Cod & Ling in the sun

Superb weather this weekend, along the same lines of this time last year 26 degrees on Saturday.

The weekend started with a visit to the SW on Friday afternoon, fished for around 3 hours till around 9pm. No sign of a Bass, nada. Having been down there working anyway it was no big deal I would however like to get my first one of the year sometime very soon please. If I had stayed till the light went I might have had more of a chance but the fact I had a two hour drive home and a 3.30am start on Saturday played a major part in the early finish. Les had invited me over for an east coast session with decent prospects so it would be worth the effort..

I dozed off at around midnight, alarm went off and up and out the house I went. Lynn asked me if that was me just coming to bed! I headed off to Edinburgh to meet with Les, short trip to Dunbar to a flat calm sea and the prospect of some fish at last. No disappointment this time, plenty of Codling for us both with Les getting a number of double shots on jellies. I opted for a baited pirk no shortage of fish for us both. We also tried two diving vanes trolled behind the boat which produced the first Mackerel of the year for me and some beautiful fresh bait for Ling.

The best Codling went about 6 pounds and we also caught Pollack, Coalie, Ling, Pouting, Launce and the solitary Mackerel.

The last time I wore the shirt in these picture was in Cape Verde in May 08. Checked the pocket before it went into the wash last night and found 1000 CV Escudos, couldn’t remember what they were worth. My excitement was short lived £8.21, not to worry; I still have the Lotto to check!

fly fishing trout (rock county, wi)

In my pursuit of trout on the fly I’m finding myself diving head first into the unexplored (at least to me) area of western Wisconsin . Every location and every stream has a certain charm and personality unique to only itself. This Rock county creek is no different.

cool looking rock county creek

The scenery here was wonderful and the water was skinny, fast, and cold. There must have been some deeper water here but I never did find it. I wasn’t able to devote quite as much time to hiking and exploring as I would have liked. Rubber waders and a hot day will kick as tired guys ass. The banks were starting to become overgrown and the flowers were starting to bloom. This place in general seemed to be a little more unaltered. Not sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. I wouldn’t have minded a little more bank improvements and some extra fish holding structures. On the other hand, the untouched look has some merit too.

streamside

In the first 15 minutes of casting I was able to wrangle a slob brown which really set my expectations high. It was a healthy fish that really put all my skills to the test. The worst part of the battle was the actual landing of the fish. I was forced to jump from a 3 foot weedy bank into the pool I was fishing just to reach the fish. I tried to net him 3 times and just couldn’t reach him as he was thrashing wildly on the surface. I’m sure I spooked every fish for a quarter mile but I was just playing the hand I was dealt. Either way, I got a picture and released the fish!!

a good brown

With all that excitement when I first arrived, the rest of the day turned out to be a real disappointment. I spent the rest of the time sweating while walking from shallow pool to shallow pool. The sun was beating down on me with absolutely zero protection from the sun. I was able to snipe 2 more small browns from some of the creek bends but I felt much of the water here was way to thin to hold fish. Again, maybe I just didn’t make it far enough in to the wilderness but I do see why they have to stock this creek. As a side note, I caught more ticks then I did trout today…

a small brown trout to end the day

The Fineup's

Today Jamie and I did a group trip. I took Chris,Kevin, and Daddy Fineup. It was the warmest day of the year and it got hot! I mean, not just the weather, the fishing was excellent! The guys had very limited fly fishing experience but they all caught on quickly and got to waylaying on the fish. We caught fish everywhere we went and as the afternoon went on, it just kept getting better. Everybody learned alot and had a good time...

Christy and Taylor

Last Wednesday I took Chrisy and Taylor Williamson out for their first fly fishing adventure. Before we started out, we practiced casting for just a few minutes in the parking lot of the launch ramp. Once we got on the water it was on! We had a beautiful morning and the water was just right. Caddis were in the air which made it even more fun. The fish where dialed in on them... It was a perfect occasion for some mother son bonding!

Drake's Easter Seals Appointment

This morning I headed out to a pond consultation in Princeville at 5:30 am and made it back in time to go to Drake's evaluation at Easter Seals early intervention program at 10 am.

He was evaluated by 2 different physical therapists and they jiggled and jostled, yanked and pulled on him like crazy and he just sat there and laughed at em through the whole ordeal. I'm telling you the kid is just fat, happy and laid back.

He is 3 months old now, but his overall test results came back that he physically is at a 2 month old level. Some stuff he excelled at, most stuff not so much. Even though he didnt score perfectly normal on this stuff, we are overall very encouraged and very thankful to have progressed this far at this stage. He really is overcoming so much and has so much potential!

Stuff like hearing and muscle tone and fist clinching and stiffness and head floppyness he tested low at a 1 month old level. Those are our red flag areas that we have been given exercises to do at home to try and correct. Stuff like communication, speech, awareness, vision, and cuteness he tested at 3, 4, and even 5 month old levels! Very encouraging!! Along with his at home exercises he will see a physical therapist every other week for the next 6 months.

They are still monitoring him for a mild case of cerebral palsy and slow motor skill development due to the stage 2 and 3 hemorraging stemming from his bleeding near his brain in his ventricals at delivery. Our gameplan and really only option for treatment at this point is to continue with therapy and working with him and try to squeeze every single ounce of potential out of him as humanly possible.

Our next important appointment is next thursday with the Ear Nose Throat specialist. We will hopefully find out the extent of his hearing loss, whether he will need tubes in his ears to drain the fluid, and also come up with a gameplan for hearing aids if they find out they will help in any way. We are hoping that in his right ear the nerves are still pulsing and it isnt completely deaf cause if they are still alive they will try to stimulate them with the hearing aids.

I am gonna have to scrounge up a few pics, because the boy is getting FAT and is about the cutest boy on the planet. He has all of my best attributes: happy, cute, laid back, funny, fat, and super smart yet kinda dumb. I already know with this kind of start into life that God has great things planned for this boy- he is definitely not normal and is going to be a world changer.

Crabs like soft plastics also..............

Z Fish Report (5/20/10)

          The 80° blue water is back on the beach, with the clear and clean water having moved in to about the 6 mile mark. Historically, this is typical of the 1st or 2nd week of May. Our bread and butter sailfish will be around, but this is also the time when the marlin and tuna move in. Plus, the warm water on the beach brings back our Roosters…the most exciting game fish on a fly rod of them all.

Commander Ellis Skidmore, 88 years young, from Madras OR with his about to be released sailfish and Annibel on the panga Avaspa The sail was caught at the 19 mile mark. Photo by Eric Skidmore.

          Fishing has been steadily improving this last week, with several notable catches. The boats are each averaging about 1 sailfish and a striped or blue marlin a day. But, there are only 8 to 12 boats a day fishing. Tourism is really slow right now, with many of the better captains sitting at home.

Sara Alexander of Littlerock, AR about to release her striped marlin fishing with Francisco on the Huntress

Photo by Mike Bulkley

          Santiago, on the panga Gitana, emailed me Bob Majewski from Texas caught and released a 200 pound blue marlin, and Jim McKenna from New York released 4 striped marlin and 2 sailfish for two days of fishing.
          Mike Bulkley, owner of the super panga Huntress, with Captain Francisco, told me this last Thursday through today they had a great 3 days on the water with 1 blue marlin, 2 striped marlin and 2 sailfish. The marlin were all taken on separate days, but within a few tenths of a mile at the 29 mile mark on a 180° heading.

Mike Herrity from Chantilly, Virginia. While fishing with Francisco on the Huntress, the 250 pound blue marlin swiped and missed the first two baits, then inhaled the third; right into the gill rakes.  

        Adolfo, on the panga Dos Hermanos was real happy when he called me. “The roosters are coming back. We got two today up near Pantla”. He predicts with the warm water on the beaches again, we will be in full swing with the roosters in two more weeks.

Ed Kunze