Bishop Harbor blast

With the local lakes and streams up because of rain, I decided to head out on the salt.

Didn't have the foggiest idea where, but I wanted a change.

I finally decided to try Bishop Harbor off southern Tampa Bay.

Good choice.

Launched shortly after daylight and paddled toward the east shoreline. Water is shallow there and there are several mangrove islands. Noticed a lot of mullet around, a good indication.

I caught six snook, 10 spotted seatrout and a nice redfish before the action subsided.

Around 11 a.m., I paddled out the harbor mouth and into Tampa Bay. I love to fish the sand bar that runs east to west.

Caught several spotted seatrout and a 4-pound pompano.

On the way back to the launch, I managed seveal spotted seatrout, mangrove snapper, ladyfish and jack crevalle.

Rain, rain go away

After several years of drought, it's probably not wise to complain about rain.

Lord knows we need it.

But we've had a lot of rain this summer and many of our freshwater lakes and streams are pretty full.

I was on Lake Manatee Tuesday and did really well. But when I returned Wednesday, things had changed. I caught a lot of fish, but the quality of the day prior wasn't there. And the action stopped suddenly at about 11 a.m.

At first I couldn't figure it out. But then I noticed current ... and a lot of it. Seems as if water from upriver was finally making its way into the lake. And as soon as the current increased, the fish stopped biting.

My totals included 40 bluegill, three shellcracker, a tilapia, stumpknocker and three channel cats. The cats weighed in at 4, 8 and 10 pounds.

Productive flies were No. 10 popper and No. 10 nymph (under strike indicator).

Islay, Scotland, 'Fly fishing in a perfect world'

Well i had got the pass to go and fish with my mucker Woody on his second home, Islay Scotland, a small Island off the west coast of Scotland...

Woody was staying for the week so i had the chance to drive on Saturday night and return on the Tuesday night, this give me enough time with traveling to get some fishing in.

I left on Saturday at half six and made my way up the m6 to Glasgow, Woody gave me directions and said it would take around 7 hours to the Ferry port in .
I was buzzing like a school kid, i had never been the west coast of Scotland and had tyred it years ago in my vw camper van only for the engine to blow up at Lancaster!!

I had to catch the boat a 9.00 a.m Sunday morning so my plan was to get up there and find a place to sleep, it took me four hours to get to Glasgow where i topped up with Diesel and made the next 150 miles to the Ferry, Woody told me to watch out for Deer in the road and through the mountains one jumped out in front of me and i had to swerve all over the place to get out the way!!

I decided to get straight to the car park and get my head down as not to miss the boat, I arrived to the port to see a huge Ferry all lit up in the dark which looked well impressive, I had never been on a boat before and was really looking forward to getting on.

Sleeping in the car was a nightmare as i could not get comfy but i ended up getting 5 hrs kip in so was happy as i wanted to be fresh for the fishing.....

I woke up around 7 and purchased my return ticket for £10.00!!! the weather was bright blue Sky's with a beautiful cool crisp air, I got on the boat ready for my 2hr trip over to Islay, the scenery was like nothing i have ever seen, the sea was flat calm with mountains all around me, i had the crack with the Scottish crew who were laughing at me get hammered by the midges, they said that the midges bite the English much harder!! One of the lads kindly gave me a lighter as i had left mine back at the car, i got my own back by saying to them 'i will never call you Jocks
tw"ts again!!' they all laughed there heads off and made me a brew in there cabin..
I met a couple of Swedish Tourists who were bird watching from the boat and i had a go of there leica binoculars, i used to take the pi"s out of these people but i enjoyed seeing some of the wildlife on view here, it must be a sign i am getting older!!
As i was closing in to the port at Islay i had got hold of Woody on the walkie talkies we use at fishing, so i managed to pick him out from a good distance, shown in the photo below...(spot Woody in the Dodgy barbour shirt)






On arriving at the port i met Woody and we shook hands and took off to see the river Lagan i had been so eager to see, the river looked top draw with lots of rifles and sweeping bends running right into the sea pool, the river was looking considerably low as they had no rain for over a week.





At the head of a pool we saw a huge salmon come leaping right out the water, a sight that makes any fisherman's mouth water!!
We were due to fish here on the next day(Monday) so we made our way back to our digs, this Island is so nice, miles away from the hustle and bustle i live in, Woody kept waving at everyone who drove past who also returned a smile and a wave, i started to realise that this is what everyone does on this Island, i am used to people shouting abuse and giving me the V sign back home!!
At the digs(Cottage) i met up with my other fishing partner (Peter) now known as Peter Pollock!









We stopped in a bungalow right on the beach front, you could walk straight out of your door and onto the beach, it was very quite only the sound of the sea to be heard, it felt like a place i was meant to be and i just wanted to check out the fishing to see if this was as good..



We tackled up and we all went for a evening session on one of the more well know lochs Finnlaggen, i was buzzing to get out and was really looking forward to the river the next day but a loch would be a good start for me..



The loch was beautiful, a lime stone bottom and only around three foot in most places with deep holes in the middle, the water was peat stained but looked very clean and clear, something i have never seen and got to love at the end of the session.
I tackled up with my usual dry fly set up and selected a small emerging olive, all the locals do not dream of using a dry and its 3 flys on the wet all the time, a long tradition for them..
It was around five o'clock and it was warm with bright blue Sky's with no wind, not top fly fishing conditions but still the best for chilling on this loch..
Peter selected a wet fly set up and started to catch fish just up from me, i am a dry only and was pigg headed and kept with my dry as this is my love.. I could see no rises and was starting to get that sinking feeling of switching to the wet when a fish smashed my fly from know where, Buzzin!! 'they take the dry youth' i shouted over to Woody.. five seconds later i lost my first true wild brown from a hook pull, i was now buzzing as i knew that these fish would come even though there was no apparent hatch..
I fished with a olive and a sedge for a couple of hours and missed four takes and got the hook pulled three occasions, it was all down to my bad fishing as i was tired from my trip and was not sharp on to the fish...
Peter caught around 8 fish on the wets, top class fin perfect, hooked virgin browns..it was obvious from watching him he was a top fly man with loads of fishing experience..
I had blanked in my first few hours fishing but had stuck with the dry, i told this to Peter and he said he just wanted to catch fish! He was very right but i was about to have my revenge soon!!

We headed off back to our digs at dusk and got stuck into fresh Pollock that Peter had caught in the sea earlier in the day. This bloke was also a top cook!!
A few beers for me, Woody on the Whisky and Peter smashed on the wine!!
I was loving it already!!

Day 2 to follow.............

I'm going to be speaking at a couple of upcoming events that are geared for fly fishers.

I'll be speaking at The Art of Fly Fishing Festival Oct. 3 at the Andy Thornal Company in Winter Haven and at the Florida Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers' annual Conclanve Oct. 23-24 at the Ramada Inn in Celebration.

Both events should be on every fly fisher's schedule.

I'll be speaking about kayak fishing and, in particular, freshwater kayak fishing. I'll give a Power Point presenation on Fly Fishing for the Florida Exotics.

There will be a wealth of knowlege at each function. Well-known guides and experts from throughout the state and country will be on hand.

I talked with Allen Wyatt of Andy Thornal's today and he is excited about the event. He told me there will be a 100-foot casting pond. Not only will those in attendance be able to try out their favorite fly rod, but also I will demonstrate how to stand in and pole a kayak.

Hours for The Art of Fly Fishing Festival are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Andy Thornal's is located at 336 Magnolia Ave., SW in Winter Haven. Phone number is (863) 299-9999.

Although both events are designed for the fly angler, anyone can attend. And the neat thing is that if you're not a fly fisher, you'll be able to pick up information that will help you in your spin-fishing endeavors.

Fishing knowlege is fishing knowlege.

Among the experts scheduled to speak are Capt. Frank Catino, Capt. Dan Malzone, Capt. Rick Grassett, Capt. Keiland Smith, Capt. Brian Clancy, Capt. Jon Bull, Bill Howard and Leigh West. George Kremer will be tying bass flies.

The two-day Florida FFF Conclave will feature a variety of speakers. I'll list them as soon as I get more information.

If you have any questions concering the conclave, email Pete Greenan at captpete@floridaflyfishing.com. Or you can call me at (941) 284-3406 and I'll try to help.

I also will be speaking at the Lakewood Ranch Anglers Club on Oct. 5. More details as I get them.

Numbers down, but quality up

I watched the New England Patriots post a come-from-behind win over feisty Buffalo on Monday Night Football. I noticed that Pat QB Tom Brady completed passes to eight different receivers.

I'm no NFL quarterback, but I caught fish on eight different flies today at Lake Manatee. It wasn't that the fish were hitting anything I cast. Quite the opposite; they were very finicky and would turn off a particular pattern quickly.

Wasn't a great day in terms on number, but it was when you consider the quality of fish. Of the 17 bluegill I caught, 15 were hand-sized. I caught five bass, with one pushing 3 pounds.

Most of the bluegill were along the hyacinths on the east side of Gilley Creek, a place that has been holding good numbers of panfish for the past three weeks. I had been catching bass there, but not today.

My bass came just east of the State Road 64 bridge. They were schooling up and busting minnows. All I had to do was drift until they started feeding, then move in close enough for a shot. All the bass came on 6-weight floating line and black popper.

The flies that accounted for the bluegill includeed the black popper, a white popper, smaller white popper, chartreuse popper, Myakka Minnow, FLY Nymph and Aunt Sara's Homely Daughter Nymph.

Fishing was slow overall, but quite enjoyable when you consider the quality of the fish caught.

13/09/09 - Fishponds

Weight – 335lb 5oz
Catch – 44 Carp, 2 Bream
Weather – Sunny & warm, but cool NE breeze
Water Temp– 18.0c > 18.0c

If only everything else was going as well as my fishing! And yes I had 335lb. I thought 300lb would be a possible, but had considered the opportunity to had passed until next summer.

I had made a late decision to go fishing today and I thought it may be the last opportunity to fish paste before autumn arrives. I settled on peg 3 and decided on 3 swims, LH margin a few metres away from the reeds. 9m to my right fishing at the bottom of the shelf and the final swim would be shallow at 13m.

When I arrived I wasn’t sure what to except and to be honest I would have been happy with 100lb, however after an hour I had 12 carp for 88lb from my RH swim, at which point I thought 300lb may be on the cards.

I briefly tried the shallow swim and caught 3 carp, but they weren’t coming as quickly as on the paste. So after 2hrs, I decided to concentrate on the paste. Initially all my fish came from the RH swim, whilst the LH swim was only producing odd fish, but as the session progressed the LH swim got stronger, producing the biggest carp of the session at 13lb 5oz.

I could have continued for another hour, but that would have meant re-tying a trashed rig, plus my left shoulder was feeling the strain. It’s never been right since a car accident 2 years ago.

1st hr = 88lb
2nd hr = 141lb (53lb)
3rd hr = 200lb (59lb)
4th hr = 250lb (50lb)
5th hr = 335lb (85lb)

So another PB. It’s been an awesome summer for big weights, this being my 5th weight over 200lb in the last 3 months. Not sure why I have done so well recently? Suzanne reckons I have just relaxed and in some ways she is probably right. Also, because money has been a bit tight, it’s meant keeping a simple approach and a simple bait tray.

I got a call from Mick Duckett this afternoon (Monday) asking whether I wanted to fish his Lands End Winter League. The answer was yes, but during our chat Mike explained how he has been struggling during these difficult times. With the anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in America this week, the last 12 months certainly has been difficult. Things will improve and at some point in the future there will be another recession, because that’s part of the cycle, but hopefully lessons will be learnt so the next time it wont be as hard as now.

The Tug is my Drug!

Well if you haven't figured it out yet guys, the tug is my drug.... I love to feel that tug and see the rod bend. I am not picky when it comes to species. Last weekend my friend Hays, came up to do some fishing with me. We had a blast. We never stop exploring. We usually put in 12 hour days on the water when we fish together. Saturday, we were at the lake by 6:20am chasing Hybrids. Conditions where perfect. We got into tons of fish. It was so awesome to see how huge the blitz's were on the water. Fish for acres coming up destroying shad. We found that type of activity at two different spots and stayed on fish all morning until about 1:30pm or so. We could have stopped fishing at that point, but we wanted to go get on the trout. We picked up Jamie, dropped off the lake boat, and grabbed the river rig. Again, we chunked big streamers and punished fish. Sunday, we got back into the fish again with lots of action! The water was low so we had to drag the boat through lots of water but it was all well worth it. We also picked up some trash including this tire!