My season has begun....

Landed my first lure caught fish of 2011 this weekend whist on a trip to Co Kerry. I probably would of caught more had I resisted the urge to experiment with some of the many new lures and Soft Plastics I have acquired over the winter. A nice fish of average size probably between 3 and 4lbs with an unusually greenish tinge to it. The lure that did the business was my old favorite the TM 145 SLD-F.

The  trip away was most enjoyable. Having noticed a period of settled weather coinciding with some big tides I made the call to head off. It was great to be out lure fishing again and exploring an unfamiliar coastline with huge fishing potential in fabulous Irish Spring weather.

This fish was caught a month earlier than my first fish of last year, hopefully an omen of a good season ahead.

Winter In West

DEEP IS DEEP

A Winter Wallpaper

(1600 x 1192)
click on image for large size

The All New Portable Trout Pond

Justin and I have been scratching our heads for a few days trying to figure out what kind of portable pond we could make that will hold thousands of gallons of water and allow people to trout fish in it safely during the Elmwood All Outdoors Show this weekend.


Last year we just used an above ground swimming pool we bought on clearance, but it unfortunately didn't hold up to the wear and tear of hundreds of kids fishing. It made it through the event, but not good enough to be able to reset back up again. This year we decided to make a portable yet permanent frame with a heavy duty fish safe pond liner. We will be using the pond again at the end of this month at the Presley's Outdoors Fishing sale weekend with Mike Iacanelli.

Anyhow we built the 14' long 3' tall pond walls out of 2x4's with a double top plate and sheated the inside with 1/2" OSB plywood. We just fastened the walls to each other at the corners onsite and screwed in some metal corner brackets at the top and bottom of each of the 4 corners for extra support.

We also ran heavy duty straps along the ground to help hold the pond walls from bowing to the pressure. We then threw the 25x25 heavy duty Firestone Pond Guard Liner into the pond and filled er up with water with our fingers crossed!

We filled the pond with 2.5 feet of water and surprisingly the walls held solid!!! Cha ching. Now Justin is heading up to the trout hatchery near the Wisconsin border early friday morning and kids will be catching trout (and some big bonus other fish) all day Saturday and Sunday!

Here is sneak peak of the filling process:


I will be at the show all weekend long sitting in the gym at the Herman Brothers booth or at the trout pond or walking around aimlessly spending all the money we earn from selling porcupine attractors and other stuff at our booth. If your out and about make sure to stop by and drop me some extra spending cash or lets just talk about fish or deer or ponds or fish or something.......

Here are some of the highlight pictures from last years trout pond:

If fishing is this good for kids in a portable swimming pool, just imagine what fishing can be like in your pond???

play ball

Spring is in the air! Spring training baseball is under way, fishing expos are in full swing and new episodes of Addictive Fishing are ready to hit the air. Pack up the winter gear and get ready to be sprung!

This weekend, head over to Tampa for the 20th Annual Tampa Tribune Outdoors Expo. Nearly 50 seminars and hundreds of vendors covering fishing, kayaking, hunting, boating, dog training and anything else related to the outdoors make this the largest expo of its kind in the area. The Mogan Man will be where FINS is sold in booth #201, sharing his expert advice and showing off the latest products. If you haven’t made the switch to FINS braided line, have Capt. Blair show you the difference in using FINS situational braided line. The show is so big it runs 3 days! Come see us Friday, Saturday and Sunday – March 4-6 at the Florida State Fairgrounds.

Is Tampa too far to drive from northeast Florida? The FINS Wet A Line Tour continues next weekend as the Florida Sportsman Show comes to Jacksonville. Capt. Blair & Co. will be in the FINS booth March 12-13 at the Morocco Shrine. The Mogan Man will take the main stage @ 1pm to give away his secrets for inshore fishing success. Make plans to attend!

Minn Kota is helping to build your nest egg with cash back on purchases of select trolling motors. Get $100 cash back on Riptide ST & SF models; $50 cash back on Riptide SE, SM & SP models, if you buy a new Minn Kota trolling motor between 2/15/11 and 7/1/11. Visit Minn Kota online for rebate instructions. It’s saving season!

Spring training returns to the Space Coast! The Washington Nationals are warming up in the Florida sun and getting their sluggers prepared for the upcoming season of Major League Baseball. During the month of March, Space Coast Stadium will be home to the Nationals as they rev up against visiting teams like the Mets, Yankees, Marlins, Tigers, Braves and Astros. Wind up for opening day by checking out the full schedule, specials and local accommodations at Florida’s Space Coast online.

Mogan Maniacs get ready to go crazy! The dates have been set… plans have been made… the weather man has been called… Mogan Mania is a go! Mark your calendars and warn your boss, August 5-7 you’ll disappear from the face of the earth and slip into the sanctuary called River Palm Cottages. This fun filled, family oriented fishing weekend is always the highlight of our year and now that we’ve set the date, we can’t wait! Are we there yet?

Todd Royall sent AF a message on FaceBook to let us know how much he likes his new Flats Blue casting rod. Todd says it’s the most comfortable casting rod he’s ever used. Rock on! We like hearing good things about the new rods and Todd went one step further by posting a picture of the rod being used to catch a fat daddy redfish! That’s our Mogan of the Week! Pumping up his Mogan Mania water wings,
BillBird 

Z Fish Report (3/3/11)

With the blue water out past the 50 mile mark, offshore fishing is tough at best. We are catching about an equal amount of striped marlin and sailfish, but we are only averaging about 1 fish per boat per day, with a few boats getting nada. The yellowfin tuna are here, but out in the blue water, as well as the majority of the game fish.


One thing I find interesting is the striped marlin are very small. Mecate, on the Agua Azul, was telling me he released a couple that weighed only about 22 and 25 pounds. This appears to be a whole new migration pattern of juvenile fish developing this last couple of years. Five years ago we rarely caught a striped marlin here.

Jose Pino with a nice jack crevalle

About the only bright spot this week is the abundance of jack crevalle, black skipjack tuna, and sierras inshore. A lot of the captains are talking about huge jacks averaging 20 to 25 pounds near the White Rocks. On light gear or a fly rod, that is a guaranteed 45 minute fight. Most of the fish are being taken on a slow trolled live bait or Rapala.

Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos told me the jacks are all up and down the coast, and his clients, throwing a surface popper, are getting 20 to 30 fish a day.

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

Year 'Rounders

THE HEARTY & DEDICATED

Hang Out & Visit

fish some too

-------

.. Some of our feather merchants have an open door policy for the winter. Bless 'em all. There's always a warm spot with familiar smells, visions, and good conversation. Occasionally they even fish.
.. Some fish here. Some fish elsewhere. Some do both. We are blessed with instant access to materials, equipment, advice, and hospitality on a year 'round basis. Not bad for a town deep in snow for 5 months of the year and with a resident population of less than 1,000.
.. Of course we're also blessed with more pubs than churches, and they have longer hours and a greater following as well.
.. Should you happen to pass this way when the sun is low and the temperatures lower, stop in and visit with the neighbors. They could use a break too.

.......

.. Parks' Fly Shop has completely redesigned their website. It's completely reorganized with new material and navigation. They promise to use the blog more now than in the past. To update your links click HERE.
.. Blue Ribbon Flies has added a blog to their completely redesigned site  To investigate this site you should start HERE.
.. Jeff Kennedy at Drawing Flies 365 and Jason Borger at Fish Flies & Water are well into the latest project of drawing a fish each Thursday. A prodigious amount of talent is displayed at these two sites.
.. Chi Wulff has been re-resurrected again and is closely following the debacle that is HB 309. Check their recent post HERE.
.. National Parks Traveler has a new format. The escalating amount of information and it's high quality demand at least a once-per-week scan. The contributor list is growing and the topics are diverse and authoritative. Check it out HERE.

-------

.

Back Among the Living!

Been deathly ill for what seems like an eternity. Sitting in a chair with my eyes closed just waiting for the days and nights to get over with, too sick to even think, let alone let the magic box think for me.

Anyhow so maybe I'm just a big baby, only had the flu for a couple days, and was waited on hand and foot, but still there were moments I didn't know how I was going to make it.

So anyhow, I am going to live! I lost alot of productive time, but am just about ready to get back into the swing of things (as long as I can hold down my first real meal I ate for dinner)