Amen Tred

"In life, a man's man needs one very special double shotgun, a custom rifle, a handmade bow. A boat to hunt down blue marlin and giant tuna and one hell of a woman."

- Captain Tred Barta

Beneath the Mangroves

After several months of phone call conversations and planning, I was very fortunate to spend the last four days fishing with my good friend and former Head Guide Andy Lee of Grassroots Guides, Beneath the Mangroves. Andy recently relocated to Chokoloskee, Florida, where he has been fishing the Everglades backcountry for redfish, snook, and most recently, tarpon. We had quite a trip.
Andy runs a 18' Hell's Bay and it's the perfect rig for fishing the backcountry flats, weaving through the creeks and poling across the big bays of the Everglades.
We spend the first three days sight fishing to reds and snook. The redfish were a little easier to see: more out in the open, along vegetated flats or among oyster beds. The snook were trickier business, as we poled countless banks trying to spot these fish lying in ambush beneath the mangroves.
We had a good number of shots for snook, but they are a wiley fish. Many times we would see one and before we could drop a cast in front of it, the fish had retreated to cover beneath the trees. We would often pole by a fishy looking spot, unable to see a fish only to see the fish bolt from underneath us or the trees to explode as the fish took off. When we did see one and get a good cast in front of it, the fish would either immediately bolt or destroy the fly. We had some great takes and were able to land a few.
We also found a good number of redfish. A little easier to see, but often just as fickle, we brought a few of these to the boat as well. Enticing the reds to strike was a little more sensitive as we teased them to strike by pulling flies away and then letting them catch up. A great game to play.
At some point during our third second or third day we started seeing some black drum cruising amongst the reds. A fast sinking crab pattern was the trick for these odd looking fellars.
We had a slightly nervous moment as we noticed a gator approaching while Paul landed one particular drum. Andy made us second guess ourselves when he joked that gators always travel in pairs, one under the surface.
For our last day on the water, we fished for reds in the morning and then decided it was time to try and see some tarpon. We were surprised and instantly excited as we poled down our first bay and a heron spooked one and then we started seeing tails and wakes.

I was first up and had a good shot at a happy fish about a foot under the surface. I made two casts and on the second had an eat, but it didn't stick. We were pumped though as our first good shot resulted in a take. On we went.

Paul took some shots at some fish to no avail and then it was my turn on the bow again. The fish were hard to see given the muddy, murky water of the everglades but we soon found ourselves right upon a very large shadow under the surface. Wind at the moment almost blew us over the fish, but Andy circled us around to where I could take some good shots. My first four casts were no good, but on the last, it looked as though the fish was interested. I was lucky the fish hadn't bolted. I took another cast and this one was on the money, a few inches in front of the fish. Not even six inches into my retrive and the water exploded, the fish coming out of the water to crush the fly, a tan, deer-hair head slider. And then it was on. Into the backing within seconds, leaping in the distance, the line cleared and I remained tight. It was looking good.

I had some good shots at tarpon last spring but wasn't able to coax any to eat. We joked later that this fish chose me, allowing for my first nervous casts to pass until I put the fly where he wanted it.
The fight lasted about 40 minutes, the last 30 or so within 30 feet of the boat, the hardest part of the whole ordeal.
Finally the fish rolled over and with a hand on its lip, the fish boatside, Andy grabbed the leader and it gave. Away the fish went. High fives and laughs filled the boat as we recounted the battle and charted the boat's course as the leviathan towed us around the bay.

It would be our last fish of the day and of the trip, a perfect way to go out. It didn't take long before we started scheming our return. An easy, two and a half hour drive from Miami International Airport, I recommend anyone looking to get into some Everglades tarpon action get in touch with Andy, and hang on for the ride.

The question remains...

...to which came first?

...Wilkie?

...or the Breakfast Sandwich?

Asian Carp

I'm speechless

"As an EMT by trade, there is nothing more important to me than personal safety"

-Peoria Carp Hunters website

I'll fish anywhere there's a garden hose tied to a tree ......

I have been fishing a new spot lately and I know a trip report without fish photos is a waste of time but hear me out. My area of Maine once held epic runs of a certain fish. Native americans and white chumps alike would travel hundreds of miles to catch them. But with the popularity of electricity came dams and with that ended a run from the sea to this river. Now fishing for them is not illegal but one must be careful as to not draw attention to yourself. I have been fishing for these animals we will call "Land Locked" Whitefish. I have read reports of the fish that the state "moved" in to the river and are now designated as "land locked." I have a friend who held these 40 inch fish in his hands and he placed them above a certain dam and scraped and weighed them. I would like to catch one.

So I did my research, google earth and even asking old guys quietly in a dark corner of the bar ( Wilkie style) and lastly hiking in to a spot and swinging.

I went last week and hooked not a one, I saw some tails and then stumbled upon this.

Fresh eagle dung and "whitefish" eggs.......

So I set up shop

I swung, I dead drifted, I did it all, I even found the ultimate angler's sign.
A garden hose tied to a tree, directly below the sushi smelling fowl's deposit

I hoped the other angler's were directing me toward my first wild "land locked" whitefish.... not today but I will be back.





Jaw Jerker

My fellow guides Drew, Les and Zach are down in the land of the long white cloud for several months. Drew is keeping a pretty entertaining blog of their travels that's worth a read. Some great pictures as well.

LINK

Does anyone...

...have the phone number for coastal cutthroat trout? I can't seem to find them around their usual haunts.

The last 30 days of fishing in Maine

Mr Wilkie put me on my first pike

I learned to fish for beaver

I fished many rods and multiple flies to no avail

I drove 5.5 hours to fish the Canadian border in -15 degree weather to catch small , freshly stocked salmon

I found a scrap of cloth with chinese characters on it and tied it to my coat, hoping for asian luck...none arrived

Steaming breakfast sandwiches were consumed

Sooner Or Later It Had To Happen

The winter of 2012 might go down as one of the warmest on record, making for ridiculous ice conditions and small amounts of available space on safe ice in the last few weeks. Week 1 found us with the majority of Great Pond boasting open water. It was the first time in my life that I've witnessed such a massive part of the lake unfrozen on the opener and I personally observed several flocks of ducks pass over my traps. Jasper joined me and my old man the first couple of weekends, successfully landing the first Pike of his life.

As the ice slowly covered the lake, we inched our way into position. Unfortunately, the first week or two of the season is always the best, and by the time we were into prime territory, we had missed the virgin weeks of the season. Alas, after moderate action on fish up to 13.5 lbs and several moves with the shack, I had yet to grease any legit beasts in 2012.

Today, on a mixed precipitation day off from work, that all changed.....




23.5lbs & 43" Long