Jess Kays Fish

Lovely Drawing of a Fish By Jess Kay

tough fishing on the root (racine, wi)

I made a solo trip Saturday to the Root River in Racine, Wisconsin looking for some fresh steelhead. The rain from last week showed a tremendous impact in the flows. The Root River was flowing higher and faster then it had been in the last month. It’s sad when 50CFS is considered to be high flows but either way I was extremely optimistic to be fishing moving water. I felt that the mid week rain could have pushed some fresh fish up into the tributaries.

The weather on Saturday was freezing cold with moderate wind and some ice was starting to build over the puddles. As I stepped from my car I could see my breath in the air and feel the sting of the cold in my nose and this is a sure sign that winter is knocking on our door. I put my waders on over my jeans and my wool socks even though I planned on not setting foot in the water. The waders gave me an extra layer of protection from the elements. Cold or not it was time to get to work.

sunrise on the root river

The river was empty and I came across only a handful of others who were out fishing. I spent the entire morning drifting nymphs and egg patterns through pristine looking steelhead water. Not even a bump. I made it to lunch time before deciding to retire for the day and head out. Every condition, in my mind was perfect for a big day on the water but the fish had something else on the agenda for the day. I saw no indications of fish in the river but that doesn’t say much. Steelies are elusive, and you aren’t gonna catch one without a line in the water. To all those other die hard river rats who made it out, my hats off to you.

good flow on the root river

Neal’s reports from the Pike River on Sunday were worse then what I saw Saturday. He found a lot of the pools iced over. Maybe it was thin ice but it was still capped off. I did manage to whip up some new egg patterns on Sunday.

Florida Keys Day 8 Old Ladies Fishing

Sundays fishing trip was one for the ages......the old ladies that is!

We headed out 16 miles into the Gulf of Mexico following the directions on the gps to a sunken houseboat out in the middle of nowhere. Being out that far from land and its only 9 feet deep, but the fish are stacked up there big time!

Even when its windy outside, the shallow gulf is much more protected and less wavy than the Atlantic. Anyhow, my mom and my sister's mother in law Barb had the fishing trip of a lifetime catching huge cero and spanish mackeral, monster mangrove snapper, tons of grouper, jacks, blue runners, a huge stingray, and another mystery fish. Here is that mystery fish:


We really wanted to catch a shark so Larry gave us this big barracuda his buddy caught the day before to cut up and use for bait:


Then we stopped by our pinfish trap and unloaded all the pinfish into our livewell:

Next we pulled into Captain Hooks Marina to fuel up and pick up some more chum blocks, ice, and fuel. This is the place to go when boating and fishing in the middle keys!

Finally on to the Gulf for some afternoon fishing! First pic is of Jared helping his mom put another monster mangrove into the box!

Barb holding up one of many mackeral. We catch the mackeral using free lined pinfish and also cast gotcha fishing lures when a school of them comes by.

We catch lots of gag groupers, but they are always just an inch or two short to keep. Still fun to catch though!

Tony holding up a pair of big mangroves


Barb caught the biggest mangrove snapper I have ever seen. This thing was a beast! It bit on a huge free lined pinfish and gave barb all of the battle she could handle:


At the end of the day we had a bunch of fish to clean!


We got back from fishing, got all cleaned up, ate some dinner, and then got everyone together to have our own church service. Just sat around the livingroom and talked about more important things in life than fish and recreation and football, etc. We are thankful for fishing and recreation and even football, but they definitely aren't the focal point of living life to the fullest!

Florida Keys Day 7 Grouper

Today we followed local fishing legend Larry around all day. He was fishing with his wife, son and a couple friends in his boat. We had dad, chad, justin, amy, and jared in our boat. We literally followed them around and anchored up right next to them at 4 different spots out in the Atlantic Ocean. He put us on some serious fish! Many of the big boys would take our baits into the rocks and break us off, but Amy managed to wrestle this beast up off the bottom!

We caught a bunch of grouper using live pinfish on the bottom in 30-50 foot of water, but only kept the 3 biggest. Here is one that I caught, not as big as Amy's, but still a really big fish!

We moved to another spot that was loaded with lane snapper. Here is a really nice lane snapper caught on cut sardines:


Larry took us to some awesome spots and we loaded up on just an absolute ton of fish! Here is our pile laying on the dock en route to the cleaning table:

It really doesnt get any better than catching all of those fish on relatively light tackle. Out in the atlantic the water is so clear you can see all the way to the bottom even when fishing in 50 feet deep of water! It is just amazing out there. Turtles and dolphins and fish and tons of other crazy sea creatures are just everywhere!


Many thanks to Larry and his crew for helping us out tremendously!

Oh yeah, the girls went on a little adventure of their own today. They walked across a portion of the old seven mile bridge. It was funny because they thought there was a little restaraunt at the end to eat lunch at, but when they got there it was just a soda machine.....hehe

The snow is very nice BUT !!

The snow is very nice but is seriously effecting our fishing and not because of the temperature , because we can not get to our marks . Most of the places we fish involve country roads which have not been treated . It is frustrating as we know the water temp is still good , the clarity is good and there are still a fish around as many people proved last week with some outstanding catch reports coming in . Anyway such is the way of life and I am sure will will get out soon enough .

Christmas is just around the corner and just to let ye all know there are gift vouchers available .

Also we can take any credit or debit card orders over the phone .

Cheers,

Cian

Pick Your Devil

GREENHOUSE GAS

Cow Farts

Al Gore

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.. Ignoramus, ostrich, liberal, conservative, reactionary, curmudgeon, rationalist, nationalist, politician, etc.: choose your position and blame the other.
.. Methane, carbon dioxide, CFC, fossil fuel, deforestation, nitrogen oxide, rice paddies, orbital wandering, natural cycle: all or something else is the cause.

.. Whatever the case, there is some sort of long-term climate change trend in Montana, (and elsewhere - we're told.) So what?
.. A note, yesterday, in the Billings Gazette  presents one bit of activity for "Conserving Montana's wildlife during climate change."

SOURCE

MONEY QUOTE:

Montana's average air temperature has increased 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit from 1951 through 2006, compared to a 1.25 degree increase for the entire United States. Our average winter snowpack has declined 17 percent over the same period, and spring rain has increased 5.9 percent. August precipitation has declined more than 20 percent in the 55-year period. Glacier National Park's storied glaciers are disappearing, with only 26 remaining of 150 that existed in 1850.

SOURCE

Reduced snowpack, more spring rain, lower streamflows and melting glaciers tell a story of environmental change that is beyond rational debate. People might argue about the cause, but the trends in air temperature, precipitation and recession of glaciers strongly suggest our state's climate is changing more rapidly and extremely than we predicted just 20 years ago.

These changes are forcing our big-game populations to adapt to changes in their forage base and shift migration patterns to accommodate the changing weather. Variations in water quality and quantity are transforming some of our native cutthroat trout rivers to smallmouth bass waters.

SOURCE

Wetland loss in the prairie pothole region in northeastern Montana could severely reduce waterfowl productivity in North America's duck-breeding “factory.” The loss of the insulation of prairie snow cover can kill young prairie grouse and pheasants in early spring when air temperatures are still low or freezing.

.. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is updating its comprehensive fish and wildlife conservation strategy to include adaptive measures to better protect and manage fish and wildlife across broad landscapes in a changing climate, using strategies presented in “Beyond Seasons' End,” and from the USFWS.
.. The newspaper article also paints a pretty bleak picture of the future for our native Bull Trout and Cutthroat Trout.

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.. The "SEASON'S END" website points to changes and actions that can be taken to address these times and conditions.
.. They have published a book about the happenings. Request the Free book HERE. They have also made the book available, (online PDF download, Give it time it's large and full of pretty pictures.)

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.. It's above zero by a degree or two and the snow flies are going to be dancing all day between the lakes at the Hebgen Tailwater. The snow is getting deep but the trail is keeping pace. Time for some bangers and mash.

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SOURCE

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Landmark For Our Blog - 100,000 Visitors!

Today was a landmark for our blog as we reached 100,000 (one hundred thousand) visitors.  We just want to say thank you, for reading this and supporting us in bringing you the latest fishing news and of course most importantly we thank you, our clients and friends who send us  such fantastic letters and photos which encourage and motivate us all at Pisces. So drop us a line and let us know what you would like to see more of, or less of pisces@piscessportfishing.com  again THANK YOU.

Latest Fish Report

November 19th to 25th, 2010


Overall Catch Success Rate 91.80%

BILLFISH: This week saw a slight decrease on billfish catches as a beautiful, huge full moon was present during this period, causing marlin to gorge themselves during the nighttime hours and be less hungry during the day. Added to this was a lack of live bait. Nevertheless seventy percent of our boats caught billfish, consisting almost exclusively of striped marlin. One of the best days was November 21st when “Tracy Ann” with a group from Houston, Texas aboard, released six striped marlin at Los Arcos on the Pacific side. The next day, Andrea & Jim Shilston from Daphne, Alabama fishing with their friends, matched this catch by also releasing six marlin aboard, this time aboard the 61ft Viking “El Gallo” with Captain Nayo Winkler. November 25th saw “Tracy Ann” again the hot boat, loading up with another six stripers, released this time for the Hom family from Bellevue, WA; all of their fish took live bait. Thanksgiving Day proved to be good for “Rebecca” with our friend and longtime client Gerald Richmond from Key Largo, Florida aboard, who managed to release five striped marlin, plus boat a dorado. Earlier in the week “Rebecca” and her crew had proved themselves by releasing five striped marlin for Charlie & Charlotte Grindstaff from Friendswood, TX at Los Arcos. It seems Texans are very lucky when it comes to fishing as Dieter Thompson & friends who come from Colleyville, TX released four striped marlin aboard the 60 ft Hatteras, “Shambala” as well as boating four dorado to take home. At the beginning of the week, Ian McDonald and John Ramsey from Scotland concentrated inshore, aboard the 22ft Panga “Sirius” and were very lucky to release a sailfish as well as to release four roosterfish and boat a 25 lb dorado off of the Old Lighthouse (Cabo Falso). Pisces anglers released a total of 116 striped marlin and 1 sailfish this week.

OTHER SPECIES: Dorado was the second most abundant species this week with forty two percent of boats catching between one to seven fish, with a total of 64 fish caught. The best day was on the 25th aboard “Bandito” for Jeff Snider and Tim Lorenzo from Eureka, CA with seven dorado caught 18 miles out from Cerro Blanco; the fish took lures of all colors. On the 19th Stuart Lee and Valerie Keck from Grand Coulee, WA did well to catch six dorado in the 35 lbs class as well as releasing two striped marlin aboard “Ruthless”; an enviable day. Jerome & Jed Fisher with an apt name did well with friends Scott Shier & Bob Barbosa, from Anaheim. Ca. fishing on “Valerie” & “Andrea”, they caught five dorado between 20 to 35 lbs aboard at Migriño as well two 40 lbs fish, which took tigrillo lures and went on to release three striped marlin. One other large dorado, al little over 40 lbs, were taken by Richard Holestine from Washington at Elias Calles. Tuna catches are slow but we did see some improvement with catches registered of one to eighteen fish for some boats. “Cabolero” did very well on the 23rd for Francis Saltalamacchia and Brian Trasidder from Saratoga, FL boating eighteen yellow fin tuna between 15 to 25 lbs. The fish took cedar plugs and blue/white lures. On the 25th “Cabolero” hit the tuna again, this time for John & Karen Beech from Boca Raton, FL with a total of fifteen football size yellow fin ten miles out from the Old Lighthouse. This same day “C-Rod” caught a few for Cathy Trung and friends who boated eight yellow fin tuna, one dorado and released one striped marlin. The yellow fin tuna caught this week were mostly football size, with the largest being a 40 lb’er aboard “Ruthless”, for Stewart Keck who also released a striped marlin. Wahoo catches were quite good. On November 24th “La Brisa” had Michael Smith from Montebello, NY aboard when they boated a 50 lb wahoo and released a striped marlin, a dorado and a yellowtail. “No Big Deal” caught two 40 lbs wahoo for Kim and Mike Brastad from Kansas City, KS as well as three dorado.

Inshore we had catches of roosters, Spanish mackerel, yellowtail and jack crevalle.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear, sunny skies, seas mostly calm, though there were some whitecaps close to Cabo on the Pacific a couple of days on windy days

LOCATION: Pacific Side - Golden Gate, Lighthouse, Los Arcos, Migriño, Gaspareño, La Ballena, Pozo Cota, Elias Calles, Margaritas, Cerro Blanco, Cerro de Arena, Old light house, 150 spot

AVERAGE WATER TEMP. 79 F

BEST LURES; Cedar plugs, tigrillo, petrolero, green, red/black, green/yellow, guacamayo, huchis, pink, purple, feathers, all colors, red/black, blue/white

Live mackerel, caballito, ballyhoo, sardines

Based on the catches of Pisces by Ale Almada & Tracy Ehrenberg.

Ever So Humble

HOME PLUG

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.. Snow is far easier to drive on than is black ice. We're home and there is still fishing to be done.
.. The trip was a brilliant success for the fish. We'll stick with our original plans next year. See you south coast folks in the spring.
.. A few of the neighborhood sports have reported giant whitefish and brown trout from the bits of open water available on Hebgen Reservoir. The Hebgen Tailwater is not too snowbound yet and the midge circus is in full flight.
.. The nice snowfall has provided the beginning of a base for the coming winter. Looks good, (but it's way early,) for this time of year. The neighborhood sledheads are getting a jump on the visitors.
.. We'll be enjoying a nap after some chores. More to follow.

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We're catching big fish....

Check out this new YouTube video of the last few weeks with the Jamie Rouse Fly Fishing team.

Florida Keys Day 6

Today we fished long and hard. We drove around for miles and miles and miles looking for good fishing spots out in the Gulf of Mexico. Several times we would drive 3-5 miles to a spot and there would be people sitting there already so we would keep driving to new ones. We caught a bunch of fish, but really had to work for them. I didn't take pictures of all the jacks, sharks, ladyfish, and bluefish we caught while out in the boat, but did snap this pic of some of our fish on the cleaning table:

Florida Keys Day 5 Thanksgiving

This was for sure our best Thanksgiving ever and perhaps as good of a day as it gets! We went out and caught a whole bunch of fish early in the morning. We love to eat the blacktip sharks!





Then we came in and swam with the kids, played games, watched football, and then cooked a seafood Thanksgiving feast! Here are some pics. We had lots of stone crab claws


Fresh caught Lobsters


Main dish was seafood stuffed Cobia. Here are the fillets


Here is the dish all prepared and ready to bake. Jared and Chad and Justin helped cook the feast

Here is my first plate


21 of us are down here for Thanksgiving this year

Its awesome having Thanksgiving in 80 degree weather! Was a big day and we stayed up late....

Portera Action!

Wednesday and Thursday I had the pleasure of fishing with Greg and Will. They fished with me last summer and fell in love with it..The day and a half of fishing we had was nothing short of pure magic...On Wednesday, we hooked some amazing trout...Lost some amazing trout and had nothing but pure fun. On Thursday, we got revenge on a pig rainbow that taunted us all day the day before...and landed a two footer in a torrential rain storm! It was some of the most fun I have had in a while...Great times are being had on the Little Red River...If your not here for the month of December....You need to be!

KB and Farns

Last Tuesday I took KB and the Farns out for a little brown trout beat down...We walked into a stretch of water that really has only been hit by the residents as of late due to the low water and it was out of control on fire! There was several times during the day when as soon as I was letting a 20 plus in fish go another one was on the line!! It was nice to be on foot all day and catching big trout...We had the shoal to ourselves all morning and only had to share with two other people after lunch..It doesn't get any better than this!

Some Pictures of the Anglers from November 24th

We had some pictures snapped by Oscar, Pisces dockmaster,  from our clients returning to the dock with nice catches, such as:

Chris, Ryan and Michael Smith from Montebello, NY released one striped marlin and boated this 50 lbs wahoo (shown in the picture); also they caught one dorado and one yellow tail aboard "La Brisa"

This group from Canada were lucky to caught two wahoo aboard "No Big Deal"; they also caught three dorado at the Golden Gate by the Pacific side.

Richard Holestine from Sokane, WA shown here with a nice 40 lbs dorado aboard "Andrea" with captain Orlando Murillo (right) and deckhand Abraham (behind)

Ted and Travor Ballou and friend Jet Mitchell from Newport Beach, CA were fortunate to release one striped marlin and caught this nice 30 lbs dorado for dinner aboard "Ruthless"