Something old, something new...something SILVER

Carolyn and I tied the knot last week down at WaterSound Beach and then headed straight to Belize for our honeymoon. We enjoyed nice weather all week, along with good tides and plenty of bonefish.

We arrived on Ambergris Caye via a Tropic Air puddle jumper and flew directly over the many flats and channels that made their way through the maze of mangrove islands. After landing, we drove through town to where we were staying - immediately noting that it helps to know your fish species when navigating the streets of San Pedro.

Tarpon St.Permit St.

We started our marriage out on the right foot by taking a flats trip on the first day of our honeymoon. We fished with George Bradley on his panga and were in schools of young bonefish all morning. They were tailing and mudding as they fed through the rising tide. Gotcha flies and my 6wt rod were the ticket.

The highlight of the day was when Carolyn set the hook on her first saltwater fly-caught fish, which resulted in as many runs as smiles.

Carolyn, bonefish, and guide George BradleyWe caught 9 bonefish between the two of us on the first morning, and even got a short glimpse at a few permit that were working a channel edge.

I fished with George again on Friday, this time searching for the elusive permit. Though we only saw one cruising the flats in a hurry, we found plenty of bonefish again, and I caught 10 that day in just a few hours' time. George Bradley is the man to fish with for anyone traveling to Belize. (Tel 011.501.226.2179, Email roxsam@btl.net)

We found some juvenile tarpon rolling in the lagoon on the back side of the island

Belikin, the beer of choice in Belize

On Wednesday, we went reef fishing and snorkeling. We caught some little snappers in the morning, barbecued them for lunch on a nearby beach, and then went snorkeling at the Hol Chan marine preserve where we were joined by a large nurse shark and many more interesting types of marine life.

Mutton, grey, and mangrove snappers

It was hard to leave the shady beaches and colorful waters to come home.

8/14 Skinny skinny

Fished with my dad and Carolyn's dad this morning under overcast skies and a full tide. We've had storms the last 2-3 days and the water was pretty churned up, despite the heavier push of new tide water during the morning incoming swing. After some searching, though, we found some clearer water and a few willing redfish tailing up in the skinniest of skinny waters. Congrats to Big Phil on his first sightfished redfish.

before...

...after...

PSJ

Had a pre-wedding fishing trip with two of my best friends from home this past weekend. Matthew and Bucky drove down and we met over in Port St Joe to fish for a few days. Though we had late season tarpon on our minds, we came prepared for a variety of species.

Day 1: We fished over in Crooked Island Sound and ended up getting on some tailing reds during the morning since the beach front was pretty rough. With the outgoing tide, the reds were tailing hard in the thick eel grass. We managed two reds and some trout as well.

Matthew w/ redfish, pre-sun burn redfish breakfast

me w/ tailing red

In the afternoon, we put the boat on the trailer and headed over to St. Joe Bay. Its the middle of scallop season and there were boats everywhere. Still, the lush grass beds and clear water over there are pretty awesome. We finished the day with some fresh oysters on the half shell at the Indian Pass Raw Bar, then headed back to the Dixie Belle for some shut eye.

St. Joe Bay grass flatsBack Country on the roost

Day 2: We had much better weather and headed out to CIS in search for tarpon. Though its the tail end of the tarpon season, we were able to see a bunch and have some decent shots at singles and doubles migrating through. Matthew had one fish nose the fly to the boat and turn at the last moment, but that was the closest we got. In between tarpon, however, we got into some rather large spanish mackerel on the fly.

In search of silver...Bucky and Matthew, pretending to be friends

nice Spanish mack on fly

Day 3: Bucky and Matthew had to head back today, so we sat on the hook for a few hours hoping to have a few more shots at tarpon. We saw a few, but for the most part it was slower than the previous day. We took out about 11:00 and everyone headed their respective ways. Great weekend in some beautiful waters.

More reds...

Went back out to the bay this morning with Carolyn, but we were met with unfriendly wind gusts when we got to the ramp. We went on anyway, figuring we could blind cast some grass flats for reds and trout. Not too long into our first flat, Carolyn hooked a nice little trout. Fortunately, the wind died and the white caps disappeared about the same time the sun came out, and we were then able to sight cast to a few reds. They were mostly just laid up on top of the submerged grass, but the sun lit them up so well they were almost neon orange in color. Most of the fish were solo, with the biggest group being 4-wide. We ended the day with a trout and 3 reds ranging from 17"-30".

August reds

Got to slip out for a quick morning trip today with my good friend Jason Stacy, manager of the Old Florida Outfitters shop where SWE is based. Its always a treat fishing with someone who can see and throw to fish as well as Jason can, and then will hop up on the pushpole and switch ends of the boat. We were dragging bottom all morning trying to find some crawling redfish. We saw some with their backs out of the water and a few tipping their tails up. Though we didn't see a ton of fish, we still managed 2 to the boat - both on a 6wt with a little shrimp fly that has been working well all summer.

 Jason with a healthy panhandle red

My fish had some crazy spots going on...

TARPON

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of taking Tom Wilbanks and his son-in law out on their first search for panhandle tarpon. The fishing gods were certainly smiling on us that day as hoards of fish swam by out boat throughout the morning and afternoon. We experienced several pushes of big pods of tarpon all day long. They were just pouring by the boat, usually in groups of at least 6 fish. We were able to feed two fish, one of which never came tight. Tommy did come tight on his fish though, then he proceeded to bring the fish to the boat after a couple jumps and about 30 minutes of pulling. Big congrats on his first tarpon. Here are some photos Capt. Christian Yergens got of us as he idled past during the fight.

Variety day 7/14

Woke up today to thundering clouds and gloomy skies, but as soon as the sun burned the cloud cover off the horizon, we had some pretty good weather. Light winds, good sunlight, and a pretty high tide on the bay.  We first found a group of about 30 redfish, but they were pretty spooky. So we moved on to an area that I knew the fish would be feeding in. Sure enough, the fish were there but they were chasing minnows rather than tailing up on crabs - making it harder to target individual fish. We finally found a fish so shallow his eyeball was above the surface, and I waded over to it and caught it on a little small shrimp fly I have been using a lot lately. Nice little fish with unique spots.

Just when I thought the day was over, I got an invite to fish some local bass ponds with my good friend Jason Stacy. I quickly obliged and loaded up the 6wt and a topwater deer hair diver. We proceeded to catch as many 2-3 lb bass as we could handle - and my bonus fish was a decent size catfish that also ate my topwater fly.

Never before have I caught a redfish, a largemouth bass, and a catfish in the same day.

Skinny water tailers - 7/6

Had some great weather over the holiday weekend, low winds and good sunlight. The tides were high this week and the fish were taking advantage of the increased water flow. I fished Sunday with a friend from Birmingham for a much needed day off. Travis and I found a bunch of fish tailing very shallow, mostly in groups of 2-3 fish at a time. Though they weren't the biggest reds in the world, we had a great time picking them off with the fly rod as we inched our way along the grass flat and took turns with poling duties. 

Travis with a healthy 24" red

Me with another victim of the little shrimp pattern we were throwing

6/21 afternoon reds

Fished with Fred and Larry today from Tallahassee for some afternoon redfish up in the bay. Once the wind died a little we were able to work a few flats and find some nice fish. They were cruising tight along the bank while the water was still up, providing us with some great visual shots.

End of the Road, FL Keys 5/13-5/16

Spent a few days last week down south in the Florida Keys chasing tarpon. Day one was out of Islamorada, and the trip officially began the night before at the Lorelei with a blackened fish sandwhich and some cold Kaliks. 

In the first hour of the first morning of my trip I found myself and my 11wt fly rod tight on a tarpon of about 80 lbs. Got a bunch of great jumps right at the boat, and landed her after close to 30 minutes of pulling. That afternoon the wind quit and everything slicked off. It made feeding the fish quite difficult (and at least for me, impossible), but the calm waters took the magic out of spotting some big laid up residents in the back country. 100+ lb fish on a 2-3 ft grass flat is quite a sight to see, as they look like 6-7 ft sections of submerged tree trunks.

 

Day two was a blow out, on my own around Big Pine Key. Day three I enjoyed sharing bow time with Glenn Pittard on Marshall Cutchin's skiff around the waters of Key West. Both of them run the show for the fly fishing media site, MidCurrent. It was such a treat to learn from and listen to the stories that Marshall has to tell from his years guiding those waters.

 

Finally, Day 4 things turned back on for us. I was fishing with my friend Dave Dalu - the first time we'd shared a day on the water since I moved from Charleston about a year ago. Back in the Big Pine area and Dave's playground, we found some happy fish both on the ocean as well as some back country basins. We fed 9 that day, and I got to watch 7 of them from the poling platform. I fed two fish and jumped them both off after the hook set. No fish to the boat that day, but it was a wonderful way to end the trip.

Dave's trip, however, was just beginning - as he stayed down there to fish in the prestigious Golden Fly Invitational Tarpon Tournament. After 3 days of competition, Dave came out on top - an impressive follow up to his 2007 win in the Hawley. Congrats, my friend.

April Hybrids

Been fishing some still water around Nashville the last few weeks for hybrids and stripers. Early mornings and late evenings have been hot, with fish feeding on baitfish patterns fished under sink tip lines.

Also got to see the spawning carp do their thing up in the shallows at the lake. 

4/5 East TN Smallmouth

Went to Knoxville this weekend to visit a good friend of mine from home. While there, we took his canoe out for a float on the Holston River just outside of town in search of smallmouth bass. It was overcast and the water was a little off-color from the recent rain showers, but we were able to find about a half dozen or so smallies throughout the afternoon. Most of them were in the deeper stretches around structure, but some fish were actually rising to the surface on some tiny aquatic insects.

3/27 Panhandle

Back on the flats for some more schooling fish with Mel and Lucas Bailey from Cullman, AL. Despite the wind, the fish were very active - pushing large wakes as they moved around in the shallow water. We found small schools on just about every flat we fished, including a large school of big fish on our last flat of the day. Mel connected early with a 24" red, and Lucas followed up later with a very nice 28" fish that surprisingly had no spot.

3/25 Panhandle redfish

Fished the Brodericks from Indiana today for some spring time redfishing on the bay. The reds were schooled up and became active as the sun warmed the flats throughout the day. We saw plenty of fish pushing, tailing, and rolling - and three nice reds were brought to boat.