Archive

Tag Archives: Roosterfish

Panama – getting dialed in

February 27, 2014
Exploring, Fishing, Kayak Fishing, Kayaking, Saltwater
Leave a comment

Our efforts were focused on deep water features our fourth full day out. Jim and James both had Raymarine Dragonfly set-ups on their yaks and when they found fish or structure they would sit on a spot and start vertical jigging. Without a depth finder I was just trying to follow their lead. The good thing was even when we weren’t jigging we still had freelined live bait in the water. Jim was a master at vertical speed jigging and he was constantly able to put himself on top of fish and get hits.  It was really fun to watch him work. He caught a few nice almaco jack and had a few other fish break him off that most likely would have been studs. Vertical speed jigging to me felt extremely awkward in a kayak, but Jim made it look easy, his rhythm was perfect. Luckily for me my live bait rod took off and I landed another nice bigeye trevally.

IMGP8569

12625946913_df49fb8516_c(photo: Will Richardson)

12626258104_dcd5a482ed_k(photo: Will Richardson)

As the bite waned at the first spot we spread out to try and locate another productive area. Jim again had found it near a rock pile across the channel and continued to jig up more jacks. I moved in line with where he was positioned and was able to jig up an almaco of my own on the first drop.

IMGP8571

Not a new species to me as I’ve caught them in the Gulf, but another new species on this trip. The bite here tapered off as well and again we spread. It didn’t take long for Jim to hook up, only this time it was unintended. While vertical jigging a school of manta ray swam under him and he caught one almost in the corner of the lip. James got some good under water shots with his GoPro and we slipped the jig out and let it swim off to join his friends. It was just a little guy but still pretty cool to see a manta up close.

IMGP8572

After that I ventured into some shallow reef throwing a popper and dragging a once-live-now-dead bait behind me. I made a long cast toward some rocks and immediately got swirled on when it hit the water, no hook up though. I popped back in and made another long cast but this time started reeling in with a little pace and an aggressive pop. With the water being as shallow and clear as it was I got to watch a fish follow my bait the entire way back to the boat. I let the bait pause right at the boat and gave it that last twitch and the fish explodes on my bait, splashing me in the process! Not one of the bigger fish I caught on the trip but definitely one of the cooler moments as I pulled that yellow snapper in.

IMGP8577

I began to make my way back to the support boat to change my dead bait for something fresh and not long into my paddle the bait takes off. Still being close to the shallow reef I wasn’t really sure what I had on because I haven’t seen any sizable fish come from that area, but the fight didn’t last long and soon enough I could see why. I had caught a dinosaur. A big, skinny needlefish that looked like the gar we catch back in Louisiana, except this thing was bright blue.

12625927863_91e6304ec0_k(photo: Will Richardson)

I think it is actually a houndfish, in the same family as the needlefish. Very cool looking fish and pretty too. The blue on it was electric and even the teeth and jaws were blue. Hennie told me the bones were blue too – our boat captain was quick to tell me to keep it. I don’t know if they are good to eat or if they just eat anything that comes out of the water in Panama, but if I could provide a meal for a local family I was more than happy to oblige.

After that fish we got separated from each other – Jim fishing one side of the island and James and I on the other trying to jig up jacks like we did in the morning. Eventually we get the “Fish On!” call from Jim on the VHF and all I can hear in the background is a reel screaming! There weren’t many moments when we weren’t all within sight of each other but this was one of them. James and I start making our way toward Jim and by the time we get there he had the biggest fish of the trip caught and released.

12625795805_2b39e78ea7_c(photo: Will Richardson)

12625899373_423113a87f_c(photo: Will Richardson)

It was a 70lb roosterfish – the first and only rooster landed on the trip and, Jim’s personal best. I’m bummed that I didn’t get to see it in person but very happy that Jim was able to corral that beast. It is pretty cool just being on the trip where Jim landed his PB rooster. The man has seen and done it all in a kayak, he deserved that fish with the amount of work he put in on the trip. Yeah it’s just fishing, but as I found out over the course of the week, fishing for fun and fishing for TV are two totally different things. 12 hour days in a kayak are tough on the body, no matter what shape you’re in. It amazed me the amount of work that goes in to make a 30 minute show. I know having this rooster on film made it all worth it. You would think that would be a good time to call it a day. Go out on a high note. Jim wasn’t done though because as we begin to work the area again, this time together, he hooks up for a second time. He lands the first African pompano of the trip. With that fish we knew we would be eating good that night.

12625880993_ddbc029a08_c(photo: Will Richardson)

It was awesome to have a day where everything came together. It felt like we had made it over the hump and finally figured this place out. Or it could have been that the fish finally cooperated for us. Whatever the case may be this day was much needed. We headed back to camp to eat some of Peter’s delicious grilled chicken(and pompano) and down some cold beers and rest up for the next day.

Rasta variant SBS

January 31, 2014
Fishing, Fly Fishing, Fly Tying, Saltwater
Leave a comment

For January’s fly of the month, we present Blake’s version of a fly originally developed by Frank Smethurst for Baja roosterfish. I told Blake I wanted something for an upcoming trip so he had to make due with materials that he had on hand. You can find the original pattern here and to see how crazy Frank Smethurst is about roosterfish, watch this:

I won’t be running down the East Cape of the Baja Peninsula, but I am hoping to catch a roosterfish on the fly next month. The three main requirements of the pattern seem to be:

1. More natural with less flash
2. Black edge on tailing material
3. Big head to push some water
Materials used:
– Gamakatsu sc15, 3/0.
– .030 lead
– Farrar flash blend
– EP foxy brush
– Pseudo marabou
Step 1. Clamp hook in vise and put as much lead as is desired. Wrap lead with some thread to secure it. I like to add a little super glue to make sure it stays in place. Bring thread to the bend.
P1290005
Step 2. Pull out an amount of flash blend that is half as much as you want on the finished fly. I tie it in in the middle of the material and pull the rest back to double the quantity. The pattern calls for super hair, or something like it, that has no flash in it. The flash blend has a good bit of flash, but it’s all i had. Fish around here normally don’t care about that sorta thing, we’ll see if roosterfish do.
P1290006
Step 3. I use some UV cure epoxy and hit the base of the tail to help prevent fouling. This is easier for me than tying in a mono foul guard or something like that. The body materials will cover the section that is glued.
P1290007
Step 4. Tie in the EP fox brush at the back of the hook and wrap up the shank of the hook. The tightness of these wraps will help to determine the thickness of the body of the fly. If you are trying to imitate a thick bodied fish such as a menhaden or shad, take more, less spaced out wraps. If going for a more mullet shape, spiral wrap the brush so that there is less material along the shank (see last picture for different body thicknesses).
P1290008
P1290009
Step 5. As with wrapping most materials, some of the fibers will become tangled. Use your bodkin to pick out the material
P1290010
Step 6. Tie in a clump of pseudo marabou on the bottom side of the hook. I try to taper the ends of the clumps. (I found this material at Cabela’s in the Bargain Cave for cheap. I prefer it to synthetic wool as it stacks well to make a full head, but it doesn’t carry much water or weight)
P1290011
Step 7. Repeat Step 6 with your dorsal color. Make sure that the top and bottom colors meet on the sides of the shank to fully shroud the hook.
P1290012
Step 8. Bring the thread to the front of the fly behind the eye and create a thread jamb to force the materials back. I also use my bodkin to pick out the material so that none is trapped. Part off thread.
P1290013
Step 9. Trim the pseudo marabou to the shape that you want. I was going for a more mullet look so i made the head a little more slender.
P1290014
Step 10. Pull the tail material taught, decide the length you want (remember that the material will spring back and will be shorter than it is stretched), and mark the end with a black sharpie. I also made a few light marks along the tail to the body of the fly.
P1290015
P1290017
Step 11. Cut the tail at the back of the sharpied mark. Finished fly.
P1290018
As with most unruly flies, I like to run them under warm water and hang them by the eyes to dry and fix a more realistic shape. See the different shapes of the following. The top fly had tighter brush wraps and two sections of marabou while the second is the fly tied with the above steps. Enjoy.
P1300034