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Lemon Bay - December 22nd, 2008 |
RECORDED: 
63 °
FISHING: Excellent
DECEMBER 22, 2008
Who says you can’t catch fish when a cold front moves into southwest Florida???
BAH, HUMBUG!!!
Yeah, it did take a little bit of time to “crack the code,” but my guys the past few days managed to put a pretty good hurtin’ on a whole bunch of fish. Mostly down in Lemon Bay, of course.
Let’s see.
Last week started with Dave Dillman, his stepson Ross, and son-in-law David. We worked Snook Alley pretty hard and it conversely worked US pretty hard.
Then Ross caught a keeper-sized flounder (which was released), and that opened the gates. Trout and ladyfish abounded. The best trout was Mike’s that was thismuch shy of the slot, and the ladyfish were everywhere once the water warmed a bit.
The next day was off-limits to fishing because Kate and I celebrated our 38th anniversary with our tradition of trimming our Christmas tree.
This year was a bit different, though. A gecko had taken up residence during the week our tree was in a bucket on the side of the house, and it hitched a ride inside.
Now, it’s living amid the boughs and ornaments (some of which are about 70 years old, passed down from Grandma Lucy to my mother and then to me.
“He’d better not knock down any of those old ornaments,” Kate wailed—after trying to catch it in an empty apple sauce jar. “The darn thing’s just too quick, and he won’t jump down out of the tree onto the rug!”
I really don’t know what Mr. Gecko is eating, but he appears to be healthy and happy. Go figure!
But, I digress. Back to fishing.
Ann Peters bought a surprise Christmas present for her dad, Bill, who recently retired after a career owning an insurance agency in Watkins Glen, NY. So, Saturday afternoon found us in Englewood, along with Ann’s fiancé, Glenn Harrison.
It was tough going for a while. We scoured Lemon Bay in search of redfish, but they kept eluding us. Lots of activity and swirls, but no hookups. We finally ran up into one of the small tributaries and Bill tagged two small snook real quick.
He wasn’t very impressed until a fairly large jack crevalle inhaled his fly. When the water finally stopped splashing all over the place, he was out of breath and a LOT more impressed.
“That fish, uh, gave me a pretty good workout,” Bill said. “Yeah,” I replied. “Jacks have a way of doing that to you.”
We went back outside and worked a couple of flats that have been generous to me. FINALLY, Glenn and Bill hooked up simultaneously. Bill’s was another jack—but not as large as previously.
Glenn, on the other hand, had his hands full. When he finally managed to bring the fish alongside my Hewes Redfisher 18, I slipped the net under a very healthy 6-pound bluefish.
I know it was 6 pounds because for the sake of accuracy—as well as my fingers—I slipped a BogaGrip into his jaw. That’s the biggest Blue any of my anglers have ever landed down here.
Sure, sure, I know that’s nothing compared to the Blues Up East. Glenn’s from Falmouth, MA, and he’s caught plenty of them WAY bigger than that.
But, it’s all relative. For US, that’s a darn big Blue!
This morning, Trey Zoeller met me with his dad Chet, who lives on Casey Key, and brother-in-law Aaron Willis, from Louisville, KY.
The wind was humpin’ pretty hard out of the northeast, so I didn’t even waste any time trying the flats in Lemon Bay. We headed for the creeks, and almost immediately got into trout and jacks and snook.
It was pretty constant action, too.
In fact, Chet commented at one point, “Gee, we’ve gone 10 minutes without a hit!” At which point he promptly hooked and boated a 22-inch redfish.
We decided to leave the creek and head back out into Lemon Bay, and were rewarded with trout and ladyfish one after another. Several times they “doubled up,” at one point narrowly missed getting a “triple” when Trey’s fish threw the hook.
“That was great, Trey said as they piled into Chet’s car for the ride back to Casey Key. “I’m bringing several guys down here in May. Maybe we could chase some tarpon?”
“Sure,” I said. “But that’s a very narrow window of opportunity, so get with me as soon as possible. Especially because it sounds like I’ll need to book a couple more guides.”
“OK,” he said, nodding. “I’ll let you know. And I might be back down another time or two this winter.”
Well, the fishing is only going to keep getting better and better and better! For him and for YOU.
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Lemon Bay - December 11th, 2008 |
RECORDED: 
73 °
FISHING: Poor
December 11, 2008
I guess the only positive thing I can say at the moment—now that the thunder and lightning have stopped—is that I’m not buried under four feet of snow at my house in northern Michigan.
Really, though, things have been very strange the past couple of months! The weather, of course, dominates my world since it directly effects my ability to earn a living.
And so far, November and early December have been tough, tough, tough. In fact, the Sarasota newspaper ran a story last week saying this November officially was the coldest on record for southwest Florida.
Yikes!
Fronts have been coming and going with too much regularity. In between, the fishing has been pretty darn good. But 25-knot winds and six-foot waves are hard on fly casters!
Considering the weather right now, it’s probably a good thing that my trip scheduled for Saturday has been moved to Monday. Perhaps things will have settled down by then.
We did have a reasonably good day earlier in the week. Started out tough, though. We were looking for pompano, but had to settle for small snook, snappers, ladyfish, and the opportunity to hook a baby tarpon.
However, Jason Roberts found out that tarpon have mouths about as hard as the side of my Hewes Redfisher. Ah, well. Next time, eh Jason?
We’ve started doing our regular series of casting clinics at Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters. The next one’s scheduled for Dec. 21 from 1pm to 3pm at the shop.
The Tuesday and Thursday fly tying sessions are up and running from 6pm to 8pm, and we’re doing seminars one Tuesday a month. The one this week was “Successful Saltwater Tactics.”
January 13’s topic is “Snook—Day and Night.” And believe me, if you’ve never played around the lighted docks at night chasing snook you’ve missed out on one of angling’s great thrills.
I wrote an article for Fly Fisherman magazine (March 2007) that lead off with a recount of Bernie Shapiro’s Great Adventure. In three hours he boated 37 fish in the 18-inch to 25-inch class before wailing: “Uncle! Take me home! My arm’s ready to fall off!”
And we had fished one dock the entire time! Incredible.
Gotta truthfully admit that last season’s night-snooking was “off” for some reason that nobody could figure. The fish were finicky.
Maybe I need to develop some new patterns. Sorta like trout Up North that have seen the same stuff for years and somehow genetically pass on the info “that’s fake—don’t eat it!”
Monday’s trip is with three spin-fishermen, so I’ve been busy tying jigs. I use the same fly patterns, just tied onto eight-ounce or quarter-ounce heads.
Maybe I’ll “get creative” at tonight’s tying session. Stop by if you’re in the area. It’s “free-form,” meaning we have absolute beginners mixed in with Northern Trout Guys who want to learn saltwater stuff, and saltwater guys who want to learn new patterns.
Plus the (mostly) guys who just want to get out of the house for a while and talk about fishing.
ENGLISH SETTER UPDATE
Heart gave be a real scare a couple of days ago at the shop. I’d leash-walked him, and was putting him back into his crate inside the Tahoe.
Foolishly, I unhooked him without tossing an Alpo Variety Snap into the crate first. He looked at me indignantly, then the light bulb flashed on inside that Hard Head of his. “I’M FREE!” And off he went, taking MY heart with him. I was absolutely TERRIFIED he’d run out into traffic and be killed.
FORTUNATELY, he ran behind our building, then behind the windsurfing and ice cream shops. He stopped, raised his head defiantly, then (thank GOD) stepped into a patch of sand-spurs.
They dug into his skin between the pads of his feet and he stopped cold. I hobbled over and snapped the leash onto his collar, then tugged about a dozen of those nasty (but at that moment very WELCOME) spikes out of him.
Lesson learned, believe me!
Ghost is doing great. I can tell that her vision still hasn’t recovered from August’s laser surgery on her left eye, but she’s more than 11 years old now and usually acts half her age.
I’ve got a quail trip booked in mid-January at Dream Lakes with Bill Delaney, which will give Ghost and Heart great pleasure. I’m hoping to get up there yet this month, too, but work always comes before play.
So, if you’ve got southwest Florida in your holiday plans, shoot me an email and we’ll compare schedules.
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Lemon Bay - December 6th, 2008 |
RECORDED: 
76 °
FISHING: Excellent
DECEMBER 6, 2008
We just got back from the Venice boat parade. It’s held every night the first Saturday in December, and some of the entrants REALLY go all out. There are some BIG boats with VERY elaborate lighting schemes, and some not-so-elaborate.
But you know what? The one that got my vote was a skiff about 20 feet long, with a really cool mix of multi-colored palm trees along with the usual elves/Santa thingy. Just a tropical-paradise “feel.”
The neighborhood gang was with us, and a few newcomers, who clapped, cheered, whistled and generally gave a rousing vote of thanks to every one of the 48 participants.
We even cheered like hell for a fisherman coming back into his safe harbor with nothing but his running lights. It’s that kind of a thing—and THOUSANDS of folks line the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) to watch it every year.
And I’ll be darned if not an hour after we got home—just before I sat at the keyboard—it POURED down rain. Fortunately, Ghost and Heart had already, uh, yeah.
OK. About the fishing.
Jason Roberts and his wife Susan are in town visiting his folks at Pelican Pointe and decided to stop into Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters to find out about wade-fishing spots.
We chatted a while, and I gave Jason some options. “Do you take people out?” he finally asked.
“Yes.” I told him the rates and he asked if there was any way to split a trip with another angler.
“Sure. I’ll call a couple of my regulars this afternoon.” Which I did, and which prompted Bill Riccardi to call me back saying “I think going fishing tomorrow would be a wonderful idea.”
Frankly, I would have preferred going out Thursday or yesterday, when the forecast was for warmer weather, but you do what you do when you have to.
So, we went looking for pompano in the cut inside Stump Pass. My buddy and fellow guide KO Corl had told me anglers had been coming into the Englewood Bait House—where he works on Fridays—telling him the pomps had been running strong.
Well, I graphed a bunch of fish, but the incoming tide from the west and the prevailing wind from the east was wreaking havoc. Bill was on the bow tossing flies, I was in the middle working the trolling motor, and Jason was on the stern wondering whatinhell he’d gotten himself into!
“Guys, this simply isn’t working,” I finally said. “The water temp is 61. Let’s go inside and work this flat to the north. It’s been good to me before.” Yeah. The key word here is “before.” Not that day!
“OK, let’s get out of here and work the slot behind the boat moorings that goes into Ski Alley.” The docks that often produce redfish and sometimes even sheepshead on the fly yielded nothing.
“Time to hit the creeks,” I said, and headed off to the warmer waters of the mud bottoms and concrete retaining walls where it was 65 degrees and the fish were a LOT happier.
“I can see it now,” I told them, easing the Hewes down the canal with the trolling motor. “I’m gonna have to lead off my next fishing report by saying Bill Riccardi and Jason Roberts experienced a really bad case of guide failure today.
“Damn. I HATE when that happens. It really erodes customer confidence, if you know what I mean!”
And I’ll be gotohell if those words weren’t out of my mouth and into God’s ear when Bill hooked a snook. A small snook, truth be told. But a snook. HALLEJULLAH!
And then they each started catching more snook, and snapper and ladyfish, and jack crevalle, and Jason even tickled a baby tarpon but the hook didn’t set in its dish-hard mouth and the poon wouldn’t even give us a heart-stopping jump.
“WOW,” Jason said shakily after his two or three seconds of thrill. “I believe I’d have messed my pants if I actually had hooked that tarpon.”
“If you HAD,” I replied, I’d have thrown you off the boat to get cleaned up before we headed home.” Bill, who’s also a virgin on tarpon, darn near fell of the boat from laughing so hard.
“Has anybody ever fallen off your boat?” he finally asked.
“Yeah, a guy down in the Ten Thousand Islands who was like a jack-in-the-box getting back on. damndest thing I’ve ever seen. And my old friend Pete Barnes, from Michigan.
“But he didn’t actually FALL off. His wife, Bonnie, pushed him off the boat because he was catching more fish than she was.
“Why? You thinking about being next?”
“Well, it was pretty darn close for a second or two,” Bill replied.
“In that case, let’s button up the rods and head for the ramp,” I said. “Maybe I can pull the boat out before it’s full dark.” I flipped on the nav lights and we headed home.
We’re doing a seminar at Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters Tuesday from 6pm to 8pm titled “Successful Saltwater Tactics.” I hope you can join us. I learn something new at every seminar, and I hope you will, too.
And, since the weather’s warming up and there still are a TON of Spanish mackerel and bonito and pompano and bluefish outside—and plenty of snook and redfish inside on the flats—there’s a very distinct possibility (dare I say “probability”) that the coming week will be superb!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Lemon Bay - November 27th, 2008 |
RECORDED:
77 °
FISHING: Excellent
The weather was absolutely gorgeous today, and the forecast is for more of the same Friday and Saturday.
THEN the wind and rain is supposed to assault us again. BROTHER! Just what we don't need when the Spanish mackerel and bonito are crashing bait just off the barrier islands around Venice.
If you can get on the water during the next couple of days you should have exceptional fishing. Monday and Tuesday look iffy, but by Wednesday conditions might lay down and put the fish back into Feeding Mode.
Sorta like I was today. Fellow guide KO Corl invited me and Kate to join him and his wive Ev at his family's T-Day feast in Fort Myers.
We didn't have any other plans, KO told me his family were a bunch of miscreants just like me and Kate, and I got off the hook for cooking--except for a batch of pate I contributed to the appetiser platter.
Fifteen of us made a yoeman's effort in denting the spread, but the food overwhelmed us. Turkey, spuds & gravy, yams, stuffing, rice, pasta with pork/sausage/meatballs (from Ev, who's a good Dago Girl from Jersey), beans, peas, biscuits, and Godonlyknows how many pies and assorted desserts.
We failed miserably, however. There still was so much food left over (isn't that one of the main ingredients in a Thanksgiving Day feast?) we even brought some of the pate home.
Which, I might add, Kate and I are going to spread on some warm French bread as soon as the pate softens.
I might even be able to walk by the time I get to Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters tomorrow morning. It's "Black Friday'" as the Christmas Kickoff day is known in the retail trade, and I'm going to help out in the shop.
Then on Sunday I'm doing a casting clinic with FFF Master CCI Dusty Sprague. It's always easy to learn something new from Dusty no matter how long you've been flinging a fly line.
Talked with Lefty a couple of days ago and he's doing great. The man's tougher than the Energizer Bunny--just keeps going and going and going. I've got 20 years on him and even with his knee surgery last year I have a hard time keeping pace!
ENGLISH SETTER UPDATE
Ghost is like Lefty--never slows down and nothing EVER stops her. Incredible to realize she'll be more than TWELVE years old by next grouse season! Can't wait to get her--and the puppy--up to Dream Lakes for some quail.
Heart, by the way, is still growing. Still SKINNY as a split-rail fence, but healty and happy. I know he'll be exstatic to get a whiff of quail. He's still dreaming about his first grouse November 3. So am I!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Sarasota Bay - October 25th, 2008 |
RECORDED:
82 °
FISHING: Excellent
OCTOBER 25, 2008
This really is “Tweener Time” because of all the fishing and upland gunning opportunities.
Let’s start with…
FLORIDA
Kate and I are heading down earlier than usual. We’re leaving Deward November 8, and I’ll be ready to drop the Hewes Redfisher 18 into the water about the 12th or 13th.
My neighbor, Bob Duff, has been keeping it running throughout the summer so it’s ready to go. Good thing, since the Spanish mackerel and bonito (little tunny) migration is in full force.
Watching a large school of fish with vicious teeth and a really bad attitude absolutely destroy a school of baitfish is an incredible experience.
Minnow body-parts fly through the air, birds dive-bomb the mess, and anglers hook fish after fish after fish! If you can somehow break loose in mid-November, you will have the time of your life!
From talking with some of my pals, there also are bluefish and an occasional king mackerel, but most of those brutes are still a few miles off the barrier islands of Casey, Manasota, and Siesta keys.
Spotted sea trout are plentiful again this year, and some large over-the-slot fish are being hooked on the deeper grass flats.
Lemon Bay, as usual, is fishing extremely well for snook and redfish. The action probably will slow down a bit when the expected cold front moves through, but overall the fishing is superb.
Check the AirTran web site for special fares. And I still have a great deal with A Beach Retreat, and the Holiday House in Venice for great rooms at a hugely reduced price. E-me soon so we can compare schedules!
MICHIGAN
The hottest action at this time of year, of course, is steelhead. The Chinook salmon run is over, although there are a few Coho salmon in the lower Manistee River below Wellston.
Some very fine brown trout are also being caught on caddis larva and black stonefly nymphs.
The fly-only stretches of the upper Manistee and the Au Sable rivers are open year-round, and also offer good brown trout opportunities with streamers. Slam the riverbank, then strip as fast as possible with a big sculpin or matuka pattern.
ENGLISH SETTER UPDATE
Heart is still breaking mine! He had a great day with me out here in front of the house, making an absolutely gorgeous tail-in-the-air point on a woodcock and minutes later locking up on a grouse.
We both came home deliriously happy.
But, last Wednesday with Eric Harding, he came unglued after pointing two woodcock. Eric bagged one—his second of the day after nailing one over Ghost earlier—and was very good about helping me find Heart.
We never did, though.
Thankfully, a great fellow-hunter named Steve Shellenbarger had commiserated with me and traded cell phone numbers.
“I’ll drive around to the other side of the creek to see if he swam over,” Steve said.
About 15 minutes later my phone rang. “I’ve got your dog!” Steve crowed.
Turns out Heart was about two miles south of where we’d been looking. I say “we” because Bill Ross drove out from Grayling to help find “My buddy Shorty Pants.”
“I put my shorthair on the ground to hunt a little pocket,” Steve told us, “but I was confused when I heard TWO beepers. I walked up and there he was, standing next to my dog.” Uh, yeah, Steve. Your FEMALE dog. And at the moment Mr. Heart is a pretty horny pup!
So, Heart once again is back home and back in Training Mode. Sigh!
Ghost, however, is as superb as always. She worked very hard yesterday for Warren Avis, of Palm Beach, and his pal Mark Baun of Bloomfield Hills.
It was an uncharacteristically slow day, however. We only flew three grouse and two woodcock.
It’s been a strange weather pattern this season. Last year at this time we were loaded with flight woodcock, getting a dozen points in a day. But right now most of the other gunners I’ve spoken with are asking the same question: “Where are the birds?”
Grouse numbers remain high, and actually the earlier woodcock days were excellent. Geoff and Greg Bump saw 25 of them (plus four grouse) on the 13th.
And Tom Kinney, who NEEDED to put is young setter on some birds, bagged two woodcock over Elsie in just a couple hours of tramping through a couple of my favorite covers last Thursday.
The “S-word” is in the forecast, so I don’t know what that will do. But I remember two years ago when Steve Shahanian came up from Kentucky and hunted with me in six inches of wet snow in EARLY October. And we found birds!
So, the bottom line is simple. If you need emotional relief come spend some time with me in the woods or on the water in Michigan or Florida.
Always remember the immortal words of Sparse Grey Hackle: “Trout do not rise at Greenlawn Cemetery.” Neither do grouse or tarpon!
So c‘mon. Let’s go make some game.
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Manistee River - October 11th, 2008 |
RECORDED:
66 °
FISHING: Excellent
OCTOBER 11, 2008
MICHIGAN
Salmon and steelhead are the primary focus right now on northwest Michigan streams. And, brother, are they finning upstream! We had a blast on the Boyne River again last Thursday. LOTS of fish in a beautiful environment.
Kate absolutely LOVES the Boyne. She wades its cedar-lined banks in hip-boots during the summer in search of steelhead smolts, and absolutely MUST make at least one “pilgrimage” there every summer.
The salmon, of course, are on a Spawning Mission right now and really aren’t interested in anything except, well, you understand! But they WILL devastate a big ugly streamer pattern that’s irritatingly dangling in front of their big ugly jaws.
We’ve been using a lot of different colors. A purple bunny-tail streamer with silver Mylar body has produced. So have black bunny-tails with gold bodies, silver Flash-Flies, Showgirls, Popsicles, and big (size 6) black stone nymphs.
On rivers such as the Pere Marquette and lower Manistee, add the little green free-swimming Rhyacophelia caddis larva, smaller black stone nymphs (size 10), and Hex nymphs (size 6) to your mix of offerings in hopes of nailing a steelhead or big brown.
They’ll be holding in the deeper holes behind the salmon spawning redds.
Of course, egg patterns in cerise, orange, and chartreuse are a “must” if you’re primarily interested in steelies and browns. Fish them as a dropper about 18 inches above the “point” streamer that’s targeting the Chinook.
And above ALL else, get your flies deep—either with sink-tip lines and VERY short (3-to-4-foot) fluorocarbon leaders—or by adding lead. I very much prefer tossing sink-tip lines rather than using the “chuck-and-duck” method. I’m sure you will, too.
The secret is to target the dominant male, along with the “wannabes” who constantly dart onto the spawning redd tangling with The Big Guy for the hen’s amorous attentions.
When “the guys” are mixing it up, that’s the prime time to get a fly in front of them. They’re so embroiled in battle that they simply snap at just about anything big and gaudy floating past their faces.
What I tell my clients is that “if you hook the hen, she’s going to get mad and go off someplace to sulk. That’s like having the only good-looking woman leave the nightclub. All the guys leave, too!”
Jack Brake, who never had fished stream salmon before—let along with a fly rod—had a marvelous time last week. True, he didn’t land a King Salmon, but he certainly had fun with them.
“What an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day,” he said several times. And, it was. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the river was loaded with “targets of opportunity.”
What more could ANY angler ask for? He fair-hooked two, which gave him an “uh,uh,uh,thesethingsarereallyPOWERFUL” introduction to salmon, and foul-hooked three.
“What should I do?” he asked. Then pointed the rod tip at the fish and did The Right Thing. Breaking off, that is!
If you’re more interested in catching stream-bred brown trout and brookies, Michigan’s fly-only stretches are open year-round on a catch-and-release basis.
That means if you come to the Grayling/Gaylord area you can work the Manistee River from M-72 to CCC Bridge, or the Au Sable “Holy Water” from Burton’s Landing to Wakeley Bridge.
OR, you could do a “Cast & Blast”—which brings us to the…
ENGLISH SETTER UPDATE
This grouse and woodcock season has been superb throughout all of northern Michigan. Probably the best in many years. EVERYBODY is reporting birds, birds, birds.
Ken McIntyre was no exception today. We “flew” 13 birds in just a few hours of “boot-time.” Mostly in the morning, before the temps climbed into the lower 70s.
He harvested two grouse—one over his seven-year-old Gordon Setter, Ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee, and means “party” in Scottish) along with a woodcock—and the other over Ghost.
Dave Stellingworth and Bob Steiner were with me Monday and Tuesday, and we “flew” 36 birds in those two days. Lots of opportunities. Lots of fun. LOTS of walking the upland woods. Also lots of empty hulls, with just enough success to keep things interesting.
Poor Heart is still “in prison” and hasn’t been allowed to roam the woods because of several egregious gaffes in the field. First go to the Articles dropdown and read “Heart’s Great Adventure.” Then read the recount in the Featured Article on the Home Page.
You’ll get a bunch of chuckles. I certainly didn’t!
Tuesday, however, he’s going to have a chance to sniff some chukkar while tethered to a 40-foot lead. The 16-month-old boy’s testosterone level is WAY over the top and his legs and hormones keep overrunning his nose.
But he sure went nuts when I dressed Ken’s birds this afternoon!
Now I have to rein him in if he’s going to get into ANY wild birds this season. The thing is, he’s just so darn smart and handsome and Kate loves him SO much I just HAVE to get him to concentrate on birds.
So, we’re going to Jim Avery’s bird farm where Ghost got HER first sniff of pigeons and chukkar. ELEVEN YEARS AGO!! My, my, that just doesn’t seem possible.
Temps tomorrow are forecast for mid-to-high 70s, then it’s going to drop in time for Greg and Geoff Bump to hunt with me on Monday.
Mike Beatty’s going to hunt with me Tuesday afternoon (helping out at Avery’s) and Wednesday, then Bill (Magoo) Ross and Don (No-T) Schulz will tromp around with us on Thursday.
I’ve got some days open later in the month if you’re interested!!!!!!
FLORIDA
The big news is that Kate and I are heading down early this year! We’re leaving Deward on November 8, and I’ll be ready to start fishing the flats and backcountry on the 12th.
That’s just about the time Spanish mackerel and Bonito (also known as Little Tunny or False Albacore) start their annual fall migration. And boy are THEY a bunch of fun. Bonito are my second-favorite fish to hook after tarpon. Run fast, dive deep, and fightfightfight.
So, if you’re planning to be in southwest Florida (anywhere from Tampa to Marco Island) over the Thanksgiving holiday—or anytime thereafter throughout the winter and spring—you know how to reach me.
The Christmas-to-New Year’s week is always a madhouse, along with Easter/Spring Break. So get with me quickly if you’re interested in days during those time frames.
Of course, I’ll be back in Michigan for a couple of weeks around trout opener the last Saturday in April before heading back to Florida to chase tarpon in May, June, and early July.
During the fall, winter, and spring we focus upon baby tarpon in the rivers, snook (mostly under the lights at night in the winter), redfish, spotted sea trout, jack crevalle, ladyfish, and whenever we can find those elusive rascals—cobia and tripletail.
Obviously, I specialize in fly fishing, but in Florida I also have a complete arsenal of spinning gear. Many days I’ve got a fly angler on the bow and his/her buddy or child (sometimes multiples, since I can carry three anglers on my Hewes Redfisher 18) casting from the stern.
MONTANA
The Golden Days of Fall will soon be turning to the Snowy Frigid Winter. So get with Capt. Gospo at www.jacklinsflyshop.com right now if you still have a longing to fish the Madison, Missouri, or Yellowstone National Park.
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Manistee River - September 24th, 2008 |
RECORDED:
73 °
FISHING: Excellent
SEPTEMBER 24, 2008
MICHIGAN
John Manley and his wife, Lori, who live in northwest Ohio, drove up from their cottage on Lake Erie Sunday evening for a couple days of fishing.
John got into fly angling last spring on a trip out west “and I fell in love with it,” he said after our float down the Manistee River Monday morning.
“I mostly fish for perch and walleye on Lake Erie, but this is a lot more fun. In fact, my wife and I are thinking of moving out to Montana. I fly fished on some streams near Libby and really, really liked it.”
John raised a dozen trout during our float, but kept missing the hookup. Except for a VERY nice fish in front of the old Livingston Lodge that put a huge bend in his 4-weight TFO Professional Series.
Unfortunately, John had read too many magazine articles admonishing anglers to “get those fish on the reel.” So, while he was paying meticulous attention to the line placement on his reel, that big brown trout dove to the bottom and broke off.
“Aggggghhhh,” he yelled.
“Yep, nice fish. REAL nice fish,” I replied.
We decided to stop with a half-day float, then drove further upstream on the Manistee so I could show John how to actually wade-fish a trout stream—which he’d never done.
We spent a bit more time on casting, then discussed entomology, wading, and the merits of up-stream versus downstream fishing before actually “fishing the water.”
John’s first trout stream fish was a very nice, gorgeous brookie of about eight inches. “Gee, I thought they’d be a lot bigger than this,” he said. “Sorta like the size of the rainbows out in Montana.”
No, John. Michigan brookies usually don’t grow to be 16 inches long.
“This is pretty typical of a brookie around here,” I said. “A 10-incher is a very nice fish. Anything in the 14 or 15-inch class is really something to brag about.
“Now the brown trout get huge. Biggest one any of my clients ever hooked was 30 inches.”
John was quiet then. “That’s a big fish,” he finally said. “A really big fish.”
He found out about “big fish” the next day, when I took him to the Boyne River for Chinook salmon. Fish in the 20-pound class!
As we slithered over the exposed cedar roots walking the trail downstream we saw some singles, and a few more small pods of skittish fish almost immediately. “WOW, those are BIG fish,” John said.
“Yep,” I replied. “Let’s walk farther down. Get out of the way of the after-work crowd.”
We found a pod of what appeared to be “happy fish,” waded across the small stream, and John launched his attack.
By the end of the day he’d fairly hooked nine salmon and foul-hooked three, which he promptly broke off. A pretty good day of salmon fishing in anybody’s book!
His first fish resulted in mind-numbing panic that made him grab the fly line like it was attached to a life raft. His second hook-up lasted a little longer, but things went “ping” rather quickly.
Fishes three and four actually looked like they might be landed, but a twitch here and a bolt into the streamside logjams over there resulted in fly-less tippets.
“I’m coming back for these salmon,” John said at the end of the day. “Soon!”
We had a little bit of rain today, but need more to really bring more salmon—and steelhead hungry to chow down on those spawning salmon eggs—into the Boyne, Betsie, lower Manistee, and Pere Marquette.
Meanwhile, remember that there’s just a week left to fish the general trout streams. Fly-only stretches, and rivers with extended seasons for salmon and steelhead fishing, will stay open throughout the winter.
But when January blows turn wind-chill factors into minus-forever, and you have to shove your rod into the water to free ice from the guides, wouldn’t it be MUCH nicer to come down to Florida and fish with me for tarpon and snook and redfish? You BET it would!
At the moment, however, daytime temps are in the low to mid-70s and stream fishing is outstanding. We had a nice caddis hatch on Monday, and some Light Cahills. Very small BWOs popping up, too.
Streamers on the big water of the Au Sable River below Mio have been turning some very nice fish, and the Upper Manistee—as always—has some exceptional fish waiting to eat a properly presented fly.
ENGLISH SETTER UPDATE
Go to the Featured Article on the home page to read all about Chapter Two of Heart’s Misadventures. Pray for me. Please!
Bill Ross and I are going to run Heart along with Ghost tomorrow morning. Maybe Shorty Pants—as Ross calls him—will get the message. Just like Ghost did 10 years ago with her Mentor, Ben.
FLORIDA
The hurricanes left us untouched!
Look for Spanish mackerel offshore, snook along the beach and under the mangroves. Redfish are schooling up and when you find a bunch you’ll have great fishing.
Big trout are on the deeper grass flats, and you might find some tarpon up inside Charlotte Harbor.
MONTANA
Get with Capt. John through www.jacklinsflyshop.com SOON. You never know when the snow will start flying in West Yellowstone!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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AuSable River - September 18th, 2008 |
RECORDED:
67 °
FISHING: Excellent
SEPTEMBER 18, 2008
MICHIGAN
Chinook salmon have flooded many of the rivers on the west side of the state, including the Boyne, where I’ll be next Tuesday with John Manley. We might even get into some steelhead, and big brown trout feeding on eggs that drift downstream from the spawning redds.
Unfortunately, the salmon fishery in Lake Huron has totally crashed because zebra mussels have devastated the grasses that provided the plankton that alewives fed upon.
No alewives, no salmon. It’s that simple. To make matters even worse, the numbers—and size—of Chinook coming out of Lake Michigan has dwindled to a fraction of its former glory.
It’s entirely possible that Michigan’s once-fabled salmon fishery might cease to exist within two or three years unless someone can find a way to control those invasive zebras!
Thank God for the hydroelectric dams that protect the upper Manistee and Au Sable rivers from invasion!
The “Sisters,” as they’re called by a lot of the locals, remain two of America’s finest trout streams—WILD TROUT streams, I must add. No plastic fish. Just big, brawling browns and gorgeous brookies.
Charles Murphy floated the Au Sable “Holy Water” with me on Tuesday. We had a small caddis hatch, and he raised several fish on size 16 olive and gray caddis patterns.
His best fish, however, came to an orange-body “Tarantula,” which is a variation on the venerable Michigan Skunk, which has a black body with white rubber legs and a white wing.
Tarantulas, which originated in the Rockies, have bodies tied in a variety of colors and incorporate Krystal Flash for some additional attraction, along with rubber legs.
Both rivers were up a bit and slightly tea-colored because of several days of hard rain, but even as we floated on Tuesday the Au Sable was clearing.
We’ve had several “Indian Summer” days recently, with more in the forecast, and both rivers are fishing extremely well during the warmest parts of the day.
I talked with Bob Linseman a few minutes ago, and he said streamers in white, black, and tan have been producing well on the Au Sable below Mio. “I’ve had reports of two 24-inch fish in the past couple of days,” he said.
“And believe it or not, a couple guys came in who were camped at The Loop and said they had White Flies (E. lukon) the past two nights!”
Which also provides a wonderful opportunity for a “Cast & Blast”—bringing us to the…
ENGLISH SETTER UPDATE
Grouse season opened on the 15th and we had a marvelous time! Old friends Don Schulz and Bill Ross did the gun-toting. I handled Ghost and Heart. Eric Sharp, outdoors editor for the Detroit Free Press, took photos.
Everybody met here at Blue Lakes Junction for an old-fashioned Grayling breakfast of “lumberjack” pancakes slathered with Kate’s home-made blackberry sauce, venison sausage, bacon, and strong black coffee.
Pete Stephan, a good friend who regrettably passed away several years ago, first showed me how to make “Lumberjacks.” Here’s the recipe:
2 cups of flour
2tsp baking powder
1/2tsp sugar
dash of salt
2 eggs
water
Crisco
First, preferably in a cast iron skillet, melt enough Crisco to cover the bottom a 1/4-inch deep and make it smoking hot.
Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt, and create a depression in the middle of the mixture. Whisk the eggs and pour them into the depression. Then add some water and stir everything together, adding water until the mixture is “spoonable.”
Pour a quarter-cup of the mixture into the smoky skillet for each thick “pancake” and when tiny bubbles begin to form on the surface check to make sure the bottom is golden brown. Turn them over and when the bottom is golden they’re done. Maple syrup, of course, is a good substitute of you don’t have blackberry or blueberry sauce.
The name, as you might imagine, came from the logging era of the late 1800s and early 1900s here in northern Michigan. As you can see from the recipe, they were easily made over a fire in a remote camp,
And, once you make them, you’ll taste why they were such a favorite!
OK—back to The Hunt.
We hadn’t driven a quarter-mile from my house when I saw two grouse sneak across an opening between a small clump of trees and the riverbank.
Stopping my truck, I eased out and made a flapping motion with my arms and pointed at Don and Bill as if I was shooting a shotgun. They eased out of their truck while I fastened a beeper collar and bell around Ghost’s neck.
It took her approximately 35 seconds to lock on point. The bird flushed unseen, and so did another. Ghost took off through the tall, dense ferns, and within five more minutes she was on point again.
We drove to my intended spot and put Heart on the ground for his first-ever grouse hunt. He ran like the wind, but his beeper always was within hearing range.
Nine more grouse went up, and Don bagged one—Heart’s first grouse! Eric got a great photo, which he used in today’s paper along with an account of our adventure.
Ghost pointed two of the three woodcock we found at our next stop, but woodcock season doesn’t open until this Saturday. So, they’re still there—waiting to be turned into pate for our annual Wild Game Dinner on November 2.
The past two days have been equally spectacular. In fact, we’ve seen 24 grouse and 14 woodcock, averaging 12 birds PER HOUR! The dogs are having an absolutely marvelous time. And that, after all, is what this game is all about!
FLORIDA
I am extremely happy (for us) to report that the Venice/Sarasota/Port Charlotte area was untouched by the recent hurricanes—except for some high wind and heavy rain that kept anglers off the water.
Now that things have settled down, redfish in Lemon Bay and Charlotte Harbor are schooling up for the spawn. Big time. As in manymany fish.
Night snook fishing around lighted docks remains excellent, and there always are baby tarpon finning around in a few special places.
Look for “Gator” spotted sea trout on the deeper grass flats, and don’t miss getting outside—just off the barrier islands—for Spanish mackerel.
Kate and I will be back in Venice just before Thanksgiving, so if your plans include our part of the world don’t hesitate to get with me soon. In fact, the sooner the better.
MONTANA
Capt. John is floating the Madison, Missouri, and Yellowstone National Park every day. You can contact him through www.jacklinsflyshop.com.
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Manistee River - September 6th, 2008 |
RECORDED: 
66 °
FISHING: Great
SEPTEMBER 6, 2008
MICHIGAN
Patrick and Betsy Hager came over from Wisconsin and did a short float down the Manistee with me last week, then we pitched a few flies into the Jordan before The Rains Came.
Hoppers and X-Hoppers were the ticket on the Manistee. Terrestrials are The Thing right now, and light green hopper patterns worked best. Patrick caught several fish—including a spectacularly-colored brookie—and missed a dozen more.
The Jordan, as you might have read in this site’s Articles dropdown, is the most technically-challenging river I’ve fished anywhere in the United States.
Patrick, who’s fished all over the place—including Alaska and BC—was in awe.
“I’ve NEVER seen anything like this,” he said. “It does resemble the Brule, though, if you substitute boulders for these logs—the banks are all cedar trees just like this.
“But this is incredible.” We were cut short because of the rain, but he landed a silvery rainbow and missed a couple more rises.
The Au Sable below Mio still has some E. lukon (white flies). But the evening hatch is hit-or-miss. Best bet is daytime with a white soft-hackle emerger. Put a small bead-head on it, and toss a tandem rig with a hopper as the indicator and the nymph/emerger as a dropper.
Nights have been getting down to 40 degrees, so morning fishing is pretty slow. Plan on working the hottest part of the day. It’s only in the mid-60s as I write this at noon, but the forecast is for daytime temps in the mid-70s this week.
Don’t forget—the general trout season closes September 30, but the fly-only stretches are open year-round.
The rain last week did trigger a push of salmon into the lower Manistee and Pere Marquette. That means it won’t be long before steelhead start migrating up to feed on drifting eggs and dislodged nymphs and caddis larva.
ENGLISH SETTER UPDATE
Only NINE DAYS till grouse opener! WOW!!
I put the beeper and bell on Heart yesterday morning and turned him loose. He was an absolute MANIAC. Ran and ran and ran. “Flipped me off” a half-dozen times before I finally collared him in an area of thick grass.
He’d been frolicking in a big stand of pines with an open understory. Nothing to slow him down, including grouse. However, two of them did flush out of the overhead pines just as he started his caper.
Should be another good season for grouse and woodcock. We averaged between 6 and 9 points/flushes per hour last year, and I don’t think that’s going to change.
The ferns are yellow and brown, and lots of chokecherry leaves are golden. Another night or two down around freezing—like we had last Monday—and we could have plenty of unusually-bare trees for the opener.
Ghost’s left eye still looks terrible. But Dr. Dan Lorimer, the canine ophthalmologist who’s been treating her says “it’s been a difficult case, but she’s doing fine.”
He’s going to check her the afternoon of the 17th, then we’re going hunting with his two Griffons.
She’s doing great, though. In fact, when I let her out of her crate in the Tahoe this morning she took off hunting for herself while I was putting Heart on the Trolley that runs across the front of the garage.
I got spanked by Kate, and vowed to keep Sweetie close to home!
MONTANA
This is prime time on the Madison, so contact Capt. John at www.jacklinsflyshop.com. He also works the Missouri River, and Yellowstone National Park.
FLORIDA
Gustav, Fay, and now Ike have dumped a lot of water all over Florida in the past 10 days. That’s put fisherman on the beach, but fortunately the Venice/Charlotte Harbor/Sarasota area was absolutely undamaged.
So don’t worry a bit about coming down this winter. Kate and I will get there just before Thanksgiving, as always, so start planning for time on my beautiful Hewes Redfisher 18!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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Manistee River - August 27th, 2008 |
RECORDED:
79 °
FISHING: Excellent
AUGUST 27, 2008
Ants or Hoppers. Hoppers or Ants. What color? What size? Flying Ants? Legs or no legs on the Hoppers? What a dilemma! That’s Michigan in late August.
And NOW it’s White Fly time down below Mio.
So, what? Get on the water early morning in case there are Tricos (size 20 to I-can’t-see-to-tie-‘em-on 26s), or wait ‘till mid-day for Hoppers and Ants? Then stay up ‘till way past dark looking for E. lukon?
I’m telling you—fishing in Michigan at this time of year is a real challenge. Big browns. Gorgeous brookies. All looking for a satisfying meal every day because winter approacheth.
Speaking of which—temperatures have been dropping all the way down to near-freezing! Yep, it’s been below 40 the past several nights. Even touched 32 degrees night-before-last here at Blue Lakes Junction.
But I’m happy to report that the forecast is for spectacular weather
day and night the next 10 days!
Kate’s been swamped with work—as always—and I’ve been tending to Ghost and Heart (more on them later) but we did get over to the Boyne and the Jordan yesterday.
We were pretty lazy, truth be told. Wet a line here and there and raised a few fish, but it was mostly a day of relaxation. Ants, ants, ants. And a big “is-that-a-hopper?” on the Jordan in a deep dark run brought some fish.
The salmon haven’t invaded the Boyne yet. But, it won’t be long till they show up and if you want to do a fall “Cast & Blast for grouse, woodcock and salmon, that’s where we’ll go. It’s a wonderful little river—Kate wades it in hip boots—and will get filled up with salmon pretty quickly now.
The Manistee, of course, will produce very large browns on hopper patterns in the heat of the afternoon for the next several weeks. We also had a Cahill spinnerfall last evening here on the headwaters.
The lower Manistee River (below Tippy Dam at Wellston) will get a big run of salmon pretty soon, followed by steelhead migrating up behind them to feed on the spawn.
Large browns also will hold in those deep holes behind the salmon redds, providing plenty of excitement. Egg patterns, Rhyacophelia caddis larva, small black stonefly nymphs and, of course—Hex nymphs—will produce tight lines on the steelies and browns.
Large, gaudy streamers are essential, too. Wave them around the noses of those big male salmon guarding the redds and you’ll have a lot of fun. Just don’t hook the hen. One she goes away, so do all the boy-fish.
ENGLISH SETTER UPDATE
I’m in hot water with Kate (again) because Heart slipped out the kitchen door while I was bringing in the groceries this afternoon.
After two hours of driving and walking and whistling Heart came flying past me and Ghost while we were on the pipeline behind and just south of the house.
All the time I’ve spent each morning with him on the 40-foot lead was pointless. He was “Running Free” and that was that.
FINALLY, his gas gauge started running low and he came to get a biscuit. I grabbed him lickitysplit, snapped the leash onto his collar, and we went down to the river for a cold drink and a cooling-off for everyone.
Both dogs are laid out flat right now. In fact, I just checked to see if the puppy was even breathing. He is. Which is good. I think! Well, yeah, it’s good. Just that it scares the beejabbers outa ya when they take off without a bell or beeper on their neck to let you know where they’re AT!
Ghost made three points while we were looking for the puppy, which is always a good thing! Grouse season opens Sept. 15, as it does every year, and woodcock opener is very early this year—on Sept, 20.
I still have some days open, and you can bring your dogs or hunt over mine. We averaged between 6 and 9 points per-hour last season, and it should be about the same this year.
Ghost’s eye that had the laser surgery got a checkup on Monday and she’s about 60 to 65 percent healed. It was a much deeper and more serious “ulcer” than they originally thought.
Poor girl at least got the stitches removed, though. They were keeping the eye closed to help protect it.
Her peripheral vision was really poor, and she was bumping into things. Still is, because of the drops that dilate the pupil so much, but it’s not as bad. She’s laying at me feet right now. In fact, my left foot is providing a pretty good pillow for her. We might be here a while!
Heart, of course, is lucky he’s still in the house after taking off like he did. But, Kate quickly reminded me of Yogi Berra’s eloquent comment about “déjà vu all over again.” Yep. Ghost was a “wanderer,” too, in her younger days.
He’s mighty pooped right now, too.
Still, I can’t wait to see how he performs when the season opens three weeks from now.
FLORIDA
There are tarpon in the backcountry of Charlotte Harbor, and the beach snook are still producing nice catches in the early morning.
Redfish are scattered, but once you find a pod you’ll have a lot of fun. Lemon Bay has produced well all season, but those fish have been moving around lately.
Night snook has been outstanding in Nokomis and Venice. Get with Kevin at Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters (941-483-1115) for additional info.
MONTANA
Contact www.jacklinsflyshop.com and ask for Capt. John if you want to fish Yellowstone, the Madison, or the Missouri.
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
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