
Spring means Cobia fishing on the East Coast of Florida. During this time of year, the Cobia make their way north for their annual migration. They will be either cruising in pods, singles, under turtles, shadowing bait pods, or shadowing Manta Rays. Most fish can be spotted free swimming on the surface and will look very similar to a shark. When you see Spring Breakers flocking the beaches of Cocoa Beach leaving their trash everywhere….. then you know the Cobia are here as well, lurking just off the beaches!
I had a chance to sneak out last week to see if the Cobia run had started yet. It wasn’t in full swing, but plenty of fish were out there to be caught. Bright colored jigs work great, but I have best luck on D.O.A. Swimmin’ Mullet! Fly fishing for these brown clowns are a blast, and are pretty easy to catch. They will give you plenty of shots with the 12wt, just be prepared to strip the big baitfish pattern as fast as you can and hang on when it eats!
Woody, Marshall, and Chris joined me last week to search for these fish and try to catch a few for the grill. We didn’t see many, but we had our chance to catch our daily limit hooking 4 fish but only landing 2. Cobia are good at shaking hooks out of their mouths with their powerful head shakes. Here’s Woody with his first ever Cobia!
Of course I had to get in some of the action…
Here is a short clip of my buddy Lam landing a Cobia with the help of Romeo the puggle.
Give me a call if you would like to get in on some of the action whether it be inshore for tailing Redfish or Nearshore for the hard fighting Cobia. Large Tarpon should be showing up soon off the beaches as well for those of you who would like to tango with the Silver Kings!
-Capt. Willy Le
www.NativeFlyCharters.com
G.Loomis Skiff Challenge 2012 Highlight Video
I had a great opportunity to help film the G.Loomis Skiff Challenge that took place last Sunday Feb 26th. The day prior I enjoyed “Live streaming” the SaltyFly. What a weekend it was!
I know the hard work Sam puts in behind the scenes and the smiles, camaraderie, laughs, smack talk, networking,etc. showed in what can be coined the” Super Bowl weekend of Fly Fishing” events.
When Sam gave me his memory card from his camcorder and asked if I could edit this six plus hour event, I had some resolve and hesitation. I knew I had to do this event justice. With the footage I was able to get ( over five hours) and Sams’ footage, I decided to make a “Highlight Film” of this event. I had fun picking out footage and cramming it in to 10 minutes , but here is the end results. I have to say, these Fly Anglers know how to work it.
We can’t thank G.Loomis, HellsBay, ABel Reels, Scientific Angler, and Carbon Marine enough for this event and I hope this too becomes an “Annual” event coinciding with the SaltyFly.