A Look Back

A River Runs Through It aired over the weekend. Of course I watched. I've lost track of how many times I've seen the 1992 film, but it never gets old.
Brad Pitt and Tom Skerritt are the main stars, but the bit players, IMO, pulled their weight as well. One of those is Susan Traylor, who played Rawhide, the rough-around-edges companion of Neal Burns, the loser brother of Jessie, Norman Maclean's girlfriend.

There's a classic scene when Neal and Rawhide meet Paul and Norman for early-morning fishing after a night on the town. Who can forget, "Buster here wants to fish.'

The clip has been edited with special effects, but is still worth a look.

A Forgotten Classic

The inside cover of Fishing The Big Three

Bought a book a few months ago. Actually I had it before, but got rid of it during a recent move. Big mistake.
Fishing The Big Three by John Underwood is a classic. Thirty years ago, Underwood spent a season fishing with Ted Williams in the Keys for tarpon and bonefish, two of Williams' favorites. The time the two spent together became the basis for the book, which was published in 1982.
Each fish has a chapter. There's a fair amount of how-to instruction, but the anecdotes are priceless. Williams hated the press, but obviously felt comfortable with Underwood, who loved to fish and apparently that mutual passion led to a level of trust that Williams rarely bestowed.
Underwood, a longtime college football and golf writer for Sports Illustrated in the magazine's heyday during the 1960s and '70s is exceptionally talented. A lot of writers can write about what they know, as long as they have a compelling and willing subject. Underwood doesn't need that much help. His feel for the language and reporting skills leap off the pages.
Williams, he noted, caught black marlin in New Zealand and tiger fish in Zambezi, but his quarry of choice were the tarpon, bonefish and Atlantic salmon, hence The Big Three.
Williams, who spent time in Homasassa, passed away in 2002. This book, no doubt, will sustain his legacy, not necessarily as a ballplayer, but as an angler, which is probably the way he would have liked it.

First Day of Tarpon in 2013

Leaving Dunedin Marina Thursday morning

Low winds, calm morning at Caladesi

The tarpon have arrived --- not in full force --- but enough to get the blood pumping. Despite a lingering case of the flu, I went out Thursday morning. My friend Parker poled around and generated a half dozen chances, but I had trouble seeing the fish in time. I was always late with my presentation and in tarpon fishing, you're on the move, so you've got to get the fly to the fish on time. That means you have to see the fish as early as possible as they approach the boat. Typically, I didn't look out far enough from the boat. I focused within casting range. If you wait that long to take your shot, it's too late. Lesson learned.

Behind the camera

Joe relaxes Saturday morning near Gandy Bridge.

Casting platform. Height always helps when it comes to seeing fish.

Spent a few minutes this morning shooting a photo for a story I'm doing on Joe Welbourn for The Drake. Joe makes skiff accessories --- casting platforms, poling platforms and push poles --- out of carbon fiber, which is super light and durable.
As for the photos, thanks to Joe for his patience while I tried to point the camera in the right direction. A big pat on the back to Steve Parker, who brought his skiff, which provided the perfect setup. I'm not an experienced enough photog to take advantage of everything we had working for us. Hopefully, it's good enough.

This Really Happened

Went after tarpon on Thursday. This is what we found when we returned to the Dunedin Marina ramp. Apparently, a driver pulled up to look at the fishing regs uphill from the ramp, got out to look at the sign, left the car in either neutral/drive and watched his new cadillac roll into the water Thursday morning. It took two hours, two two trucks, assorted police and help from a diver before the car was removed and order was restored.

Dealing with the Wind

Headed out to Fort Desoto to fish the last of the evening ebb and flood tides. The goal, as always, is to get a few shots at redfish tails. The biggest obstacle usually is wind, which makes fly casting tough. The winds are supposed to be light this afternoon, but you can never tell. I hate the wind, but I'm dealing with it. Here's a video of Shawn Leadon teaching the value of casting angles against the wind.

Another Assignment

I'm working on a story on Joe Welbourn for The Drake. Joe founded Carbon Marine, a company that makes boating accessories out of carbon fiber, a super lightweight, durable material prevalent in the aerospace industry.
Being the good reporter I am, I wondered about the difference between graphite and carbon fiber. It took a lot of research on the internet and a few more conversations with Joe, but here's the deal: both are carbon based, but graphite is carbon after its been heated to a much higher temperature than carbon fiber.
So that tennis racquet you have, it's not graphite. It's carbon fiber. Golf clubs? Carbon fiber. The fly rod. Same deal.
Over time, graphite has become a catch phrase. In fact, overseas they call it carbon fiber, which is technically correct. In the U.S., apparently we've gotten it wrong. So essentially they are the same, but it's just matter of the timing in the heating process when carbon becomes graphite.
 Below is a picture of Joe after he placed in the Salty Fly this winter.

Dave Preston, left, and Joe Welbourn celebrate.

A Breath of Fresh Air

 As we head into the heart of 2013, the economy continues to tank, an issue since 2008. Many Americans are losing their jobs and there's not a lot we can do about it. To survive you have to create your own wealth. If you're part of the overhead, you're in trouble.
Back in 2009, Russ Caipen lost his job when his company was sold. I would have panicked. Not Caipen. He gathered all of his fishing gear (kayak included), bought a new pickup truck and took a roadtrip --- from one end of Florida (Jacksonville) to the Keys (Key West) --- and blogged about it --- complete with stories, music and photos.
To access, click on the ramblin' header on the main page of the blog. It's really well done and provides a nice change of pace.

Limecider Chronicles

A New Toy

My casting always needs work, so I got the Redington Form Game Rod, which means I now own in the neighborhood of a eight fly rods. Four for trout, two/three for salt and two minis for practice.
A few months ago, I got the Practicaster from Orvis. Both have their place. The Orvis rod is better for inside the house. Its yarn line can't do a whole lot of damage.
The Redington, on the other hand, has real fly line along with a 5-foot rod, which casts up to 30 feet. Double haul and roll casts are doable. You can take it outside and work on your timing, if your yard, like mine, is too small for longer casts and bigger rods. Can't beat the convenience.
The only issue for me is timing. Such a short rod demands a little quicker stroke, something I've been trying to break myself of with the conventional rod. Still, it's great to get out in the yard for quick session when you don't have to assemble your regular rod and reel. The Redington takes seconds to put together. Overall, I'd say it's well worth the $39.95 and would make a great Father's (or mother's) Day gift.

A Change of Pace

Enough about the FWC, tarpon and fly tying. Time for some music. If you grew up in the '70s as I did, you probably knew Steve Martin as a comedian from Saturday Night Live and the big screen. As I recall, sometimes he would play the banjo. Back then, I didn't think much of it. I do now. What started as a curiosity in a comedy act has evolved into a career.
Ever heard of Steve Martin and Steep Canyon Rangers? They're good. Even if you don't like bluegrass, you have to appreciate Martin's versatility, which will be on hand May 23 at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg. Check out the clip. Good music, funny lyrics. The best of both worlds from Martin.

FWC Meeting

 The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission  met Wednesday and decided to move forward with its proposed tarpon regulations. The guidelines, which will limit anglers to harvesting a tarpon only in pursuit of a world record, are expected to be approved at the June meeting in Lakeland.
During Wednesday's discussion, the commission decided to restrict anglers to one tag per person per year as opposed to one tag per person per day. Discussion of  the PTTS' post-catch handling, gear and snagging was delayed until the June meeting. That issue likely will not be resolved until September.

FWC News

The Jig is Up

 Good story. White's a talented writer. I didn't address the jigging issue in my story for The Drake. White does. Keep in mind, my story was a news account. White's is a column, his opinion.
Today, the FWC meets to discuss the proposed tarpon regs. Should be informative --- and entertaining -- when the floor is open for discussion --- if Save the Tarpon and the PTTS are in attendance.

Randy Wayne White takes a look at jigging and the PTTS

FWC Update

 The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is scheduled to meet Thursday and Friday. Among the items on the agenda: the proposed, catch-and-release tarpon regulations.
Long story short, the FWC wants to make tarpon catch-and-release. However, several issues remain unresolved --- namely the concept of temporary possession and how that affects the PTTS in Boca Grande.

The FWC is not expected to vote on the proposals until June, if then.

FWC agenda

Where and When

Fort Desoto

The adage is that one can find fish just about anywhere if you're willing to look hard enough and do your homework --- and that much of Tampa Bay, for instance, holds redfish.

I used to believe this verbatim, which is why I spent most of my first year here fishing the lower and upper bay --- Picnic Island, Weedon Island, 4th street, Legion Flats, Rocky Creek, etc --- all with limited success. All of the above spots hold fish, but some places are better for sight fishing than others. Fort Desoto is one of those places.

To sight fish out of a kayak, you need clear water, skinny tides and a food source. Fort Desoto offers all three year round. Most of Tampa Bay does not. The water simply is not clear enough or shallow enough to yield consistent sight fishing. The exception, of course, is winter, when tides are at their lowest and the water's gin clear just about everywhere.

Because it's close to the gulf, Desoto offers lower tides and cleaner water -- and turtle grass. All three elements work together to produce quality sight fishing. The lower and the clearer the water, the easier the fish are to see. Turtle grass offers protection from predators and a variety of crabs and shrimp. Find a flat with productive turtle grass and you'll usually see tailing redfish just about any month of the year.

The best time to go in the spring and summer is late evening/afternoon on a new/full moon with a chance for tailers on the last of the outgoing and the first of the incoming. The later in the day you can time the tidal swing, the better chance you'll have to see tails.

Don't make the same mistake I did and fish close to home because it's convenient. Find the best spot that suits your type of fishing and make the drive. It will be worth it.  

The Art of Snagging

Good story on snagging tarpon and the evolution of this practice.

Randy Wayne White weighs in

Tarpon Update

 Not much news. But a respectable summary of what's going on.

Tarpon in The Drake

The Prince of Tides

Tides. They're everything. At least in sight fishing.

If you want to fish for tailing reds, it helps to have moving water, the skinnier the better. That's the biggest

Low tide at Fort Desoto in the evening

factor I failed to grasp when I first started my sight fishing quest a year ago.

My first spring/summer I fished in the morning on the assumption that the water was cooler and the fish were more active. It's a concept I developed from learning how to fly fish on southeastern mountain streams, where water temperature is everything. In the salt, it's not.

Water level and movement are the keys. The tides in Tampa Bay are higher in the morning than in the spring. In the evening, they're lower. The lower the tide, the more concentrated the fish are and the easier it is to see them tailing. The higher the water, the lower chance there is that you will see a tail. There's no set rule in terms of tide height, but 0.5 is my barometer for a low tide.

Of course, it depends on the contour of the flat. Some flats get skinnier than others. Some fish are bigger than others..

If there's two feet of water, it's going to take a pretty big fish for its tail to break the surface. Remember, the less water the better, but there's no magic number.

In the fall and winter, the tides are lower in the morning, higher in the evening. It's the reverse of spring, so plan accordingly to scout for tails.

Trial and error

 It took a year of trial and error, tribulation and frustration, but I finally sight fished a red on fly. The Kodak moment came Tuesday evening at Fort Desoto. The fly of choice was a tan redfish toad.

It was an evening tide and I hooked up early on during a new moon flood. I missed the first fish I had a shot at when I failed to strip strike. I hesitated, almost to the point I was skeptical that everything was going to come together. Well, opportunity knocked for the second fish, a happy tailer at the back of the pack. My cast landed short, but the disturbance got the fish's attention and I was ready. A few minutes later, I was calling for the camera.

A Fort Desoto redfish

A few stories

The spring issue of The Drake Magazine is out. I've got two stories --- one on Spencer Goodwin and another on Sam Root and the Salty Fly. I've written for bigger, more established publications, but The Drake is the coolest. Not even close. It's a great magazine. Not many of those around anymore.

I'll have a few more stories in the summer edition as well.

Headed Out

Caladesi Island

 I've had this day marked on the calendar for nearly two weeks. Low wind. New moon. Low evening tide. Clear water. That's why I'm preparing to make the hour-long trip to Caladesi Island.

When I  first moved to Tampa, I didn't know any better, so I fished the morning tides because I assumed it was cooler, which is true, but the morning tides in the spring and summer are not conducive to sight fishing. We'll see how much I've learned. The next three evenings are setting up perfectly.

Some Research

I've been working on a story this week about the Florida Wildlife Commission's proposed tarpon regs and the controversy that's been brewing in Boca Grande. There's the locals, then there's the tournament anglers.
For six weeks every summer the Professional Tarpon Tournament Series fishes the waters of Boca Grande, an event that has fractured the community. Many want the PTTS gone. They say the tournament over stays its welcome, takes over the water and roughs up the fish with its gaff-and-drag, weigh-in tactics. The PTTS counters that their anglers are better stewards than many realize and that many of their critics' accusations lack proof. Furthermore, they maintain the PTTS brings revenue and national attention to the community.
I won't go into the details of the FWC regs --- I'll have more on that in The Drake --- but basically the proposed guidelines are moving toward pure catch and release, which means the PTTS may have to change its weigh-in procedure. The PTTS, to its credit, has said it plans to drop the gaff and drag part of the post-catch handling, which many anglers agree is a step in the right direction. However, questions still remain: Will the PTTS go with a photo release? Will the FWC define the 'release' in catch and release?

Black Death for Tarpon

Another common tarpon toad fly. I haven't used it that much, but I like the materials and the color combination, particularly the red tail.

The materials: 2/0 5170-121 Owner hook, red rabbit strip tail, black marabou collar, black EP fibers, black Danville Flymaster thread, Clear Cure Goo.

Instructions:
Cut the rabbit strip. The key here is to use your scissors like a knife along the edge of the hyde, so you don't cut the hair.
Tie on the tail near the hook point. The tail should be 2, 3x as long as the hook.
Use two clumps of black marabou for the collar. Attach three fourths of the way toward the eye. When you use the marabou, tie each clump on each side of the shank, not one on top of the other as I first did. One on each side gives the collar better circular spacing.
Take a thin strand of EP, cut to about three inches and attach to the shank using a figure-eight method. The key here is to go slow and pack the EP strands in tight, so that there's no gaps.  Loose wraps to get the EP in position. Tight wraps to secure. It's tedious. Be patient.
With the EP, go sparse. The thinner the better.
Attach small bead head eyes.
Use a comb to straighten the EP. Trim the fibers to desired shape. Some go more circular; I try to make it more of an arrowhead shape, shorter in front, longer in back. Basically you cut at a 45-degree angle, short as possible at the eyes, longer toward the back.
To keep the tail from fouling, use Clear cure goo at the base to stiffen, or tie in a snarffle guard as I did. I also dab a bit of CCG on the thread to better secure the EP and add durability.
I got this pattern off You Tube.
Here's the link.
Ripped Lips Tarpon Toad

Sad News

Doug Hannon passed away recently.  I learned a lot from his ESPN fishing shows. Very passionate, yet knowledgeable.
Bass professor passes

Much to Do

The wind finally calmed down a bit and I had planned on getting out for a few hours this morning, but that trip was postponed after I got in touch with The Drake, which wants a story on the FWC's proposed tarpon regulations.
So I've spent  most of the morning evaluating FWC jargon and how all of this could help make tarpon a true catch-and-release species. More later.

A Lesson from the Master

Lefty Kreh on the proper application of power in the double haul. Warning: Easy to understand, hard to do.
Less is more