Whities

So as most of you have figured out by now, the white bass are running. It's one of my favorite spring time activities. I think the whites, pound for pound, pull harder and fight as hard as any fish. They will bend a six weight in half! We have been catching plenty of them. Sometimes close to a hundred a day, and it should only be getting better over the next couple of weeks.The larger females are starting to push in and its just too much fun!

George and Brent

One day last week, my friend Frank called me and got me hooked up with a buddy of his from Idaho, Brent. Brent and his friend George, who is from from North Carolina, had been up at Bull Shoals looking for a big brown and had struck out. They decided to come down to Heber. Of course Friday night we got several inches of rain and so Saturday we had a muddy high mess. We tried out best in the morning to turn a big boy but they just wouldn't act right so we headed out to put the smack down on the white bass. It was high and muddy there as well, but the bass didn't seem to mind. It turned out to be a real fun day and lots of bent rods!

Monster mackerel, pompano, bluefish and trout make fast fishing fun

There is some great fishing going on in Sarasota Bay. My clients have been rewarded by fine catches of large spotted seatrout, Spanish mackerel, pompano and bluefish.
However, the real treat was Monday (April 5) when I hooked and landed the largest Spanish mackerel of my life. The fish weighed slightly more than 7 pounds on my Boga Grip.
It was the final fish of the day. I had cast out and was letting my Big Eye Baitfish Fly sink when my concentration was interrupted by a text message from my friend, Dave Robinson. Just as I was about to respond to his text, my fly line tightened and my 6-weight rod was just about pulled out of the kayak.
I grabbed the rod and set the hook.

At first, I had no clue it was a big fish. But all of sudden, the fish pulled and the thick fly line cut through the water. The line was going so fast, you could hear it.
I figured it was a big mackerel, cobia or maybe even a large jack. A friend of mine, Capt. Rick Grassett of the Snook Fin-Addict Guide Services, told me early that morning that his client had landed a 7-pound mackerel. So, I was fairly certain it was a giant mack.
The fish made several long runs, each time taking me into the backing. I was certain I wouldn't land the mackerel because surely it would cut the line with its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.
But my luck held out. After about five minutes, I was able to grab the leader and subdue the fish. I lifted it into my kayak with the aid of my Boga Grip.
It was a day of large fish. I caught and released a number of spotted seatrout from 18 to 22 inches. In addition, I landed a trio of pompano to 4 pounds. I also landed a couple of 3-pound mackerel.
The pattern has been the same over the last week. Jason Beary (top photo) of Warren, Pa., fished with me late last week and caught a load of Spanish mackerel, pompano and bluefish. Jason is an experienced fly angler and did very well. All he was missing for his Southern Drawl Grand Slam was a spotted seatrout (usually the easiest of the quartet to catch). So, late in the day, we paddle inshore to a spot that I knew had trout. That's where Jason connect to complete his Slam.
Brian Bourdages (bottom photo) of Traverse City, Mich., had no trouble catching spotted seatrout the next day. In fact, had caught a number of large trout, including one we estimated at 4 1/2 pounds. He also landed several pompano, Spanish mackerel and ladyfish. But he couldn't connect on a bluefish.
It's great having accomplished fly anglers out. You just wind them up and let them fish on their own. They need little attention and can cast all day.
Our fishing has been heating up with the weather. Just as we figured, warmth and gentle breezes were all we needed to turn the fishing on.
I'm still puzzled, however, about the giant Spanish mackerel cruising Sarasota Bay. I've never seen them so large locally.
But I'm not asking questions. I'll just continue to cast and have fun.

Part Two

I apologize for the lapse in blogging. The schedule has just been a little busy, which is always a good thing. Last Wednesday I took Ed and Danny out again. We stuck to the river this time. We had a pretty decent window in the morning of lower water, so we tried our best to stay in front of the rising water. We caught fish all morning long, but we really had to work hard for them. As the water came up our bite got slower and slower. Danny did manage to pull this very nice brown out right before our afternoon ended!

Barley Straw for Ponds

Article by Nate Herman
www.hbpondmanagement.com

Have you ever heard of someone putting barley straw in their pond? Many people have heard of it, most people have no idea why or how though. I have been researching, studying, and experimenting with adding beneficial pond bacteria and barley straw into ponds for years and just now am ready to start reporting some of what I have learned. I guess I will just start with a bit of the history of adding barley straw to ponds; talk a bit about why, when, and how to best apply barley straw, and then finish up with the best place to purchase barley straw online.

Back in the middle ages when people lived in or around castles with moats and draw bridges, a peasant's wagon pulling a load of barley straw for the Duke of Earl's pigs lost its wheel while going over the draw bridge. The entire load of barley tipped over into the algae covered moat and sunk down into the abyss. About 3 weeks later that same peasant noticed how amazing the moat looked and how healthy the fish were. About 3 months later and that same peasant had started his own moat management company and was well on his way to managing all of the moats in the kingdom.

Several years later on his deathbed and in an interview with the Castle Times that same peasant who now owned a majority of the sheep and goats in the world revealed his secret formula for creating such awesome water quality, growing such big fish, and quite simply managing the best moats in the land... Flash forward about 800 years or so and here I am about to reveal the exact same information that peasant refined so many years earlier.

So for those of you still wondering, not about my mental state, but rather about why to add barley straw to your pond here is some information for you to chew on. As barley straw decomposes in water with plenty of oxygen and a bit of circulation, the rotting straw actually does a few things. I still dont know exactly the entire process or complete science behind what is completely going down with this process, but here is what I do know or at least what I think I know.

First, as barley decomposes it gives off a chemical compound that someway, somehow inhibits algae growth. It doesnt kill algae, but rather inhibits growth of new algae cells. I will never be able to figure this one out on my own, but somehow someday millions of dollars will be used by government funded scientists who will devote most of their lives to figuring out exactly what is produced from rotting barley that inhibits pond algae growth.

Second thing that barley does in water is that it helps colonize billions of natural pond bacteria already in your water. A good population of bacteria is essential for a healthy pond ecosystem. Properly placed decomposing barley straw provides the perfect habitat for spawning and feeding beneficial bacteria. Proper habitat is just as important for growing good bacteria as it is for growing everything that lives is in a pond. Fish, weeds, and microorganisms all need perfect habitat to live and reproduce to their fullest potential. Barley for some reason or another provides that great habitat for beneficial bacteria. Not only does it help bacteria, but barley also provides food good habitat for beneficial microorganisms, zooplankton, and other tiny creatures that are great for ponds and fish.

Last reason I have found to put barley straw into ponds we have already touched on briefly. For me, it is all about the fish! In order for a fish to not merely survive, but to thrive to its fullest potential it needs to have perfect water quality 365 days per year, ideal habitat for living in, and an unlimited food supply to gorge on. Barley straw is not a magic potion that instantly creates the perfect pond. It isnt a cure all solution for water quality, controlling algae, or feeding fish. It also is not even at the top of my list of pond management tools, but what it does do is to help improve each of those key factors just a bit.

Zooplankton and invertebrates that thrive off of decomposing barley are very important in ponds for young fish to feed on. In my opinion the first month of a fish's life sets the stage for its trophy potential. When a fish is hatched, it needs to start eating right away and will eat anything it can fit in its tiny mouth. The few fry that start eating microorganisms right away will grow so fast that they will start eating their brothers and sisters immediately. Those first couple days set the stage for who will become king and who will become lunch.

In ponds with plenty of tiny invertebrates, little fish become big fish years faster than in ponds without good populations of invertebrates. Lets take a 3-5 inch bluegill for example. I can grow a bluegill to 3-5 inches in a matter of weeks under ideal conditions. Under not so good conditions, I have seen 3-5 inch bluegill that are 10 years old. What would you rather have in your pond: a population of 3-5 inch bluegill that are weeks old or a population of 3-5 inch bluegill that are years old?

The reduction of new algae, improvement of water quality through beneficial bacteria, and the additional food supplied to small fish from barley straw all are just another step to the perfect pond mystery. There really is not one magic trick to creating that perfect pond. A big misconception is that once you put in your aeration system, or treat with an aquatic algaecide or herbicide, or start feeding your fish, that your pond will all of a sudden be fixed for life or your fish will turn into sumo wrestlers. The key to creating and maintaining your perfect pond and growing your trophy fish is rather a combination of management tools to help address what your pond lacks naturally. Some lakes and ponds need just a little nudge to get the ecosystem flowing, others need to break out the whole gamut of magic tricks.

So now that I have spent half the night writing and rewriting this simple barley straw infomercial I can finally move on towards the when and how portion of barley straw applications. I apply barley in the spring once the ice comes off, but have found that you can simply apply it anytime of year. Just keep in mind that the warmer the water is, the faster the barley will decompose and start "working". Many people in the south keep barley in their ponds year round. Basically though if you ask me for my recommendation I will say to apply it in April, May, June or whatever month you are reading this and still don't have any applied yet.

There are many different ways to apply barley. That kind of depends on what you are exactly wanting to accomplish with it.

Water Garden Applications

If your looking for water quality improvements in a small water garden pond I recommend applying a 1 lb mesh bag of barley straw per 1000 gallons of water. This will help filter your water and give a good boost to your bacteria filters as well. I suggest using a liquid bacteria about 2-3 weeks after the initial barley application to get the most bang for your buck. After a couple weeks, the barley is ready to host and boost the bacteria!

Pond and Lake Applications

Here is where you have a couple different barley applications to consider. For water quality improvements I suggest loosely placing 8-10 lbs of barley in a mesh bag with a gatorade bottle or milk jug also placed in the bag for flotation. Then attach an anchor or concrete block to the mesh bag and place around the shoreline in 4-5 feet of water. You want the top of the barley mesh bag to float about 1-2 feet below the surface of the water. Ponds with good circulation or aeration already have much better bacteria populations and the barley is much more effective in these waters as well. For pond and lake applications I will add one packet of powder bacteria by each mesh bag about 2 weeks after initial installation

Typically I recommend applying 10 of these bags per acre. For a 1/4 acre pond, I recommend 2-3 mesh barley bags. Application rates can vary though depending on your unique situation. You dont want to apply fresh cut barley due to the possibility of an oxygen depletion with decomposing fresh barley. Also you dont want to apply more than 250 lbs per acre because we all know what too much of a good thing can do.

The above mentioned method is a great way to add barley without anyone ever knowing it is in the pond. Now if your looking for a way to feed your fish and you dont really care about visually seeing bales of barley straw around the shoreline, I suggest applying large bales of barley in 2-3 feet of water around the shore. Usually a bale of barley weighs 40 lbs and I will strategically apply 4 of these bales per acre. Just simply put a stake through the bale into the water.

So there you have it, the where, when, why, who, and how to applying barley straw in ponds. I will have complete barley straw kits as well as bulk barley bales for sale online hopefully by Memorial Day. I do have them both currently available, just not on the website yet. Contact me for pricing and more information.

04/04/10 - Lands End - Speci Lake

Weight – 18lb 15oz
Catch – 40 Roach, 18 Perch, 8 Skimmers, 2 Rudd, 1 F1, 1 Chub, 1 Gudgeon
Weather – Sunny, but windy.
Match – Open - 21st overall, 6th in silvers.

With 31 booked in, Johns, Match and half of speci (25-32) were in the bag I was a little under whelmed to draw peg 26.

Carp or silvers? I decided silvers would be a better option, since there we so many better carp pegs, however carp rigs were set up in case a few did show, but you tend to find the cap sulk away to the other side of the lake when only 1 side in pegged.

A pinch of micros & caster went in at 11.5m, at 1 o'clock, whilst ½ a big pot went in 11o'clock, plus some caster on the island. The issue today would be the wind although I was a little bit sheltered, fishing 17m to the island meant keeping the rig steady would be the challenge.

I started on the island whilst letting the pellet swims settle and 1st drop in on double caster a 2lb F1 found its way into the net. 3rd put in another F1, which I lost when the hook pulled at the net. However 40mins, later I had only added some roach and decent perch, as well as bumping a couple of fish.

Because of the wind I couldn't catch quickly enough from the far side so time to look over my pellet line, but these only produced a couple of fish and none of the decent F1s that Pete Notton was catching on a very sheltered peg 25 or the big skimmers that Martin was catching on peg 28.

The 1o'clock swim started to produce regular bites by toss potting micro pellet and caster, with either caster or pellet on the hook, but most of the fish were roach.

Time for a change, I started firing 4mms towards the island as well as feeding caster at 5m. The 5m line began to produce roach, plus the odd bigger perch, but I lost a big fish (not a carp), which just upset the shoal and I had to change lines. Both the 11.5m swim where only producing odd fish, but it seemed every time I hooked a decent size fish the hook pulled, which Martin was finding very amusing, it will teach me for taking the piss when he pulled out of a skimmer.

Things weren't going well, I was getting plenty of roach, but very few decent fish. The 4mms kept going in towards the island in the hope the wind would drop long enough to be able to fish.

In the meantime I started to feed caster towards the pallet on peg 27. My 5m line came back to life and I picked up some more roach and perch either on double or single caster. The pallet swim produced a few more fish, mostly decent perch, plus a chub.

With an hour to go I tried the the far line again and caught a big skimmer on hard pellet on top of the shelf and a roach at the bottom of the shelf, so there wasn't many carp around then! Another try over the 11.5m and a new 13m 11 o'clock swim but again only small fish, so last 45mins concentrated on p27 pallet and 5m swim. I had trickled a few casters into the near brambles. First drop in resulted in a sail away bite, loads of elastic coming out and a broken hook length, as a chub successfully made its bid for freedom. Another lost fish this was getting really frustrating, which Martin found even more amusing.

I thought Pete had more than Martin, because he had been catching F1 until the last 2 hours, however Martin had managed to catch mostly skimmers for most of the match. I had hoped to sneak into 3rd for silvers, but there were a couple of lower 20s on Match. I reckon I probably lost 8-10lb of big silvers, so an expensive day and sums up the poor run I seem to be on, only picking up once from the last 6 matches, prior to that I had 10 from 11.

Today I couldn't get the number of quality fish and suspect with the water warming up and the fish becoming more active that micro pellet is losing its effectiveness and attracting too many small fish.

1st Nick Duckett 79- 2 - P19 (pellet)
2nd Mitch Artus 66- 6 – P21 (pellet)
3rd Chris Davis 65- 4 – P44
4th Brian Shanks 63-5 – P60
5th Shaun Townsend 60-5 – P18
6th Lee Trivitt 57-10 – P68

Silvers
1st Martin Pettifer 33-6 – P28 (pellet)
2nd Pete Notton 31-8 – P25 (pellet)
3rd Mike Duckett 24-14 – P3 (caster)

fly fishing steelhead (lake michigan tributaries, wi)

This was the last trip we made for this years spring steelhead run. Neal and I spent the day with Neal’s uncle Vic. The weather was really starting to warm up and it seemed like a lot of the fish had pulled back out to the main lake. We covered a long stretch of water and our previous trips producing pools were now devoid of all signs of life.

the last spring steelhead

Neal and Vic managed to spot a single pod of fish. They worked them hard as I moved upstream. After an hour upstream I decided it was time to meet back up with the guys. Upon arriving I was greeted by Neal with a photo of our last steelhead of 2010’s spring run. I’m not sure how much longer the fish will be up in the tributaries, but from what I’m seeing it might be time to switch gears. It was a great run but seemed to go by very quick. We caught some awesome fish and learned some valuable lessons this year. How long till the salmon run…?