my first steelhead this spring

Even though the Root River is still flowing high and wide, conditions this weekend were ideal for fishing the smaller rivers in the area. The last batch of rain did the river systems well by bringing in a fair amount of fresh chromers. Even though pressure was extremely heavy on these smaller rivers this weekend, all anglers still had a chance of hooking up with at least one good fish. Orange seems to be a good choice for color. Spawn was key for taking larger fish from the deeper pools while most of the action on the gravel was from the smaller males.

Earlier this year, I decided to try and become alittle more proficient with my drifting techniques (especially egg patterns). Last year, I really did a lot of my fishing with streamers and I’m just wanting to invest more time in drifting. Friday night I tied some small glo-bugs and I think they are a pretty realistic imitation on a size fourteen hook.

I fished a lot of the more subtle pocket water because the deeper pools had some serious heavy traffic in the morning. I hooked a smaller male early in the day that came unbuttoned on the surface. Around lunch time pressure died down and I got a chance to fish some of the better runs. A few casts to some deeper water was all it took to hook up on a much better fish. My little orange egg worked and after seeing many fish kept I realesed my first steelhead of the year…

my first steelhead of spring

First billfish of the season

Matt Fernholz of LaCross Wisconsin landed his first ever sailfish and striped marlin on the same day. It was also the first billfish of 2011 for the Jen Wren.

Mark Rayor

www.vistaseasport.com
www.thejenwren.com

Must Have?

Apparently, Hardy have announced a commemerative fly reel for the forthcoming
Royal Wedding, retailing at a recession sensitive RRP of $1200.

I fully expect it to be this season's "Must have" accessory
around the beaches of West Cork......... or maybe not?

Wrasse 26th March

WRASSE 26th March :)

Well went out today with Ritchie & we caught a few wrasse here they are :) 

Well the first one was pretty small.

They Got a Bit bigger this one was 2lb 3oz

Ritchie Pulled out a Wrasse!

Then i had this double hook up!

Then finally this beast took a liking to my bait!

This Wrasse Weighted 4lb 5oz was a good scrap to.

Lets hope the rest of the year only gets better :) 

Many Thanks 

Oklahoma angler has the day of a lifetime on Sarasota Bay



Oklahoma's Chuck Linn battles a beefy trout in shallow water.



When Chuck Linn hooked, fought and landed a 4-pound spotted seatrout first thing in the morning, it figured to be a good day on Sarasota Bay.

Of course, every day on the bay is great; some are just better than others.

Spotted seatrout are common in Sarasota Bay and catches of 50 or more are common. But most range from undersized to maybe 24 inches. Slot limit for trout is 15 to 20 inches.

Linn, an Oklahoma native, kept casting the 3.5-inch Bomber Ba-donka-donk, a mullet-looking topwater plug. And he kept hooking trout. But these trout dwarfed his first fish. He landed a trout that weight slightly more than 6 pounds on the Boga Grip. He added a trout of more than 7 pounds a little while later. And he capped his morning with another trout of more than 6 pounds.



Chuck Linn shows off the first of three huge spotted seatrout.

 We usually don’t catch that many “gator” trout in a year.

But large trout seem to be the norm this year around Sarasota Bay. In January, a local angler landed a 9-pounder.

Twice over three days, Capt. Rick Grassett of the Snook Fin-Addict guide services had clients land trout of 6 pounds or larger.

“We’ve been hearing about large trout for quite some time now,” said Keith Tennant, who works at Economy Tackle in Sarasota.

Obviously, it’s just a high point in the cycle. But who cares? We just hope to get in on the action a few more times before it ends.

Usually, there aren’t many large trout taken along Florida’s Southwest coast. We have a lot of trout, but don’t encounter many large fish.

It’s different along the state’s East coast, where 10-pounders are fairly common.

One thing I’ve always known is that most of the larger trout are taken in very shallow water. That held true for Linn. His trio of titanic trout was taken from 12 inches of water.

The largest trout I’ve caught was a 6 ½-pounder in March 2007. I caught the fish on a jerk worm in Pine Island Sound while fishing for redfish with Capt. Danny Latham. I landed a 6-pounder in 1990 while fishing the warm-water runoff at the Crystal River Power Plant. I used a Cotee Jig.

Linn bested my record easily – in just a couple of hours.

While I don’t expect this action to go on forever, I do think it will last at least another month or two.

If my clients want a lot of fish, I can take them to the deep grass areas where they will catch plenty of small to slot trout. If my clients want big fish, we’ll catch a low tide and head for the shallows. They might only catch five fish, but there could be a monster or monsters in the group.

I told Chuck Linn his 4-pounder probably would be the fish of the day.

I was wrong.

I apologized to Chuck.

Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing montly report



Denton Kent caught a nice snook on fly.





Matt Fleischhauer of Illinois landed a dandy pompano.





Chuck Linn of Oklahoma shows off one of three monster trout he caught on topwater plugs.



It doesn’t seem possible, but March is almost gone. Wow!

Fishing has been really good over the last month, with a variety of species cooperating in both fresh and salt waters. Anglers fishing with Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing have been getting spotted seatrout to 7 pounds, pompano to 3, redfish to 9, snook to 6, bluefish to 2, flounder, ladyfish and a load of other species.

In fresh water, we’ve been getting some big bluegill, stumpknocker and bass to 2 pounds on fly.

Fly angler Dave Sutton fished with me and wanted to target bluegill. We managed to catch a bunch on the Manatee River. We used popping bugs, nymphs and, of course, my Myakka Minnow. All fish were taken on light fly rods and floating lines.

We launch out of Ray’s Canoe Hideaway and usually paddle upriver. We then float back and fly fish along the way. The scenery is gorgeous and fishing often very good.

The trip of the month in salt water was on March 24 when Chuck Linn of Oklahoma joined me for a 6-hour outing on Sarasota Bay. Chuck connected on a 4-pound spotted seatrout right off the bat on a topwater plug. We figured that fish might be the day’s top trout.

Wrong!

Chuck caught a number of larger trout, including a pair that went slightly more than 6 pounds and another that weighed 7.

What a day.

In addition, Chuck caught and released a small redfish and lost a bull red.

It was a nice trip on a beautiful day.

The day prior, Jerry Amato of Sarasota and Cleveland, Ohio joined me and caught a good number of spotted seatrout on flies and jigs. Jerry also added a number of leaping ladyfish.

On March 21, repeat clients Mark Fleischhauer of Illinois and his son, Matt, fished Sarasota Bay near Stephens Point. Action during their six-hour outing was pretty steady. They caught spotted seatrout to 18 inches, ladyfish, flounder, Spanish mackerel and pompano. All of the fish were taken on D.O.A. 1/8-ounce CAL Jigs with gold paddle tails.

John Kis of New York, another repeat client, fished Stephens Point with me on March 20. John tried fly fishing for snook around light docks just before dawn, but didn’t connect. The tide just wasn’t conducive and the fish weren’t hungry.

However, he still managed plenty of spotted seatrout, ladyfish, Spanish mackerel and bluefish on CAL Jigs.

Denton Kent, a winter resident, fished his second trip with me and had a fine day. Denton started the day with a 23-inch spotted seatrout on fly before daylight. He then added a 27-inch snook and another large trout before dawn.

During the day, Denton caught and released a plethora of fish, including spotted seatrout, ladyfish and Spanish mackerel. He might have caught some other species, but I can’t remember!

Fly angler John Garcia of California fishing Stephens Point with me on March 12 and had a very consistent day, catching spotted seatrout to 4 pounds, ladyfish, Spanish mackerel and bluefish.

John Garrity of Toledo Ohio and his son joined me for a “windier-than-expected” day on Sarasota Bay. The wind was expected to blow around 6-12 mph out of the south. But, as usual, the wind didn’t read the weather report. Still, they managed to catch spotted seatrout, ladyfish, flounder and Spanish mackerel on CAL Jigs.

Avid fly fisher Chris Bentsen of Redmond, Wash., fished the west side of Sarasota Bay on a windy day. He wanted to target redfish and managed one small red on a spoon fly. He also caught some spotted seatrout and ladyfish.

APRIL FORECAST: The wind should lie down a little and the fishing should actually improve. I look for spotted seatrout, ladyfish, pompano, bluefish and Spanish mackerel on the deep grass flats.

Large redfish action should be good on the shallow grass. In addition, I anticipate larger spotted seatrout on the shallow grass.

Snook will be available at night and before dawn around dock lights. This is a great chance for fly anglers to get a snook. We also get spotted seatrout and an occasional redfish around the lights on fly.

Freshwater fishing should improve drastically. Bluegill, shellcracker, stumpknocker and bass will be the prime targets.

Also, snook will begin to hit the surf. Prime day for sight-fishing snook in the surf is Mary through August. This is sight-fishing at its best and my specialty. I’ve been guiding anglers to snook in the surf for more than 20 years.

These trips book up quickly, so I suggest that you book your trip early.

As always, I’d like to thank my gracious sponsors: Native Watercraft, D.O.A. Lures, Temple Fork Outfitters, Peak Fishing and Economy Tackle.

Please feel free to email or call me if you have any questions.

Steve Gibson

Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing

www.kayakfishingsarasota.com

http://gibbysfishingblog.blogspot.com/

(941) 284-3406

Huge Fishing Sale, Portable Trout Pond, Mike Iacanelli

Hey guys, I just want to let you know that this Saturday and Sunday Presleys Outdoors in Bartonville is hosting a mega fishing sale to kick off the 2011 season! I will be down there both days helping people pick out the right gear and also we set up our portable trout pond inside the store for kids to come and fish!!

We stocked the pond with some catfish, bass, and a couple hundred big rainbow trout. For a $2 donation to the hooked on fishing park you can fish in the trophy pond, or a $10 donation you can actually take your trout home for dinner. Also we have 10 tagged fish in the pond that if you catch you win a brand new fishing rod and reel combo! Fun Stuff!!

Next, Mike Iacanelli, a pretty good bass fisherman and phenomenal speaker is coming in on Sunday and going to be signing autographs, sharing fishing stories, and at 11 am gonna give a seminar to 100's of kids from high school bass fishing teams from around the state. All are welcome to attend.

Ok, last thing, Chef Todd will be cooking Elk Burgers, Venison Hot Dogs, and other traditional grilled items both days! Stop on down for a gourmet bite to eat, grab some fishing gear 20% off, take the kids fishing in the pond, use the nice restroom facility in the store, talk to me or Mike about fish for a few minutes, bring your trout home for dinner, and wala you just made the most out of a 30 degree and windy weekend!

Leading up to this weekend has been pretty interesting. I did some consultations on some awesome fish projects, installed 1000' feet of new fence for a property line for a client in fairview, burned 100's of acres of prairie grasses, installed some fish feeders, and staked out a new hunting lodge we are building for a client.

I will take credit for all the work our guys did this week, but really Justin, Josh, Joel, Allen, and Ryan are ones who get all the work done. I am telling you that one thing that I have done good is assembled the best crew of workers on the planet. They are young, but each have their specialties and amazing unique abilities, and they all work extremely hard and long hours.

Justin is my brother and coowner of HB. He is our fix and rig up anything mechanic, engine guy, and run any type of equipment operator. Allen is our office manager/computer specialist, but he spent the last 3 summers spraying lakes and ponds with Justin. Josh is a professional bull rider and a carpenter, but everytime he breaks his ribs and liver and stuff we have him for a few months while he is recovering. Ryan is a land renovation and habitat specialist. Joel is a super athletic guy, but more if a pretty inside salesman as opposed to down and dirty redneck. He rides along with me for aeration installs, and helps out where needed. He has been a volunteer coordinator for the Childrens Home up in Leo, Indiana for the last 3 summers and will be coordinating the fishing park program for us this summer!!!

I figured it was time to introduce our crew. Like I said I get all the credit for all the work they do.

One last tidbit before I have to head out to Presleys. One of my consultations this week over near El Paso. A brand new one acre pond, 20 feet deep with currently no fish. The owner has a couple high school aged boys and a whole herd of high schoolers if you include his 2 or 3 daughters. They dont want to wait 3 years to be catching big fish, they want to make an instant bass fishing lake. In 3 years jimmy and johnny will be off to college.

For less than $2000 they will have an instant bass fishing lake by Memorial day with some awesome feed trained Arkansas Bass. These bass are the best genetic fish I have found on the planet (that work in our geographic area). We stock them at any size, but in this case at a 1.25 lb average with some in the 2 lb range and some in the 1/2 lb range. For $1000 worth of these bass, and $1000 worth of big catfish, hybrid bluegill, and regular bluegill these guys will have an instant fishing pond and will be catching 2-4 lb largemouth and 2-4 lb catfish by the end of the summer. They are going to feed the fish by hand for this summer to help em grow to their fullest potential.