Wye oh Wye its good to back!!

I have not been blogging lately due to having no internet due to moving house and it feels like I have had my arm off.

I am still not sorted yet so I am writing this on my blackberry mobile.
I have had some great session in the last few weeks with some great pictures all ready to be uploaded so keep a look out.
I fished my first proper session on my Peacock fly fishers licence today and it turned out to be another special one..

I turned up at the Peacock around half nine and sat down for a right posh coffee to sort me out for the days fishing, the service in this hotel is something else, far away from in Stoke where you get 'what's want duck?' Well I suppose you pay triple for the coffee as you would back home..I was quite embarrassed when the waitress approached me and said 'good morning sir, hope your well and would you like me to pour your coffee!!'

I had to have a quick look around to see if it was me she was talking to! I think they are super pro in this hotel but this talk is not for me and I turned to the waitress and said 'its orate duck you don't have to talk to me with that shit!' She just looked at me with a smile and left me to it..she must have heard that 'lord rocher' was on the Wye!

Well the fishing, I met up with river keeper Jan and we spent a few hours running around the river showing me parts of the river that I could only say opened my eyes big time..
Jan is a good lad as I have said before and is always there to help you out with anything, he takes no shit and is strict with all the rules that I respect, I even managed to wangle some eggs from his chickens that were superb!!

Jan got off and I set up my first dry set up of the season, a 12ft tapoured leader down to a stroft 2lb 2oz 10inch tippet..(Sorry JT still not got to grips with 4x ect)

The river was looking sweet, gin clear with just the right amount of flow, I started to cast a line to get a feel and could not believe how shite my casting had got due to bugging for months...I soon got something like so headed off in search of fish, it was not lond before I found trout moving around on the feed taking nymphs, well as dry fly only I knew it might be hard...I spotted a huge rainbow only 8ft from the bank just holding current in a scum lane...I crept on my hands and knees very close to the fish and watched it for 5 mins, it was moving only 3 inches either way taking nymphs, I had seen sparse hatches of sedge so I opted for my size 17 ltd sedge...I used a method that Jt taught me with the dry last year and believe me no other method would of taken this fish..I put the fly 10ft infront of the fish and watched it sail down perfect, now I was no confident this fish would rise but she twitched her fins when the fly was 5ft away and my heart started to pump,(we anglers know that feeling, it might be a float twiching or a single beep on your delkim) you know what coming next... The fish very slowly pointed itself towards the surface at a angle and its mouth came 2inches out of the water and slurped it in!! I waited 1 second and hit... Fook me! This fish went nuts and zzzzzzzzzz. Zzzzzzzzz zzzzzz zZzZzzzz... Line just kept going!! I eventually landed the fish that was a tap under 4lb in superb condition...what a start to the dry fly for me.. Some people ask why I have joined the peacock and that is the reason, where in the country do you get wild fish of that power that push your fishing to the limits..

I carried on the day searching out fish and most were willing to take the dry...the hatches were sparse and nothing really got going on a hatch but all were willing to take a well presented fly..
I had a lot of fish today and don't want to gloat on numbers as my plan this year is to search out quality fish..
I did have another fantastic fish but that's another tail for another day...
Keeping it real and Living the Dream on my Wye!!
Will post pictures when online..
Nice one
Glen
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Night Fishing Has Begun!

During the summer I actually spend more time fishing after dark than I do during the day. Not only do I spend more time fishing then, but it is also my favorite fishing as well. The lake is quiet, the people are all gone, kids and pretty much everyone else are all in bed and I just sit on the dock sightfishing and catching monster fish like this all night long! BTW, for those of you who dont know me, I am a very large 280 lb man. Big guy, big Nate, big boned, and husky have been my nicknames and clothes sizes since I started out the 4th grade well over 100 lbs and nearly weighing twice as much as the other boys in the class. Anyhow my point is that its not too easy to make a 1 lb fish look big with me in the background.

So moving on, I mentioned sight fishing during the middle of the night? You did indeed read correctly. I have green monster underwater lights 45 feet out from the end of my dock and they light up the water like nothing you have ever seen before. I can see every fish that swims within casting distance of my dock all night long. Not only can I see the fish, but the light also attracts tons of microscopic phytoplankton, aquatic invertebrates, and insects. You know what happens when you congregate such delicious food items, so I wont even waste my timing describing the cycle of small fish, medium fish, and large fish that come to visit this favorite midnight snack shack. Here is a pic of a green monster, it is very hard to take a pic of it glowing with a cheapy camera, but here is the closest resemblance of what one looks like.

Two years ago in July I was eating dinner with Bob Lusk and Ray Scott down in Arlington, Texas and we were talking about Ray's personal fishing lake down in Alabama. Supposedly its pretty good bass fishing there. (BTW, he kills 100's of bass from his lake every year). Anyhow I let him know how badly his catch and release theory for bass has messed up private water bass fishing! He completely agreed, anyhow again the story I wanted to tell was about how I traded him a green monster underwater fishing light for some of his fishing rods. When he got back to Alabama he had a new green light waiting for him to install and he actually did. He liked the light so much, he bought 5 more and actually set up a meeting with Ronnie Dennis my good friend who makes the lights. He wanted to put his name on the lights and market them for Ronnie, but he wanted just a bit too much money to do that, so the green lights name remains Green Monster Fishing Light.

Anyhow, most nights I actually dont even fish by the lights, I just sit back till well past midnight just watching the fish eat each other and the bugs. Friday night though we stayed out at the lake and saw some big gills cruising around about 10 pm. Justin and I decided to try and catch a few. Even though all the pics are of me, Justin did catch a few. His pics just didnt turn out too good. (I wonder who took those shots?) Its not easy taking pics in complete darkness. Here are a couple more of the big boys. This was a 12 inch, 18 ounce bruiser.

Just a 10 incher.

We also caught several small crappie, a couple trout, and a hybrid striped bass. This was the only other decent pic that turned out. I am going to have to learn how to take pics better in complete darkness. I dont think the auto setting on my $50 camera is going to cut it after dark.

We spent the weekend working on all kinds of projects out at the lake. Docks, fish cages, bathroom additions, spring cleanup and organizing, etc. I am beat. I did take Tyden down fishing for northern pike with a number 3 blue fox spinner for about 10 minutes. He thought he had a pike on and was super excited, but it turned out to be this giant bluegill. (its fun to have a handful of pike in the lake just for the slightly remote chance of hooking into one. Makes fishing with a 9 year old boy just a bit more exciting for him)

Then later in the day we were doing some work on a dock half way down the lake and Tyden and Noah tag teemed this big 5 lb Hybrid Striped Bass. Tyden caught it all by himself with a fire tiger rapala shad rap and when I looked over to check on the commotion he had Noah helping him reel it in.

So Mae and her cousins thought they were pretty big stuff on Saturday. They packed their lunches and went for a hike and picnic with no adults. It was great, they walked about a 1/2 mile to the other side of the lake, ate their lunch and didnt come back for over an hour. This was their biggest unsupervised adventure to date. I do say I am looking forward to many more unsupervised adventures, seems like the last 4 years have been complete dependance and supervision.

Land Management Timber Work

This spring we have been doing some awesome land management projects and consultations for folks looking to buy a particular piece of property as well as for folks looking to spruce up their piece of property. Anyhow, this latest project is definitely one worth talking about! This particular father/son owned piece of property in Fulton County has been carefully and meticulously manicured for raising, holding, observing, and harvesting trophy deer. For this project, we were not hired for our knowledge but rather our backs (and equipment).

The land management plan in place on this property is like 5 levels past any land management program I have seen implemented to date. The owners have more knowledge of whitetail deer (and more trophy deer hanging on the wall in their cabin) than most of the professional fellas you see on TV. Every square inch of this 600 acre property is being managed and maintained for raising and harvesting deer. It goes way beyond just planting food and hoping the deer will come.
Many people think that simply feeding deer is the key to harvesting them, just the same way they think that simply feeding fish is all the management it takes to grow trophy fish. Let me just say that there is just so much more than simply planting a food plot or merely setting a timer on a feeder. Regardless of how much food is available naturally or supplementally, consistently growing fish and deer takes paying attention to all of the many very tiny details, instead of just focusing on the one big detail.

For this property, 5% of it is planted in various annual and perennial food plots placed strategically throughout. Here is a clover field overlooking the big timber.


1/2 acre to 3 acre plots are spread out everywhere. The food is strategically planted and the focus is on year round nutrition rather than just hunting season attractant. 12 months out of the year, the deer living on this farm have more than enough food, water and shelter and never need to leave. Oh yeah, water holes like this one have been strategically placed throughout.

On top of the supplemental food that is planted every year, the property is managed for providing optimum natural forage as well. Every year, certain trees are hinge cut and they provide great forage for a couple years and then once they die they turn into great shelter. Also a wide variety of shrubs and nutrition producing trees are maintained as well. Approximately 20% of the property is planted and harvested annually as well. These row crops provide quite a bit of food too.

I would estimate that about 50% of this hunting farm is deer sanctuary. Humans dont go in these places ever. Thick native grasses and big knarly timber make up the majority of these man forbidden areas. The forbidden areas are never hunted, walked upon, or messed with period. Never give the big boys a reason to leave, and they simply will stay put.

Not only is the land managed for raising deer, but hunting the deer efficiently and properly takes quite a bit of effort as well. Stand sites are picked and then funnels and pinch points are then man made to make sure the deer walk within shooting distance of the stands. Here is a pic of a spot where we piled up thick brush completely blocking access to this popular food plot from the wrong side of the timber.



Deer can come in on only one side and they have to walk within 30 yards of this stand not only to get into the food plot, but more importantly for the bucks to see who is in the food plot. They have to walk by this stand. I cant quite describe this to really do it justice, but they have done a tremendous amount of thinking, planning, observing, and work over the last 10 years to create the absolute perfect hunting stands. Here is a deer stand in this huge white oak tree right on a trail between two different types of food plots. Trees like this are very easy to stay hidden in!


The entire property is divided into sections on a map. There is a written management plan for each section. We have until the second week of May to get as many sections done as possible. Once the does start having fawns, all the work on the property is done for the year. Having the fawns born and raised on the property without any human distractions is pretty important to keeping that deer on your property forever. Justin and some of our part time help have been performing the selective tree cutting and hinging, brush pile making, and various other labor for the last week. They finished 5 sections and hope to get a couple more done by the cutoff date.

I cant quite describe this management plan enough to do it justice, and realize that this isnt possible for everyone in every situation. But for this Father/Son duo, this is their goal, passions, and dreams all coming true. I cant say that I would manage my property like this if I had some, because I love mushroom hunting, 4 wheeler riding, camping, and exploring, but to each his own. The many deer hanging in their cabin would make any professional hunter or Deer and Turkey classic attendee jealous and asking questions.

Sharks

Last year my cousin and his buddies caught a hammerhead shark that weighed about a half a ton while shark fishing down by Miami. This year my Aunt Karin caught a much more manageable shark while fishing from the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama.


Karin has a great job, nice country estate, boat, 4 wheelers, trailers, tools, all her teeth, cleans deer and fish, and is single. Hint, Hint.

No pics of her boats and 4 wheelers have surfaced yet, but this pic is just in from one of her favorite sisters.

This little Piggy....

Today I took Doc Usdan and Travis fishing. We decided to split our day and go look for some big fish in the morning and chase white bass in the afternoon. We geared up the streamer rods and set out in search of a pig brownie. I think the Sun was our enemy today, so we put the streamer rods away and got out the indicator rigs. We quickly started slaying slab rainbows! After both guys each caught a bunch of the big boys, we pulled out and headed to the Whitie hole and had a pretty good bite on them as well! The sun was high and the air was sort of cool. We probably couldn't have asked for better weather or better fishing!

Z Fish Report (4/8/10)

       Photo (by Mike Bulkley) - Jack Noble, age 7, from Indianapolis, Indiana about to release his first sail while fishing with Capt. Francisco on the Huntress about 20 miles south of Zihuatanejo.

       The water has actually warmed up a bit, with a band of 84° (surface temp.) water between the 15 to 35 mile mark, and extending all up and down the coast for at least 50 miles in each direction.

       My right hand had a serious encounter with a machete, and I have been out of commission. So, for the "on the water report and observations," Mike Bulkley, the owner of the panga Huntress, came to my rescue. He emailed me the following:
    Fishing has been great inshore again this week with lots of Jacks, Bonita and big Jurel (jack crevalle) off Ixtapa Island. Offshore is still spotty with good catches of sails, Stripes and Blues of you can find the fish. We have been running 20 to 30 miles south before wetting the lines. We had a triple Sailfish hookup on Monday.
         Also, while talking on the phone with Mike, he offered the following additional information: "Santiago, on the panga Gitana, had released 3 sails and a striped marlin at the 32 mile mark.
     The Huntress was working the area at 20 miles, and near where Margarito on the cruiser Gaby was hooked up to a blue marlin, when we had the triple hookup on sailfish. Plus, the water is clear at 12 miles, but deep blue at 20 miles."

Ed Kunze

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!