I hope everyone had a safe Memorial Day and you took time to thank our Soldiers and Veterans for the freedoms we have in our country.
The trout fishing in our area remains steady. Trout are hitting top water lures and flies at the crack of dawn. Surface lures such as the Rapala Skitterwalk or Mirrolure Top dog or Top Dog Jr. will get the job done for those of you casting bait casting reels or spinning reels. These lures are plastic and have loud rattles in them that are meant to attract fish, and believe me they work. They work best when retrieved with what is known as a “walk the dog” movement. The lure moves across the water in a zig – zag motion.
To create this movement you need to continually twitch the rod tip about six inches while winding in the line. You can also change up the cadence of the lure by letting it pause after a couple of twitches or the rod. You can also work it slow or fast. Different retrieves need to be tried to find out what works best to catch fish. Many times the fish will strike when the lure is stopped on the pause. Like all lures you buy read the directions on the back of the box to obtain the best results. Yes guys, that means read the directions!!
When it comes to flies I have three favorites; Todd’s Wiggle Minnow, Rainy’s Bubblehead and the Hell’s Bay Popper. All three of these top water flies will make a popping sound when worked correctly. The Wiggle Minnow also dives below the surface giving it double the effectiveness. Just as with lures the flies need to be used trying different retrieves. I find that with the flies the fish seem to want it when it stops between strips. Stripping in the line with your hand is how you retrieve a fly compared to turning the handle on a spinning reel or bait casting reel.
The hardest thing to get use to when fishing a top water lure or fly is setting the hook when a fish strikes. Your first reaction will be to set the hook as soon as the fish strikes the target. Wrong thing to do!!!! You need to feel pressure on the lure first before setting the hook. If he misses the lure, which happens quite often, let it sit for a second or two before you start to move it again. If it sits the fish will think he stunned his prey and often comes back and hits it again.
Give top waters a try, it will be some of the most exciting fishing you’ve ever done.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
What’s For Dinner?
What’s for dinner? Let me explain what I mean by describing the event that led to this question.
Early one morning last week I was fly fishing the banks of the Intracoastal Waterway in search of trout. I started with a top water fly but when that didn’t produce I went to deeper water (dropoffs), a weighted fly and an intermediate fly line. An intermediate fly line has a slow sink rate. The combination of the fly and line allows you to present your offering at deeper depths.
As I proceeded to fish I noticed an unusual amount of dolphins in the ICW that morning probably because of the abundance of bait. After watching some of them explode on the bait and eating they seemed to move on their way. A few minutes later I hooked into my first trout of the day.
It was a nice trout about 23 inches in length. She was a feisty gal that didn’t want to come to the boat. She was putting up a grand fight when I noticed over my shoulder on the opposite side of the boat about 10 feet away there was a dolphin hanging around. The trout had taken me under the boat a couple of times and then headed back out to open water. When I finally got the trout to the side of the boat I looked over and that dolphin was still there. It was acting anxiously.
When I reached down and grabbed hold of the leader to lift the fish in the boat the fish shook it’s head and flopped off the hook. (I crush the barbs on my fly’s to make for easy hook removals.) As soon as this happened I looked over my shoulder to see where the dolphin was and before I had a chance to turn my head back there was a huge explosion in the water where the trout had been. I was in awe at how fast that dolphin swam under my boat and how it seemed to know exactly when the trout came off the hook. Nature is an amazing creation.
Bon Appetit Mr. Dolphin!!
The FWC is still deliberating at weather or not to make the 3 miles south of the Rte 100 Bridge a no wake zone. This is all because of Manatee’s even though there is less than 1 Manatee death per year. I believe in conservation but this is wrong considering the small amount of navigable water we have here in Flagler County. It seems animals have more rights than humans nowadays. Boaters and fishermen get involved. Let the FWC know what you think about this matter before it’s too late.
What’s for dinner? Let me explain what I mean by describing the event that led to this question.
Early one morning last week I was fly fishing the banks of the Intracoastal Waterway in search of trout. I started with a top water fly but when that didn’t produce I went to deeper water (dropoffs), a weighted fly and an intermediate fly line. An intermediate fly line has a slow sink rate. The combination of the fly and line allows you to present your offering at deeper depths.
As I proceeded to fish I noticed an unusual amount of dolphins in the ICW that morning probably because of the abundance of bait. After watching some of them explode on the bait and eating they seemed to move on their way. A few minutes later I hooked into my first trout of the day.
It was a nice trout about 23 inches in length. She was a feisty gal that didn’t want to come to the boat. She was putting up a grand fight when I noticed over my shoulder on the opposite side of the boat about 10 feet away there was a dolphin hanging around. The trout had taken me under the boat a couple of times and then headed back out to open water. When I finally got the trout to the side of the boat I looked over and that dolphin was still there. It was acting anxiously.
When I reached down and grabbed hold of the leader to lift the fish in the boat the fish shook it’s head and flopped off the hook. (I crush the barbs on my fly’s to make for easy hook removals.) As soon as this happened I looked over my shoulder to see where the dolphin was and before I had a chance to turn my head back there was a huge explosion in the water where the trout had been. I was in awe at how fast that dolphin swam under my boat and how it seemed to know exactly when the trout came off the hook. Nature is an amazing creation.
Bon Appetit Mr. Dolphin!!
The FWC is still deliberating at weather or not to make the 3 miles south of the Rte 100 Bridge a no wake zone. This is all because of Manatee’s even though there is less than 1 Manatee death per year. I believe in conservation but this is wrong considering the small amount of navigable water we have here in Flagler County. It seems animals have more rights than humans nowadays. Boaters and fishermen get involved. Let the FWC know what you think about this matter before it’s too late.
Friday, May 06, 2011
What a difference a year makes. In just one year the trout fishing has gone from next to nil to excellent. Last year it seemed that the only time you could find trout was at night under the dock lights. Not this year. For example: last year I couldn’t get a trout bite on a top water fly all year, I’ve had several already this year and that includes a 21 inch one Sunday morning.
During the daylight hours the bait of choice seems to be live shrimp. Live lining the shrimp is working best. All you need is 10 lb test braided line with a 15 inch piece of fluorocarbon leader tied to the end of it and then tie on a #1 short shank hook on the end of the leader. About six to eight inches up from the hook place a BB size split shot and your good to go. Oh yea, don’t forget to place a live shrimp on that hook.
I have found the two best ways to hook your shrimp is to either horn hook it or tail hook it. When you horn hook it the hook point will go under the horn on one side and out the other. Just make sure the hook is placed in front of that dark pulsating dark spot on the head. That is the shrimp’s brain and if you hit it, it will kill it instantly. When tail hooking shrimp I like to put the hook through the middle of the fan tail and thread the shrimp about a ¼ inch up the hook shank then bring the point out on the bottom of the shrimp.
After all this is complete you’ll want to cast your shrimp diagonally up current and let it drift down with the current as you slowly work it back to the boat trying to keep all the slack out of the line. Once it gets past you and parallel to the boat reel it in and cast out again. I also have lots of success by letting the person on the rear of the boat just letting the shrimp drift in the current every so letting out a little line to keep the bait down in the water.
I know that this might not interest some of you but for those of us who saltwater fly fish we lost a legend in the sport last month. On April 18th Billy Pate passed away at the age of 81. Billy was a pioneer in fly fishing the Florida Keys. The first fly reel I ever bought was a Billy Pate bonefish reel back in 1985 and I still have it. RIP Billy.
During the daylight hours the bait of choice seems to be live shrimp. Live lining the shrimp is working best. All you need is 10 lb test braided line with a 15 inch piece of fluorocarbon leader tied to the end of it and then tie on a #1 short shank hook on the end of the leader. About six to eight inches up from the hook place a BB size split shot and your good to go. Oh yea, don’t forget to place a live shrimp on that hook.
I have found the two best ways to hook your shrimp is to either horn hook it or tail hook it. When you horn hook it the hook point will go under the horn on one side and out the other. Just make sure the hook is placed in front of that dark pulsating dark spot on the head. That is the shrimp’s brain and if you hit it, it will kill it instantly. When tail hooking shrimp I like to put the hook through the middle of the fan tail and thread the shrimp about a ¼ inch up the hook shank then bring the point out on the bottom of the shrimp.
After all this is complete you’ll want to cast your shrimp diagonally up current and let it drift down with the current as you slowly work it back to the boat trying to keep all the slack out of the line. Once it gets past you and parallel to the boat reel it in and cast out again. I also have lots of success by letting the person on the rear of the boat just letting the shrimp drift in the current every so letting out a little line to keep the bait down in the water.
I know that this might not interest some of you but for those of us who saltwater fly fish we lost a legend in the sport last month. On April 18th Billy Pate passed away at the age of 81. Billy was a pioneer in fly fishing the Florida Keys. The first fly reel I ever bought was a Billy Pate bonefish reel back in 1985 and I still have it. RIP Billy.
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
What a difference a year makes. In just one year the trout fishing has gone from next to nil to excellent. Last year it seemed that the only time you could find trout was at night under the dock lights. Not this year. For example: last year I couldn’t get a trout bite on a top water fly all year, I’ve had several already this year and that includes a 21 inch one Sunday morning.
During the daylight hours the bait of choice seems to be live shrimp. Live lining the shrimp is working best. All you need is 10 lb test braided line with a 15 inch piece of fluorocarbon leader tied to the end of it and then tie on a #1 short shank hook on the end of the leader. About six to eight inches up from the hook place a BB size split shot and your good to go. Oh yea, don’t forget to place a live shrimp on that hook.
I have found the two best ways to hook your shrimp is to either horn hook it or tail hook it. When you horn hook it the hook point will go under the horn on one side and out the other. Just make sure the hook is placed in front of that dark pulsating dark spot on the head. That is the shrimp’s brain and if you hit it, it will kill it instantly. When tail hooking shrimp I like to put the hook through the middle of the fan tail and thread the shrimp about a ¼ inch up the hook shank then bring the point out on the bottom of the shrimp.
After all this is complete you’ll want to cast your shrimp diagonally up current and let it drift down with the current as you slowly work it back to the boat trying to keep all the slack out of the line. Once it gets past you and parallel to the boat reel it in and cast out again. I also have lots of success by letting the person on the rear of the boat just letting the shrimp drift in the current every so letting out a little line to keep the bait down in the water.
I know that this might not interest some of you but for those of us who saltwater fly fish we lost a legend in the sport last month. On April 18th Billy Pate passed away at the age of 81. Billy was a pioneer in fly fishing the Florida Keys. The first fly reel I ever bought was a Billy Pate bonefish reel back in 1985 and I still have it. RIP Billy.
During the daylight hours the bait of choice seems to be live shrimp. Live lining the shrimp is working best. All you need is 10 lb test braided line with a 15 inch piece of fluorocarbon leader tied to the end of it and then tie on a #1 short shank hook on the end of the leader. About six to eight inches up from the hook place a BB size split shot and your good to go. Oh yea, don’t forget to place a live shrimp on that hook.
I have found the two best ways to hook your shrimp is to either horn hook it or tail hook it. When you horn hook it the hook point will go under the horn on one side and out the other. Just make sure the hook is placed in front of that dark pulsating dark spot on the head. That is the shrimp’s brain and if you hit it, it will kill it instantly. When tail hooking shrimp I like to put the hook through the middle of the fan tail and thread the shrimp about a ¼ inch up the hook shank then bring the point out on the bottom of the shrimp.
After all this is complete you’ll want to cast your shrimp diagonally up current and let it drift down with the current as you slowly work it back to the boat trying to keep all the slack out of the line. Once it gets past you and parallel to the boat reel it in and cast out again. I also have lots of success by letting the person on the rear of the boat just letting the shrimp drift in the current every so letting out a little line to keep the bait down in the water.
I know that this might not interest some of you but for those of us who saltwater fly fish we lost a legend in the sport last month. On April 18th Billy Pate passed away at the age of 81. Billy was a pioneer in fly fishing the Florida Keys. The first fly reel I ever bought was a Billy Pate bonefish reel back in 1985 and I still have it. RIP Billy.
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