Flyday

A wonderfully blue tail from a redfish - sorry for the hairy leg ruining the shot...

Its Friday (Flyday) and that means we are finally released from the confines of the work week.  I'm still debating my plans for the weekend - should I go back to the "secret spot" or should I go exploring and try to find a new "secret spot"?  I've been searching Google earth and have some ideas...

In other news, I just ordered Scientific Anglers Mastery Redfish (Warmwater) line.  It hasn't arrived yet, but I will be sure to write a review after I try it out and get a feel for it.  This is my first time buying what I consider to be an expensive fly line and I'm curious as to whether or not I'll notice a major difference in performance.  There were several factors behind this decision.  First, my current 8 wt saltwater line is cracking.  It needs to be replaced.  Second, I've been doing a lot of fishing for redfish in the marsh lately, and it typically involves quick, short casts.  My current line works, but the line I ordered has a slightly shorter head and possibly less line memory which I'm hoping will aid in quick, short casts and decrease the likelihood of tangles at the crucial moment (this has happened before).  Finally, I've typically overlooked the importance of quality fly line, but more and more I'm starting to see it as just as important if not more important than a quality rod or a quality reel.  And, its much cheaper to upgrade.  High end line costs $70 whereas high end rods cost $700.  Improving my line quality may be a more cost effective way of upgrading my equipment.

Cheers.

Bayou Love

Last week I got a rare Friday off from work and made sure to use it to its full potential.  I woke up at 6:00 am just like I was going to work and was paddling by 7:00.  I had a flight to catch in the afternoon, but the whole morning was free.  As if to reward me for my efforts, the bayou finally showed me some love.  When I entered my secret spot, the place was alive.  Schools of baitfish covered every square foot of the marsh.  Wading birds were strategically positioned to spear themselves some breakfast.  And most importantly, redfish were feasting.  Every minute, I would hear an explosion as a redfish broke the surface chasing bait.  The volume of noise was shocking in this isolated, unpopulated section of marsh.  My first bit of success wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but it broke the ice.

A small speckled trout, joining the feast

The amount of activity was unbelievable.  I was being torn in different directions by all the hunting redfish around me.  Despite their high level of activity, they were still a challenge to catch.  This one struck my fly after revealing its presence with an explosion of bait. 

The next bit action occurred when I spotted a redfish cruising across the 6 inch deep mudflat directly toward me.  Before I could even cast, he swam under my kayak, bumping into the bottom as he past!  A few seconds later, I spotted two more cruising along the same line.  This time I dropped my fly in front of them, and pretty soon, line was peeling off from my reel. 

2 spots on one side

3 spots on the other

Soon after, I hooked another red, this one taking me on by far the most powerful run of the day before turning around and coming straight back at me.  I couldn't reel fast enough to keep up, and slack quickly developed in the line, which managed to tangle itself around the handle at the bow of my kayak.  I scrambled to untangle the mess, and I could see my line moving from left to right as the fish continued to swim with my fly in its mouth.  However, by the time I managed to recover and pull the line tight, the fish had managed to shake free. 

I continued to search out the explosions of water that signaled the presence of predators.  Upon seeing one such explosion within casting range, I pulled up my fly to recast only to snag one of the many baitfish.  The fish and fly sailed past and landed just behind me.  When I pulled the line tight, I was surprised by the heft of the fish on the other end.  Sure enough, a red had taken the baitfish, and it started pulling drag.  Unfortunately I lost this one as well, as I never really set the hook, and the hook was well buried inside the baitfish.  I never intended to fish with live bait, but boy is it effective! 

As a consolation prize for the two nice fish lost, I caught a couple micro-redfish.

Sooooo cute

Soon it was time to go catch my flight.  On the way back to the dock, I saw two alligators and three dolphins, although they didn't pose for me.  It was a perfect morning on the bayou.  Alligators, dolphins, and redfish willing to take a fly - pretty much everything I dreamed of before moving to Mississippi.  The only thing missing was sweet tea.  I'll have to bring some next time.

More bayou love

Gator Central

Look closely

Saturday morning I got up early for a trip to Cat Island (a barrier island south of Gulfport, MS) only to find out that the trip had been cancelled due to weather.  I was all ready to go fishing, so I decided to make the most of the situation and do some kayak fishing in my favorite bayou for redfish.

I've been to this bayou several times before, and, as my friend Matt would say, its pretty much 'redfish central'.  Well, as it turns out, its also 'gator central'.  I'd only seen two or three alligators in Mississippi before this weekend, and on Saturday alone I saw at least eight alligators.  Eight alligators!  I don't know why I've never seen them there before; I guess they are just much more active now that the weather is warm.  If I'm honest, seeing a good sized alligator from the kayak gave this yankee the heebie jeebies.  But that didn't stop me from being interested.  Most of the alligators were sunning on the bank, and some would absolutely freak out when they saw me, diving into the water with a huge splash.  Completely distracted from fishing, I went about attempting to capture one of these monsters on my camera.  It was tough since they usually went under as soon as they saw me, but I eventually found one that was willing to pose for a little while, and the picture above is my best result.  My camera doesn't have very powerful zoom...

After I got my fill of alligators, I decided to paddle over to a section of the bayou I've been eyeing via google satellite images.  I could see on my computer that there was a large mud flat that might be covered at high tide and would encourage redfish to go shallow chasing crabs and other bait.  It looked like an ideal place for sightfishing.  It looked like 'redfish central'.

Redfish Central

Sure enough, almost immediately upon entering the area, I spotted a large, red shape in the water - they really do look quite red sometimes.  On my second cast, my fly landed right on top of his nose, and he ate it.  He then proceeded to take off on a run which quickly snapped my line.  It would've been my biggest redfish to date.  I was livid.  I never even got it on the reel!  It was pure operator error - I was holding the line like I had 20 lb test when I only had 12!  I quickly tied on another fly and continued to patrol the bayou.  Wouldn't you know, I only saw one more fish over the course of about 4 hours (and I didn't catch him).  So frustrating.  Eventually, I admitted defeat and decided to head home empty handed.  On the way back, I found some more alligators.  Hmmmm, first skunk at the bayou, first time seeing alligators...  Greedy alligators must've eaten all my fish!

Mating horseshoe crabs?

Flyday

Consider this the first installment of what might become a weekly post on whatever I feel like every Friday (Flyday) a la "Monday Morning Coffee" over at Fontinalis Rising.  (I'm not hiding anything - I model much of my site after my favorite blogs.) 

So here's what's on my mind this week:

I recently discovered the Itinerant Angler Podcast (what took me so long, right?) and it is fantastic.  I don't even know what I like so much about it; its just very satisfying, and I've ended up listening to a couple of the 30 minute podcasts each day this week since I found them.

Also, if you're ever bored, go to This River is Wild, and just start reading.  Go to the archives and start from the beginning in 2008.  I started a few weeks ago and am still in 2009.  It is my absolute favorite blog, and those guys have hundreds of quality posts filled with fish.  One day fishing with them is like one year fishing with me.  Then again, I just don't fish like they do.  Its dawn to dusk fishing, followed by sleeping in a truck in a Walmart parking lot, followed by dawn to dusk fishing the next day.  I think I like reading about it more than I'd like doing it.

Well, I've got to go tie some flies and some leaders (its rough not having a fly shop in the area) in preparation for fishing this weekend.  In fact I think I'll do it while listening to another Itinerant Angler Podcast!  A typical wild and crazy Friday night for me...  Cheers.

Blown Out

Note:  This is the trip report I wrote up for last weekend (I'm a little behind on my blogging). 

Try fly fishing in this...

Well, the weekend didn't exactly go as planned.  As the wind picked up at Pensacola Beach this weekend, so did the waves.  Large waves on Saturday and Sunday made fly fishing the Gulf side of Santa Rosa Island impossible.  Hanging out on the beach and playing in the waves were still options, but as far as fishing goes, we were relegated to the Sound side.  In previous trips, the Gulf side has been kinder to me, producing various kinds of fish with some regularity.  The Sound side has been much less generous.  This trend continued as I spent Saturday evening and Sunday wading the Sound side flats with very little luck.  The flats look very inviting - crystal clear water with a white sand bottom and numerous patches of grass.  This inviting water yielded a total of... wait for it... one fish.  One stinkin' speckled trout.  Actually it was a pretty nice speckled trout, and we made the most of our one stinkin' fish, cooking it in tin foil over a campfire.  It was delicious.

This used to be a 16" speckled trout

The most exciting moment of the weekend came while wading the flats.  I was casting into a patch of sand surrounded by grass and caught some motion out of the corner of my eye.  A 25 inch red was just cruising along the edge of a grass bed about 20 ft from me and closing.  I attempted to flip my fly in the fish's general direction moving only the very tip of my rod, knowing that any significant motion would ruin what little chance I had left of the fish eating the fly before it saw me.  Miraculously, the fly landed in front of the red, and with one strip, the fish turned to follow the fly only to see me and spook at the last second.  I think I threw a temper tantrum at that point.

Anyways, it was a beautiful weekend to be on the water with friends, and Pensacola hasn't seen the last of me by any means.  But next time, things will be different...

I'll be back.

P'cola Here I Come

As evidenced by the lack of recent posts, I haven't been fishing much lately.  That's about to change as some friends and I are heading over to Pensacola for the weekend.  The weather forecast looks... well, windy.  This is not great news...  But Pensacola has never disappointed me before (fingers crossed), so here's hoping for a great weekend with friends and just maybe a few fish involved.

Any Redfish is a Good Redfish

A friend and I managed to spend a good amount of time on the water this weekend and were rewarded with a few redfish.  My buddy also managed to land his first redfish on the fly.  Friday evening involved stalking redfish in a marsh near my house from the kayaks. It was tough fishing, with spooky fish and absolute swarms of mosquitoes, but I managed one decent red on my go-to fly, a chartreuse Clouser minnow.

Blue Tail

On Saturday, we took the ferry to Ship Island where we sightfished some rat reds from the beach and got sunburned.  The fish were super aggressive and it was a blast to watch them chase and eat the fly.

First redfish on the fly

We were more or less satisfied until we saw two guys walking down the beach dragging huge stringers of redfish.  Each stringer had three reds that were probably just below the upper slot limit - way bigger than the reds we had caught.  They kindly told us where they had been fishing so we quickly hiked over there and fished for about a half hour before literally running back to catch the ferry.  We didn't hook up with anything, but I watched a big bull red swim about 10 feet from me before spooking.  It left us with an overwhelming feeling of 'what if'.  In the end, I had to remind myself, any redfish is a good redfish.