Read Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing Reports at theledger.com

After a brief period of confusion, Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing reports will now appear in Michael Wilson's online blog, For Shore Fishing in the The Ledger, a Polk County newspaper based in Lakeland.

You can view the first entry at http://forshorefishing.blogs.theledger.com/11296/sarasota-area-kayak-report-12909/

Wilson is a Ledger staff photographer who has had a lifelong interest in fishing. He's also an avid participant in many Internet fishing forums.

Southern Drawl is proud to be part of For Shore Fishing.

No Motor Anglers Club schedules inaugural meeting

The No Motor Anglers Club has scheduled its inaugural meeting at 7 p.m., Jan. 12 at Gilchrist Park, 400 W. Retta Esplanade, in Punta Gorda.

The club is dedicated to kayak, canoe, wading and land-based anglers. The club was formed to promote and expand fishing opportunities for those who do not have a motorized fishing vessel. In addition, the NMAC will focus on preservation and conservation.

There will be no membership fees to join this informal organization. To join the club online and for additional information, please visit the NMAC website at http://www.nomotoranglersclub.com/

Don't miss this fishing garage sale

A fried of mine, Walter Hamm (right), will hold a fishing garage sale 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at his home, 2040 Alameda Ave., in Sarasota.

Among the items for sale are fly rods, fly reels, spinning rods, spinning reels, fly lines, lures, flies, tying materials, a fishing kayak and a 17-foot Backcountry skiff.

Call (941) 362-9979.

Vagabond fly angler Jack Gartside, 66, dies

Jack Gartside died on Saturday.

Lung cancer took this fabled vagabond of fly fishing.

Gartside was 66.

He lived a life than most of us wished we could live -- if only we had the guts. He was footloose and fancy free. The zany Gartside drove a cab part-time so that he could leave on an exotic fishing trip on a whim.

He was one of the world's most innovatire fly tyers. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts and taught high school English for a few years.

Among his famous fly patterns is the Gartside Gurgler (above), a brilliant topwater creation that has served fly anglers well over the years. I recently took a 28-inch tailing red on a Gurgle.

Take a minute and read his obit: http://www.bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2009/12/09/jack_gartside_66_fly_fisher_lived_simply_to_pursue_goal

Nothing says Love like gift certificates and cool JRFFA Clothes....

Can't figure out what to get the Angler who has it all? I've got your solution. A Full or Half day gift certificate and or some cool Jamie Rouse Fly Fishing Clothing! We have a hip new logo and you don't want to be without. We have Capilene style, moisture wicking, Black long sleeve T's. Highly breathable Moisture wicking cotton long sleeve T's. Several different style hats, such as bamboo fiber, trucker style, and OGIO brand. Don't forget the bitter chocolate Hoodies too! Give me a call at 501-691-9285 for questions regarding prices! Happy Holidays! See you on the RIVER!

DYNAMITE!

Not too long ago, I took a good friend of a friend and his three boys fishing. Logan and his son John were in my boat. It was a group trip with Jamie and it was just a beautiful day. We started out having a little casting school and competition before the day got started. John who is 8 years old had never fly fished. The water was high so we had several challenges to face. John made a few casts and caught the first couple of fish and was loving it. After a while the bite slowed down and he said he wanted to change his fly. He wanted to choose it, so I let him pick. A few casts later he said, " I wonder who is going to catch the next fish" and BAM, he starts getting excited. I look over and his 5wt rod is bowed in half. I see this monster 22 inch brown come to the surface! He landed this fish in about 1 minute flat and he ate the fly he picked out! It was awesome. We saw eagles and took a long lunch. The boys and their dad got to bond. It was an awesome experience getting to see this magic take place!

06/12/09 - Ivy House - Little Lake

Weight – 20lb 8oz
Catch – 6 Carp, 4 Roach, 2 Perch
Weather – Mostly sunny, occasional showers. Gusty wind
Match – Club Christmas Match - 1st overall

I drew peg 12, only to find myself on permanent peg 13! Not sure why, but cards had been used to peg the lake, because some of the permanent peg marking had worn away. My peg was in the corner of the lake with the wind blowing into it, which I wasn’t too disappointed about, although I was sharing the corner with Jim and we were a little too close. Personally would have preferred to be on permanent peg 12, because you can fish into the corner, with the wind off my back, plus you had more open water.

Anyway, I had a job to do. The last time I was here was 12 months ago, but reports suggested it had been fishing OK, so I fed a pinch of 3mm pellet at 13m at 1 o’clock (I couldn’t go any longer due to the awkward wind). I also wanted to set up a short line for roach, feeding caster, but plumbing around suggested my swim was bowl shape without any shelves, so I decided to feed at 9m and hoped to catch the roach on the drop. My final 2 swims would be 6m to my left in the corner and under the pallet of peg 12.

After feeding my swims, I started on the tip with hair rigged corn. After 15 mins I was getting liners but no bites. The 13m line didn’t produce a bite, so it was time to try the 9m line after I had kept flicking caster in. After waiting for bites, I managed 2 small perch & a roach, which wasn’t a good sign.

Back on the 13m line I waited it out on double maggot and the float eventually went under. A 3lb carp was very welcome and with just over an hour gone I was the only 1 to have caught a carp, so the lake was fishing hard. Heavy overnight rain probably didn’t help and the wind was making presentation difficult.

By this time, my headache was really kicking in and having the sun shining directly in front wasn’t helping. With no more bites on the pole, it was time to try the lead again, whilst I search for some nurofen plus. Fortunately the car was parked directly behind me and tablets where duly found. When I got back to my peg I was fiddling with some of my kit and my rod nearly got dragged in as carp no.2 found its way in the net.

Another carp on the pole soon followed on triple pinkie, but the wind was becoming a problem. I had initially set up a 0.5g rig in the 6 foot swim, but really a 1g rig would have been better. My headache meant I couldn’t be bothered to set up a new rig, so I lobbed the lead over the pole line and soon had carp no.4.

The 4th hour of the match was extremely slow. It was close between Graham Millard on peg 15, Brian Stockham on peg 11 and me. Brian was aided by a foulhooked 7lber up the arse!

My margins only produced a single roach and a new swim 12m in front proved fruitless. It seemed everyone had stopped catching and I felt the fish had probably moved further into the middle of the lake, so I cast at an angle into peg 12. 2 casts and 2 carp on double hair rigged corn definitely put me in the lead, but I never had a bite for the rest of the match. Fortunately neither did Graham or Brian.

To be honest this was a bit of boring match, having made the decision to ignore the silvers after an hour, it was just a case of waiting for a carp. Fortunately the nurofen did its job, so I felt better by the end of the match

At the weigh in Graham weighed 15-4 for 2nd and Brian was 3rd with 15-1 for 3rd, so those last 2 carp were needed.

Congratulations to Ian who won the Individual Championship, admittedly courtesy of me missing 1 match.