Why are you still freezing back home when you could be here catching marlin?

Ron & Lori Chabot from Melbourne FL, went out fishing yesterday aboard the Rebecca, they released 8 Striped Marlin from 100 to 140lbs while you were freezing back home. 


What are you waiting for?

Braid...

Braided lines have gained a lot of popularity among lure fishermen in recent times. The biggest advantage of braid is that because of its zero stretch the angler can work a lure with minimal effort allowing a lot more control over the lure. Bite detection is also enhanced which can be a great help when fishing soft plastics. Casting distance is also improved with these low diameter braids, allowing more ground to be covered.

The weeks special is The Daiwa Tournament PE braid and its about as good as it gets when it comes to 8 strand braid. I have been using this braid for the last few months of the season and honestly cant find a fault with it. This very smooth low diameter braid is a pleasure to use. Check out Henry's thoughts on this braid here

This sensitive braid is VERY strong and gives you alot of confidence when fishing over rough ground when your line can sometimes rub against rocks when retrieving a lure or playing fish. This braid also casts very well and I have had no problems with wind knots.

There are a few things you can do to avoid any problems with braid these include under filling your reel (2mm), close your bail arm manually after a cast and it also important to ensure after your lure hits the water the slack line is wrapped onto the reel tightly before beginning the retrieve....3 very small things to ensure you have no problems with your braid.

Tight lines,

James.

It's getting colder... but the fishing's still hot

Since I first started my blog I have tried to write it about once a month, but unfortunately, this one's fallen a bit behind as it's been a very busy period. I've fished a fair bit over the last few weeks flyfishing for trout, jigging for zander, plus lure fishing for Perch on our local river. Not only that, I've also been fishing or netting lakes whilst at College - can't be bad, can it?!

As well as all of this, I've also just completed an ADB 1st4sport Level One Coaching in Angling course - I find out how I've got on in about two months time - I'm really hoping I've passed!

As part of our College course we have had to prove that we can fish all methods. So far, we have fished the stick float, feeder fished and ledgered on a variety of venues from small, fast flowing stretches of the river Ivel and Ouse to the College's own estate lake. There are still more trips to come and whoever catches the most species at the end wins 'The Golden Maggot' trophy. So far it's going well apart from losing a nice Carp on the College's estate lake a couple of days ago, the first Carp to have been hooked from the lake in a very long time and a species, I doubt, my College group and I will get another chance to fish for.

The trout fishing has been brilliant. At the end of last month I fished Pitsford in the Tom Bilson Memorial match, which was a great turnout - congratulations to Phil Longstaff on winning the match. Since then, I've had a couple of trips to my local Rib Valley lakes, and a bit further afield, Farmoor. At all of the venues I've visited since the beginning of November, the best methods that have worked for me have been either one of two approaches - a couple of boobies on a Di7, or a floating line coupled with a long leader, fishing the Washing Line method with nymphs on the droppers, and either a dry or small booby on the point. The latter method proved to work well a few weeks ago when Steve Cullen, the editor of Total Flyfisher, organised a new 'Winter League' match which would be fished at various venues across the country during the winter months. The first of these matches was to be fished at Elinor in Northamptonshire. I'd only ever fished Elinor once back in August, and my Dad had never seen it before let alone fished it.

When we arrived, everybody put in a pound which, at the end of the match, would be the prize and given to the winner with the most amount of fish. We headed off to our starting areas and I chose to fish up the top end of the 50-acre stillwater, where I'd fished in the summer with my mate, Ashley. I started with a floating line and a 16ft leader, with a red diawl bach on the top dropper, a UV cruncher in the middle and 'The Thing' on the point. On my second cast I hooked in to a fish on the cruncher and landed my first Rainbow of the match. It was very windy and difficult fishing into the wind, but I managed to land 8 more before the match ended at 3'o'clock. From what I'd heard, people had struggled, but there were 2 others that had also caught 9 fish, so there were three winners! Gary Owen took the bottle of whisky, whilst Charlie Abrahams took half the cash prize with myself. My Dad managed to catch 5 fish, mostly on minkies. Looking forward to the next one!


Our most recent trip trout fishing was at a venue where my Dad had been meaning to visit for quite a while. It was the first time he'd fished there since 2002, and he'd told me that the fishing at Walthamstow reservoirs could be challenging but very rewarding once you hooked and landed a fish, as they fought like stink and were normally a good size too.

We started off fishing the corner of the No.5 reservoir along the causeway. It was so foggy that we could only just make out the silhouettes of 3 or 4 other anglers not far up the bank as we arrived. We both set up Di7 shooting heads. I tied on a single booby on an 8ft leader, whereas my Dad used 2 boobies on a 12ft leader. On his first cast his fly was hit so hard by a trout, that when he struck into it, it broke him off. On his second cast he hooked and landed his first fish of the day, weighing 3lb 14oz. Not long after, I landed my first Walthamstow rainbow, another good 3lb'er.


After catching 6 more fish we decided to move up to the other end of the causeway, to the water inlet joining the 4 to the 5, and there I had a cracking fish of around 6lb!


Roving along the banks of the No.5 produced another good rainbow for my Dad. Time was beginning to run out so we headed back to where we had started in the morning, my Dad changed over to a floating line with a black buzzer on the dropper and a bloodworm on the point. These were a couple of the food items we had found in fish that we had spooned that the trout were feeding on, and as the day progressed they'd moved up in the water. By the end of the day we landed 19 super rainbows. It looked like we'd timed our visit well as we'd heard the reservoirs had been fishing really hard, but after stocking them a few weeks earlier, not only were the newly stocked fish feeding, but it had also switched on the bigger resident fish.

Probably my favourite species to target at this time of year though, are Perch. Our recent trips jig fishing have been trying to hunt down large stripeys along sections of our local river, the River Lea.

Although it's getting colder, it has been, for November, one of the warmest on record - but the sport has been great. We've caught some lovely Perch mainly on shads and small plugs, despite the low, clear water and the fluctuating weather conditions. Yesterday saw the first 'sharp' frost in Hertfordshire, but we still managed to catch Perch first thing in the morning even though the outside temperature was reading -4°C in the car! It was a good day and we landed 17 Perch to 3lbs exactly. Over a few trips, my Dad and I have banked plenty of good 2 pounders and 11 over 3lb, the two biggest weighing 3lb 11oz.



Although my Dad and I haven't really fished for Perch on the fly for a while, I had an article published in December's Total Flyfisher about targeting big stripeys with fly gear. I haven't caught a really big stripey from the Lea yet on a fly but it is something I intend to try and do in the coming months.





Another trip that I'd almost forgotten about was Zander fishing at Grafham. It was a really tough day. Unfortunately, I lost the first two fish I hooked, and we only managed to catch 2 around 7-8lb. My Dad did have a nice Brownie though weighing 5lb 13oz which took his jig on the drop.


I'm hoping December won't be too cold, like last year, so that we can get out as much as we can. Maybe we might try and get a couple of trips in on the Thames or try somewhere completely different.

Little tunny: Love at first bite!

Capt. Rick Grassett of the Snook Fin-Addict in Sarasota shows off a fine fly-rod little tunny caught in the inshore Gulf of Mexico.



There are several wonderful things about fall in Florida: The air and water begin to cool; The rainy season is over and a tri-named fish shows up in the inshore Gulf of Mexico.

When little tunny (also known as bonito or false albacore) are around, Capt. Rick Grassett of the Snook Fin-Addict (http://snookfin-addict.com/) in Sarasota is a happy camper. LT’s, as they are sometimes called, are one of his favorite fish.

“They’re everything you want,” said Grassett. “They are strong, make fast and exciting runs and they’ll eat an assortment of lures and flies.”

When Grassett has a rare day off in the fall, he’ll head into the inshore Gulf of Mexico and begin scouting for little tunny. He prefers the area south of old Midnight Pass, but he has a number of spots which can and often do produce. Top areas include Point o’ Rocks off Siesta Key, just north of the Venice Inlet, the area between New Pass and the Colony Beach Resort on Longboat Key and just north and south of Longboat Pass.

“They can be spread out or you might find them in a particular area,” said Grassett, who operates out of C.B.’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key. “You just have to find them.”

On a recent trip, Grassett launched his Action Craft flats skiff at Ken Thompson Park on City Island near Sarasota and headed out New Pass.

“I heard there were some little tunny in this area yesterday,” he said.

Grassett slowly motored north, looking for signs of fish along the way. He looks for baitfish on the surface and/or diving birds.

“I’ve been getting into fish south of Midnight Pass,” he said. “Let’s try there.”

There were no diving birds or baitfish along the way. But as he neared the northern tip of Casey Key, Grassett saw a flock of diving birds about a mile away.

“There they are,” he said. “Looks like busting fish below them.”

Those busting fish were little tunny and Spanish mackerel. Although you might find both species mixed together, that’s not always the case. It wasn’t in this instance. Under one bait school it was mackerel. The other had little tunny.

“You can tell by watching the busts,” said Grassett. “Mackerel don’t make much of a disturbance and they’ll often jump.

“Little tunny really disturb the water.”

For this action, Grassett prefers fly tackle. He advises 8- or 9-weight rods and sinktip lines (to get the fly down a little. The reel must be capable of holding 200 yards of backing.

Leader should be at least 6 feet of 20-pound fluorocarbon. No need for fancy tapered leaders here.

“I’ll use a short length of wire if there are a lot of mackerel around,” said Grassett. “That keeps the bite-offs down. Plus, it doesn’t seem to bother the little tunny.”

As far as flies go, he uses his Grassett’s Snook Fly. Most any small baitfish imitation will work.

“Size is important,” Grassett said. “Sometimes the little tunny get keyed into a certain size bait and won’t even look at your fly if it’s too big or too small.

“Figure out what they’re feeding on and adjust accordingly.”

Of course, spinning enthusiasts can get in on the action. Grassett advises medium to medium-heavy rods and reels in the 3000 to 4000 sizes.

“You need at least 250 yards of line and a smooth drag,” he said.

A ¼-ounce white bucktail jig is about all you need. However, plastic-tailed jigs and Diamond Jigs also will work.

“You can use an assortment of plugs, but there’s really no need,” said Grassett. “It’s not much fun breaking off a $10 lure.

“Keep it simple.”

Little tunny aren’t considered great eating, so Grassett releases all he catches. That they aren’t prime food discourages some folks from pursuing them.

“That puzzles me,” said Grassett. “Little tunny are among our sportiest fish.”

Grassett said recently he suggested one of his clients give them a try, but got a strange reaction.

“I told him they were around and that they’re great fly-rod fish,” he said. “But all he said was ‘Didn’t you tell me they aren’t good to eat? Why would anyone want to do that?’ “

To each his own.

Tarpon and bonefish aren’t considered food fish in the United States, but that doesn’t stop a legion of anglers from pursuing them.

We only have occasional bonefish. And tarpon season is over.

But we do have little tunny. And they’ll stick around until the water gets too cold. That’s when they’ll head for their winter waters in the Caribbean. They’ll return in late winter or early spring.

“I wish we had them year round,” said Grassett. “They’re really great fish.”

Spotted seatrout have a lot of fans around the Sunshine State

Spotted seatrout action has been hot and heavy around Sarasota Bay and other area waters.

Snook arguably are Florida’s most-popular backcountry fish.

But spotted seatrout aren’t far behind.

Trout are plentiful, usually very cooperative and fairly good on the table.

They’re every man’s fish.

Fortunately, those of us who reside in or near the Sarasota-Bradenton area are smack dab in the middle of some of the finest seatrout fishing around. When other species have lockjaw, you can usually count on trout.

The outlook wasn’t so good just a few years ago. Red tide, a pesky algae bloom which periodically invades area waters, killed thousands of trout in Sarasota Bay and adjacent waters. The dreaded tide showed up in December of 2004 and lasted until January of 2006.

Many local charter operators put self-imposed moratoriums on killing seatrout for at least a few months. As a result of that moratorium and the fact that trout are very prolific, the species rebounded with gusto.

Tackle for spotted seatrout should be relatively light. Most often, I use a light spinning rod and 8-pound test braided line. I employ about an 18-inch length of fluorocarbon for a shock leader.

My No. 1 lure is a D.O.A. 1/16-ounce CAL Jig with a gold or copper crush paddle tail. D.O.A.’s Deadly Combination is a close second. I also use the MirrOlure MirrOdine and the Rapala Skitter Walk on occasion.

I most often fish Sarasota Bay. Favorite spots include the deep grass off Stephens Point, the deep grass off the sand between the Ringling Mansion and Whitfield Avenue and the deep grass off the southern side of Whale Key near Buttonwood Harbor.

I prefer to drift those areas and I avoid anchoring – unless the wind is strong.

Most often, I’ll start randomly casting with a jig to determine where the fish are located. Experience tells me to concentrate on edges or holes in the grass. I will target areas of broken bottom or sand holes within a grassy area. I don’t like to fish bottoms of solid grass.

To see the grass, a quality pair of polarized sunglasses is necessary.

Tide really isn’t a key factor when fishing over deep grass. As long as it’s moving one way or the other, I’m fine.

I prefer to use the lightest jig head possible. I don’t want my jig rocketing to the bottom and tangling in the grass. I want a slow fall.

I’ll cast my jig out, allow it to sink, reel in the slack and work it. Jigging and reeling are two separate actions. Many people make the mistake of reeling and jigging at the same time.

Trout (and other species) will hit the jig as it falls 99 percent of the time. That’s why using braided line and a sensitive graphite rod is important. When you feel the slightest hit, it’s time to reel up any slack and set the hook.

I’ve fished with anglers who insist on using monofilament. I don’t have any problem with their choice, but I’m convinced it’s not nearly as sensitive and I am sure a lot of hits go undetected. In addition, monofilament stretches so much that it’s often very difficult to set the hook. There’s no stretch in braided line.

One of the keys to successful trout fishing is to fish where there’s a food source. I constantly scan to water to look for baitfish. Inevitably, whenever I find glass minnows or pilchards on the surface, I find spotted seatrout below.

I also look for predator fish blowing up on minnows.

This past year has been very good in terms of large trout. Florida’s southwest coast is not considered prime territory for “gator” trout. That honor goes to the east coast. However, my clients and I have taken several trout from 6 to 7 ½ pounds this year.

One angler, Chuck Linn of Oklahoma, managed three behemoths in one morning. His first trout was a 4-pounder and we thought that might be the catch of the morning. So, I took a photo of Linn and his fish.

His next trout was a 6 ¼-pounder that he caught on a topwater plug. I took his picture and then walked back to the kayak to put the camera up. But I didn’t get 20 feet away when Linn said he had another monster trout. This one weighed 6 ½ pounds.

I took his photo again and began walking back to the kayak. He hooked another gator.

His third monster trout of the morning weighed 7 ½ pounds.

All of that action took place on the grass flat along the south side of Whale Key on the west side of Sarasota Bay. I’ve taken several impressive trout (although none as large) since that time.

I also managed to catch a 7-pounder over the deep grass off Stephen’s Point in September.

I don’t keep spotted seatrout because they’re not my favorite fish to eat. I find them rather soft-fleshed. However, if you want to keep a couple for dinner, remember the bag limit is four per person per day. Slot limit is 15 to 20 inches. One fish in the limit may be more than 20 inches.

The season is closed in this part of the state in November and December.

Tides are important, but not the panacea of saltwater fishing

A tailing redfish searches for food a low tide.

Good tide, bad tide. High tide, low tide.

The only really bad tide around these parts is one that’s preceded by a rosey color.

Last time we had a hint of that rojo demon in these here parts was back in 2006 when the infamous bloom lasted 13 months and virtually wiped out the trout population in Sarasota Bay. But that was then, and the trout have rebounded quite well, thank you.

While our daily tides are important when it comes to fishing, they’re not the end-all some might think.

I was talking with Capt. Jack Hartman of Sarasota Fishing Charters and he said he doesn’t really care what the tide is doing when he heads out to fish.

“All I care is that it’s moving,” said Hartman.

And that is the crux of the matter. A moving tide is a good tide.

I’m not saying tides aren’t importantl. However, I do think many anglers put too much emphasis on the tide. In fact, first thing most clients want to know when we head out on a kayak-fishing trip is what the tide is doing?

And when I talk to various groups around the state, the No. 1 question without a doubt is about the tide.

“What’s your favorite tide?”

I think an understanding of the tide is important. In this area, we usually have four tides each day: two high and two low. They’re called “semi-diurnal” tides.

Tides are caused by the gravitational interaction between the sun and moon. We have the biggest tides around the new moon and the full moon.

That’s really all you need to know.

Think of the tide as a large conveyor belt that moves food. When the tide is moving, food is flowing with it. And fish are feeding.

Conversely, when the tide is slack, there’s no or little moving food. For the most part, fishing slows.

Additionally, when the tide is strong, fishing often is better.

The bane of fishing is the one week a month when we have only two tides a day. They are lengthy and seemingly take forever to ebb and flood. The flow is slow and not much food is moved. Fishing action usually slows down accordingly.

Of course the tide is important when you head out to fish. What the tide is doing has a bearing on where you’ll fish and for what species you’ll target.

If I want to try my luck on tailing redfish, I’m not going to do it unless we get a negative low tide. There can be redfish all over a particular flat, but you won’t see any tails piercing the water’s surface if the tide is high.

I try to avoid super high tides. It’s my feeling that those big tides allow the fish to swim most anywhere. The fish spread out and are much more difficult – in my opinion – to find. Fish such as redfish and snook likely will be 20 feet back in the mangroves, making them extremely tough to coax out (without the use of live chum).

On a perfect day, I like to fish the last couple of hours of an outgoing tide and first couple of hours of the incoming. And I wouldn’t mind at all if that low tide was negative. If I showed up at my favorite flat to find parts on it high and dry, I’d smile.

I think reds, snook and trout stage in deeper water at the edge of a flat and wait for the tide to flood. When it does, they’ll swim onto the flat and begin the feed. They remain on that flat until the tide begins to ebb. That’s when the fish will work their way off the flat and back to deep water.

So, I try to start fishing along the edge of the flat when the tide’s going out or beginning to trickle in. As the tide rises, I’ll move up on the flat.

This works for me and others.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is the tide doesn’t read the tide chart. Just because it’s supposed to be high at 10:31 a.m. doesn’t mean it will.

A few years ago, I was the guest speaker at a fishing club in Bradenton. Just before my talk, the club conducted its business. One of the items on the agenda was to set a date for the club’s monthly tournament.

Naturally, one of the members pulled out a tide chart and began searching for the best tides.

“March 20 looks pretty good,” he said.

Club members unanimously voted to hold their tournament on that date.

I asked why?

“Because there will be a strong incoming tide that day,” I was told.

I looked out the window at a great view of Sarasota Bay and asked what the tide was supposed to be at the moment?

“High.”

I said, “Look out the window. It’s dead low.”

So much for tide charts.

A strong, northeast wind had pushed the tide out and kept it out.

How many times have you been on the water and the tide was supposed to be flowing one way but was going the opposite?

I’m going fishing regardless of the tide. Makes no sense to me to plan a trip, ready the equipment, relish in the anticipation and then get up that morning, look at the tide chart and decide to stay home because of a bad tide.

And more times than I can remember, I’ve had some really exciting days when I wasn’t supposed to.

Them Were The Days

NORM!

Sunday I took my man Norm back out for a little trout action. We had a major cold front moving in on us and the trout seemed to be reacting a little strange. The morning was good though. We found some fish willing to feed and made it happen. We fished a variety of styles including swinging soft hackles and stripping streamers along with your standard nymphs. We waded and we drifted. Norm caught several nice browns in the 16-18 march and gobs of decent rainbows. We spent some time wading and sight casting to larger trout. We had a solid two footer on but he managed to take a huge jump and bust us off. Despite the fact we didn't land him, it was a awesome sight to see! Norm will be back in 10 days or so to get his revenge!

A Farnsworth Family Adventure

Saturday I guided Farnsworth and his kids.This is now become the annual Thanksgiving weekend for him and his family! It's always a blast and despite the weather, Robert was determined to make this year no different. I started of with Miles and Duval, then we swapped them out for Ansley. The conditions for teaching kids was less than perfect. Cold, rainy, and high water. The kids bundled up and did great. The goal for the day was to put a brown in each kids hand and it was a mission accomplished! Here are some of the great photos we got of some brown trout action!

The LOGO

Last week, Tony and I ran a group trip with our good friend and client Logan. I fished Logan and his youngest son John. The bite was great we got into loads of good rainbows and had a great time. John is only 10 and really held his own in the boat. We packed a big family style lunch and picnicked on the high ground. We did our best to fish the boats together to keep the siblings in ear's distance of each other so the sibling banter could take place. It was certainly an awesome day for the family to make some good memories and catch some fish! Here is a photo with Logo with a lengthy rainbow!

It pays to wake up early in Cabo

Meet Greta, Pisces Group newest sales agent, she decided to go to the Marina really early this morning to see how Dockmaster Mario dispatches the boats. As soon as they were finished they grabbed a piece of live bait and threw a line in the water, after a couple of tries, there was a bite, and after 15 minutes Greta landed a beautiful 8lbs Roosterfish. This was Greta's1st time fishing from the dock and 1st Roosterfish ever. So what are you doing back home in the snow? Come on and catch some fish with Pisces!

Fishing into coloured water....

So we have all been faced with coloured water, you have planned your trip everything seems okay but when you arrive at your chosen mark you are faced with coloured water. Conditions seem good otherwise, no suspended weed and a nice fizz on the water. There is no doubt, the fish are there but how do you manage to to draw their attention to your lure when visibility is low?

In the past when I was faced with conditions like this I would have walked away and left it for another day but as fishing time can be limited these days it has forced me to fish in these conditions and granted it will be harder success it achievable if you persevere.

These are just my experiences of fishing in coloured water, what has worked for us and some of the methods we use.

Stay or go?

This is the water clarity I was faced with yesterday, on other occasions I would have walked away. However in similar conditions during the summer I have had fish in this kind of water clarity. I hooked one fish yesterday which was only on for max of 5 seconds. It is always going to be much tougher in these conditions but if you know fish are in that area it has to be worth a go, does it not?

Conditions were good, there was a nice fizz on the water and apart from clarity tides were ideal for the location I was fishing. I generally go for lures with chartreuse and  and white colours as I have found this has worked well for me in the past. I fish these two ways, very slow retrieve or a quick crank and pause (the theory being that the quick retrieve and emitted vibrations draw the fishes attention to your lure). Hard lures which have done well for me when the water clarity is far from ideal are the Jackson Athlete the Daiwa Shore Line Shiner and my favourite in such conditions the Zonk Gataride. There is no doubt that the rattling and vibration given off by the lures helps in these conditions.


Its not impossible....just harder,

Here is Paul with nice bass taken on the Zonk Gataride in November last year, fishing into coloured water.

Another method which has worked very well for us this summer when fishing in coloured water is the Wave worm which I will talk a bit more about soon.

We have decided to open the comments on the blog so it would be great to hear your thoughts of fishing in coloured water.

Tight lines,

James.

Z Fish Report (11/24/11)

I took this photo about 8:00 when heading North with
 Don Wolcott and Adolfo  on the panga Doa hermanos

With the 80° blue water practically on the beach, the fishing has improved. Most boats are averaging 1 or two sailfish a day, with a nice sized 20 pound class dorado or two thrown in. An, a few other boats are doing a bit better.

Don Wolcott's incredible tattoo

Santiago, on the super panga Gitana, released 5 sailfish, 2, and then 3 on three consecutive days this week for his clients. Ten sailfish releases, for a 3 day fishing trip, is very decent fishing.

Kevin Anderson also fished the blue water with Adolfo, releasing 2 sails and kept a very nice dorado for dinner for all.

Kevin, fishing with Adolfo again on the panga Dos Hermanos fished inshore and managed several jack crevalle and one huge rooster of about 60 pounds. The inshore, tight up against the beach and where the roosters actively feed, is still discolored. The roosters are far and few between.

Don with his first ever saltwater fly caught fish.
A nice 6 pound barrilete

Don Walcott of Merced, CA fished with Adolfo and I for his first salt water fly fishing trip ever. He actually hooked a huge rooster we estimated somewhere north of 60 pounds, but the fly line got wrapped around a finger near the reel, and you just don’t get second chances with these fish.

There are also lots of large sierras inshore, with tons of bait dimpling the surface.







 
 
 Ed Kunze
To order a copy of my fishing book about fishing here on the West Coast of Mexico: http://www.mexperience.com/store/vuitem.php?itemid=13&sc=KUNZE-13

For a decent explaination to the seasons and best fishing for each species here in the Ixtapa /Zihuatanejo area check out this web site. http://calendarforfishing.blogspot.com/

IT WAS COCKPIT CHAOS!

We spent most of this week on the beach because of no charters and mostly windy days. Wednesday afternoon the wind started to subside and it looked like Thursday would be nice. The problem was that it was Thanksgiving and we had celebration plans for that afternoon. I thought what the heck I'll get an early start and come in at 1 or 1:30.

I heard there had been a pretty good dorado bite on the buoys near Pescadero so decided to start fishing there. Upon arrival we could see loads of small skipjack feeding on the surface. We caught a few and started slow trolling. With no action I looked at our GPS and decided to change plans. We ran about 45 minutes to the La Ribera high spot where there had been good marlin and sailfish action for weeks.

When we got to La Ribera there were five other boats and 2 were hooked up. It was just me and Chuy on the boat which makes things interesting when we get bit. Clearing the lines, keeping the boat in position and leadering a fish takes team work. We rigged and started trolling 3 live skippies. It didn't take long and bam we were bit. I was ready with my camera as Chuy set the hook. Hang on, wham! The second rod goes off. With the camera in one hand I set up on the second fish. Wait a minute, slam! The third rod goes off. We are both laughing so hard and with our hands full we can't set up on the third fish. All this is going on in the bridge where the rods were in our rocket launchers. Jumping down on deck Chuy hands me a rod with a fish on and then the second as he takes a swing at the third fish. On deck I now have both bent rods in the rod holders and pitch out a mackerel that was already rigged. Kabam! We are bit again. Chuy's last fish didn't stick but we still have 3 fish going which turned out to be a striper, a sailfish and a dorado. We ended up releasing both billfish and keeping the dorado.

Once settled down we started slow trolling skippies again and in just a few minutes hung another marlin. Releasing that fish I looked at my wrist watch and it was 5 minutes to ten. That's it. Lets head for the barn. We had time to fuel, clean up the boat and make my afternoon commitment.

As we left the area Chuy's brother Javier rolled in. He didn't have to be in early and later told us they released ten billfish that afternoon.

Thanksgiving morning on the East Cape

Chuy hangs the first fish

Now we are in trouble. Rod in one hand camera in the other Chuy is bent and one rod is unattended

The fish are giving us fits

Do I shoot photos or crank on the fish?

It was crazy

Wait a minute. What is wrong with this picture?

Whoa!

One of the fish in our triple was a large sailfish with no bill. Try releasing a billfish with no snout to hang on to.

I can hardly wait to do that again.

Mark Rayor

http://markrayor.blogspot.com

www.teamjenwren.com

Nick Speed

I recently won a days fishing with Nick Speed from the Matchfishingscene (MFS) website http://www.matchfishing-scene.co.uk/

As I write this report, reflecting on what has been a really fascinating day with Nick Speed, I’m finding it difficult to know where to start. When I arrived home, after spending 3.5hrs on the motorway, I wrote down the points I learnt and soon realised it was a lot.

Firstly thanks to BNF for arranging the prize, as well as Nick for devoting his time for free. Nick is a professional angler, who recently made the decision to start coaching. As we all know Nick is a top quality angler, who regularly wins on the northern commercial circuit, but he is also 1 of the more approachable anglers, with an easy manner, which is ideal for coaching.

When my name was drawn a couple of weeks ago, my joy was tempered by when can I go? With Christmas and the colder weather just around the corner, as well as a busy work diary, time was certainly short, however I managed to re-arrange a meeting and took Friday off.

After a couple of conversations with Nick he suggested Lindholme would be the best venue. Living in Bristol, meant a bit of travelling. Fortunately I found a cheap hotel room off the M1/M18 for Thursday night, which left a short 25 mile trip the following morning, but more importantly it also meant I missed the worse of the traffic around Birmingham.

On arrival at Lindholme it was easy to see why it is so popular. A really decent café and tackle shop. A quick walk around some of the lakes revealed a well maintained fishery, which will put some of the fisheries in the south west to shame.

I consider myself to be a decent angler (fortunately Nick agreed!), however I feel that I have hit a plateau and winning a day with Nick came at the right time to iron out any problems.

Initially we had a chat over a coffee, so Nick could gauge what I wanted to get out of the day, which I thought was great, because it meant there was no preconceived structure. The 1 thing we both agreed on is that there are too many anglers doing the same thing, day in, day out without actually thinking about it. Far too many anglers say the lake, the peg or weather was rubbish and that’s why they didn’t catch. Very few anglers admit to cocking up a peg due to their own inability. I like to think I am honest enough to say when I should have done better and certainly in the last 9 months have looked at how I fish, changing my floats, how I set them up and how I feed.

Whilst I want to improve my own fishing there are certain ruts I have got stuck in and unsure how to make the necessary adjustments. At the end of the day, results don’t lie and whilst I have had some good days, there are certainly days I have come away thinking I should have done better.

They say there is a fine line between success and a failure and my day with Nick certainly highlighted that fact. Now individually the things learnt were only small, but when added together it’s the difference between having an extra couple of fish in the net and picking up a brown envelope.

After our chat, Nick decided that we should fish peg 48 on Willows which is on the point of 1 of the arms, so we could concentrate on fishing soft pellet, which is 1 area I need to improve.

Other than Todber Manor, there are no real venues were F1’s dominate in the south west, however the things learnt today are transferable to any fishery, because the principles are still the same.

Bait Preparation
Fortunately how I prepare my soft pellet wasn’t dissimilar to Nicks, which is soaking a handful of expanders overnight. Nick isn’t a big believer in flavouring, preferring to trust his ability to feed and present the bait, however what he does do with hook pellet is add some Dynamite Bait Source which is oil based. As well as adding some flavouring, more importantly, the oil helps expel the water from the pellet, making it a little firmer. However even more importantly, the consistency of the pellet remains the same for the whole day and can still be used the following day.

Feed for the day was micro pellet, which was simply covered in water then drained off, just enough to make them soft. The critical thing about the bait preparation was the colour of the pellet and Nick is a big believer in a lighter colour at this time of year and will even use a yellow dye to lighten a pellet.

Finally, if you need to pump pellets don’t overdo them, because you will ruin the texture of the pellet and they won’t last long.

Water craft
Nick highlighted the fact he sees too many anglers not thinking about where they are fishing, in other words going straight out at 13m, but on Willow lake, fishing this way could mean competing for the same shoal of fish as another angler. I already like to fish at angles, trying to give myself a bigger swim, although I can be guilty of having various swims too close together, which in reality is counterproductive. So something for me to give more consideration to.

Plumbing
I already tend to plumb around, but Nick stressed the need to find where the bottom of the shelf starts to level out, then fish slightly up on the shelf, which means you are fishing on a hard bottom, instead of silt.

Feeding
Due to unfavourable weather conditions we couldn’t go into too much detail about feeding, since I couldn’t fish beyond 5m, due to an ever increasing wind. However Nick showed me his kinder cups and there was 1 that we ended up using I thought was brilliant and will have me heading for a shop for a supply of kinder eggs. Very simply the cup has a criss-cross of light elastic, which allows you to fill up the kinder, simultaneously feed more than 1 swim, plus there is no need to fill up every put in, thereby saving time, which means more time in the water.

Rigs
For the day I set up a Hillbilly frostie 0.3g, which Nick was really impressed with, although on the day Nick thought I could have done with a thinner bristle due to the shy biting F1 and the choppier water.

Hooklengths
If I only took 1 thing from my day with Nick, it would be his advice on hooklengths. I am very comfortable fishing light hooklengths (.10/.12) for carp, but I have always used a 6in hooklength. For pellet fishing Nick uses an 8in, because it allows for a more natural fall of the bait.

I’ve used a 6in hooklength, because it allowed me to place the last shot closer to the hook, thereby allowing me to see bites quicker. However Nicks view was an 8in hooklength allows for a more natural fall, because the loop to loop connection is further away from the hook. But what about the bait wafting too much in the tow? On lakes where the tow isn’t an issue, a slightly heavier gauge hook (which I will cover later) will help ensure the bait is presented properly, whilst also adding as a counter balance for the expander.

Even if there is a bit of a tow, there is no harm placing the last shot on the hooklength if needs be.

Stotz V Shot
Most of my rigs are made with stotz, because they sit on the line nicely and are easy to put on and take off. Nick is a big believer in using shot, because it is more symmetrical allowing it to fall through the water more naturally, but also shot is smaller for it size when compared to stotz, which again aids with presentation. Stotz do have their place, but mainly when used bulk.

Hooks
The way F1’s feed, they tend to peck at the bait, and Nick likes to use a wide gap hook so the point of the hook protrudes from the pellet, giving you a chance to prick the fish as it sucks in the bait, thereby allowing you to hit more bites.

Back-Shot
I always back shot on my rigs, usually with 2x no 9 or 8s. Nick only uses no8, but what he did do, which now seems stupidly obvious, was when the wind really picked up, bring the 2x no8 together, which definitely helped.

Floats
Interesting one this. I used a hillbilly frostie, which as I mentioned earlier Nick was really impressed with, particularly when I started to use it. However, with an increasing wind Nick thought it didn’t ride in the water quite as well as a thinner solid bristle. On the day Nick used a Tubertini Delta, which did show up the bites slightly better.

However, Nick did acknowledge that because down south, heavier baits like hard pellet and corn are more popular than up north, hollow bristle floats are more practical.

At some time most of us have blacken the tip of our bristles. Today with the bright conditions and clearing water, it was difficult to read the bites, because I could see the whole bristle, despite only having a fraction of the tip above the water. Nicks solution was to simply blacken the base of the bristle – it made such a difference.

Elastics
I used double 5, which Nick thought was spot on for the day – so no change there!

The Day
Unfortunately the weather was doing its best to ruin the day, with an ever increasing wind, meant we could only fish at 5m. I deliberately didn’t want to fish the method, because there aren’t many venues in my area where it dominates, and I really wanted to focus on my soft pellet fishing, because I feel this is a weak area for me.

As the session progressed I tried my rig and Nick also set up 1 of his rigs. As it happened my rig caught a few fish, however it was noticeable that Nicks rig after a few adjustments would get a fish slightly quicker. We also had most of our fish after lifting and dropping.

Nick sat on my box a couple of times and the good news (for me anyway) was he wasn’t catching any quicker, but to be honest, the weather was making presentation difficult, which was a shame.

We only ended up fishing for about 3.5hrs (although we were chatting for further couple of hours), deciding to cut the session a little short because the wind was getting stronger and it was beginning to feel colder, with some very dark threatening clouds on the horizon.

I found the day really interesting, particularly when discussing the theory of why something works, and whilst today was about F1s, the skills learnt can be transferred and adapted to any venue.

About 30lb of F1s

Anyone who wants to improve the way they fish, I would highly recommend speaking to Nick (07854 123215) and arranging a day with him. It was well worth the long trip.

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Well I'm happy to say that I'm back at it again and this time I made a forum that is geared towards the outdoor blogging world. This forum is gonna be protected with weekly downloads of not only the files but the actual database as well. This time I used the real open source download from phpbb instead of the simple script install provided by my host. I've noticed that the software is performing much better then before and even came with a couple extra bells and whistles. I'm basically finished testing out the software and its working awesome so I wanted to take a minute to invite you all to check it out.

For any fishing blogger who maintains a link to the new forum on their blog, I will make them a member of the blog writers group inside the forum. I will also make a custom image link to their blog for their signature on their posts. Go check out one of my posts and try my link out at the bottom of a post. Pretty slick!

On the forum is a category named "showcase". This is a spot for some of you blog writers to share some of your best posts. I encourage you to copy some of your best work in that category and would be grateful for some help with building some content.

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