Boo' s Big Fish

Yesterday I took my girlfriend Katherine fishing. It was her first time to fly fish. We did some casting lessons and got the rod rigged. It only took her a few minutes to get into her groove. She had several fish on that we didn't quite get to the boat. Once she was able to get one rainbow to the boat she started catching them left and right! On our last drift, she hooked into this nice brown and thought it was the bottom of the river. Once we saw the fish we both started freaking out! It was about a 23 inch brown! We had a great morning just goofing around and it ended up awesome!

28/11/09 - Lands End - Match Lake

Weight – 12lb 10oz
Catch – 9 Perch, 6 Roach, 2 Carp, 1 Skimmer
Weather – Showery start, turning calm & cold.
Water Temp– 9.5c > 9.5c
Match – Open - 7th overall

As I was driving to the venue, I wondered whether it would ever stop raining. For what must be 3 weeks now its been wet & windy. When checking the weather forecast for this weekend, depending on which site you looked at, we would either have 20mph winds with 55mph gusts or it would be flat clam, so not even the weatherman could make up their minds. Having said that Saturdays weather looked better than Sunday.

I found myself on peg 23 which Mike decided to put in instead of 24. In fact looking at it the peg did offer me more options. The tree on the right hand bank was at 17m and the island was at 15m, with plenty of open water in between.

The main concern today was the extra water in the lake, following the rain and it was clear, so a challenging day was anticipated.

I started with ½ a cup of green swim groundbait & 3mm pellets at 14m, plus some caster by the island. 1st put in was by the tree without feeding to see if I could snare a mug fish, with corn on the hook. A few liners indicated fish in the swim & 10 mins later I hooked a carp, but unfortunately I wasn't quick enough throwing 17m of pole behind me and the fish snagged me in the sunken branches.

I decided to let that swim settle and switched to the island and immediately had a 3 perch and 2 roach on double caster, then nothing. This was the pattern for the rest of the match. I couldn't get a run of fish.

My groundbait swim didn't produce a bite, I set up a couple more swims, but the most consistent spots where by the island and under the tree. I even tried under the pallet on peg 24, but only had 3 fish. Ideally I would have preferred to fished my lighter rig my the tree, but I couldnt risk it, because any carp would have done me. When bites stopped I tried flicking casters over to the tree to encourage the carp from under it, but they just weren't having it. The guy on peg 1 wasn't fishing longer than 13m, so there was plenty of room for the carp to sulk away and flicking casters over wasn't working.

On reflection, could I have caught more? Possibly, but the bright, flat conditions meant it wasn't easy. I had 6lb 2oz of silvers and only needed another 1¼lb to pick up in the silvers, all beit by double default.

Rod won the match from peg 21 with 39lb. All his fish came to his left to towards peg 20, so perhaps there wasn't that many carp close to me. Garry was 2nd with 34lb from peg 11, which included 15lb of silvers and Mike was 3rd with 30lb from peg 19, again with 15lb of silvers.

I'm not too disponate about today, because I have had a good run so far this season and the law averages suggested I was due a complete blow out.

Buttoning up for winter

The closest marina to the East Cape is more than 40 miles away. When we acquired our new Cabo 35 The Jen Wren our plan was to build a trailer to pull her out in the winter. There are no boat ramps here, so the only way is over the beach. Our plan looked good on paper, but nobody in this area has ever even attempted to pull something the size of the Jen Wren before.

We built a stealthy looking trailer. This baby is forty feet long and fourteen feet wide. The axles, wheels and tires are from a semi trailer. Will it support the 20,000 pound Jen Wren?

Moment of truth!
Lookin good

We are out! The first pull can be viewed on You Tube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_2TWrsiJw8&feature=email

The starboard rigger had a close encounter with a coco palm but life is good!

Now that our boats are out for the winter it is maintenance time. Even when you use the best gear on the planet a certain amount of care needs to be given.

Can't let it be all work. Went out yesterday with my neighbor John Torres in his aluminum boat and we whacked the sierra Mackerel.

Mark Rayor

www.vistaseasport.com
www.thejenwren.com

Wye with my Guest John Tyzack

I had got a group session with the local lads from LADFFA and DRAC to fish with JT guiding us up at Dovedale but conditions were that bad we had to call it off which gutted us all but there will be another chance very soon.
I spoke to JT and we decided to have a fish in my Wye stretch with John as my guest, no guiding, just fishing for lesiure and the crack..
We meet at the pumping station around half nine and John was his usual 'mad for it' self and keen to get on the fish, he let 'scuff' his little terrier have a run about then we tackled up and made our way upstream.
The river was up and slightly coloured but was fishable, John went with his three fly czech nymph and i went for a Klink and dink style.
While i was setting up John took two 8 oz Grayling within 5 minuites! I started to fish my style and could only watch as John started to take fish after fish, it wasnt long before i changed my style to go like JT as i was blanking my head off..
I was soon starting to take Grayling to the middle dropper czech nymphing which gave me a sigh of releif as JT was into double figures before i had one!
I soon got into the swing of things and started to take some nice pounders who were again fighting there heads off.
We walked into the town area and we had a hour or so fish stalking which is something i love, Jt catching a 2lber with a single shrimp..(Tosser)!!
After a nice can of stella back at the car we made are way back upto the town as i had asked John to get some invertabrate shots with my new cam ect.
We were siting chatting and jT shouted 'look at that dun drifting down pal' he was up like a flash and chasing down the river with his little net, some bi standers must have thought we were into a fish until John came back with a huge smile and his invertabrate net holding a Large Dark Olive!!! The walkers looked at each other with amazment!
We then collected some samples of shrimps to match with our flys.


<

Best fish of the Day, fin perfect


Spot the natural! A very good match and you can see why JTs fly takes fish

A Large Dark Olive, my favorite invertabrate, the only one we saw all day!

JT Living The Dream

Do they get better looking than this?

More to follow.......

Tough conditions......

Been unable to fish for well over a month due to terrible weather. We've had weeks of strong winds and relentless heavy rain leading to widespread flooding nationwide and meaning no fishing.

Fished yesterday and felt very rusty after such a long period of inactivity. I decided to pack it in with the light fading when, perched on a rock, getting covered in spray from the surf ,a wind knot appeared from nowhere mid cast causing my 9kg braid to part and allow my expensive Japanese lure to sail off into the dusk on it's first outing, never to be seen again

Despite a couple of calm days conditions here conditions are still not good for Lure fishing. The massive rainfall we've had is still draining off the land and taking with it suspended solids which give the water a coloured appearence. To make things even tougher the Wind today is blowing a gale from the North East and the wind chill will be ferocious when I head out later, must get the neoprene chest waders out of the loft. they will be great for winter eastuary fishing but not rock fishing as they don't provide the ankle support or grip of Stocking foot waders and boots or active summer fishing as you overheat very quickly in them when walking between locations.

Hoping for calmer conditions over the next few weeks and some quality fishing..........

Giveaway at Flowing Waters

A fellow angler and blogger is having a great giveaway at his blog, Flowing Waters. He is giving away a Bass package that includes some really great tackle. Swing by Wolfy's blog and and give him a shout out. He always has great posts and a great writing style.

Tight lines

Jason and Norm

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Yesterday I fished with Norm and Jason. Norm fishes with me pretty often but I hadn't seen Jason in a while. They had one goal and that was to catch a nice fish. It was cold, foggy morning when we set out. We started to nymph and found the bite immediately. After a while Norm decided he wanted to throw some streamers and he quickly got into some fat browns. Jason stuck with nymphing and brought in a nice 22 inch brown. Fishing remained excellent all day. Toward the end of the day, Jason hooked this fat 18 rainbow which really got me going! It's always nice to see big bows in the river. It was an all around awesome Fall day on the Little Red River!

Farnsworth Family

Last week I had the pleasure of taking out a great client of mine, Robert Farnsworth and his family. We did a neat round robin type of deal and took out all three kids and his wife Monica. I fished each child for a couple of hours. I started out with his son Devaul. He was a natural. He caught on so fast and was yanking fish out one after another. It was his first time fishing for trout with a fly rod and you would have never guessed it! Next I took his daughter Ansley. The water rose on us and our bite slowed down a bit, but she got in her groove and caught several nice Rainbows. After lunch I took out his wife Monica and their son Miles. Monica did awesome too! The water dropped back out and she smashed on the fish. Robert was throwing some streamers and hooked a 21 inch pig and let Miles bring him in! It was a awesome day getting to help Robert share something he is so passionate about with his family. It reminded me of being a kid and my dad teaching me how to fish. It was such a rewarding day. I do not have all of the pictures yet but be looking for them soon.

The Shrimp

I never thought i would see the day where i was tying bugs and shrimps as i only fish the dry as a rule but as i am starting to enjoy fishing for Grayling so i decided to get set on doing a few.
These are the flys i caught well on the Wye yesterday so here is a picture of some i have knocked up tonight....
The Wye and the Dove hold massive ammounts of these shrimps and are a major part of the Grayling and Trouts diet.
These are tied on a size 14 hook which looks quite big to match the hatch size but has produced for me so i will keep using them until i need other patterns.
I am missing a few tying pictures but will get them on with a list of all the materials required..

Nice one

Glen

Wye Derbyshire Grayling Fishing (PFFA)

Been missing fishing so much lately as work is getting busy at the minute and the rivers being in a shit state.
I rang Jan (Haddon Estate river keeper) to see what the conditions were like, he said the river was high but clearing so i thought i would get off work for a few hours and wet a line, when i arrived the river was high but nice and clear but i was still optimistic fishing a high river.
I usually hate this sort of fishing but i soon got my head around where the fish would be, out of the strong flow and in the edges and behind large boulders, something that i have learnt from Barbel fishing the Dove in the same conditions, infact i have had my best fishing days when the river looks slightly unfishable.
I tackled up with a 3 fly set up, like czech nyphing but a polyyarn indicator a foot off my fly line, this is a method i thought of using on the Wye as the no wading rule can limit you when czech nymphing as to be on top of the fish.
If fishing close i could still lead the flys down with the indicator acting as the end of my fly line but i could still cast further out to get a Klink and dink method if needed.
The flys used were a large weighted Pink Shrimp on the point and a small dull shrimp on the dropper going upto a poly indicator.
On the first cast of the day is the poly yarn snatched away sideways and i hooked into a feisty fish and i had that sinking feeling that i had hooked a out of season rainbow, to my amazment the fish rolled and i saw it was a large Grayling, seconds later it come off!
I wandered about and had a quiet half hour then started to take Grayling which were suprisingly fighting there heads off all on the large pink shrimp, i usually think Grayling are plodders but these Wye fish are game...
All my fish were weighed in my new Mclean's weight net which was great as i would just lift them up, weigh them and straight back in the water having caused no stress to the Grayling as these can become a nightmare to revive..
I have posted a small video with my new waterproof camera (FugiFilm WP) of returning a Nice Grayling, you can see the fish just instantly kick off due to being out the water for seconds.
The Wye Grayling are a different colour to the Dove fish i am used to, they seem to be a deeper gray colour and fight much harder.
My new camera is doing a great job at the min on close up images but seems to lack on a general shot with them being quite grainy which i am not happy with but will have a play and see if i can get it right, the video is very good and if you click the high res sign on the you tube player its very good quality.
I ended up catching 4 Grayling all over a pound with the highest being 1 lb 10 oz

A great couple of hours fishing which was not expected which made it even better with catching some great fish..
Nice one

Glen

Fly fishing is a ticket to fish and fun

Why fly fish?

Why not?

It's a really neat way to fish. It's calm, peaceful and relaxing. And you don't have to be a rocket scientist to use a fly rod in your pursuit of saltwater or freshwater fish.

For years, though, fly fishing was thought of as an elite sport. I know that's the way I viewed it. But it's really not.

Fly-rod manufacturers and others that make reels, line and accessories helped perpetuate that myth by inflating the prices of their merchandise. Some fly rods sell for $700 or more. And you might faint when you see the price of an upper-echelon bamboo rod.

Can you say $2000?

Then along cam Temple Fork Outfitters, a Dallas-based company that produces great fly rods for great prices. You can buy a TFO for $200 or less. You don't have to mortgage the house to own a TFO.

Just because TFOs are affordable doesn't make them inferior. Quite the contrary. They're really good rods that have drawn raves around the world. Some of the best fly anglers I know use and recommend TFO rods.

Sarasota's Pete Greenan is one. Owner of The Gypsy Guide Service, Greenan is one of the most-experienced fly anglers in Florida. He was flinging flies here in the 1970s.

Ron Whitely is another. The Rotonda resident catches a lot of fish on his TFOs.

And Lefty Kreh, the guru of fly fishing, is a spokesman for TFO.

So, there you have it. There's no excuse not to get into the sports. TFO rods are affordable. You can own three for the price of one rod of another brand.

The late Ad Gilbert said it best when asked why he used a fly rod.

"I've already caught a thousand redfish on spinning rod," he said. "Do I want to catch another thousand on spinning rod."

In short, Gilbert had conquered and wanted a different, exciting challenge.

That's the usual route of many fly fishers. They begin with a cane pole and worms and worked their way up the fishing ladder. They end up with fly rods.

Truth be known, you can can just as many fish on fly rod as you can on spinning tackle in most cases. In some cases, you can catch more -- if that's your goal.

Last summer, I spent a good deal of time on local beaches, pursuing snook in the surf. I regularly fared better than my spinning brethren.

Fly rods are great in fresh water, too. I love nothing more than to fish local lakes, streams and canal for bass, bluegill and whatever else might be lurking in the depths. I usually do pretty well.

One of my passions is fly fish in The Everglades for oscar, Mayan cichlid, bass, bluegill, shellcracker, speckled perch and other species.

To be a successful fly angler, you first must become a proficient fly caster. Realize that fly casting and fly fishing are two different things. Once you learn how to cast, then you'll have to learn how to fly fish.

But that's really not too difficult. You're desire to do so usually is enough to spur you on.

How far do you have to cast?

Some experts claim that you must be able to cast a full fly line (about 100 feet). While that might be an advantage, I'm happy when one of my clients is accurate at 50 feet. Most of the fish we encounter are within 50 feet (and that includes redfish, snook, tarpon, bonefish and others).

Accuracy at 50 feet is much better than being off-target at 100.

How do you learn to cast? It's best if you hire a certified casting instructor. Those certified by the Federation of Fly Fishers do an excellent job and should have you casting easily in an hour or two.

I'm not sure I can remember them all, but here are the species I've landed on fly rod in salt water:

1. Spotted seatrout;

2. Redfish;

3. Snook;

4. Flounder;

5. Ladyfish;

6. Dolphin;

7. Cobia;

8. Mangrove snapper;

9. Mutton snapper;

10. Bonefish;

11. Permit;

12. Little tunny;

13. Spanish mackerel;

14. Tripletail;

15. Bluefish;

16. Pompano;

17. Pinfish;

18. Blowfish;

19. Houndfish;

20. Needlefish;

21. Bonnethead shark;

22. Amberjack;

23. Gag grouper;

24. Sheepshead;

25. Black mullet;

26. Black drum;

27. Black seabass;

28. Tarpon;

29. Umbrina roncador.

In fresh water, I've landed:

1. Largemouth bass;

2. Smallmouth bass;

3. Bluegill;

4. Stumpknocker;

5. Speckled perch (black crappie);

6. Shellcracker;

7. Channel catfish;

8. Rainbow trout;

9. Brook trout;

10. Brown trout;

11. Common carp;

12. Grass carp;

13. Oscar;

14. Mayan cichlid;

15. Butterfly peacock bass;

16. Ronkador;

17. Guapote;

18. Barramundi;

19. Sunfish;

20. Golden shiner.

I'm sure I've forgotten a species or two.

Nevertheless, that's a lot of fish. If I can do it, anyone can.

Grab a fly rod and go catch fish!

Redfish among fly fishing's toughest targets

Pete Greenan, who runs The Gypsy Guide Service out of Uncle Henry's Marina in Boca Grande, gave a great talk on fly fishing for redfish in winter at the Mangrove Coast Fly Fishers meeting Tuesday night in Sarasota.





It certainly was one of the better talks I've heard over the years.





One thing that Greenan (in photo at right) said is redfish are great training for anyone heading south to try for bonefish.





I disagree.





From my point of view, I think it's the opposite. I think that if you head south, catch a few bonefish on fly rod, you might be ready to try for redfish.





Reds in shallow, clear water are about as tough of a fly-rod accomplishment as you can get. They're spooky and quite finicky.





A few years ago, I was fishing with Fishin' Frank Hommema, Jr. He was poling me along Charlotte Harbor's famed West Wall. I was casting a red-and-white Seducer under the mangroves and retrieving it slowly. I managed to land a half dozen hefty redfish.





I was extremely happy that I'd finally figured it out.





I haven't caught a red at that spot since that trip. The only think I have figured out is that I don't have anything figured out.





Redfish in deeper water are different animals and mush easier to fool on fly. Sarasota fly angler Walter Hamm wades a familiar spot in Sarasota Bay every August and September and does well on redfish that are schooled up in three feet of water off a sand bar. Put those same redfish on the sand bar in a foot of water and you'd have trouble with them.





Of course, outdoor writers have claimed for years that reds are among the easiest of saltwater fish to fool on fly. I'll guarantee you they haven't tried fly fishing for reds on Florida's west coast!





I can understand why they think reds are so easy. I was fishing with Islamorada guide Paul Tejera several year ago. We made the long run from Islamorada to Flamingo. Purpose of the trip was to test out Paul's line of saltwater jigs.





He found a flat and poled onto it. The water was chalky after being stirred up by a school of mullet. Even though the water wasn't clear, you could easily see fish in it. And the first fish we saw was a hefty redfish not three feet from the boat.





"Look at that redfish, Paul," I said, pointing my rod at the fish.





"Don't just stand there looking at it; give him the jig," Paul said.





I did as instructed. I reached out and dabbled the jig in front of the redfish, never believing I had a shot at such close proximity. But the fish rushed forward, opened its mouth and inhaled the offering.





After landing the fish and taking a couple of photos, I turned to Paul and said, "No wonder you guys think redfish are so easy. These fish are really stupid!"

In some areas, redfish do acrobatics to eat flies. In this neck of the woods, it's not like that often.

Lefty has only forgotten one name: mine

Lefty Kreh is my hero.

Long before I met this fly-fishing guru I bought his book: Fly Fishing in Salt Water. That book was my fly-fishing bible for years. I advise anyone contemplating fly fishing to obtain a copy. It has everything you need to know.

Kreh is the man when it comes to fly fishing. He has forgotten more than I'll ever know about the sport.

About 15 years ago, I got the chance to spend a day fishing with him. He was in town to be the featured speaker at a Mangrove Coast Fly Fishers banquet.

The day was lousy, overcast and very windy. That was great! I received a day of casting lessons, stories and jokes from the master.

There are several stories about Kreh. One is that he always takes a nap in the middle of the day no matter where he is. On the drive back to Sarasota, I looked back and saw Kreh sleeping with his mouth open.

Another story is that once he meets you, he never forgets your name.

A few months after spending a day with him, I ran into Kreh in the lobby of the Denver convention center. We were both attending the annual fly tackle dealers show. I stood by the side as Kreh talked with several people. When the last one left, I stepped forward, extended my hand and said, "How are you doing, Lefty?"

He looked at me, shook my hand and said, "I'm doing great, pal. How 'bout you?"

Lefty had no idea who I was.

Bummer.

Three years ago, I emailed him a couple of requests. I asked him for two business cards (one with his autograph) and for one of his Lefty's Deceivers, a fly that he created years ago. It might be saltwater fly fishing's most famous fly.

I received a small package a couple of weeks later. I opened it and found two business cards (one with his signature), an autographed photo of Lefty holding a giant northern pike that he'd taken on fly and a note.

He wrote that he quit mailing out Lefty's Deceivers because he couldn't keep up with the requests. He hoped I would understand.

I did. His business cards are in my collection. His photo is framed and on the wall in my home office/fly-tying room.

Sarasota Bay is fly-rod Mecca

If you can't catch fish on a fly rod these days, you're either not trying or you're not fly fishing.

Fish in Sarasota Bay are going ga-ga over Super Hair Clousers and just about any other fly.

I fished Monday and Tuesday and had monster days. On Monday, I launched at the end of Whitfield Avenue and made my way south to Stephens Point. I fished deep grass about 400 yards of the point.

I'm not sure what the highlight of the day was? Five trout over four pounds each? A hefty fly-rod pompano? A dozen bluefish to three pounds? A mutton snapper? Spanish mackerel? Or all of the ladyfish you could ever want?

Fish were breaking on bait all over the place, so it wasn't difficult to locate them. I'm guessing I caught around 50 fish.

Not bad.

On Tuesday, I took Mangrove Coast Fly Fishers president Bob Parker (above in photo) out. We launched just a little closer to the point. Fog was heavy as we made our way out into Sarasota Bay. Unlike the day prior, there were no breaking fish or diving birds. And it was pretty difficult in the fog to locate the grass patches. We did catch a few trout, ladyfish and Spanish mackerel, but not many.

We paddled inshore toward the Ringling Mansion. I found a bunch of small minnows on the surface and began casting around them. I quickly caught a pair of four-pound mackerel. I also hooked a fish that I couldn't stop. The hook pulled, so I was, um, off the hook! I suspect it was a hefty jack crevalle. Parker hooked and landed a three-pound jack that had him contorted like a pretzel as it swam around the kayak. We also landed a few seatrout.

I had a hunch fish would finally cooperate off the point. So, when the wind subsided, I paddled out. Before I got to where I wanted to be, I saw a pompano leap from the water. I did what anyone would do: I began casting.

I did hook and land a nice pompano. I ended up landed four others. There must have been a school of them below because they were skipping all over the place.

Bluefish were breaking on the surface and I landed a half dozen of them in short order. I also managed my largest blue in years -- a strong six-pounder.

A cold front is moving through the area today, so I probably won't get back on the water until early next week. I'll use the time to tie a few more Super Hair Clousers.

The reason I use Super Hair rather than bucktail is that the synthetic lasts much longer than the natural stuff when hook toothy fish like blues and macks. I also coat the three with epoxy which extends their life, too.

This deep grass pattern will last throughout the winter. There will be slow days, of course. But there won't be many.

It's a great place for beginning fly fishers. It's also a lot of fun for veterans.

Derbyshire Fly Swap (sneak preview)

More about this subject to follow, but some very nice tyers indeed have joined in the twelve fly swappers!!
I have started to tie my eleven Oliver Edwards CDC dun so here is a sneak preview of the ones i have tied for now, will do a step by step very soon, the actual OE pattern given to me is in the foreground....

Charles and Alan

Yesterday I took Charles and Alan fishing. They wanted to catch some big fish on streamers. The clouds where up high so the conditions seemed perfect. It took the guys a few drifts to get dialed in to the full sinking lines, but soon we were pounding the banks hard. We had some good tugs and great follows but we were having a hard time getting big fish to commit. Finally Charles pulled out a hog! A big beautiful buck with a dark orange pumpkin belly. We continued to pick up some smaller, but nice fish in the 16 inch range up until after lunch. Afterward Alan got into a few nice toads. They fished hard and were doing it right. The big browns just didn't seem to be too keen on streamers yesterday, so we picked up the nymph rods and banged out quite a few rainbows.