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Charlotte Harbor Area - January 11th, 2007 |
RECORDED: 
76 °
FISHING: Great
January 11, 2007
Hot! Hot! Hot! Both the water and the fishing!
Unseasonably warm weather has pushed water temperatures sky high. That means baitfish haven’t skeedadled to the Gulf in order to keep warm. And THAT means we’re seeing snook and redfish lurking around the mangroves in search of an easy meal.
I fished Aaron Adams, a PhD in marine biology, a few days ago along the West Wall in upper Charlotte Harbor and we found a lot of snook slowly cruising along the mangrove shoreline.
Aaron hooked several big brutes, but only got one to the boat. By the way, his first book, Fisherman’s Coast, is a must-have/must-read for everyone who fishes southwest Florida. Tremendous information aimed directly at the fly angler.
His second book will be published about a year from now. It will be loaded with color photos of fly patterns that effectively represent the prey that predators key on. I am honored that Aaron is including four of my patterns in his new book: my Brown Gobi, Champagne Gobi, Brown Crab, and Blennie.
You can find the photos and recipes for those patterns by clicking on the dropdowns for Photo Gallery, and New Fly Patterns. The key to fishing the Gobi and Blennie is that the fly MUST be allowed to sink all the way to the bottom. These minnows root around in the mud. They also move very slowly, so your strip should be very small and very slow.
In fact, please read my featured article: Low And Slow for Wintertime Fishing.
Paul Lebell spent a half-day with me in Lemon Bay before heading back to Maine for a couple of weeks, and managed several trout and ladyfish. We also spent a lot of time working on his casting and the “strip-strike” technique.
And what we learned simply reinforced what I’ve been telling newbie fly anglers for more than 20 years: cast a LOT of different rods before you buy one.
Here’s why. Paul owns a Temple Fork Outfitters 8-weight TiCr, but was having a lot of trouble making it work for him. Probably because his casting arc was very wide, and the rod simply wasn’t loading.
I put a TFO Professional Series 8-weight in his hands, but frankly he was still struggling. Then I gave him TFO’s Teeny Series 7-weight and it was like magic. Not only were his loops tighter and his distance farther, his casting stroke finally looked effortless.
“Wow!” Paul said. “Looks like one of these Teeny Series rods is in my future. I can’t believe how much better I’m casting. I mean, the difference was immediately obvious.”
“It’s because,“ I told him, “everybody’s physiology and casting stroke is unique to that person. That’s why TFO makes several different series of rods.
“For years, I’ve told people: buy the rod that you can cast the best! Try several different models, and I guarantee that one of them will suddenly feel like a ‘magic wand’ in your hand. That’s the one to buy!” He’s a believer.
Well, gotta run. I’m fishing Lemon Bay again today, then I’m taking Mac Arnold and his wife, Terri, to Terra Ceia tomorrow.
BTW—the new Hewes Redfisher 18 is one fine piece of work! Come see for yourself!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Venice - Snook Alley - January 1st, 2007 |
RECORDED: 
77 °
FISHING: Great
January 1, 2007
THE YEAR IN REVIEW…
Biggest news was Kate’s recovery from cancer surgery and Ghost’s recovery from a torn anterior crusciate ligament. Both had a very good year. Thank You very much, Sir!
Kate got back into the Manistee River out front of our house quite regularly, “but not nearly as often as I plan to NEXT year!!!!” she says. True. But at least she was able to fish again without becoming exhausted after 10 minutes! Yes, she caught MANY gorgeous brookies.
“But I never hooked that Big Guy down at the Deward access,” she lamented as we put the rods away. Next year, Big Red. Next year.
Ghost was sidelined for several days during the past bird season because of leg muscle pulls and a hole in her left eye from a blackberry thorn.
PLEASE MAKE A NOTE OF THIS if you’re an upland hunter. The canine ophthalmologist—who’s also an avid bird hunter—told me to rub Vaseline around the outside of her eyelids before letting her hunt. He said the thorns catch the dog’s skin and open the eyelids wider, making them more susceptible to getting poked. The Vaseline lets the thorns slip off the skin and helps prevent the punctures.
We finished the bird season averaging just under 6.5 flushes per hour, and saw 114 grouse and exactly 250 woodcock!
CHRISTMAS WEEK FISHING REPORT
I was booked solid—and that’s a GOOD thing. Just ask Kate!
We chased Little tunny (false albacore) in the early mornings, redfish and baby tarpon in mid-day, and snook at night. And, of course, we caught ladyfish morning, noon and night!
Ron Povinelli and his wife, Cheryl, fished with me one morning and again at night for snook, and caught a BUNCH of fish. Ron’s an excellent spin-fisherman from Indianapolis who first fished with me last year when he gave his father, Sam, a 91st-birthday present.
Sam subsequently hired me as a birthday present for his wife, Rose’s 86th birthday present! What a day THAT was, with Rose’s 82-year-old sister, Jeannette, joining us in Charlotte Harbor!
Anyway, Ron and Cheryl got into a bunch of fish. Same for Britons Bob Shorthouse and Jerry Setter, who were vacationing here from Merry Ole England.
We ran outside the Venice Jetty looking for ablies, but there just wasn’t any action. After poking around inside Dona Bay a while, I headed north and they got into myriad fish. A couple of “doubles,” and mostly non-stop action.
Rob Schumm, of Evanston, IL, also had a banner day on ladyfish last Wednesday afternoon. The all-white jigs I tie, with two hackle feathers on either side of the pearl estaz, was quite the rage up around Blackburn Point .
Tom Spence was still talking about that albie he caught the previous week (a 9-pounder that got into his backing within 15 seconds, and took nearly a half-hour to bring to the boat) when he stepped aboard with wife Cindy and daughter Natalie for a sightseeing tour Friday morning.
The weather was spectacular, so we cruised north from the ramp on Casey Key with side trips into the many coves so that Cindy could look at all of the varied architectural styles of the houses. We finally turned around after passing under the Siesta Key Bridge just south of Sarasota.
That night, after a brief rest, I squired Tom around in search of snook. Unfortunately, the only cooperative fish managed to throw the hook. One of them was a dandy, though. Tom hooked it in a little backwater I know that holds a nice population of wintertime snook, including a couple of large fish like the one he hooked on a size 8 glass minnow.
“that’s an awfully small fly,” Tom had said as I tied it onto some 16-pound fluorocarbon bite-tippet. “Yep,” I replied. “But sometimes when we match the hatch, it involves small flies like this one.”
About two casts later, Tom was hooked up. “Wow!” he yelled as he reeled in his line, “that fish didn’t even know he was hooked at first. But he sure made up for it once he realized he had metal in his mouth!”
We had drizzly rain this morning, with a prediction of possible thunderstorms for this evening and possibly tomorrow. But it’s going to hit 80 again by Wednesday.
What’s in YOUR fishing forecast?
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Venice - Snook Alley - December 15th, 2006 |
RECORDED: 
74 °
FISHING: Excellent
December 15, 2006
PHENOMENAL is the only word I can use to describe the fishing off the Venice/Nokomis coastline right now!
The first bit of excitement last Wednesday happened when we saw large King mackerel leaping out of the water all around the boat!
Since this was a “scouting trip” with Kevin Cooke, of Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters, and Mark Phelps, I was standing on the pointy end of the boat holding a fly rod. Which is a very unusual occurrence for me.
Suddenly, Kevin yelled in alarm, “It’s a HUGE King! He’s jumping into the boat!” Mark stuttered a little bit and I think he might even have used the first profane word I’d ever heard him utter. I made the cast. “Got him,” I said smugly.
“Lost him,” I said sadly five seconds later, and stripped in a line and leader minus a fly at the end of the 30-pound bite tippet. “You want some wire? I’ve got wire. Do you want some? Wire?” I finally calmed Mark enough to reply that yes, a fly tied onto some wire would be a fine thing, thank you.
In a few moments I had a close encounter with one other King, but the affair was brief and we went our separate ways with only passing regret. See, I can say that NOW because we almost immediately were swarmed with Spanish mackerel.
And birds. Did I mention the birds? No? Well, there were hundreds of them dive bombing the water and generally creating a rather severe casting problem. Fortunately, there were so many Spanish that finding a pod devoid of birds feeding on the chopped-up baitfish wasn’t an issue.
Suddenly, the Mac Attack ended. The birds went away, and eventually we did, too. South of the Venice jetty we saw more birds. Some were slashing at the water practically on the beach. Others were launching their attacks at pods of fish everywhere we looked.
Only this time is was Little Tunny (or False Albacore, as they’re also known) that were turning thousands of glass minnows into an oily chum slick.
Thousands of Albacore, my friends! Yes, thousands. They were everywhere in a feeding frenzy that turned the inshore Gulf of Mexico into a boiling, churning mess of fish-parts.
That was the good news. The bad news was that Mark and I had to leave to meet our charter clients for the day. He had an 81-year-old man and his daughter—neither of whom had ever fished before. For anything. Ever. They did meet us at the dock with a huge cooler filled with sandwiches.
My clients met me in Englewood to chase redfish in Lemon Bay. They hadn’t wanted to get up early to chase Albies and mackerel. So, we chased redfish. And chased. And chased. And chased.
Let’s just say that the second portion of my day was more of a boat ride where two anglers got to practice their casting and one Captain got to fiddle with the Garmin 172C on his new Redfisher 18.
And Mark ate well.
Oh, yes. Kevin did hook an eight-pounder that thrashed and circled the boat and sounded and caused both of us to be late for our charters. Albies are like that.
Come see for yourself some time.
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Venice - Snook Alley - December 4th, 2006 |
RECORDED:
70 °
FISHING: Excellent
December 4, 2006
WHEW!!!!
It certainly has been a whirlwind since Kate, Ghost, and I got back to Venice on November 22!
The trip down from Michigan was, thank God, uneventful. Each of the past two seasons was wrought with mishaps, so a smooth ride down was very welcome indeed.
Anyway, we got in about 5pm on Tuesday. The following morning I was at Ingman Marine in Sarasota to take delivery of a 2007 Hewes Redfisher 18. We had spent a considerable amount of time on measurements to ensure the whole package would A): make it through the garage door and B): allow the garage door to close.
All of this resulted in a custom-built trailer with a pull-out tongue, and a narrower trailer body than normal. Which was good. EXCEPT. As I stood out in the back lot looking over the boat before handing over that VERY considerable check, it suddenly dawned on me that this boat was WAY taller than my old Bayfisher.
“Um, Mike, “ I said to general manager Mike Brimer, “I think we might have a problem here!” Off we went in search of tape measure (Mike) and cell phone (me). “Kate,” I said, sorta tentatively, “would you go measure the height of the garage door opening?” Silence.
“I’m not liking the sound of this,” was the reply from She Who Must Be Obeyed. “Wait one.”
I waited.
Click.
“Floor to garage door is 83 inches,” Kate said. “Good luck.”
By the time I got back to the boat, Mike was standing at the poling platform with tape in hand. “Looks like 86 inches,” he said. Then I told him it was three too high and he blanched. Whipping out his cell phone, he called the Port Charlotte store and explained the problem. “He’s on his way,” Mike said, and flipped his phone shut.
At Ingman Marine’s shop in Port Charlotte, on hard concrete, the news was even worse. “It‘s 89 inches,” the technician intoned. “We’ve got serious trouble here.”
The first thought was to re-drill and lower the metal guide plates. Two drill bits later, the new plan was to spread the bunks as wide as possible and see where we ended up. The tape showed 84 inches and everybody gulped. Hard.
“Let’s drop the tires down by one size,” said Jordan Brimer, Mike’s brother. It was done and we were at 83 inches on the button. GULP!
“We can spread the bunks just a little bit more,” Dave, the technician, said. When it was done, the tape showed 82 ½ inches. YOW!
The following day, which happened to be Thanksgiving Day, by the way, I dropped the boat into the water at the Venice Train Depot ramp and went through several hours of “break-in” for the new Yamaha 115hp four-stroke. Up and down the Intracoastal Waterway I went, following the recommended specs and the posted speed zones.
The next day, bright and early, Darrel Kratt and his Dad, Gene, hopped aboard for a guide trip. We ran outside looking for King mackerel and Spanish mackerel, but there just wasn’t anything happening.
So, we popped back inside the Venice jetty and headed for Dona Bay and some redfish, trout, and maybe a snook or two. All was well until I hopped forward to drop down the trolling motor only to learn that it had been mounted too far back and the shaft wouldn’t clear the gunwale!
I also already had learned that the throttle wouldn’t hold speed, but crept back down when I let go, which made trimming the boat difficult.
And, at the end of the day, I realized that we hadn’t adjusted the winch assembly after spreading the bunks. Which meant I had to fiddle with the boat before it was properly secured.
Back to Ingman.
Next day, all was well. Except when Admiral Parker and I went out looking for albacore I realized that my shiny new Garmin 172C wasn’t giving me water temp or depth, nor a few other things. A quick phone call to Mike revealed that “there’s another card you need for all that. I didn’t think you wanted to spend the extra money for it, so it wasn’t installed.”
Back to Ingman.
So, now we have a spiffy new boat, motor, trailer, and multi-function GPS waiting for all of you to come catch a bunch of fish like the Kratts did once we got back inside.
In fact, Gene hooked up first on a very respectable jac crevalle that took him up, down, and sideways. Once he finally managed to land it, he was darn near trembling. “WOW,” he yelled, “that’s the biggest fish I ever caught!”
Son Darrel, whom I’d met at the fly fishing show in Chicago last January, admired dad’s fish with grim determination. It wasn’t long before they both were into fish after fish after fish.
By the time we pulled back into the ramp area at Casey Key, Dad was exhausted and Darrel was ecstatic. “Thanks,” he said, “it was a great trip. My Dad had a blast!”
The albies are still around, and it’s rumored that tripletail and cobia are going to show up verrrrrrrry soon! I still have a tremendous package rate at the Venice Holiday Inn, so I can save you a bundle on lodging if you’ve got a hankerin’ to head on down for some fishing!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Lemon Bay - November 1st, 2006 |
RECORDED:
85 °
FISHING: Great
November 1, 2006
OVERVIEW
Steelhead are actively feeding in the lower Manistee River and the Pere Marquette River near Wellston and Baldwin, respectively. Brown trout are taking streamers fished deep with sink-tip lines.
In Florida, baby tarpon are schooled up near creek mouths, while snook, redfish and spotted sea trout activity is strong.
Michigan grouse and woodcock hunting has been superb. Woodcock are starting to thin out as the migration south continues, but grouse numbers are excellent. Woodcock season ends Nov. 6, and grouse closes Nov. 14.
MICHIGAN FISHING
Bill Delaney and Dave Martinez floated the upper Manistee River with me last week and were very impressed by the structure, holding lies, and sheer beauty of the habitat. That’s the good news.
The bad news was that it was a brilliantly sunny day and the water was so clear you could read a newspaper lying on the river bottom. Absolutely not the sort of day that’s conducive to pitching streamers.
The guys were gamers, though, and wore out their arms casting big flies on sinking lines! Fortunately, the previous three days of bird hunting had been superb. More on that later.
The lower river, as always, is producing superb catches of steelhead and some large browns. They’re still looking for salmon eggs, but that’ll change pretty quickly since the Chinook spawning run is just about finished for this year.
Once the last of the Kings are gone, look for steelies in the deeper holes and pitch stonefly nymphs and the little green Rhyacophelia caddis larva. Large streamers are always a good choice, too.
The Boyne also had a good run of Chinook this season, and Steve Shahanian beached one smallish fish during our four-day Cast & Blast.
Don’t forget that firearm deer season opens statewide on the 15th, so if you plan on hiking through the woods to your favorite steelhead hole it’s wise to wear a cheap blaze orange vest over your fishing gear.
MICHIGAN UPLAND HUNTING
In a word, “Fantastic”!
Grouse and woodcock numbers have been excellent this season. Ghost and Ben have done an outstanding job of pointing birds. Most of them flew away unmolested, which is a fine thing. As my old friend Bob Popp always says, “Ya gotta leave some for seed”!
This is the first October in 20 years that I haven’t been on the road as a sales representative in the fly fishing industry—I sold the business to John Bueter last March—so we’ve hunted nearly every day.
I spent the two weeks in September after Opener on the 15th doing a lot of scouting. Bill Ross joined me on many occasions, and we had a great time checking out my favorite coverts.
My guiding kicked into gear on October 7, when Jo Jo Doria, from Peoria, IL, joined me and Ghost and Ben for a day afield.
Jo Jo had just purchased a fancy new side-by-side shotgun from Bryan Bilinski at Fieldsport in Traverse City, and couldn’t wait to try it out.
We saw five grouse and seven woodcock, and Jo Jo was thrilled with the day despite missing a golden opportunity for a double on woodcock.
Bob Benz was out with me a couple of days later. He’d also just purchased a new shotgun from Bryan, and wanted to try it out before heading back home to Houston for the winter.
Nine grouse and nine woodcock took wing that day, but Bob was having trouble seeing and hearing them. He did take a grouse home, however it was sorta bizarre. We had just started walking through a covert when Sam, a GSP who beIongs to my pal Steve Sendek, locked up on point. Then there was a rustle of feathers and Sam rushed in to grab a cripple that someone obviously had winged earlier in the morning.
That night, as predicted, we had our first snowfall of the season. Yep. On October 10th!
So, it was a wet, sloppy morning for me and Steve Shahanian, who’d driven up from Lexington, KY, with his two setters, Toby (5) and her daughter Kate (1).
The weather finally cleared on Steve’s final day with me, but he went home happy. “I can honestly say that my setters can work on grouse and woodcock now. I couldn’t make that statement last week. It was great.”
It certainly helped man and dogs that during our four days together Steve and his setters saw 16 grouse and 41 woodcock. We averaged 6.3 birds per hour.
Speaking of finding woodcock, that was the “problem” Geoff Bump and his brother, Greg, had been having. “We can find woodcock all day long,” Geoff lamented, “but we just can’t find grouse.
“What we want from you today is an education in where to find grouse.”
Hmm, I said.
“Well, what sort of cover have you been hunting?” I asked.
Sure enough, classic woodcock coverts that only sometimes hold grouse.
After walking through three different coverts that they freely admitted “we never would have given a second glance,” and after seeing six grouse and nine woodcock in them, they looked at each other and shook their heads. “We’ve been hunting in the wrong places!”
Several days later I got a nice e-mail from Geoff telling me that they’ve been finding grouse in all the right places since our day together.
I actually took several days off after that and hunted with good friends Rex Farver, Bob Popp, and Mike Beatty. The only disappointing aspect during that week was that Ghost was lame with a pulled leg muscle (which forced me to cancel a trip on the 16th with Mike Timmis, of Fort Myers). So, we relied on Ben, Rex’ dog Jake, and Mike’s setter Sadie.
October 23 found me in the woods with Bill Delaney and Dave Martinez. Bill had hunted quail in Florida over Ghost last winter, and was anxious to watch her in a grouse covert.
We roamed throughout northern Michigan during our four days together, and despite not hooking any fish, they saw 15 grouse and forty-four woodcock. And they had enough success that I even made woodcock pate for them—which we consumed during and after our float on the Manistee.
The following morning, Mike Chiarappa met me and Ghost and Ben for a days of hunting and history. Mike thoroughly enjoyed both, since the “history” portion is what he does as a professor at Western Michigan University. He had as much fun learning about the old ghost town of Deward as he did seeing five grouse and twelve woodcock!
We were supposed to hunt again the next day—and even gave it a try for thirty minutes after sitting in my greatroom for a couple of hours. But, in the end, a howling wind that hit us like a freight train forced me to cancel the hunt.
I wasn’t sure if the following day with Stan Skarli would work out, but the wind settled down just enough to take him and his daughter Hannah (13) and son Christian (12) through the woods.
The wind made it hard on Ghost and Ben, but Team Skarli did see four grouse and four woodcock. And the kids even got off a couple of shots!
Ghost has been grateful for the rest these past couple of days. In addition to her pulled leg muscle (again), she’s been taking drops for a hole that got poked into her left eye by a blackberry thorn. She sure hates getting those drops. Thankfully, the eye is mostly healed! However, we definitely will still roam a few more grouse coverts before heading south for quail!
FLORIDA
Speaking of heading south, I just got a call from my bank in Gaylord, approving my loan for the 2007 Hewes Redfisher 18 I’m picking up on the 22nd. That’s what they call “Just In Time” delivery since my first guide trip of the season is on the 23rd!
And it looks like this is going to be another tremendous year of fishing in southwest Florida. The reports I’m getting from Kevin Cooke, Capt. Mark, and the Admiral are excellent.
Baby tarpon are swarming the creek and river mouths, reds are schooling, snook are working their way back into the Intracoastal Waterway, and spotted sea trout are holding on the shallow water flats during high tide before drifting into deeper water as the tides fall.
It won’t be long before King mackerel and albies start cruising the beaches, either.
Hopefully, you’ll be there to join me when the Fall Blitz begins!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Upper Manistee M72-CCC - October 11th, 2006 |
RECORDED: 
43 °
FISHING: Excellent
October 11, 2006
MICHIGAN
This is absolutely the ULTIMATE time for a Cast & Blast getaway in northern Michigan. King salmon have filled the rivers, and the upland gunning for grouse and woodcock has been superb.
In fact, Steve Shihanian is driving north from Lexington, KY, even as I type, exactly for that purpose. He’s packing fly rods, shotguns and a couple of English setters for five days of blissful fishing and hunting.
The fact that the “S”-word is in our forecast daunts him not at all. “I need to get away from the horse country for a while,” he said earlier this morning. “I don’t mind a little snow on the ground.”
Great attitude!
Great conditions, too. We’re averaging more than seven birds per hour (grouse and woodcock combined), which has given my clients a lot of excitement.
Jo-Jo Dorian was with me last Saturday, and he experienced the best we have to offer. The sunshine turned the aspen leaves a brilliant gold, the maples were flaming red, and the oaks were a deep burgundy.
Ghost and Ben found plenty of birds for him, and he managed to take home one woodcock. “I am fulfilled,” he said, as we shook hands goodbye. “What a great day to be in the woods.”
Don Schulz echoed that comment Sunday evening and Monday morning after I squired him through several different coverts. He was especially happy that he could contribute a bird to the woodcock pate that he will help consume at my wild game dinner November 4.
Yesterday, Bob Benz (who’s heading back home to Houston next Tuesday) got a thorough walkabout and took a grouse home for his dinner. We saw eight grouse and nine woodcock throughout the day, but Bob had trouble picking them up in flight so his Beretta didn’t go “bang” very often.
He and Jo-Jo are planning on hitting the Hexagenia hatch with me next June. I just hope the weather NEXT year is better than last June.
Overall, I’d have to rate the fishing season as very good. Not excellent, since cold temps (down to 35 degrees at night in late June) mostly wiped out the Hex hatch and spinner fall.
But our Isonychia hatch was long and productive. Same for Dorotheas and Baetis. Caddis, of course, are always prevalent.
The other strange thing about this past fishing season was that the big browns took a looooong time to key in on grasshoppers. Normally, we’re sticking nice fish during the daytime beginning in late July. This year it was nearly September before the big guys started gulping hoppers.
John Jepkema certainly had a blast the day he fished the Manistee with me and nailed an extremely fat, hook-jawed brown just before our takeout at Yellowtrees Landing. It measured 18 inches, but was hefty enough for a 21-incher!
Best of all, Kate was pretty much back to normal after her bout with cancer! She didn’t fish quite as many days as she’d like, but much of that was due to her itch to plant a bunch of trees, flowers, and bushes this summer.
“NEXT year,” she vowed, “I’ll get out at least four evenings each week!”
FLORIDA
Thank goodness we were spared hurricanes this season! Conditions are excellent throughout southwest Florida, and most all of the species are eating flies very readily!
Look at your schedule and get with me to reserve some Winter Getaway days. I’m taking delivery of a brand new Hewes Redfisher 18 November 22, and it’s a real snazzy fishing platform!
I’ve also found a couple more spots that hold baby tarpon, so we’ll have even MORE fun this winter!
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Manistee River - September 21st, 2006 |
RECORDED:
60 °
FISHING: Excellent
September 21, 2006
It certainly took long enough, but the brown trout and brookies FINALLY have started keying in on artificial hopper patterns, along with black ants, red ants (regular and winged), and beetles.
Most all of my guide buddies, and other anglers I respect, were scratching their heads in puzzlement the same way I was. Normally, the end of July starts the Hopper Hatch. This year it was the beginning of September.
In any event, the fish are pouncing upon them with great glee these days. My guiding is pretty evenly divided between angling and upland gunning at this time of year, but fellows like John Jepkema—who boated that fat 18-incher—are having a wonderful time flicking flies.
James Scharfenberg, of suburban Chicago, floated the Manistee with me last week and raised a bunch of fish. Some of them had pretty decent size, too. Next time, we’ll work on actually boating them.
Jim Clink and his brother, Jerry, fell madly in love with the upper Manistee a few days ago during their “Let’s Learn Fly Fishing” day on the river with me.
Both of them picked up The Quiet Sport pretty quickly, but Jerry was really enthralled and is firmly hooked. He’s going to spend as much time as possible tossing rubber crickets at bluegill around Bowling Green until the snow blankets all cornfields and turns the ponds into skating rinks.
My old buddy Jack Helder—who’s always looking for an excuse to spend a night or two here at Blue Lakes Junction—brought Chris McCarus up last week for a short float. Chris works with the Public Broadcasting station in Lansing, and somehow Jack got him interested in A) fly fishing and B) Au Sable longboats.
So, we spent three hours on the Holy Water Sept. 11 and Chris got a wonderful introduction to fly fishing. We’ll also work on HIS fish-landing skills next time.
Chris also got an earful about the potentially devastating hydrocarbon pollution that presently threatens the Manistee and Au Sable rivers (see the Articles dropdown on this web site for the story I wrote that appeared in the July 2006 issue of Fly Fisherman magazine). He was so shocked by what he read in my article that he came back up this Tuesday and attended part of Wednesday’s Circuit Court testimony.
Merit Energy is blocked at the moment from piping more than a million gallons of “treated” water PER DAY into Kolke Creek, which feeds into Lynn Lake, which feeds the headwaters of the Au Sable River.
The court proceedings on Tuesday and Wednesday merely scratched the surface of testimony/objections/testimony. More court dates are being discussed by all of the lawyers involved. I’ll keep you posted.
UPLAND GUNNING
Nine grouse and 11 woodcock were pointed by Ghost and Ben (who’s 13 years old now!) in less than two hours on opening day Sept. 15. See the Featured Article on this site to read the piece Eric Sharp wrote for the Detroit Free Press. Ghost pointed one grouse and four woodcock on Sunday morning, and three grouse and one woodcock today. Woodcock season doesn’t open until the 23rd, so they have been getting a friendly wave and salute as they fly off. But Kate and I will be dining tonight on one of the one grouse Ghost pointed this morning.
It was an absolutely spectacular Fall day in Michigan with leaves beginning to change color and a bite in the morning air.
FLORIDA
The red tide outbreak appears to be over. But Kevin Cooke, shop manager at Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters, tells me the water is turbid because they’ve been getting about five inches of rainfall every afternoon!
Terra Ciea Bay has been fishing well, however. So has Charlotte Harbor. I’m really glad to hear that, since I already have several trips booked during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Kate and I are leaving Michigan November 19, and plan to arrive in Venice the 21st. Then—TA DAH!!!!!!—I take delivery of a 2007 Hewes Redfisher 18 on the 22nd.
To tell the complete truth, I’m going to miss my Hewes Bayfisher 16. It’s been—and remains—a wonderful boat. Very comfortable in the chop, and easy to pole on the flats. But the folks at Ingman Marine made me The Godfather deal. You know, “the offer you can’t refuse.”
So, I’ll be running a new boat when y’all head South to fish with me this Winter. It’s quite a bit larger than the Bayfisher, with a Yami 115 four-stroke so we’ll be quicker and quieter getting to those tailing redfish in December and January!
If cruising the flats or chasing night snook (look for my article on that in the issue of Fly Fisherman magazine that hits the newsstands December 6) turns you on, get with me ASAP. My days (and nights) are rapidly filling up!
MONTANA
If you’re going, don’t wait too long. There already have been forecast for the northern Rockies that contain the “S”-word! So give Capt. John a call pretty quick.
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Manistee River - August 26th, 2006 |
RECORDED:
75 °
FISHING: Excellent
August 26, 2006
MICHIGAN
It’s FINALLY hopper time! At least, as far as the brown trout and brookies are concerned. Up until now, they’ve been ignoring these tasty morsels.
Actually, this has been an unusual summer all around.
First, we had a screwy Hex season in late June when air temps were dropping to 35 degrees at the Magic Hour (dusk) and ruining the spinner falls.
Then July was the hottest on record and water temps zoomed to the high 60s and even the lower 70s, which made fishing difficult if not downright impossible.
And through it all, those grasshoppers were getting fatter and fatter but the trout wouldn’t look at an artificial even during the hot days of early and mid August.
But NOW, the game’s afoot, Watson!
Just ask John Jekema, who drove his camper and hauled his lake boat all the way from Craig, CO, to fish for salmon and trout in his home state of Michigan.
We floated the Manistee below M72 last Thursday, and he had a field day raising and hooking fish on various parachute hopper patterns. Finally, a few bends above Yellowtrees Landing, John pitched his fly into a streamside logjam and was rewarded with an enormous swirl.
Fortunately, the opposite bank was pretty shallow, so I shoved the boat over, set the anchor chain, and hopped out with the landing net. John played the fish perfectly, and in just a couple of minutes I had it in the net.
After a few quick photos, we released that very fat, hook-jawed male back into the water. This brown trout measured 18 inches, but it’s girth and bulk was such that it really should have measured out around 21 inches.
“That’s the biggest brown trout I ever caught,” John said. I gave him the fly he’d used to catch it, and promised to send info on a taxidermist I know who does excellent reproduction mounts from photos. “I’ll be back next year,” John said, “along with my son.”
The previous day, Marta Ogle also had a “homecoming” of sorts. She and her new husband, Don (both were widowed and just got married a year ago), came up to the Manistee where Marta had fished with her Dad many years ago.
She and Don live just north of Cincinnati, and decided to make the trip north at Marta’s insistence that Don “simply had to see how beautiful it is in northern Michigan.” Since they were staying at Whispering Pines on the Manistee at County Road 612, and Don’s not a fly angler, we launched my Au Sable longboat there at the campground and floated to Long’s Canoe Livery.
That stretch of the Manistee isn’t fly-only, but it has some extremely trouty spots. Marta was pretty rusty after a long absence from the fly rod, but she raised quite a few fish and also landed a nice brook and brown on hoppers.
Oh, yes. I’ve gotta report that Jack Hise finally started landing some of the many fish he raised on the second day that we floated. He and Mike Flannagan, you might recall, had consistently lost or missed dozens of fish when we floated the Au Sable below Mio last week during the FAOL Michigan Fish-In.
The next day, on the Manistee below M72, Jack and Jim Flamming continued the “streak” for about two hours. Then they both started bringing browns and brookies to the boat. WHEW! Talk about the guide feeling relieved!
They were so impressed with that stretch of river—which I personally believe is the best “big-fish” water anywhere in the United States—that’s they’ve already booked a night next June during the Hex hatch.
I had been telling them about the incredible opportunities to hook several brown trout upwards of 25 or 26 inches during the Hex, and after seeing the water, they were drooling to try. See ya in June, fellas!
Surprisingly enough—or maybe not, considering the weather
we’ve had this summer—there aren’t any salmon in the lower Manistee River below Tippy Dam, nor are there any in the Pere Marquette River.
We usually have excellent Chinook fishing in the rivers by now. I understand the salmon are on the move in Lake Michigan, however, so it shouldn’t be too long before they start showing up in the rivers.
FLORIDA
Kevin Cooke, shop manager at Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters in Nokomis, just north of Venice, tells me the fishing has been very good lately.
There have been red tide episodes around Sanibel, and a mass of sea leeches were killed and washed ashore (ugggh!) at Anna Maria Island, but it’s been very spotty.
Baby tarpon action has been decent at times, and the snook and redfish have been kind to anglers in the early morning hours.
MONTANA
Everything’s at its peak right now. So, if you have a hankering to head West, get with Capt. John and he’ll run you down the Madison River until your arm falls off from casting!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Manistee River - August 26th, 2006 |
RECORDED:
75 °
FISHING: Excellent
August 26, 2006
MICHIGAN
It’s FINALLY hopper time! At least, as far as the brown trout and brookies are concerned. Up until now, they’ve been ignoring these tasty morsels.
Actually, this has been an unusual summer all around.
First, we had a screwy Hex season in late June when air temps were dropping to 35 degrees at the Magic Hour (dusk) and ruining the spinner falls.
Then July was the hottest on record and water temps zoomed to the high 60s and even the lower 70s, which made fishing difficult if not downright impossible.
And through it all, those grasshoppers were getting fatter and fatter but the trout wouldn’t look at an artificial even during the hot days of early and mid August.
But NOW, the game’s afoot, Watson!
Just ask John Jekema, who drove his camper and hauled his lake boat all the way from Craig, CO, to fish for salmon and trout in his home state of Michigan.
We floated the Manistee below M72 last Thursday, and he had a field day raising and hooking fish on various parachute hopper patterns. Finally, a few bends above Yellowtrees Landing, John pitched his fly into a streamside logjam and was rewarded with an enormous swirl.
Fortunately, the opposite bank was pretty shallow, so I shoved the boat over, set the anchor chain, and hopped out with the landing net. John played the fish perfectly, and in just a couple of minutes I had it in the net.
After a few quick photos, we released that very fat, hook-jawed male back into the water. This brown trout measured 18 inches, but it’s girth and bulk was such that it really should have measured out around 21 inches.
“That’s the biggest brown trout I ever caught,” John said. I gave him the fly he’d used to catch it, and promised to send info on a taxidermist I know who does excellent reproduction mounts from photos. “I’ll be back next year,” John said, “along with my son.”
The previous day, Marta Ogle also had a “homecoming” of sorts. She and her new husband, Don (both were widowed and just got married a year ago), came up to the Manistee where Marta had fished with her Dad many years ago.
She and Don live just north of Cincinnati, and decided to make the trip north at Marta’s insistence that Don “simply had to see how beautiful it is in northern Michigan.” Since they were staying at Whispering Pines on the Manistee at County Road 612, and Don’s not a fly angler, we launched my Au Sable longboat there at the campground and floated to Long’s Canoe Livery.
That stretch of the Manistee isn’t fly-only, but it has some extremely trouty spots. Marta was pretty rusty after a long absence from the fly rod, but she raised quite a few fish and also landed a nice brook and brown on hoppers.
Oh, yes. I’ve gotta report that Jack Hise finally started landing some of the many fish he raised on the second day that we floated. He and Mike Flannagan, you might recall, had consistently lost or missed dozens of fish when we floated the Au Sable below Mio last week during the FAOL Michigan Fish-In.
The next day, on the Manistee below M72, Jack and Jim Flamming continued the “streak” for about two hours. Then they both started bringing browns and brookies to the boat. WHEW! Talk about the guide feeling relieved!
They were so impressed with that stretch of river—which I personally believe is the best “big-fish” water anywhere in the United States—that’s they’ve already booked a night next June during the Hex hatch.
I had been telling them about the incredible opportunities to hook several brown trout upwards of 25 or 26 inches during the Hex, and after seeing the water, they were drooling to try. See ya in June, fellas!
Surprisingly enough—or maybe not, considering the weather
we’ve had this summer—there aren’t any salmon in the lower Manistee River below Tippy Dam, nor are there any in the Pere Marquette River.
We usually have excellent Chinook fishing in the rivers by now. I understand the salmon are on the move in Lake Michigan, however, so it shouldn’t be too long before they start showing up in the rivers.
FLORIDA
Kevin Cooke, shop manager at Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters in Nokomis, just north of Venice, tells me the fishing has been very good lately.
There have been red tide episodes around Sanibel, and a mass of sea leeches were killed and washed ashore (ugggh!) at Anna Maria Island, but it’s been very spotty.
Baby tarpon action has been decent at times, and the snook and redfish have been kind to anglers in the early morning hours.
MONTANA
Everything’s at its peak right now. So, if you have a hankering to head West, get with Capt. John and he’ll run you down the Madison River until your arm falls off from casting!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Manistee River - August 17th, 2006 |
RECORDED:
80 °
FISHING: Good
August 17, 2006
OVERVIEW
It’s been exactly a month since my mom’s heart attack, and it still seems mighty strange to think I’ll never talk with her again! But, in a way, it already seems like a very long time since I was down in Ohio making all of the arrangements and getting her apartment cleaned out.
I suppose that’s because I’ve been staying so busy guiding and running Ghost every day since I’ve been back. Which is a good thing!
Ghost found a new “Honeyhole” for woodcock on yesterday’s scouting mission. Five points in less than 30 minutes. And it’s a brand new spot that we’ve never hunted. To make it even better, the covert is pretty close to my house!
She’s running hard and minding my commands really well. As Kate just mentioned, “let’s hope it stays that way once she starts getting feathers in her mouth.”
Speaking of which, our second shoot-to-retrieve hunt test is going to take place Saturday morning at Montney Farm, 6380 Cornwell Ave., just a few miles from Jay’s Sporting Goods in Clare. She’ll taste some feathers then, for sure.
Rex Farver sent me a beautiful Browning Citori 28ga two weeks ago. It’s about 15 years old, and never has been fired! I had hoped to try it out on skeet last Sunday, but the Grayling Gun Club was hosting a Registered Trap Shoot, so both skeet ranges were closed!
The Citori has fixed chokes that at modified and improved cylinder. I normally shoot skeet and cylinder in my Beretta for grouse and woodcock because the cover is so thick up here, so I wanted to see how these tubes work for me. To be on the safe side, I’ll shoot the Beretta Saturday. Ghost would never forgive me if I missed.
MICHIGAN
Fishing has been average to pretty good. MC (Mary Claire) Garges popped a 4X tippet on one Manistee River brownie that was in the 20-inch class last week. Middle of the day, using a greenish Manistee Special (no, you cannot have the pattern—this one really IS Special!) in a spot that rarely gets fished.
Rex pointed out this dandy little hide when we fished together one day last summer, and I can see why a couple of hogs live there—99 percent of the anglers would simply float by because it looks inaccessible. But there is a way in, Watson! And the rewards definitely justify the means.
Anyway, MC dropped the fly in there after I’d done some careful maneuvering, and she was immediately rewarded with a huge swirl. She set the hook, but held on a bit too tight and that bruiser parted the fluorocarbon like it was a spider web.
She and dad, Jim, had a great day and raised plenty of fish. Same for John Shiller and son Kurt. We floated the Manistee from CR612 down to Long’s Canoe Livery and had a strange day.
John’s got a cabin on Manistee Lake, about six miles west of the river, so he wants to learn the upper Manistee. It was raining on and off, with the threat of thunderstorms, but Kurt was flying home to Dallas the next day, so we didn’t have a choice on postponing the trip.
That stretch of river has sanded in quite a lot. In fact, we all had to get out and walk the longboat over the sand in several spots. Fortunately, we all were wearing waders as protection from the rain. But there still are plenty of places that hold nice trout—as Kurt found out.
This was the first time they’d fished from an Au Sable longboat, though, and line-management was an issue that Kurt couldn’t quite master. So, the many rises went unfulfilled, so to speak.
Yesterday, I took Jack Hise, of Evert, MI, and Mike Flannagan, of Canton, OH, down below Mio on the Au Sable. We were hoping to hit E. leukon, but the temperature started dropping in the evening and I only saw one white dun on the water.
Jack hooked several fish using a size 16 yellow stonefly that I tie, but the hook kept pulling loose and we never did bring any to the boat. Maybe today. I’m taking Jack out again. This time with Carla Anderson, and we’re heading to the Manistee.
And, yes, we WILL be pitching The Manistee Special. And NO, I still won’t reveal the pattern. You’d never believe me, anyway!
FLORIDA
Kevin Cooke tells me the fishing has been very good in recent weeks despite splotchy patches of red tide popping up here and there.
The area around Sanibel got hit hardest by the red tide, but seems to have mostly recovered. Upper Charlotte Harbor is fishing very well. Same for Terra Ciea Bay up around Anna Maria Island and Bradenton. Lots of fish of every description are being boated.
The really good news is that Sarasota Bay has come back after being hammered by last year’s 11-month siege from red tide.
MONTANA
Capt. John reports the Madison is fishing very well. “No really big fish,” he said, “but lots of fish about 14 inches. We get a 20-incher now and then.”
Just remember to take some warm clothing, and plan on doing the “Montana Strip.” Night have been down to 25 degrees!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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