Slamboree

August 5, 2013
Fishing, Kayak Fishing, Saltwater, Tournaments
1 Comment

While the stinkpot (motorboat to the non-kayak fisher) crowd was having their fun in Grand Isle at the annual Tarpon Rodeo, I participated in the LA 1 Slamboree tournament up the road in Leeville. Named in honor of the highway we love to kayak fish, the event is put on by the Lafayette Kayak Fishing Club and sponsored by Lafayette JK dealer Pack & Paddle. The event featured slam, leopard red, and heavy red categories, with the leopard red winner receiving a brand new Cuda 12. Also available to kayak anglers was a speckled trout calcutta for a small additional cost.

The weather for the event was pretty typical kayak fishing tournament weather, steady winds and rain showers. I launched at an area I knew would be protected from the West wind. It was actually an area that I had never fished, but the marsh down here is pretty much all the same. I began the day throwing topwater looking for any resident trout, the only action I saw was from this guy:

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Switched it up to Gulp! under a cork and ended up catching some throwback trout. Soon enough I was hearing redfish crashing bait in the marsh and that proved to be the end of my trout fishing. I spent the rest of the day chasing reds, figuring the law of averages would catch up with me and one would either have lots of spots, or be extreme upper slot.

It was a strategy that never paid off, but I had a lot of fun catching slot reds and black drum. I did catch one big red that went over slot, not quite the tournament fish I was looking for, but it proved to be a great fight.

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The biggest red I had to weigh only went 24.5″ and was a little over 5 lbs. None of my reds had more than 2 spots. No tournament winnings this go round, but it was nice to see a lot of my friends on the leaderboard:

Speckled trout calcutta – Brendan Bayard

Heavy red winner  – Tommy Eubanks

Leopard Red winner – Gairi Williamson

Slam winners

1. Steve Neece – 11.7 lbs

2. Wayne Lobb – 9.13 lbs

3. Steve Lessard – 8.55 lbs

4. Ryan Alleman – 8.3 lbs

5. Toby Armand – 8.21 lbs

Congrats guys! Big thanks to Pack & Paddle and LKFC for putting on a great event. I look forward to fishing more events thrown by these guys.

Grand Isle continued

July 25, 2013
Fishing, Food and Drink, Kayak Fishing, Saltwater
1 Comment

Been to Grand Isle twice since my last post from the island. The first of the two trips made me realize how spoiled I was my very first time down here working from the island – I only got two to three hours worth of fishing in the whole time down.

The last trip was better, a good combination of work and free time. When I do get a chance to fish, however, it is usually during crap weather or tides, or for just a few hours in the evening.

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Beautiful, ideal mornings like this usually mean I’m in for a long day.

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It stings a bit more when you get out to the barrier island we’re working on and the surf looks like this – especially this time of year when it’s hard to cast a line and NOT catch a speck. Hard to complain though because it beats sitting in a cubicle.

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You do find a lot of interesting things in the swash zone, like this product from the Far East – I think it was some sort of tea mix.

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This time of year thunderstorms can blow up at any time, they seem to move in any direction too, so you have to keep your head on a swivel when you’re out on the water. The good news is that safety is top priority when we work, so weather is not taken lightly. Lightning can shut us down and may provide time to fish once the storm moves through.

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It is nice to be able to go out for a few hours before dark and come back with dinner, some of the freshest fish I’ve ever had – filleted thin and fried to a nice crunch.

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Of course the bigger, and smaller fish, get put back, tagged for science.

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Drinks at the end of the day are like icing on the cake. Thanks to a co-worker for this modified Pimm’s Cup.

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There’s those thunderstorms again, until next time Grand Isle…..

Blake’s Deceiver variant

July 21, 2013
Fly Fishing, Fly Tying
1 Comment

July’s fly of the month is a variation on the deceiver fly originally created by the legendary Lefty Kreh. The deceiver is a fly that works anywhere, fresh or salt, nearshore or far. This is Blake’s version of the proven pattern.

Materials:

– Your favorite thread, somewhat heavy so you can put some pressure on it. I used 3/0.

– Lead Tape

– Saddle hackle

– Flashabou

– Chenille

– Bucktail

– Peacock herl

– Krystal flash

Step 1. Clamp hook in vise and wrap the shank with lead tape. Round lead wrapped around the shank will work also. Or no lead if you want a lighter fly. Start thread and lay a base over the shank and the lead. The lead tape that I use is sticky backed and normally used to stick on hard bodied floating lures to get them to sink or suspend.

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Step 2. Select your desired amount of hackles for the tail. I normally use two feathers, but I decided to go with four on this one and dress it a little heavier than I normally would. Tie them in and wrap down to tidy up the hook shank

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Step 3. Tie in flashabou, a few strands on either side. Trim it so that it is a tad longer than the hackles.

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Step 4. Tie in chenille and wrap up the shank making sure to leave yourself enough room to finish the head.

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Step 5. Tie in a grizzly hackle on either side. I should have tied them a little longer along with the tail. Fish won’t care.

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Step 6. Select some bucktail fibers and tie them on the top of the hook. I like to press them down with my thumb to make them spread out around the top 1/3 of the shank.

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Step 7. Select some other color for the belly of the fly and tie it in. This clump is normally a little bigger than the top clump. Do the same as above and press the butts to spread them around the hook shank to fill in the other 2/3.

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Step 8. Tie in some peacock herl on the top.

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Step 9. Tie in some red krystal flash on the bottom.

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Step 10. Tidy up the head and whip finish. Apply some super glue to the head and stick on eyes.

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Step 11. Once the eyes are tacked on there, mix up some epoxy and coat the eyes and head. Put it on a spinner to cure.

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Finished fly. Mine always look a little unruly off the vise. If you run it under a little hot water and let it dry hanging from the hook eye, it should tame some of the fibers. Also, you can curve the herl like you do ribbon (ask your significant other for assistance)

Before wet/dry:

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After wet/dry:

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Proof of concept – freshwater:

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Enjoy!