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.
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