It's little wonder the Native Ultimate is so popular among kayak anglers

My new fleet of Native Watercraft Ultimate 14.5 hybrid kayaks. Their stability is unmatched.

Of course, selecting a kayak is a personal thing. What’s good for one angler might not be good for another.

With that in mind, I’ve witnessed an interesting phenomenon over the last year. I’ve seen the sales of Native Watercraft’s Ultimate 14.5 skyrocket, while other brands have stayed the course or even plummeted in sales.

Why is that?

Well, I’m probably not the right guy to explain this because I’m a Native Watercraft-endorsed guide. I can try to provide an objective opinion, but, of course, I’m biased.

I hooked up with Native Watercraft in 2007 shortly after the company unveiled its Ultimate line (http://www.nativewatercraft.com/ult_14.cfm) of fishing vessels. The Ultimate isn’t your typical “sit-on-top” fishing boat. It’s more correctly called a “hybrid.” It’s sort of a cross between a kayak and canoe.

Some argue it’s not a kayak at all. I don’t care. They can call it an apricot and I’ll still keep fishing out of it.

What attracted me was the Ultimate’s spacious interior, its tunnel-hull design and that fact that I could stand up and sight-fish. Imagine the advantage you have when you can actually stand up. The boat also tracks extremely well and is efficient.

I was fishing out of a Heritage Redfish 14 at the time. I owned three of them and they did the job.

Since Heritage and Native Watercraft were owned by the same company (Legacy Paddlesports), I was allowed to purchase an Ultimate and fish out of it. The lone caveat was that my clients still out to fish out of the Heritages.

A couple of years later, Native Watercraft invited me to join its guide network, a hand-chosen group scattered across the country.

I jumped at the chance.

I had discovered the Ultimate was the ultimate.

So, I sold the Heritages and bought two additional Ultimates.

I guess part of the gig as an endorsed guide is to sell the boats to the clients. At least we’re supposed to extol their virtues so the clients go out and buy them.

I don’t have to say a word; they sell themselves.

They’re certainly the most comfortable fishing kayaks on the market today.

When it came time to upgrade my fleet, I put the three older Ultimates up for sale. All were sold in less than two hours. And I had a waiting list of more than 20 hopeful anglers – just in case one of the buyers backed out.

None did. One of the buyers was from Sarasota, one from Tampa and one from Daytona Beach. They all bought their boats sight unseen and no one even tried to haggle the price.

You can paddle your sit-on-top. You can pedal in your Hobie.

But you’ll never fish out of a more comfortable kayak than Native Watercraft’s Ultimate.

And my clients are all the proof you need. I’ve had anglers up to 82 years of age and no complaints.

The fish don’t always bite as often as we’d like, but we don’t have sore rear ends at the end of the day.

Steve Gibson

Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing

www.kayakfishingsarasota.com

http://gibbysfishingblog.blogspot.com/

(941) 284-3406

spring e-magazine from fishing headquarters

Another great e-magazine from fishing headquarters, be sure to check out my article on spring steelhead success starting on page 46!

Open publication - Free publishing - More stripers

Are They Listening ?

SENATE COMMITTEE

HEARS FROM PUBLIC

Vote To Follow

we can say it no better.

 

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.. The shouting is over. Opponents of HB 309 caused headlines. The Montana Senate and The Governor should be listening.
.. The committee must now deliberate and vote. We're waiting. There are better reports from Helena, Montana than we can write. Read them below:

===> Report, WILL FISH FOR WORK,
===> Report, NBC MONTANA, (with video,)
===> First person report, THE HEADHUNTER,
===> Google search, Montana HB 309.
.. And that's the way it is.

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Lighting The Fires

LETTERS AND COMMENTS

Read 'Em & Smile

the statehouse is crackling
*************
RALLY IN HELENA TODAY: 2 PM

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.. It's not a firestorm yet but Montanans are coming alive in newspapers and in person.
.. Today is the Montana Senate hearing on HB 309. Shortly news of the results will be in the papers and on the Web. Audio and video will be available by tomorrow or the next day. T.V. will be the first to report it.
.. Live streaming video may be available. Click THIS PAGE now. We'll keep you informed. In the meantime check the following:

*******

===> Flathead Area Representatives for HB 309, read the comments in the FLATHEAD BEACON,
===> LaVerne Sultz Response, FLATHEAD BEACON,
===> T.U. Letter in BOZEMAN CHRONICLE,
===> The Lorax speaks:
..... Chi Wulff,
..... Missoulian, (Senator Barrett - Dillon,)
..... Montana Standard, (Senator Barrett - Dillon,)
===> NBC Montana, (poor summary,)
===> Trout Underground, (good reporting,)
===> Summary & call to arms; Will Fish For Work.
===> Call in the Cavalry !!! at Chi Wulff.

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.

Not too long now....

Im sure we have all faced conditions like this above, flat calm with little or no life in the water. These are difficult conditions for catching bass and frustrating when you know the fish are there but they just seem a bit lazy or shy away from bigger lures.

I like to use small subtle lures in such conditions however a lure I have just got my hands on recently is the sasuke 75 shad, I know some guys swear by this lure and it is a proven bass catcher. And I am sure this little lure will be very effective in these calm conditions. The sasuke 75 shad is a sinking lure which has a really nice tight rolling action and you can really feel this lure vibrating on the retrieve.

Another lure which has just arrived is the zonk gateride SG Teaser. I like to use bright visible lures when conditions get rough and the water clarity can become an issue. This is one lure I will certainly have in the box when water clarity isn't great.

Tight lines,

James

They're Back

MIDGES MEET SPAWNERS

Dazzling Days Bring Action

don't get too complacent

Lowland Fishers Out Early And Happy

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.. The pre-spring meltdown has kicked fish, fishers, and midges in the butt, so to speak.

Madison Maulers

.. It's not spring yet but there has been a spate of nice days and enough bright sun to lengthen the icicles and charge the pineal gland. We're anticipating getting on the river just like the lowland fisher's are doing.
.. Yesterday was glorious. The sun was visible for most of the day. The clouds were broken and billowed over the continental divide like so much cotton candy, and the thermometer saw 40° and a bit more.
.. Neighbors dashed to the Madison River between the lakes early and spent most of the day because of the breeze - it never showed up. Midges were in abundance. Fishers were in abundance. Fish of the largest kind have finally made their presence known between the lakes and all is right with the world for now.
.. We shan't dwell on it but it was one of those days when "oops," "damitall," and "ohshit," were not heard from the lips of fishers. All bits of fluff seemed to work. The fish are hungry voracious, vivacious, and eager.

Yellowstone Winter Grub

.. The neighbors, of course, used midge clusters to start with. Then drowned and mangled ants, and caddis, and even some streamers to gull the fish. Almost the whole box got exercised and the flies used were local favorites. The Madison Mauler and the Feather Duster ended up being more effective than midge clusters during the early going.

CDC Ant

.. By 1:00 PM little streamers, Shop Vacs, and drowned ants were taking fish with amazing regularity. There is not an ant or caddis in sight - don't tell the fish!
.. We used our Scarlet Ibis and Winter Grub with satisfying success until the shadows covered the water.
.. Some younger legs stayed in the cold water until dark. One of the reported perfect flies for the late afternoon and evening was a drowned CDC Ant. Un-greased and fished just in or below the film it was the go-to fly until dark.
.. It's nice to see the sun for so great a duration during any single day. It lulls us into thinking that Spring is here. We know better. We know it's just a teaser. We know there's more bite in our upcoming weather - BUT, for now, it's very deep, and blindingly white, and deadly still  -- it sure is nice.

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We're using this wallpaper as a reminder of yesterday.

.

One word 'was like a babies arm youth'

Had a meet up today with syndicate member phil (tyhmilis) at Dovedale
Phil had been on the car park since 8 in the morning and was buzzing to get going, due to commitments i strolled up at 11.30 and made my way up to see the manc lad 2..
Phil looked shattered and had said he had been through many a pool with nothing doing..We took a stroll and with him being new to this river i told him to chill out and wait for it to warm up as it had being fishing poor in the day..we went back out of the valley into the sunshine and decided to fish together with a single rod between us, this is something i do quite often now with JT and i find it a great crack as watching someone can be very rewarding, picking up tips and having a good crack.



Well Phil being another manc lad like Jt there is always going to be some piss take along the way and Phil is right 'mad far it' lol

 showed Phil another pool that is rarely fished and new we might find a fish or two..i worked down the pool with the typical 2 bug set up and had nothing for my efforts..Phil picked the rod up first cast and bumped into a small war battered grayling..he was happy as mustard and i got a right buzz from seeing his spirits lifted..

The sun was out and the Large Dark Olives started to come off more than i have ever seen for the time of year.. nothing was rising but a great site to see, these ldo's seem to be huge this year and very dark brown almost black, i would say a size 17 tiemco!!
We walked around pools together and started to take the odd Grayling out here and there but never more than one fish per pool..
Fishing with one rod can take the pressure off the river too and this is something Jt and myself are working on to keep our own beat in good condition..
Phil hooked a absolute superb Grayling around a pound and half in a pool i have never seen a fish come from, nice to see someone who does not know the river and will pick a pool i never fish, this is a lesson for me as we are all victims of fishing the pools we know produce fish..

Towards the end of the day i led my nymphs through a pool and the line stopped dead, i lifted to feel the horrible feeling of being stuck on the bottom...I started to lift and the snag moved up slowly.. i was waiting to see a huge Branch being dragged up when the line started to move upstream at the slowest pace i have ever seen..i realised i was into a fish and \phil could not believe his eyes when it started to take line of upstream...this was no trout, more like a big carp at the end of its fight...it turned into the current and took me down stream right past Phils feet and we could not get a sight of the fish, it was bottom hugging and i could not lift its head..at one point i saw my top fly come out of the water so i knew it had taken the jt flasback..
Phils kept saying 'your in something a bit special here arr kid' this is when my heart started to pound...the fish come right into the back eddie and all i saw was the biggest dorsall fin i have ever seen, it was dark black with no red which i found strange, i did think for a instance that i was into a land locked Salmon but the big dorsal fin was a huge giveaway...i know knew i was into a fish of a liftime and got my head on....the fish was starting to come off the bottom and i was winning the battle until the most strangest thing in fishing happened to me...
The fish was wallowing around on the other bank and then the rod lifted up in the air but with a fish on still....a thrashy trout appeared on the surface and i found myself retrieving a small trout of around half a pound!!!! oh my god, the trout had taken the other dropper and this in turn made the point fly unhook itself from the Grayling??? We could not believe it, i was absolutely gutted and Phil looked the same...the worst part was it being a old tatty thick stockie!! thank god the two clubs do not stock with these poor fish anymore because i dont think a wild fish would of done that !!

Well shaking and gutted Phil and myself had one of my Kelly Kettles brew and we sat going over what had just happened...i had just hooked a fish that i would not even dare say the weight or lenght but thats fishing and hopefully i will get it again one day..

I rang JT later telling him the crack and he just said ' only huge fish do what i had explained to him '
Well 'was like a babies arm youth'
LTD
(i dont know)
Nice one
Glen

perfect