I spent a day off the water yesterday putting together a video from all of the outdoor adventures of the 2013 season. Thanks everyone who helped in the videos or pictures as I enjoyed reliving the memories as I was putting this together. For some reason right now I can't embed the video but follow the link below for the YouTube video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbjAcRqBz5o
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Monday, December 9, 2013
Fishing the Fort in Dec.
Well the first time I've been back in the skiff in a month and a half went pretty well as Kate and I went out for a boat ride and a quick scouting trip for the weekend. I was looking for pot holes and reds but I found trout instead. I was pulling them in one after another in a couple of holes with some shrimp and I found a solid 17incher and put it in the cooler for dinner. After stinging quite a few trout we moved inside the mangroves to look for reds and though we saw some they weren't stacked and they weren't really biting so as the wind kicked up we fired up and headed back to the dock to get back for an afternoon conference call.
John and I fished on Sat and worked the same pattern that Kate and I had figured out the day before, except we started a little while earlier and threw some topwater right off the bat. Not many casts in we were in the trout and some of them were pretty solid. We put a few 17 inchers in the boat before they seemed to move off the grass and into the potholes as the tide kept falling. So we switched tactics a little and threw shrimp on jig heads into some of the larger potholes with some quick and solid action. As the mullet moved in around us along with some other boats I got a good thump and was rewarded with a nice gator trout.
Right around that trout I also got another thump along with a quick short run of something a little larger. I was thinking catfish until it started peeling off line with some heft to it. It took a little work to get it back closer to the boat and kept it's head buried into the grass before I saw this massive red come up out of the grass. After a little work around the boat navigating the powerpole and pushpole I was able to land this beast of a red. It was a little over 32 inches and probably the biggest red I've put in the boat.
After a couple of pictures and quick release we drifted some other holes and ran into the mangroves to look for some other reds and snook. Although we did find some snook we were unable to get them to bite and after a couple of catfish and ladyfish we decided to call it a day as we had a cooler full of trout and we both wanted to get home to watch some football. I bet we boated 20+ trout and quite a few trash fish and one extra large red to keep us wanting to get back out there. Hopefully really soon!
John and I fished on Sat and worked the same pattern that Kate and I had figured out the day before, except we started a little while earlier and threw some topwater right off the bat. Not many casts in we were in the trout and some of them were pretty solid. We put a few 17 inchers in the boat before they seemed to move off the grass and into the potholes as the tide kept falling. So we switched tactics a little and threw shrimp on jig heads into some of the larger potholes with some quick and solid action. As the mullet moved in around us along with some other boats I got a good thump and was rewarded with a nice gator trout.
Right around that trout I also got another thump along with a quick short run of something a little larger. I was thinking catfish until it started peeling off line with some heft to it. It took a little work to get it back closer to the boat and kept it's head buried into the grass before I saw this massive red come up out of the grass. After a little work around the boat navigating the powerpole and pushpole I was able to land this beast of a red. It was a little over 32 inches and probably the biggest red I've put in the boat.
After a couple of pictures and quick release we drifted some other holes and ran into the mangroves to look for some other reds and snook. Although we did find some snook we were unable to get them to bite and after a couple of catfish and ladyfish we decided to call it a day as we had a cooler full of trout and we both wanted to get home to watch some football. I bet we boated 20+ trout and quite a few trash fish and one extra large red to keep us wanting to get back out there. Hopefully really soon!
Fishing the Keys
I had the opportunity to fish down in the Keys while I was at a conference and had a good time fishing quite a bit different on two separate charters.
The first day out we fished around Duck Key looking for barracudas. It was pretty cool to fish for these guys as they were action from the word go. I threw topwater all day while Dr. C and Frank mixed it up with some soft plastics. Most of the fish were about this size.
But our last fish of the day was a little bit larger and a bit meaner.
It was a pretty cool site to see a fish chase a really fast moving lure. It was your job to take the bait away but most of the time the cuda won!
The next day Patrick and I got a little slow start back to Islamorada as US 1 was shut down between Duck Key and there due to a major accident so by the time we got to Islamorada to meet our guide the sun was up but he was pretty sure we would still have a shot a tarpon or two so we put the hammer down and headed towards Flamingo. The first flat was empty but as we were poling on to the second flat we saw a tarpon roll and then we started seeing some fish. Patrick was up and had his shot and a refusal 10 ft from the boat. My turn on the stick and I think it was the first fish I casted to turned to look at the fly and inhaled it. In a flash the tarpon ran right at the boat and then out away as I'm trying to clear line and get the fish on the reel. About that time it started peeling drag and then went airborne as the fly did right back at me. I was disappointed but pumped that I at least got one to eat and with the flat conditions and clearing skies we figured we had a couple more shots.
The first day out we fished around Duck Key looking for barracudas. It was pretty cool to fish for these guys as they were action from the word go. I threw topwater all day while Dr. C and Frank mixed it up with some soft plastics. Most of the fish were about this size.
But our last fish of the day was a little bit larger and a bit meaner.
The next day Patrick and I got a little slow start back to Islamorada as US 1 was shut down between Duck Key and there due to a major accident so by the time we got to Islamorada to meet our guide the sun was up but he was pretty sure we would still have a shot a tarpon or two so we put the hammer down and headed towards Flamingo. The first flat was empty but as we were poling on to the second flat we saw a tarpon roll and then we started seeing some fish. Patrick was up and had his shot and a refusal 10 ft from the boat. My turn on the stick and I think it was the first fish I casted to turned to look at the fly and inhaled it. In a flash the tarpon ran right at the boat and then out away as I'm trying to clear line and get the fish on the reel. About that time it started peeling drag and then went airborne as the fly did right back at me. I was disappointed but pumped that I at least got one to eat and with the flat conditions and clearing skies we figured we had a couple more shots.
We went looking on another couple of basins and in the second one we found the fish. Well we had our shots at quite a few fish but they were either not interested in our fly or something. We had a errant sea turtle scare off one fish and just the wake of a passing boat sent the fish scurrying away. Everything was started to line up and the sun seemed to dip behind the clouds that were starting to form and the breeze just picked up enough to put a little ripple on the water and that was it.
Just a bunch of shots with no other takers but some crazy good fun on a fly. We went to one redfish flat and saw a couple peel away in the cloudy water so we started making our way back to the marina.
We did have another couple shots at some smaller tarpon and one very large group of bonefish that came screaming onto the flat but it just wasn't meant to be. We are already planning on getting back down there and chase the silver king as we just got our whistle wet on this first outing.
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Fishing Pine Island with Vance and Mr. Whittaker
Went out with Vance and Mr. Whittaker the other Sunday and had a great time with Capt. Dave out looking for some low water trout and reds.
It started out a cool foggy morning and a cool run to start off the morning. I could feel the concern from the back of the boat as we were running in a few inches of water from Mr. Whittaker but after crossing a few skinny flats he wasn't as concerned as long as the fish were going to be there when we got there. Well on the first stop at the top of the hole we didn't find much but it wasn't long before Capt. Dave put us on the fish.
The first double of the day. Nice solid trout and a nice redfish.
Of course the fish I would catch would be to long... Solid redfish to the boat.
Vance hooked up with his coach in his ear, results in this....
Well by that point Vance had a few reds to the boat and with a couple of trout thrown in by myself and Mr. Whittaker we were already having a good day. We motored out of there and to the cut that we came into the flat on that Capt. Dave saw some fish on and it wasn't long before Vance was reeling in a few short reds from the skinny.
We ended up moving around some and not finding many more fish until one of the later stops in a hole that all of thought that Capt. Dave was lying about. Well as usual he proved us wrong and we nailed some very good redfish again with one overslot and another from Vance to give us the limit in reds.
From there it was back to the dock for a great lunch and great conversation about the day on the water. I'm already looking forward to getting back out there and chase some Pine Island shallow water fish!
It started out a cool foggy morning and a cool run to start off the morning. I could feel the concern from the back of the boat as we were running in a few inches of water from Mr. Whittaker but after crossing a few skinny flats he wasn't as concerned as long as the fish were going to be there when we got there. Well on the first stop at the top of the hole we didn't find much but it wasn't long before Capt. Dave put us on the fish.
The first double of the day. Nice solid trout and a nice redfish.
Of course the fish I would catch would be to long... Solid redfish to the boat.
Vance hooked up with his coach in his ear, results in this....
Well by that point Vance had a few reds to the boat and with a couple of trout thrown in by myself and Mr. Whittaker we were already having a good day. We motored out of there and to the cut that we came into the flat on that Capt. Dave saw some fish on and it wasn't long before Vance was reeling in a few short reds from the skinny.
We ended up moving around some and not finding many more fish until one of the later stops in a hole that all of thought that Capt. Dave was lying about. Well as usual he proved us wrong and we nailed some very good redfish again with one overslot and another from Vance to give us the limit in reds.
From there it was back to the dock for a great lunch and great conversation about the day on the water. I'm already looking forward to getting back out there and chase some Pine Island shallow water fish!
Hunting 2013
Well this hunting season went about as well as it could have. Yea we had warm temps but we had a few days that were perfect as the fronts came across at the right time. I was fortunate to get a nice 8pt in the creek on the 7th of Nov. That's about the time when we see quite a few deer up and moving as they start cruising at our farm. He came out by himself into the shooting lane and it was a drop in the bucked 40 yard shot after I stopped him. After a short track and long drag up the hill we had him back to the break and on the 4-wheeler.
It was a very nice older buck and one I am very proud to take this year. We continued to see some smaller bucks and I let a very nice 120+ inch deer go on Sunday evening right at dark but he should be around for next year for sure.
I had a quick trip to Austin in the middle of the hunt so when I got back it didn't take Dad long to get on the board with a fantastic buck. I was one ridge over from him Wed. afternoon when I hear a very early shot. Well he had a nice buck walk out 30 yrds from him on his 4-wheeler at like 4:00. Well it was a shooter and after a quick but tricky tracking job (good job finding the buck Dad) we had some great dusk light to get a picture. It was a great set up and one that we had talked about in the past and put together a good plan to get the bucks that were crossing this one ridge from the set pines.
Well that was it as far as deer on the ground but we had a good weekend entertaining some friends and family though nobody connected on a deer. We had some misses, some hit limbs and some close encounters as well as some good opportunities but it was just great to be out there in the woods with everybody. I'm already looking forward to next year to chase whitetails again with Dad. It's by far the best couple of weeks of the year.
Below are some pictures I took while either at the cabin or on the stand.
It was a very nice older buck and one I am very proud to take this year. We continued to see some smaller bucks and I let a very nice 120+ inch deer go on Sunday evening right at dark but he should be around for next year for sure.
I had a quick trip to Austin in the middle of the hunt so when I got back it didn't take Dad long to get on the board with a fantastic buck. I was one ridge over from him Wed. afternoon when I hear a very early shot. Well he had a nice buck walk out 30 yrds from him on his 4-wheeler at like 4:00. Well it was a shooter and after a quick but tricky tracking job (good job finding the buck Dad) we had some great dusk light to get a picture. It was a great set up and one that we had talked about in the past and put together a good plan to get the bucks that were crossing this one ridge from the set pines.
Well that was it as far as deer on the ground but we had a good weekend entertaining some friends and family though nobody connected on a deer. We had some misses, some hit limbs and some close encounters as well as some good opportunities but it was just great to be out there in the woods with everybody. I'm already looking forward to next year to chase whitetails again with Dad. It's by far the best couple of weeks of the year.
Below are some pictures I took while either at the cabin or on the stand.
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Hunting Nov. 6/7
I got into town yesterday afternoon. A quick sit on the Lone Oak stand produced a couple of buck sightings right at dark but no shooters.
This morning I went back to the same stand and got set up before day-break in the same stand as last night. After seeing a spike and doe on the way into the stand I thought it might be a good morning. After the fog lifted in by around 7:30 the deer started showing up. The same doe and spike came by the stand first with the spike pushing the doe around. A little while later I catch movement behind me and see a nice young buck but not quite a shooter so I let him walk. He moves behind me and comes back 20 minutes later with another smaller buck and I got some video of them walking across the break. They split up after that and took off in different directions. I couldn't tell if they were the same bucks I saw last night but they looked really similar. We are headed back up there this afternoon in a few. Front just went through so hoping for a good afternoon and cooler temps.
This morning I went back to the same stand and got set up before day-break in the same stand as last night. After seeing a spike and doe on the way into the stand I thought it might be a good morning. After the fog lifted in by around 7:30 the deer started showing up. The same doe and spike came by the stand first with the spike pushing the doe around. A little while later I catch movement behind me and see a nice young buck but not quite a shooter so I let him walk. He moves behind me and comes back 20 minutes later with another smaller buck and I got some video of them walking across the break. They split up after that and took off in different directions. I couldn't tell if they were the same bucks I saw last night but they looked really similar. We are headed back up there this afternoon in a few. Front just went through so hoping for a good afternoon and cooler temps.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
RJ Fishing October Fishing 10-20
RJ and I got up early on Sunday morning to chase the fish around the fort again. After getting loaded up and in the water. We were running to one of the keys off the Skyway bridge to look for some top-water fish as the tide was still falling. There was lots of activity in the deeper water before the shallow area around the mangroves and we were thick into the lady fish right off the bat. There is a reason they call them the poor man's tarpon because they are a heck of a lot of fun on top water. We missed a couple of trout as well, but nothing was really doing and there was a little rain storm moving east just south of the fort right along the mouth of the bay. It was building a little back north towards us and our first flat of the day about a mile south was covered in rain so we took off north to see if we could stay dry. We ran a couple of miles and let the motor run a little to another mangrove island that I've seen people around from the Skyway. Well we stayed dry and other than and a mangrove and a pinfish that was all that little run was worth. So as the ran moved east we fired back up and headed back south and after a quick stop to check water levels we decided our best shot was back into the larger cut that we fished on Sat.
The difference a day makes though as we got into mangrove cut and there wasn't anyone but us an another kayaker. Luckily the first oyster bar was open and even though there was not much water in there there was some activity. The sun was just finally making an appearance as well so we could see quite a bit of the water around the mangroves. We weren't really seeing much so we backed out a little and RJ wanted to get a little time on the poling tower so he figured it out pretty quickly and after we got back into the mullet he started pointing out redish. There were a couple of groups of fish mixed in with the mullet and lots of big pushes and activity so instead of chasing the groups which were ignoring our shrimp on jigheads it was a time to fish a shrimp under a cork. We anchored up and I got a shrimp tail hooked out in the mullet and it wasn't long before the cork just started swimming away. It didn't really go down but it was moving way to fast to be a pinfish but not like a lady fish or other trash fish bite either. I raised up on the circle hook and it came tight to a really nice overslot red.
Well that was it from that area so we moved around a little and saw some larger snook but they weren't really interested in the shrimp so with about 30 minutes left in our trip we head back to the same area that we found that keeper red on Sat. Well the mullet were thick in there again and we got set up a little further away from the mangroves but close enough to cast to the broken water around the edges. First cast out with a shrimp on a jig head got pounded by a perfect slot red.
The difference a day makes though as we got into mangrove cut and there wasn't anyone but us an another kayaker. Luckily the first oyster bar was open and even though there was not much water in there there was some activity. The sun was just finally making an appearance as well so we could see quite a bit of the water around the mangroves. We weren't really seeing much so we backed out a little and RJ wanted to get a little time on the poling tower so he figured it out pretty quickly and after we got back into the mullet he started pointing out redish. There were a couple of groups of fish mixed in with the mullet and lots of big pushes and activity so instead of chasing the groups which were ignoring our shrimp on jigheads it was a time to fish a shrimp under a cork. We anchored up and I got a shrimp tail hooked out in the mullet and it wasn't long before the cork just started swimming away. It didn't really go down but it was moving way to fast to be a pinfish but not like a lady fish or other trash fish bite either. I raised up on the circle hook and it came tight to a really nice overslot red.
Well that was it from that area so we moved around a little and saw some larger snook but they weren't really interested in the shrimp so with about 30 minutes left in our trip we head back to the same area that we found that keeper red on Sat. Well the mullet were thick in there again and we got set up a little further away from the mangroves but close enough to cast to the broken water around the edges. First cast out with a shrimp on a jig head got pounded by a perfect slot red.
After getting that fish into the cooler we got another couple of shrimp out and I was happened to be busy when RJ was at the front of the boat when my cork rod started getting a bite. RJ pulled a little and came tight to a twin of the fish I had just pulled in.
So two keepers in the matter of 10 minutes and a nice dance around the powerpole in the video! We drifted a little further and saw a nice red cruising the broken water towards the mangroves. I took a first shot at the fish and missed and RJ took a cast out in front on the moving red and a few seconds later the cork disappeared and the fight was on.
Unfortunately, I screwed up my part with landing but it really didn't matter since we had some great video and knew that fish was easily 24 inches and solid. By that time it was getting a little into the afternoon and we knew that RJ had a longer drive in the evening to get back home. We did see two big reds on the way out along another shore line that I will be checking out at a later time, though. All in all we had a great weekend and spent some much needed time for both of us on the water. We caught plenty of fish, ate some fresh redfish tacos and had some great beer. Couldn't ask for a better weekend.
RJ October Fishing Weekend 10-19-13
Fished with RJ this weekend so I should have enough for two blog postings. We started off Sat morning on a flat I know pretty well now down at the fort. It wasn't long until we were in fish on top-water. We caught quite a few trout in and around the deeper potholes on the flat since the tide was pretty low. We ended up with quite a few trout some pinfish, mangrove snapper and ladyfish. We did fish a few potholes with some cut bait and only caught catfish though I did most of the catching of those little boogers. We didn't really have many solid bites but trout were on that flat but most were smaller fish.
So after watching another boat burn the flat looking for redfish I thought it was time to move into the mangroves as the tide was pushing in. We got inside the large cut with everybody else fishing on Sat as well. My first spot had a kayaker sitting in it so we let him have that oyster bar and started a little south and started looking for fish. It wasn't long before we found a nice trout that promptly got off at the boat and some sheepshead which seriously disappointed RJ for me to release, but they punch holes into my fish bag so back in water they went. We drifted a little with wind along the mangroves and another 2 boats came into the same 300 yard shoreline. Well since we were stacked in there pretty tight we decided since there were fish flashing and pushing bait up against the mangroves we were all right and it wasn't long before RJ had his first snook of his career.
Yea it wasn't the big snook that we were seeing but it was a snook. It wasn't long before the cut cleared out and we were able to move around a little easier without bumping into other boats. We did see some larger snook moving around at the same point I had seen them a few weeks ago so, but we thought it would be better to move on down to some broken water that I had found a few weeks ago with Dr. Schuster. The water was full of life with 1000s of mullet but we really weren't getting in bites other than pinfish even though we were seeing some redfish mixed in with the mullet so I got some cut bait and put it out in a smaller pot hole and waited. After a few minutes I got a pretty heavy thump and pulled in dinner for the evening.
I think it went a little over 26 inches and a perfect tournament size fish but even better for dinner. We sat there for quite a while longer and other than a 3 1/2 foot bonnet head we really didn't catch anything else even though there were so many mullet and so much activity. We putted back over the area we started in since the tide was falling and after catching a couple of trout on the way in we put some shrimp out in the holes off the mangroves looking for those big snook that had hopefully settled in those holes during the tide change. It wasn't long and I got past the pinfish and got a big tug on a shrimp on jighead. bRight away I knew it was something with a little more size. I thought snook at first since it peeled off but it wasn't long before I saw the chrome flash. Another overslot redfish at the fort. It's beginning to be my MO when I go down there and I'm not complaining but you can't eat a fish that big but luckily we had dinner already so I was happy to get to fight that fish. I think it went somewhere around 29 inches and it was just barely hooked (we think the hook got dislodged when RJ landed it but still!).
After that it was getting pretty late and we knew we needed to get home and clean a fish and cook some dinner. So after some redfish tacos and some quality beer that RJ brought we watched a little football and avoided the highlights of the UGA game. We both were worn out and in bed early to get back after it again on Sunday.
So after watching another boat burn the flat looking for redfish I thought it was time to move into the mangroves as the tide was pushing in. We got inside the large cut with everybody else fishing on Sat as well. My first spot had a kayaker sitting in it so we let him have that oyster bar and started a little south and started looking for fish. It wasn't long before we found a nice trout that promptly got off at the boat and some sheepshead which seriously disappointed RJ for me to release, but they punch holes into my fish bag so back in water they went. We drifted a little with wind along the mangroves and another 2 boats came into the same 300 yard shoreline. Well since we were stacked in there pretty tight we decided since there were fish flashing and pushing bait up against the mangroves we were all right and it wasn't long before RJ had his first snook of his career.
Yea it wasn't the big snook that we were seeing but it was a snook. It wasn't long before the cut cleared out and we were able to move around a little easier without bumping into other boats. We did see some larger snook moving around at the same point I had seen them a few weeks ago so, but we thought it would be better to move on down to some broken water that I had found a few weeks ago with Dr. Schuster. The water was full of life with 1000s of mullet but we really weren't getting in bites other than pinfish even though we were seeing some redfish mixed in with the mullet so I got some cut bait and put it out in a smaller pot hole and waited. After a few minutes I got a pretty heavy thump and pulled in dinner for the evening.
I think it went a little over 26 inches and a perfect tournament size fish but even better for dinner. We sat there for quite a while longer and other than a 3 1/2 foot bonnet head we really didn't catch anything else even though there were so many mullet and so much activity. We putted back over the area we started in since the tide was falling and after catching a couple of trout on the way in we put some shrimp out in the holes off the mangroves looking for those big snook that had hopefully settled in those holes during the tide change. It wasn't long and I got past the pinfish and got a big tug on a shrimp on jighead. bRight away I knew it was something with a little more size. I thought snook at first since it peeled off but it wasn't long before I saw the chrome flash. Another overslot redfish at the fort. It's beginning to be my MO when I go down there and I'm not complaining but you can't eat a fish that big but luckily we had dinner already so I was happy to get to fight that fish. I think it went somewhere around 29 inches and it was just barely hooked (we think the hook got dislodged when RJ landed it but still!).
After that it was getting pretty late and we knew we needed to get home and clean a fish and cook some dinner. So after some redfish tacos and some quality beer that RJ brought we watched a little football and avoided the highlights of the UGA game. We both were worn out and in bed early to get back after it again on Sunday.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Hanging Stands '13
I took off to Tifton this past weekend to work at the farm and hang some stands and look at the work that Dad had done as I had been doing some work at the house as well putting together some stands for some of the bigger more consistent stands on the front side.
We got an early start though it was already getting warm by 9:00 and after hooking up the stands to the 4-wheelers we headed across the farm to the line to hang a stand on one of our older rye grass strip. We needed the looping shears to make sure we could get the stand up in the tree so we ran back to the cabin and grabbed those and set up the other on another hill on the way through. Dad had done some work around that lone oak tree stand and had cut some shooting lanes and it looks really nice from the stand.
We got an early start though it was already getting warm by 9:00 and after hooking up the stands to the 4-wheelers we headed across the farm to the line to hang a stand on one of our older rye grass strip. We needed the looping shears to make sure we could get the stand up in the tree so we ran back to the cabin and grabbed those and set up the other on another hill on the way through. Dad had done some work around that lone oak tree stand and had cut some shooting lanes and it looks really nice from the stand.
Shooting lane underneath Lone Oak Stand.
Someone will get to see at least some deer off that stand. Hopefully, he will stick around long enough to get a crack at him. If he comes across on a doe it might be tough but there is another shooting lane to the left of the stand and sometimes those deer hook down the creek so there could be another shot if you got lucky.
We got the other stand up in the creek looking up the rye strip as well.
Younger buck from the Rye Strip Stand last year.
From there we checked one of my favorite creek stands and Dad had cleared that area out nice for a shooting lane which had gotten tighter over the past few years. It was hard to get a quick shot in there any more so opening it back up won't impact the deer movement as they come across that area as a natural funnel between the hill and creek.
Buck I took 2 seasons ago in that bottom. One of the deer I saw last year would have been bigger but fortunately on that morning he got to walk since he was missing a his right antler.
We also road the fence line that had some nice mast on last year where I got the picture of this buck... Maybe he's grown up a little. I think everyone that sat on that stand saw him at least once and we all passed and looking at him through the pictures I think that was a good choice.
By that time it was getting warm and later in the morning almost around noon so we put up one of Dad's older stand on a tree close to the cabin in an area that never gets hunted. It looks like it's to close to the cabin but I've put Nate there before and he's seen deer as they cross that little strip of woods right there on the way around the creek to their bedding areas.
We also pulled out the rifles to check our scopes and after a couple quick shots we were loading up and heading back to town.
After a quick lunch at Dairy Queen in Sylvester we headed back to the house to get cleaned up and watch the mess was that the UGA vs Tenn game. Luckily, we got the win but lost some key players. Hopefully we will get a couple wins over the next weeks and get into Florida with one loss and give our younger guys a chance to get ready to play.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Fishing w/ Dr. Schuster
I had the opportunity to fish with Dr. Schuster the other day and we had a great day out on the water at Fort De Soto. We started off early into a pretty breezy east-north-east wind which caused us some problems early on the incoming tide. We had lots of blow-ups on our top water but most fish seemed to just miss the plugs. It took us a while to start catching game fish as it seemed like the pinfish were extremely active. We also caught some mangroves on top-water as well which was new to me.
It took some time to find some trout but we finally got into them and some bigger fish a little deeper into the drift across the flat. We found some reds but weren't able to get them to bit so with the tide coming to a quick end we made our way out of the wind and into a more sheltered place in a mangrove enclosed area. I got up on the poling platform and worked our way down the mangrove shore line looking for fish and we found some fish during the slack water time but the just wouldn't bite. We saw some big reds and saw a very large group of big snook cruising up on the oyster bar that we would go back and target a little while later.
We decided to go check out a hole that I had found on google earth and when we got there we saw a bunch of mullet and started seeing quite a few nice redfish so we put the powerpole down and started blind casting into the broken water and in and around the mullet schools. It wasn't long before Dr. Schuster had on a nice red. Unfortunately, the knot broke and it came off right at the boat... Well we didn't catch anymore from that group and we never found them again so it was getting later in the day so we decided to pole one more time around the mangroves to sight fish a little while longer. Not to long into looking we started spotting fish but those fish were pretty spooky and very hard to see.
Our best fish of the day was a sheepshead which are usually pretty hard to catch but we fooled this one 5 feet from the boat. Dr. Schuster made a good cast to the laid up sheepshead and it chased down the shrimp but missed it on the first try. It was like that sheepshead had never eaten as Dr. Schuster killed the retrieve and the shrimp sank back down and the fish chased it down and killed it. After a brief fight around the back of the boat we had up in the boat for a quick look and back in the water.
Right around the next corner we came up on some oyster bars and saw a couple of larger fish moving up against the mangroves and Dr. Schuster made a good cast up to them as they swam towards us and both of the reds swam right over the shimp. He made another quick cast and as they turned down the mangroves and both of us were pretty sure one of them looked like it was heading towards the shrimp but about that time we see a fin hit the water right over the reds as a 3 to 4 ft. bonnet head must have come up from deeper water to investigate all the activity and ruined that for us.
From there we ended up spooking 10+ very large snook in groups of 2 or 3 every 50 to 100 ft down the mangrove line. Unfortunately, they were sitting in 3-4 of water about where I was poling the boat and they were very hard to see. Something I'm going to have to remember for that area and the location of where to cast too under those conditions. Good day on the water and we both learned a little bit about site casting and fish holding areas that we would normally float over.
It took some time to find some trout but we finally got into them and some bigger fish a little deeper into the drift across the flat. We found some reds but weren't able to get them to bit so with the tide coming to a quick end we made our way out of the wind and into a more sheltered place in a mangrove enclosed area. I got up on the poling platform and worked our way down the mangrove shore line looking for fish and we found some fish during the slack water time but the just wouldn't bite. We saw some big reds and saw a very large group of big snook cruising up on the oyster bar that we would go back and target a little while later.
We decided to go check out a hole that I had found on google earth and when we got there we saw a bunch of mullet and started seeing quite a few nice redfish so we put the powerpole down and started blind casting into the broken water and in and around the mullet schools. It wasn't long before Dr. Schuster had on a nice red. Unfortunately, the knot broke and it came off right at the boat... Well we didn't catch anymore from that group and we never found them again so it was getting later in the day so we decided to pole one more time around the mangroves to sight fish a little while longer. Not to long into looking we started spotting fish but those fish were pretty spooky and very hard to see.
Our best fish of the day was a sheepshead which are usually pretty hard to catch but we fooled this one 5 feet from the boat. Dr. Schuster made a good cast to the laid up sheepshead and it chased down the shrimp but missed it on the first try. It was like that sheepshead had never eaten as Dr. Schuster killed the retrieve and the shrimp sank back down and the fish chased it down and killed it. After a brief fight around the back of the boat we had up in the boat for a quick look and back in the water.
Right around the next corner we came up on some oyster bars and saw a couple of larger fish moving up against the mangroves and Dr. Schuster made a good cast up to them as they swam towards us and both of the reds swam right over the shimp. He made another quick cast and as they turned down the mangroves and both of us were pretty sure one of them looked like it was heading towards the shrimp but about that time we see a fin hit the water right over the reds as a 3 to 4 ft. bonnet head must have come up from deeper water to investigate all the activity and ruined that for us.
From there we ended up spooking 10+ very large snook in groups of 2 or 3 every 50 to 100 ft down the mangrove line. Unfortunately, they were sitting in 3-4 of water about where I was poling the boat and they were very hard to see. Something I'm going to have to remember for that area and the location of where to cast too under those conditions. Good day on the water and we both learned a little bit about site casting and fish holding areas that we would normally float over.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Fishing with Greg and Mr. Dean at CRB
After celebrating the big Dawg win last night over LSU, we continued it right out into the mangroves and flats at CRB this morning. Tides were a little slow as we are coming off the neap tides so there was just enough moving water this morning to go out and try the morning incoming. The water was pretty tea-colored after all the recent rains so along with the slower tides, the water clarity didn't give me much confidence but all of that would be forgotten after a little time on the water. We got a really early start to a beautiful crisp (<75 deg) morning and were to the first stop before the sun was up.
It didn't take very long to Mr. Dean to get on a fish, well a nice ray. So, needless to say we were quickly back at it to find a game fish. Well, it didn't take long to find the first of many snook on the morning. Mr. Dean started it off for us and was 1/3 of the way on to his slam with the hardest fish first. We spent the next hour catching and releasing a few small reds and bunch of smaller snook and a couple of mangrove snappers. We pulled up the powerpole and headed to the cut down the way to look for some fish sitting in the slow morning current. We got a bite right off and ended up with a couple more fish for the boat including this smaller red and snook.
We still had some monster shrimp left so with the north wind we putted out to the flat to find a trout or two. Well we accomplished that after we found a little bit cleaner water and Mr. Dean got the boat slam and his personal slam pretty quickly. Greg followed pretty quickly with his slam as well and if it wasn't more me breaking him off he would have had a nice keeper red for the boat as well. I had my trout on one of the very last shrimp and it was a pretty good fish but it came off right at the boat but I was ok with that. We had caught 20 or so fish with quite a few species and a couple of inshore slams. Plus the weather and water was great and along with the fellowship and stories it was a perfect way to celebrate a big Dawg win yesterday. I can't wait to get back out there and continue this great end of summer/early fall fishing.
It didn't take very long to Mr. Dean to get on a fish, well a nice ray. So, needless to say we were quickly back at it to find a game fish. Well, it didn't take long to find the first of many snook on the morning. Mr. Dean started it off for us and was 1/3 of the way on to his slam with the hardest fish first. We spent the next hour catching and releasing a few small reds and bunch of smaller snook and a couple of mangrove snappers. We pulled up the powerpole and headed to the cut down the way to look for some fish sitting in the slow morning current. We got a bite right off and ended up with a couple more fish for the boat including this smaller red and snook.
The tide wasn't moving very well but there were still fish around they were active so we ended up with a couple of reds and a couple more snook.
From there we headed outside to fish some out front mangroves for snook and reds and we weren't disappointed at that stop either. Greg knocked out 2/3 of his slam as well with a quick release of his snook and a smaller red.
We still had some monster shrimp left so with the north wind we putted out to the flat to find a trout or two. Well we accomplished that after we found a little bit cleaner water and Mr. Dean got the boat slam and his personal slam pretty quickly. Greg followed pretty quickly with his slam as well and if it wasn't more me breaking him off he would have had a nice keeper red for the boat as well. I had my trout on one of the very last shrimp and it was a pretty good fish but it came off right at the boat but I was ok with that. We had caught 20 or so fish with quite a few species and a couple of inshore slams. Plus the weather and water was great and along with the fellowship and stories it was a perfect way to celebrate a big Dawg win yesterday. I can't wait to get back out there and continue this great end of summer/early fall fishing.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
CRB and Fort De Soto Sept Fishing Trips
I took a quick trip on a high incoming tide to Cockroach Bay in the kayak last weekend. I didn't get any photos but it was a snook catching kinda morning. Unfortunately, the fish weren't very big but the numbers added up to 12+ snook so I can't argue with that. Add a couple of smaller reds and some good mangroves and a nice sheepshead it was a pretty good morning.
Well onto this morning. Loaded up the skiff and picked up Tony and headed down to Fort De Soto to fish a low incoming tide. We got some good shrimp and were in the water and fishing pretty quickly. We headed to flat that Greg and I fished two weeks ago and starting working top water. It didn't take long to get on the board and I was first up with a smaller trout. We worked some pot holes with some shrimp and I got a pinfish that I quickly turned into cut bait and produced this.
After that I kept looking for those groups of reds to pop up but we never saw them so we headed to some old oysters that Tony used to fish and within the first couple of casts around them I caught a 20 inch red that got to go back in since I already had some dinner with Tony's trout. We didn't really find anything else there so we went to another deep hole and caught a couple more trout and a smaller flounder before we ran out of shrimp. It was time to call it a day since the UGA game was early but with all the boat traffic and quickly warming temps we will save that all day adventure for some shorter days in a month or so.
Well onto this morning. Loaded up the skiff and picked up Tony and headed down to Fort De Soto to fish a low incoming tide. We got some good shrimp and were in the water and fishing pretty quickly. We headed to flat that Greg and I fished two weeks ago and starting working top water. It didn't take long to get on the board and I was first up with a smaller trout. We worked some pot holes with some shrimp and I got a pinfish that I quickly turned into cut bait and produced this.
That fish was a hair over the slot and after removing the piece of metal stringer that was in his mouth it got a second lease on life and will hopefully join the breeders and head off to make some more reds for the future. In the same pothole a few casts later Tony connected on this great trout on topwater. We thought nice red at first but after that first head shake closer to the boat it was time to change the fight and ease off a little.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Fort De Soto Scouting Trip
Greg and went out to Fort De Soto the other morning to do some scouting for the winter. We were looking for low water holes and fish holding areas that might hold some fish here in a few months after the water levels start dropping. We started pretty early with a 0.3 tide with an incoming all morning so we knew that even if we ran out of water in a shallow spot we could get back out since there would always be more water behind us. We stopped at the local bait shop on the way down to the Fort and although the shrimp weren't the largest, the few bucks was well spent as the bait shop guy gave us some pretty good direction on which way to go from the launch.
So the Fort De Soto launch is really nice and it wasn't long before we were in the water and headed to our first stop of the morning. We found the flat very quickly and with no putt-putt zones and places to run we were fishing very quickly. I jumped up on the platform and Greg grabbed a top-water rod. We had a bunch of missed strikes and the wind was pushing us across the flat pretty quickly but we finally started seeing some deeper holes and worked them a little better with both top-water and subsurface jigs. In one of these holes I was able to snag a pinfish so we had some cut bait back out into the hole and it wasn't long before we were rewarded with a really nice trout. A 20+ inch trout on our first float in the first hour of fishing.
In the same hole it wasn't long before Greg got another pretty big thump so turned on the video camera quickly to see a redfish get reeled in but to our surprise it was a pretty nice bonnet head. After we caught that one there were a lot of sharks around the boat for some reason so I will try tie some shark flies and put in my 8wt for next time we visit the fort.
From there we drifted a little further south onto the flat looking for more holes and fish. We got pretty skinny into the flat and did push a few reds out of a hole but weren't able to connect as we were already over them before we spooked them. We poled a little further out and turned back around to the water as another boat was coming on to the flat and there was a very large group of reds just appear and they were up pushing water. The other boat was in prime position and hooked up very quickly about 200 yrds from us. I didn't want to spook the group but they were busting up pretty quickly into smaller groups so we put down the trolling motor since I couldn't pole fast enough into the wind to keep up with them and got back around upwind to set up a drift. We fished some of the mullet schools then started working some of the pot holes for trout with some shrimp and were rewarded with a couple of nice trout and then I happened to see some red coming straight at us. I had a loaded up shrimp under a cork and pitched it out in front of the pushing fish. Well it wasn't 10 seconds before that big red found the shrimp and then it was game on.
Unfortunately, we didn't find any more reds but we were able to find some new spots to fish. We found a couple of mangrove snappers later in another location where there were some guides hanging out but the best part about Fort De Soto is the size of the area and the diversity of the fishing opportunities. I'm looking forward to getting to learn the area this fall since it's so convenient to the house.
Follow that up with a Dawgs win over the Palmetto State Poultry later in the afternoon it was a pretty great day!
So the Fort De Soto launch is really nice and it wasn't long before we were in the water and headed to our first stop of the morning. We found the flat very quickly and with no putt-putt zones and places to run we were fishing very quickly. I jumped up on the platform and Greg grabbed a top-water rod. We had a bunch of missed strikes and the wind was pushing us across the flat pretty quickly but we finally started seeing some deeper holes and worked them a little better with both top-water and subsurface jigs. In one of these holes I was able to snag a pinfish so we had some cut bait back out into the hole and it wasn't long before we were rewarded with a really nice trout. A 20+ inch trout on our first float in the first hour of fishing.
In the same hole it wasn't long before Greg got another pretty big thump so turned on the video camera quickly to see a redfish get reeled in but to our surprise it was a pretty nice bonnet head. After we caught that one there were a lot of sharks around the boat for some reason so I will try tie some shark flies and put in my 8wt for next time we visit the fort.
From there we drifted a little further south onto the flat looking for more holes and fish. We got pretty skinny into the flat and did push a few reds out of a hole but weren't able to connect as we were already over them before we spooked them. We poled a little further out and turned back around to the water as another boat was coming on to the flat and there was a very large group of reds just appear and they were up pushing water. The other boat was in prime position and hooked up very quickly about 200 yrds from us. I didn't want to spook the group but they were busting up pretty quickly into smaller groups so we put down the trolling motor since I couldn't pole fast enough into the wind to keep up with them and got back around upwind to set up a drift. We fished some of the mullet schools then started working some of the pot holes for trout with some shrimp and were rewarded with a couple of nice trout and then I happened to see some red coming straight at us. I had a loaded up shrimp under a cork and pitched it out in front of the pushing fish. Well it wasn't 10 seconds before that big red found the shrimp and then it was game on.
Unfortunately, we didn't find any more reds but we were able to find some new spots to fish. We found a couple of mangrove snappers later in another location where there were some guides hanging out but the best part about Fort De Soto is the size of the area and the diversity of the fishing opportunities. I'm looking forward to getting to learn the area this fall since it's so convenient to the house.
Follow that up with a Dawgs win over the Palmetto State Poultry later in the afternoon it was a pretty great day!
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Summer '13 Vacation
Kate and I took a driving trip across the south a few weeks ago. This is our first family vacation by ourselves in quite a few years and was a much needed get away for both of us. We started in Charleston, SC where we had some good food did some shopping along the downtown main drag and visited Fort Sumter.
Nice view of Charleston from the top of Fort Sumter. We ate at a local bar (with good beer) for dinner and drinks the first night. The second day we had some bar-b-que and had a nice dinner at Coast. Kate's braised grouper was one of the best meals of the trip.
From there we headed to Asheville, NC to eat some good food and see some mountains. Well it rained most of the day in but we got to see a little of the Grove Park Inn and the area around it.
As you can see the weather started out kinda dreary and we were in and out of the clouds and rain most of the ride up on the ridges. We did find some drier hikes into some local waterfalls in Pisgah National Forest and Cherokee.
From Cherokee we headed north into Kentucky up to Lexington. After losing my butt to Kate in darts at a local bar we got a good nights sleep to cover some ground the next day visiting some distilleries.
We started the next morning to a chilly 55 deg as they were having a summer cool snap which was great for us and headed to our first bourbon distillery stop of the day, Woodford Reserve. Luckily for us they were actually making bourbon this morning so we got to experience the entire process to start off the day.
We grabbed a quick lunch and were headed off to make the second stop at Four Roses Distillery. We made the tour just in time and got to walk around very interesting architecture and learn a little history of the bourbon and distillery. The interesting nugget about this distillery is that until 2002 all the bourbon they made went overseas to mainly Japan but now they make a couple different bourbons for the US market.
From there it was on to Makers Mark. The tour was great and although they were in the summer shut down mode they were actually bottling and hand-dipping the bottles as they came off the line. In the gift shop you can try it yourself and although mine doesn't look professional, I think it looks pretty good on the tying desk.
The next morning we got going early and with the help of the time zones we were able to visit Lincoln's birthplace and Mammoth Cave and get into Nashville the same day. Apparently, Kate had visited something to do with our 16th president in Illinois as a kid and was convinced that Illinois was the "Land of Lincoln". Well as usual she was right, and we got to learn a lot about Lincoln's early life in Kentucky and visit the location of his birth homestead. Mammoth Cave was also great and we got on the first Historical Tour of the morning and got to learn about the history of the cave.
We finally made it to a brewery, Fat Bottom in Nashville. The bourbon barrel aged brew was amazing. We also had a great tour of the Grand Ole Opry. We got to see all the backstage areas and stand on the circle on the stage. We saw where Hey Haw was filmed and some of the same locations that are on the show Nashville. That evening we had drinks and dinner in the Hermitage Hotel at the Capitol Grille and Oak Bar. Top 5 dinners of our married life for sure. We started off with the onion bisque and I had the salmon special and Kate had the flounder and finished up with a chocolate dessert. From Nashville we started our trip back home with an overnight stop in Athens to visit Amy and have some sushi and set up a lunch in Tifton to see Grandmother and have lunch at Pit-Stop with Mom and Dad. We had a great trip and we are already planning our next one!
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