- 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
Drift Paddle by Power-Pole, prototype
1.22.2012
Last week I spent a couple day days with the guys from Power-Pole at a beautiful spring called the Rainbow River in Dunnellon, Florida. They were there to test and create media for a new prototype product called the “Drift Paddle”.
The Drift Paddle is an attachment for the Power-pole unit that allows you to slow down your drift on the flats or lakes by up to 40%. You can change direction, run with the paddles on and even easily removable if you did not want to leave it on the boat. And yes power pole still works to stop the boat even with the Paddles on.
All the prototyping aside the coolest part was the how awesome the Rainbow river was. The water is a constant 72 degrees as it comes out of a spring. Even though it was 38 degrees that morning I was swimming in the crystal clear water by 10am that morning. It felt great and the underwater photos came our excellent.
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…
The year of the Redfish
2011 was without a doubt the “year of the Redfish.” After the massive freeze we had in the winter of 2009/2010, the the redfish population had bounced back incredibly. Days of 70+ sight fished redfish were a common occurance this past summer and reports of redfish being caught in all the islands from Flamingo to the Keys and even on occassion on the ocean side were not uncommon. This was the most incredible redfishing that I had ever seen in my life. We spent the last 2 days of 2011 on the Florida Bay flats catching good numbers of redfish on fly.
The cool morning runs called for jackets and sweaters.
It eventually warmed up enough to shed the thick clothing and do some dental work on redfish.
We headed back the second day on both Capt. Jeremy’s Maverick 18 HPX-V and Dr. Tony’s Hells Bay classic 16 Whipray. The warming weather brought out a more aggressive nature in the reds.
So ended another year of fishing around the Purple Isle. We will look forward to getting back out on the water to experience what the Keys and Everglades has to offer.
I would walk out the door the next morning to meet with a great friend and mentor to start the journey into 2012… only, the flyrods utilized this day on the Maverick skiff would be 12 Weights. There is only one thing that can possess a man to wake up after a long New Years Eve and make the long chilly run into the Everglades backcountry to pole around in what could be empty water… or was it empty?
Stay tuned for the next tarpon junkie chronicle. I would like to wish everybody a happy and prosperous 2012!!!
Instagram photo app for iphone and droid(in the works)
Currently available only for the Iphone but the android app is around the corner. Instagram currently boost over 50 million users.
For all you photography peeps out there this is a very popular program that is must have. Well a must have if you don’t want to carry you camera every where you go anyways.
I gotta say I love this Instagr.am program. I was a bit hesitant to use it at first but after seeing how easy it was to take decent photos and connecting to people I know it was a breeze to get addicted.
The built in easy filters makes most photos look better and one touch it’s posted to FB, Twitter, Tumbler etc. Allows people to “like”, “comment” etc. Good stuff.
It is a great social media tool and very fun and easy to use. Did I mention it was free?
Here are some photos I’ve taken with it the last couple weeks I’ve been using it.
To follow my photos: http://followgram.me/scssam
Pro: easy to use, great interface and free.
Con: no cropping, very little editing ability except for the built in ones.
Groupon for fishing tackle, just in time for the holidays
I’m sure everyone has heard of groupon by now. If you haven’t, it is basically a daily email for great discounts on goods and services around you local area. It is super popular and from what I have seen the savings are pretty significant.
While at ICAST I ran into a guy name Dave. He was telling me about a similar concept but geared towards fishing products.
Dave knew me from the photos on Saltyshores and wanted me do some life style photos for the website that was to be launched in a couple months. We exchanged cards and that was one of the many quick meetings I had at ICAST.
To be honest, I thought nothing of it but I got an email from Dave one day wanting to line up photo shoot with four to five models that could fish. This was when I knew they were serious.
They actually flew down one day to do the shoot. We got four girls 2 boats to do an all day lifestyle shoot. We got some excellent photos done that day. I have been keeping it under wraps as everything was not quite ready yet with the website.
You will be happy to know this week they opened up and I get to tell you guys about it as well as share with you some photos.
Here are a couple and you can check some of them out at www.TightLinz.com
So here’s the low down. TightLinz is a members only (free membership) community that gets access to brands names at up to 70% off of retail. They have to keep it members only so it will not show up in search engines.
Once a week TightLinz sends an email to your inbox to let you know about new sales events. Each event last just 72 hours or until they sell out.
One cool thing about this community is that they will credit you $10 for each friend you refer that ends up buying.
Invite as many friends as you like. The events are starting small and will grow quickly and will include tackle, apparel, accessories as well as boating gear and travel!
I checked it out and yes the discounts is pretty substantial. I have been on a couple “guide deal” program and I have to say, the discounts are as good some even better.
The 1st events are featuring Shakespeare combos, Fenix LED lights and gear, clothing and accessories from Old Harbor Outfitters.
Tampa Kayak fishing with Spencer Goodwin
11.19.2011
Got out on the water yesterday with long time friend Spencer Goodwin(Tampa Kayak Charters) and his friend Trent to do a little Kayak fishing. With these low tides and the north winds to make the tide even lower its much easier to target reds and trout when they concentrate themselves in pot holes.
Spencer stuck with his Lil Jon on a jig head and I used a variety of things of lures. Yo-zuri Crystal Shrimp(still testing this for a full review), Doa shrimp, DOA swim tail and even pulled out the fly rod.
The bite was excellent with very quick action. We caught 20+ trout, 12 or so redfish and two flounder by lunch time.
The new Skinny Water Culture Hoodie got a video review coming up.
Spencer probably caught the most fish out of us three since most of the fish has hunkered down on the bottom of the holes. Trent caught a few nice reds and a good trout. After a few fish on the swim tails I pulled out the fly rod and caught three small red fish to cap off a successful morning of fishing.
Photo note: used the DSLR but forgot the lens wipe today. Had a cause of smudgy lens. Must remember this especially when kayak fishing.
Bass to Bonefish…
What to do between the onslaught of high winds, big seas, cloudy days, and pre-frontal rain… go fish for bass or bonefish!!!
Tampa big trout bite with Del Calhoun, Kayak Fishing
11.5.2011
One of the problem with actually fishing and not just being out on the water is that you never get any really cool shots. By cool shots I mean those nice sunrise, action, candid photos. When these moments happens and you have a fishing rod in your hand by the time you reel in and get the camera out of the storage it is pretty much over. Staging it sometimes work but the really really cool stuff, for the most part, just can not be staged effectively.
I say this because looking over my photos from the last fishing outing with Del all I have are grip and grin shots. No action, no scenic, no candid moments. The photos besides showing the fish we caught just does not seem to tell the story. So now you know, if have really really cool shots chances are I’m not fishing just taking photos. Ahh.. the things I sacrifice to capture good images for you guys. 
Those that know me back in the day before I really got into the photography knew I was an avid fisherman. And like most avid fisherman, I try to get out as much as I can. Sometimes this means once a week but many times it was more like 4 times a week. I got out so much that I started to become burnt out on it. If that actually happens. When I started to take better photos, the sharing of images actually honed new interest for me.
I bring this up because it seems that many new to Saltyshores and or Facebook assume that I am just a lowly photographer with zero fishing skillz. I joke around here but believe it or not this is actually the case with many people I know in the fishing industry. I have met many people in sales, marketing, crunch numbers and have no desire to fish or fish very little. You would think it was the opposite that these guys fish all the time. At first I was quite surprised myself.
To try to change this image to the newer visitors of SS, I am forced to get photos of my self with fish every now and then. Not a bad task really.
Now back to the fishing report.
This past week the weather had been nasty with cold fronts coming in one after another. Thursday had an opening of a beautiful day and I wanted to get to do some fall fishing in the flats. I called my artist friend Del Calhoun up to see if he wanted to get out for a few hours. I try to get a couple other guys together but their schedule just did not work.
We decided to Kayak fish today so I loaded the Hobbie Revo up the back of the truck with two rods and a couple boxes of tackle. In the tackle box was the Paul Browns(something I always wanted to try), Yo Zuri Crystal Shrimp(new from Yo Zuri) and DOA shrimp. Del was using the top water the entire time.
The bite was sporadic at first first with a few small snook and trout. With this first cold front and the grass dying off the floating grass made treble hook lures like the PB and Crystal Shrimp painful to use so I stuck with the DOA shrimp for the most part.
When the tide started to switch things turned on. We were catching bigger snook along with a few redfish in the lower 20′s. The best fish of day came around lunch time. We were on our way in and worked pot holes. After spooking a few fish I was able to sneak up on nice pod of fish and made a cast up current of him. It got swooped up right away and fought really well. I thought it was a redfish since it was pulling nicely but when it started to zig zag I’m thinking snook, when it shoot is’ head, wow a trout! I yell over to Del and then he hooks up on big trout on top water.
We both landed our fish 25″ and 26″ trout sight cast from Kayaks something neither of us I have never done on trout this big. After a few photos and successful release of the fish we figure we couldn’t do better than this and headed in. On the way in we caught a couple more smaller redfish to cap off a nice day and as a bonus got a few photos of my self with fish for a change.
Lure note: With the clear water the DOA Shrimp 382 caught the big fish today.
Photo note.: did not have the DSLR cameras with me that day. All photos shot on the Sony NEX-5.
Check out the strange growth on this trout’s nose.
Pre Halloween Slob Trout. Gator trout, redfish, snook Tampa Bay, Jason and Lauren
10.31.2011
With the Halloween coming this means the new moon is upon us. To me this means the fall low tides will be super low. In Tampa that means the water cools down the fish gets shallow and concentrated when the water flushes out of the bay. Knowing this, I wanted to get out on this fall new moon phase when the tides will be extra low.
I have known Jason Stock for several years now. Jason is the epitome of an avid fisherman. Well before he was ever a captain, he was constantly on the water fishing inshore and offshore. Fishing in bad weather, wading, kayaking, in tournaments, you name it. Anyone can pass the test and be a captain but this passion for fishing really makes for a dam good fishing guide.
Jason has always kayak guided but have recently added a Hellsbay Marquessa to this year. He wanted to out and do some low tide fishing with the new ride. Meeting Jason at the ramp on Friday 8am I dealt with more traffic than I thought I had to. Once we got on the water though there we were rewarded with very little congestion.
Working edges of drained flats we strictly used top water super spook jr. We find it very effective working ares with lots of bait. This time of year there is no shortage of mullet around and finding them was not an issue. In the morning we caught red fish, snook and lots of trout. The trophy fish came about lunch time however. After I lost a big trout on top water we decided to get out and wade fish to be more stealthy.
This resulted in a Jason hooking up to a big moma gator trout. After a few more we took
If you have not caught a trout over 25″ in skinny water, they are a different beast compared to the normal 15″ fish you ski in. The fight compares more to a big snook, zig zaging with quick runs, head shakes and jumps. Big trout are awesome and has to be at top of the list of exciting shallow water game fish.
This past Sunday I took the Ranger out to fish and shoot some video with Lauren. We needed to get some B-rolls for a fishing pilot we are working on called 3F adventures.
With tide being super low again we decided to get a little fishing in. At first the bite was sporadic with a few fish here and there. Then Lauren noticed a shrimp floating by. This changed the whole game. She tied on a DOA shrimp and was getting a bite almost on every other cast.
To be completely honest, even though I use DOA swim tails I am not a big fan of using the shrimp. If you look back at all my reports I have always been using their CAL swim tails to catch fish most notably the gold rush color. So it came to no surprise I did not want to change lures. I was being quite stubborn attributing the bite to luck. After a 6 to zero run though I could not deny it any longer.
I changed over and started to catch some fish. We caught snook, redfish and trout for almost 2 hours straight. The bite was excellent, it was tough to put the rods down to get some photos of the big trout we were catching.
Overall DOA shrimp made the day. The colors that stood out was the Stark Naked 420. We also used a similar color with flecks and chartreuse tail. I tried the clear one, the clear with gold specks and it just didn’t work work as well.
When the tide die the bite stopped. We finished the B-roll videos and ended the day with 30 plus fish to brag about. Next low tide tide you know what’s gonna be in my tackle box.
Just before the Chill…
The late summer rains have poured down on us in South Florida a couple of months ago… As fall came, it still dumped on us with no seemingly no end. Between these rainy days, periods of calm winds and blue skies graced us, reminding us that Fall was not very far. But the skies grew thick with shady clouds and dumping rain still for the majority of our days. It hasn’t stopped raining around my home in Miami for the last few days and my other home, the Florida Keys, have got the worse of this. The temperatures are down, reminding us now that Fall is here, but the cold front lingering towards South Florida as I type this, brings to mind that winter is not too far around the corner. We are expecting our first major cold front to sweep across our busy city, bringing strong northerly chilly breezes and our shallow water gamefish headed for deeper waters to hunker down. The fishery is moving into another transition… both good and bad. Mild days will have them feeding voraciously throughout the day, while freezing coldfront impacted days will likely have them running for the deep.
Our fishery in Flamingo is an interesting one; different then the rest of the world. Out warmer months bring hoards of redfish onto our shallow flats pushing and tailing in great numbers while our winter months bring most of them to the deeper creeks and backcountry. It seems to be quite the opposite in other parts of the state, where redfish feel more relaxed tailing on the flats during cooler months.
This Summer and Fall has been without a doubt, the months of redfishing that I have ever seen in Flamingo. The sheer numbers of redfish tailing on the flats was nothing short of spectacular. The high waters of Fall are expected to recede soon with the approaching fronts and cool weather. Recently, I had what could possibly be one of the last epic days of the year for sight fishing tailing redfish on the Flamingo flats. I fished a buddy of mine from Middle School… poling around in skinny water and casting spoons at tailing redfish, a style of fishing he was not very familiar with. So we made adjustments and I made some colorful suggestions so we could meet with success. Heck, I even managed to take the bow for a short time and catch half a dozen redfish on fly before returning to my station up on the poling platform. Between the both of us, we hooked over 70 redfish this day and boated 54 lower to upper slot fish, before calling it a day earlier then I had anticipated. A typical good day of redfishing this year…
The winter fishery brings upon a variety of fishing… stay tuned for what will lead up to the winter…