Obsessive Fishing Disorder

At least that's what they are calling it these days.....

It began as an opportunity that day on a stream in Colorado. A first for me,catching a slam my first time fly fishing. What followed has been an obsession,the fly rod is always with me as I travel because you never know what lurks in the water you just crossed............

To say I will go to great depths to catch fish is an understatement, sometimes I almost get in over my head. But we live and learn as we go.........

Being fortunate enough to live in an area with so many rivers within short driving distance feeds the hunger, if you don't run into me fishing from the kayak........

you will probably see me stalking my prey as I slide through the water dropping a fly at any fishy looking spot I see.......

An extra benefit to my obsession has been my dabbling with photography and writing. What started as trip reports on a few fishing forums has turned into (with the urging of friends) a blog that has been very enjoyable to do and read by many.

Where will it all lead......I really don't know but i'm having a whole lot of fun finding out.

Another Snook Trip

The title  is a little misleading since this was my first time to go fish for Snook. The trip resulted from an invite to head down with a group of fifteen other fisherman to South Padre Island on their annual trip. For such a large and diverse group the trip couldn't have gone any better....well, except for the weather.
The adventure began with me hitching a ride with a group from Austin, all whom I had never met and ended with me making fifteen new friends as well as fisherman who I would be glad to fish with any day.
There were a few bumps along the journey to get there.

We ran out of gas upon reaching Corpus but were rescued by a couple of fisherman who were fishing the river where we pulled over at. We were then pulled over an hour later for a lame excuse just to check us out.
Upon reaching the house at 2am, greetings and introductions were made with the rest of the group and a plan was put into motion for the next morning. Getting up after three hours of sleep, we were greeted with a steady rain and howling winds. When it started to clear up we made our way to Holly Beach and were welcomed with some calm water. It would soon change again. 

Upon reaching the island we started to catch some trout and a few Redfish before the wind came back making the paddle back to the beach tiring.

Back at the house we waited for the weather to let up.

The rain let up again but the wind was pushing thirty easily. A few had fished the Jetty in the morning so we took a ride and tried our hand at some of the Tarpon that had been rolling earlier. 
How often do you run into a clown fishing the Jetties, not very often....but I did.

I had the pleasure of getting to fish the Jetty with Austin Orr an extremely talented fly fisherman as well as an accomplished instructor. He went out of his way to answer any question that I had as well as help me with my casting in the wind, thanks again Austin.

The next morning was the same. We woke up to rain and wind and waited it out. Around 11am we drove to a flat and waded while the door was open. The wade resulted in multiple reds and trout, with Austin catching a nice one on the fly.

That evening some went back to the flat and the rest of us chose to put the kayaks over the bulkhead and fish the lighted docks trying for Snook.

The fishing started slow with a few trout caught, then Jeremy hooked a large ray on the fly rod.

 After getting it into the net we paddled over to a restaurant and grabbed a bite before heading back out. It was pretty funny watching all of the people looking at us as we docked and entered to eat.

Finally, I caught my first Trout on the fly rod, along with Skip Jack and a few Croaker. Still no Snook for me though.

The trip was great and i'm already looking forward to the next one. Thanks to Jeremy for the invite as well as putting it all together.

Enjoy the slideshow.

All in the Family

Had to make a trip to Louisiana for a wedding and since my brother and I didn't get to take our dad fishing for Father's day this year we planned a little pre wedding fishing trip. My brother set it up with a guide and we made our way down wondering if anything would be caught since hurricane Isaac had just wrecked havoc on the Louisiana coast.
( Since it was a guided trip offshore no fly fishing took place. Probably would have hooked a family member if I did.)

Arriving late at my Cousins house we quickly unloaded and headed to the casino. After giving the casino gods some money we arrived back at the house and settled in for the early wakeup.
Driving to the marina we were able to see some of the washed up boats and destruction left by the winds and heavy rains. Meeting up with the guide it was discovered that the bait boat was not in the marina and in order for the trip to continue we would have to hunt him down out in the open Gulf before any fishing could begin.
After over an hour the phone rang and he had found us, another long boat ride insued and finally bait was to be had. With the waters so messed up with the infusion of so much freshwater, plans were changed and we set out in search of redfish to start the day.

With a baitwell full of shrimp we reached our first spot and started throwing the bait under a poppin cork towards the grass flat. It didn't take long before we were into some nice redfish as they were cruising the flats feeding.

My Dad's first red of the day

 

We were able to boat quite a few redfish and kept ten to clean for a fish fry.

My Cousin and his first red of the day

Later in the morning the bite got quiet so we headed further out in search of some trout. We pulled in ten keeper trout before it was all said and the shrimp were all gone.

My Brother and his first of the day

My first of the day

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing beats getting to spend time on the water with family. The wedding was great and we clean up pretty good.

 

 



 

Save Bristol Bay

As with anything, if you are not from a certain area there are times when you are absolutely clueless about some things that are going on.
It seems that the waters of Bristol Bay are being threatened by the proposal of a Pebble Mine. The Pebble Mine would affect the local Salmon fishery as well as the wildlife in the area and jobs.
From what i've read, a Pebble Mine would produce tons of waste which is stored and ends up affecting the lands and streams by polluting the waters. This Pebble Mine being proposed on Bristol Bay would be the largest in the area and would produce more waste.

Photo by: Ken Morrish

Here is a link to the TU website on Bristol Bay if you would like to help spread the word to fellow fisherman. http://www.savebristolbay.org/jointhesportsmenschallenge

Here is some more information about what is going on.
http://www.savebristolbay.org/sites/www.savebristolbay.org/files/images/SportsmansChallengePromoFINALe%233.pdf

Big Tuna (Review)

Now that i've been able to fish all bodies of water out of it ,i'll give a review of what I like and what I dislike about the kayak. Remember, this is just my opinion after fishing out of it the last couple of months.

The Big Tuna is made by Jackson Kayaks and is designed to be used as a tandem kayak with many seating arrangements. The surprise was how well it fishes out of set up in the solo position.
In the solo position the seat is in the perfect position for balance. It is extremely stable making it easy to stand and fish or just stretch your legs.

I have been camping out of it on the Colorado river twice. Took it and fished the bay in Mississippi for a week and spent three days on the Texas coast chasing redfish from it.

On the first camping trip I had all of my gear stored in the back hatch. The next trip I put all of it in a dry bag and sat in on the front deck to balance out the weight, this helped out with the trim.
For such a large kayak you will be surprised how fast it is. I was able to keep up with another kayak which should be faster. Sitting up high in the water you are able to get pretty skinny. The one downside about sitting up high is the wind will move you around so a drag chain setup or the optional rudder will help a lot with that.

Skinny water

 

 

Since I fly fish a lot. It's important to keep the deck area clean and uncluttered so it doesn't catch the line that I have stripped. So far so good with this. At the coast I was able to use the paddle like a push pole to move me around. It was easier than paddling so now I am in the process of making a push pole for the next trip.

 



I was worried at first about the weight of the Tuna. It's close to 95lbs with one seat in it and i'm not getting any younger. So far i've been able to load and unload as well as drag it where I need it with no problems. I did get me a kayak cart but have not tried it out yet. Yeah it's heavy, but I like it. I would love to see them add a large compartment to the front of this kayak, shorten it by a foot, keep the width and drop the weight by 15lbs and then in my opinion you would have the perfect big boy kayak.

While in Mississippi I took my daughter out in it. I paddled her around for hours letting her fish, the Tuna would work pretty good as a guide kayak.

To recap, it works well as a tandem but I think it really shines as a solo kayak.
The wind is the only thing to ever bother me while fishing from it but i'm able to overcome it. It handles rough water excellent and I felt safe crossing the shipping channel in it as well as the huge waves I got caught up in on a sudden storm while fishing the bay in Mississippi.
Great to camp out of and for running rivers. Excellent to stand up in as well as fly fish. I do need to add a few fly rod holders to get them out of the way while paddling.
The only big negative when using it solo is the weight. It's to be expected since it designed as a tandem and is a large kayak.
See you on the water.