Watch as the redfish in less than 6 inches of water bust on shrimp. See as the bird swims under the splash the fish makes. Marvel as the angler actually catches a shrimp with a fly. Be amazed as…. well… just watch the clip.
Here is a close up view of the fish that Father Mike got that day. It was a pretty one!
My buddy Father Mike came to visit me last spring. We found a creek with a nice bunch of tailing reds. He caught a couple of nice fish, I caught this nice snappy of him getting it done:
May all your days be like this one was for me:
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Cold and windy here in Morehead. Snow almost everyplace else. Perfect for the week of Christmas, not so great for fly fishing. Have a Merry Christmas and a superb Holiday Season. I’ll have my year end wrap up (and hopefully some big gill net news) soon. See ya out there.
I got this fun little holiday greeting from Yeti today. Very cool.
… for a trip to Europa!!! Apparently one of Jupiter’s moons may have fish. We always new Europa had water but assumed it was too cold to support life. Now they are saying differently. I wonder what kind of flies they use and if they have flats?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/091116-jupiter-moon-life-europa-fish.html
Flew into NOLA on Wednesday the day after T.S. Ida had passed through the Biloxi Marsh. Not good. I was supposed to go fishing with Travis Holeman the next day. “I’ll give you a call Wednesday evening and we’ll make a decision then.” “Sounds good.” I was certain we would not go. The wind was howling. Trees were bent all the way over. 7 pm. Ring, ring. “Meet me out front of your hotel at 5:30.” “I’ll be there.”
After a stop at a cool diner called Penny’s for a quick breakfast and sammiches for later, we drive out to Hopedale. It was way out there. Get in Travis’ boat. Lake N Bay. 60 mph. We proceeded to go another long way. Faster than in the car most of the time. Travis is looking at the wind, the water. Trying to find the right spot. Stop and start poling. 5 minutes later I have my first LA. redfish! About 8 lbs. Sweet. It was just cruising the shoreline. I was amazed at how close we were and the fish was not spooked. I actually was casting too far. Adjusted and he slurped it right in. And that is pretty much how it went all morning. At one point there was a school of 6 pounders that just sat there in front of us. It got a little silly.
As the sun got higher and the wind started to lay out a little bit Travis (and I) thought it would be a decent shot to try for a slob. Now he warned me that with the water still being off color it would be tough to see them. He wasn’t kidding. Didn’t see most of them until it was too late. A couple times fish would spook as he put the pole in the bottom. Spooky. Not like the schoolies. These big reds demanded absolute stealth. Travis knows his game. But it was usually too late when we would see them. (He says December and January are prime times for the Mambos because the water clears considerably). I did catch a nice number of “teenagers” up to 14 pounds. On the 7 and 8 wt rod they were nice fish. I finally got a serious shot at a real toad in the 30 – 40 lb range. I layed out a backhander about 30 feet. I could just see the fish moving to the fly. Travis: “He’s on it. Moving to it. Ready to eat it.” Me: “Ooh there’s some weight I will set the hook now.” Grass. Bummer. Oh well. Can’t really complain about catching all those fish up to 14 lbs. Anybody that would needs to have his head examined. I do need to have my head examined, but not over catching more than 20 reds up to 14 lbs (it may have been 30?).
It was a great trip. Travis is the real deal. Contact Travis Holeman directly because you can depend on his expertise.
I don’t get to go albie fishing anymore. Bounding across the main is tough in a 16 foot poling skiff. My buddy Danny Adams from Old Yeller Charters took me out today. We went here and there a little bit but then it was game on! I think between the two of us we boated 30 albies in the 10 pound range. I was using a Crease Fly for all mine so I got to see all those awesome explosions when they took it. Plus I just prefer to cast the floating line. Thanks Danny. Had a blast!
It’s finally happening. The boys at the Coastal Fisheries Reform Group are suing the NC Division of Marine Fisheries and Marine Fisheries Commission. Hopefully this will finally force them to enact something to get these nets out of the water finally. Follow the progress at: http://cfrgnc.blogspot.com/2009/10/legal-notice-of-pending-lawsuit-given.html
