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Tarpon from a float tube

May 1, 2013
Fishing, Fly Fishing, Multimedia, Saltwater, Video
3 Comments

River Monsters is a show that I like to watch at times, mainly because it is interesting to see the big fish the host catches and all the different places he gets to fish (lucky bastard). If you can make it through the insufferable build up in the first half of the show to get to the second half where he actually goes after the big fish, it is usually worth the watch. I just don’t understand why every fish needs to be portrayed as a killer in order to do a show on them, but that’s beside the point.

So in the most recent episode Jeremy Wade is searching for big fish in Nicaragua (it seems obvious early on that he’s looking for tarpon) and the locals tell him that he needs to go see the “white boy” because the “white boy” catches a bunch of tarpon. The “white boy” is actually a German by the name of Daniel Goz that fly fishes for tarpon from a float tube. I’m thinking, “Huh, I’ve seen this before, this is a lot like Tapam (which was a badass flick from the 2010 Fly Fishing Film Tour) gotta be the same guy from the movie”, and sure enough Daniel Goz is the behind Tapam, along with Jan Back Kristensen. For those that haven’t seen a trailer, here’s one:

 

So, anyone up for a trip to Nicaragua? Though I do feel like a kayak would be a better platform to fish tarpon from, but maybe I’m biased.

Redfish Humbled

April 28, 2013
Fishing, Fly Fishing, Kayak Fishing, Saltwater, Tournaments
3 Comments

Fished BCKFC’s Redfish Rumble with Blake and Kevin this past weekend to less-than-spectacular results. I was fairly confident going in that I’d at least catch five redfish as the format calls for your five heaviest slot redfish. Right in my wheelhouse, or so I thought.

The combination of high tide and winds from the south turned the spot I chose to fish into something I wasn’t too familiar with. It was tough to come across areas of good water clarity and when I did they were deep water areas. I’m much more comfortable sight casting reds in shallow water, so I was a little lost. I did so awful that I didn’t shake the skunk off until about six hours in, it was a trout that went about 13″. I did finally see a 25.5″ redfish and I managed to get him to eat a spoonfly tied by Kevin, but by that time it was too late to weigh-in and it wouldn’t have much mattered as I’m sure others had much better luck. Big thanks to Kevin on the fly and the pictures.

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Still, it was fun to get out on the water with Blake and Kevin and my poor day wasn’t shared by everyone. Kevin was out in his new Cruise and he was able to stand up and sight fish a few drum and sheepshead. Standing up to sight fish was something that he hadn’t been able to previously do out of his Tarpon and I could tell he was pretty excited at the possibilities on a good day. After having truck problems last time we were supposed to go out, Blake was finally able to take his new Cuda 12. He ended up catching a couple over slot reds and picked up around ten or so trout, with a couple of those around 17-18″. On one his line popped above the cork and the cork disappeared. I found it ten minutes later in a different spot and was able to hook the line and retrieve the trout. Unfortunately not as big as we thought when he set the hook, must have had a nick his line.

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I haven’t seen final results posted from the event anywhere, except for a blurb on Kayak Fishing U on facebook: “Congratulations to Michael for his 1st place 29.75# – 5 redfish stringer @ the Redfish Rumble today!” Sounds about right, I believe Michael paddles a Jackson Cuda as well!

Fishing at the golf course

April 26, 2013
Exploring, Fishing, Fly Fishing, Freshwater, Warmwater
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I was out of town this week for a conference and had some time on the way to my destination to wet a line. I called up a buddy of mine to ask where I should head and he mentioned a golf course, telling me that on this particular day it was closed and anyone can walk up and fish it. It has been awhile since I’ve fished a golf course, but know that they can be stellar, so this seemed like a no-brainer.

The course was beautiful. It was covered in live oak and low, rolling hills that ran into cypress bottomland with yellow iris bordered lakes. Winds were almost non-existent too, making it a perfect day to throw the long rod. I tied on a #6 Betts Bee Pop popper and went to work. Fishing was spectacular. The bass didn’t have much size to them, but they were plentiful, and aggressively feeding on top. I didn’t have to tie on another fly all day.

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I fished for a couple hours and headed back to the car before it got too dark. Not sure how many bass I caught, I ended up losing count early on, the quick trip made for a great start to the conference!

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