Moral of the story: Always bring a rod!

I spent time this weekend, as I do most weekends, with my wife. I'm lucky enough to have a work schedule that permits a lot of time on the water especially on weekdays. As a result I don't mind spending her off time on the weekends doing things she wants to do. This weekend, her goal was to work on her sun tan by spending some relaxing time on the boat.

For her, relaxing time on the boat involves a radio, lots of sun, and a beach towel laid across the front deck. This is not to be confused with my views of relaxing time on the boat which include a 5:30 a.m. wake up call, 5 or more fishing rods rigged and ready, and at least a thousand casts. While I don't mind either view, I generally much prefer the latter.

We made it on the water a little bit after noon. I generally don't like to fish too much in the heat of the day, as fish get lethargic and are less apt to chase an artificial lure. I don't like the hassle of live bait, so usually on days like this I would succumb to the sun and not worry about the fish. But this day, I had the itch. I brought a lone rod, and a small tacklebox, if only to make a few casts.

Instead of anchoring up or beaching on a sand bar as per usual on days like this, we decided we would set up so the boat would drift over a flat. A slow wind would push us, and I would be able to fish a large area while she enjoyed the ebb and flow of the bay from the front deck.

To my surprise, I managed two snook and one speckled trout in less than an hour of fishing. Sure, the action wasn't the best I've ever had, but I caught a lot more fish than I would have if I was working on my tan!

The water, and the fishing, are heating up!

This snook ate a Schminnow on the first cast of the day.

I made a solo trip in Lemon Bay early in the week. Having to be off the water relatively early, I launched close to home to maximize my time on the bay.

This time of year, I really enjoy being on the water an hour or more before sunrise. I find it very enjoyable to be on the water as all of the nature around me wakes up, but the part that gets me out of bed is the docklight action.

Snook are easy to target with a fly rod when they congregate around docks and ambush bait that is stunned and silhouetted by light. Whether it is an underwater light designed specifically for attracting fish or simply an area illuminated by a nearby streetlight, the action is bound to be hot. Small white baitfish imitations are the go-to fly selection for this style of fishing, as much of the natural forage for these fish measures less than 3 inches long. A fly rod also allows for a delicate presentation that can't usually be achieved with spinning tackle. By offering flies from a kayak, the fish hardly become aware of your presence. Stealth is a huge factor, as many of these fish see an array of lures each night from anglers and have become very keen to the vibrations put off by boat engines.

After the sun comes up, the snook generally scatter from the docks into deeper water and become difficult to target. I will usually make a couple of extra casts after sun up just in case, but sunrise generally signals that its time to move on over to the flats. I managed 2 snook on flies before the sun came up on this trip, and headed across the bay in search of other species.

I switched to spinning gear after the sun came up. Most of my fish caught today came on a Mirr-O-Dine, a fantastic baitfish imitation produced by Mirr-O-Lure. A slow erratic retrieve was the key. In short order, I found ladyfish, jack crevalle, and sea trout actively feeding in 4-6 feet of water with grassy bottom. After catching half a dozen fish in about 10 minutes, a dolphin that was clearly very social towards people came and spoiled the party. I continued on out of the area of the dolphin and went to a shoreline that has been very productive for me in the past, and immediately hooked into a nice sized speckled trout. After a nice drag-peeling run I lost that fish, which I estimated at about 23 inches, by the side of the boat. No worries though, as you can't lose a nice fish without hooking it first!

Soon thereafter I hooked another nice trout, this one measured 19 inches and made it to my hand for a picture:

The action remained consistent and I landed a total of 11 speckled trout, 4 jack crevalle, and 3 ladyfish on top of the two snook earlier in the morning. I was on a time limit and had strayed pretty far from the launch, so I had to leave the fish biting an begin the trek back across the bay. The wind had picked up a bit and made for a tough paddle, but my Native Ultimate provided a very comfortable ride.

Once back to the area of my launch, I realized I had a few minutes left to fish. I decided to make a few casts around a deeper water dock. I was hoping for a redfish to finish my slam, and wasn't disappointed when my second cast was taken by a nice hard fighting drum. After a good fight, I got this drum to the boat and was surprised to see it wasn't the red drum I was expecting, but rather its cousin, the black drum.

This was the first black drum I have ever caught on artifical and the first I have caught since my younger days of soaking shrimp on the bottom of the ICW every afternoon over my summer breaks. It was a great fight on light tackle and I look forward to catching many more!

Fishing should continue to heat up as the water warms. We should be past our last cold front of the year, and the rainy season and summer patterns are rapidly approaching. Tomorrow I have a saltwater trip planned, followed up by an Everglades bass/panfish/exotics trip on Tuesday. Hopefully I have a few good pictures to share later in the week!

Getting Salty

My local waters have been plagued the past few months with a bloom of Karenia brevis, more commonly known as red tide. The fish kills and respiratory complications associated with red tide have kept me from pursuing saltwater exploits since about mid-December. At any point over the past few months I could have traveled about 45 minutes up or down the coast to get away from it, but in that situation I found myself opting for closer to the house freshwater fly fishing options. I did keep myself pretty satisfied with bass and bream in local ponds, canals and lakes. However, I began to get the saltwater itch upon seeing some snook start to show up at a local marina by the bait tank earlier this week. The snook were a good sign that the red tide bloom may finally be moving out. So, I scoured the web to find some recent local fishing reports and checked out the red tide report provided by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. Much to my delight, the most recent red tide report showed absolutely no spots with a red dot (high concentration), and showed most of the remnants of the bloom moving to the south of where I most like to fish. This fact coupled with having overlapping off days with a good fishing buddy and I just had to get on the water. We planned to hit one of our favorite areas of Gasparilla Sound and got on the water this morning a little bit before 8 A.M.

Some rain came through the area yesterday, and behind it it left a bit cooler temperatures along with lots of wind. Between the bluebird skies, above average winds, and recent temperature drop I was worried the fishing would be tough. I was very optimistic though, as my long absence from the salt meant I would be happy with just about anything coming to the boat. The day started off great with Jared hooking up to a redfish within about 20 minutes.

Almost immediately though, the wind picked up from a docile 8-10 mph to a howling 15-20. This wiped out our hopes of continuing along this stretch of docks as we had no protection from the wind and the 2-3 foot chop it brought with it. Instead of getting frustrated with mother nature, we improvised and sought cover in a mangrove protected cove. Getting there was quite a hassle in the chop, but once there I was rewarded mightily with my first fish of the day.

Just over 28 inches without a pinched tail!

This fish took my MirrOLure Lil Jon on the second twitch of a cast parallel to a small dock. She had some interesting scarring on her sides, not sure if it was parasitic, fungal or simply from bumping against some sharp pilings. After a nice quick fight, a quick picture and measure, I thanked her for playing and sent her on her way. The rest of the day comprised of battling some more wind, each of us finding a few trout, and each of us getting a handful of jack crevalle. For not expecting much, we wound up having a great day in not so great conditions.

I am looking forward to getting out in the salt much more in the coming weeks. Inshore action should pick up and the winds and weather are generally very cooperative in April and May. Before long I will be taking my 8 weight along to get bent with some inshore action. Until next time...

Bluegill on the Fly

This morning, I spent some time on the water with my favorite feisty panfish. Rigged with a popper on a 5 weight and my Shrymph on a 3 weight I spent about 3 hours on the water before the wind got too rough. In that time I did manage two fish that both almost touched 10 inches, one of those on the popper, one on the Shrymph. Aside from those two, I caught about 15 fish in the 3-7 inch range.

In other news, I managed to score a fantastic deal on an Echo Carbon 2 weight rod. Echo has discontinued this very highly praised rod in the ultralight community, letting a few shops sell them at a closeout price. Once it arrives I will likely never use a 5 weight to target bluegill again, they are just too much fun on lighter tackle.

Until next time!

My first Fly-Tying Video: The Shrymph

The Shrymph is a fly that I came up with one tying session while working on creating productive panfish flies. I generally tie with two goals in mind, one is to obviously make a productive fly, and the other is to keep it simple to tie. This fly fits both of those criteria. It essentially has only 3 steps, and including the hook and thread only uses 5 materials. So far I have landed hundreds of bluegill along with a healthy variety of other sunfish from stumpknocker to largemouth bass. Without further ado, here is my first fly-tying tutorial video:

BentRods Step-by-Step: The Shrymph from Patrick O'Connor on Vimeo.

I generally tie this on a size 12 hook with a 1/8" bead head. The chenille and rubber legs are both of the thinnest size available. I can pretty easily tie a dozen of these in less than a half hour and be stocked for a good bit of time. Have fun tying it and please share a photo of what you catch with it!

Great Florida Sportsman article on fly rodding for bream

Panster Panache

This article was originally written in 2004, but the tactics and techniques still hold true. It was recently reposted to the Florida Sportsman website with updated pictures, one of which being mine from a fishing trip in November of 2011. This is my first credited photo used in any publication and was very exciting for me to see!

2013 So Far...

Some persistent local red tide has kept me out of the saltwater lately. While I could travel an extra 30 minutes North or South to find some fish, I have more often found myself chasing panfish with my 3 weight instead. I have been having great success on a fly I have been calling the Shrymph, kind of a buggy looking grass shrimp that I will be doing a step by step on in one of my next posts. Here are some of the nicer gills I have grabbed...

Many a coppernose gill has fallen for this fly, along with a good amount of shellcrackers and stumpknockers. I have even landed a couple of largemouth and one channel catfish with this fly so far. It lends itself as a fair imitation of a grass shrimp, while sharing the buggy characteristics of spiders and nymphs 

While tossing a popper on a recent outing, I managed my largest shellcracker to date. I have been surprised at the few shellcrackers I have caught on poppers, all have been larger specimen over 10 inches with this one touching 12. Had I taken a picture of this fish alongside a ruler I would have been eligible to receive "BigCatch" recognition from the Florida FWC.

The popper you see is a BoogleBug. These poppers are the most durable I have fished. I generally have hackles or rubber legs fall off of lesser poppers after a few fish, but these stay put. The blue popper in this fishes mouth has lasted me over a dozen trips now and countless fish, and is still tied to the end of my line.

As long as this red tide bloom lingers I will be doing a lot of fly fishing in freshwater. The unseasonably warm temperatures have kept the panfish feisty. I installed a tow hitch on my Volkswagen and can achieve 40+ miles per gallon while towing my kayaks, so I am excited to branch out and try some fishing down south along Alligator Alley as well as in some of central Florida's famous lakes. 

Stay tuned for some fly recipes and more fishing pictures!