Sanibel Island Snook
Jordan .. sure . i am glad to offer some info about florida trip
I had read in Maizlers "Fishing Florida Flats " about beach fishing for cruising snook in June and July, so on a recent business trip to Florida I added a weekend so that I could fish 2 sunrises and 2 sunsets for snook in 2 ft of water in low light conditions . I did not know what to expect but was blown away by:
the serenity - i was alone on the beach
the simplicity - sandals, 9ft 8 wt, and camera
the beauty - sunrises and sunsets
numbers of fish - constantly viewed snook cruising in sets of 3 and 4 from 5-9 in the evenings and 5-9 in the mornings
best memory - seeing three 30 inch female snook cruising in the window of a 2 ft wave , casting beyond the next wave and slowly stripping, and seeing the take in the window of that next wave
I fished Sanible Island in Ft Myers Fla and Nokomis Beach in Venice ,Fla
I stayed right on the beach for $50 night - off season rates
I used Flying Fish Outfitters in Nokomis for info , and owners Sean and Julie tied flies - 3 inch long deceivers and referenced hotels for me
One of my best trips and one i hope to repeat each June but due to oil spill I may never get to
Rick Mowrey
Posted 3 days ago by Jordan Ross |
On my last trip to California I decided to take one day to relax. I found myself in a small town called Carmel. Carmel is a beautiful town by the Pacific Ocean. There I stayed for an evening, woke up fairly early and walked the street. Earlier that previous day, I noted a fine pens and stationary shop named Bittner's.
The next day I strolled into the shop, and began to ask questions. What is this? What is this for? Thinking sometimes, how can anyone be so into pens and paper...
Finally I met a man. Mr. Bittner. A tall man with a German accent greeted me with my questions. He was very knowledgeable about his product, and he began to take me on a journey to understand what really goes into a nice fountain pen.
You all have done it... you borrow a pen from a friend, they instantly look at you with caution and tell you how that PEN is very important. You then write with the instrument and you can help but notice the feel and the quality. It is suddenly fun to write. You do your signature, then a quick doodle... about that time the friend asks you for the pen back.
Well that day in the shop I was brought back to a place when I used to own a fly shop and I used to remember spending so much time with clients helping them to decide what fly rod they wanted.
I asked Detlef if he had anything with a cross on it. I explained what I did, and a little about my company. He later showed me a beautiful pen called the Knights Templar.
Needless to say, I walked out that day with a pen and also with some stationary. I will enjoy writing to my customers, and I also will enjoy working with Detlef.
In the coming days you will see some emails from my promoting some of his products. I feel that many of you probably keep journals and also like to write. I wanted to endorse the Bittner Shop. It is a fine place to shop. Please call in to speak to them and tell them JP Ross told you about them.
For more info on Bittner, click here.
Posted June 16th, 2010 by Jordan Ross |
I have known the owner of Adirondack Exposure for many years. Scott is about my age and is very talented. I was very happy to see his shop open up just south of Old Forge on Rte 28. I visited Scott and he was happy to stock our new Book; Adirondack Flies. After talking to Scott, he said that he mostly fishes the Black River. He also said that he mostly posts hatch reports and stream levels on his facebook page. I told him I would let everyone know of this feature of his web site.
At his shop, Scott also sells equipment and Canoes and Kayaks. Be sure to stop in and see him next time you are on your way up North.
See ADK Exposure on Facebook.
Posted June 16th, 2010 by Jordan Ross |
This last week I was out of school on April break. While most kids watched T.V., played video games, and stayed inside, I fished! On Saturday I went fishing with Gary Bartell on the Mohawk river. After we caught a couple of fish each, we went too a small stream in the Tug Hill area (in case Artie and Jordan are wondering where the stream is, I have memory loss and the only thing that will help me remember is a peace of paper with Benjamen Franklin's face printed on it). Dough conditions were a little cold we managed to catch a few small brown trout on nymph's and streamer's and despite the cold weather I even caught a few fish on dry flies. The next day I went up to the Salmon River with a buddy of mine. We went to Ellis Cove and it was loaded with drop back's. I probably hooked 15 or more fish that day! Out of all of those fish I landed five, three of which were in the mouth and the other two were foul hooked. I landed the first two fish which were foul hooked and then, while casting into a small pool of fish I hooked a seven pound drop-back and after a breaf fight I landed him with the help of a guide. We went to Malinda's fly shop for a break and then went back to fishing. I thought it was ten minutes after we returned to our spot that I hooked another steelhead, this one about five pounds. The way I landed this fish couldn't have been more perfect: I brought the fish to my side and scooped him up much like you would a trout.The third and last fish that I landed that day was also the bigest of the three. I spotted him and made a few casts to him before he took the fly. I faught this fish for about ten minutes and beached him. The guy I was with took some pictures. The fly of the day was a size 12 Chartrus chrystal meth.
The next day I went back to that same stream with Gary and we caught some small Browns on nymph's and streamers, I even caught a small Brooky. Later Kim showed up and we went to another part of the creek where he and Gary caught most of the fish. The next day found! me back on the Salmon River. The fishing was slower but I did manage to catch two steelhead in about an hour of fishing. The first one was a smaller drop-back that I landed before my buddy had even put on his waders (yes, he is older than I). The second fish I hooked was about fourty minutes later and It was about thirteen pounds. While walking around the shallows I spooked him and he went into a deep pool. I gave him about a minute and then started casting to him, and on my second cast he took the bait. I faught him for about twenty minutes and finally I beatched him, a nice 13+ pounder. We later went to the Tressle and the lower fly zone but we didn't land anything.
Saturday was my last trip up to the Salmon River untill Spey nation on June 19 at the Pineville bridge. When we got there the guy told the guy I was with that the fishing was terrible. Well, he was wrong! When I got on top of the bridge at the lower fly zone I could see half a dozen fish. After about an hour I finally landed one on a size ten stonefly, after a fifteen minutes fight it was a nice bright hen. After a few pictures it was released. The next fish I hooked was a colored up drop-back that I landed after a few minutes. About half an hour later on the other side of the bridge I spotted a drop-back in about a fiit of backwater. I casted to that fish and he took the fly, I landed him in under a minute. The next and last fish was hooked below the Church pool. After about ten minutes of chasing her down river I landed a nice twelve pounder that was full of egg's. That was the last steelhead of the trip. Those few days I thought my buddy hooked six fish. The next day was cast and blast! I woke up at three a.m. to go turkey hunting. I was back home around seven thirty because we spooked them. Later thet day my mom took me to the Sauquoit Creek where I caught a few trout on soft hackles the biggest of which was about a 14" wild brown trout.
Tight lines, Isak. K
Posted April 28th, 2010 by |
A Tiger Trout
Ice pellets blowing around whle stripping in the wolly bugger.
After the ice pelets blow through.. seen at a distance.
Have you ever heard of a tiger trout? I did one day when I was reading an article in an American Angler issue last year. They mentioned that there are tiger trout in NY, Cobleskill Reservoir to be specific. The Cobleskill Reservoir is also mentioned by the NY DEC Fishing Regulations for Schoharie County as the Holding Pond. This seems to be one of the most fished bodies of water in Schoharie County. This pond is stocked with rainbow, brown and tiger trout. The DEC has been stocking 9 to 14 inch brown and rainbow trout for years. In addition, the Coby Fish and Game Club have been stocking 12 to 16 inch tiger trout in the Holding Pond of the Cobleskill Reservoir for the past 9 years. The Coby Fish and Game Club raise money to stock these trout in the Cobleskill Reservoir. They purchase the fish from SUNY Cobleskill School of Agriculture and Natural Resources were they are bred, born and raised in the coldwater fish hatchery. For more information see http://www.cobleskill.edu/academics/agnrschool/fisheries/fishcoldhatchery.asp .
To increase the tiger trout that are stocked in the Holding Pond, donations can be sent to Mr. Joseph Moore, 105 East Street, Cobleskill, NY 12043. Each tiger trout costs $3, so they are looking for $10 donations to earn a button. If you wish to receive a button, please include another dollar to help defray the postage for shipping. When you donate money, please include your name, address, telephone number and email as well as if you would like the button mailed back to you.
Believe it or not tiger trout can but rarely are found in the wild. This hybrid of a brown trout and brook trout is real. It is rare and happens when a male brown fertilizes a brook trout red. There are other mating concerns that occur due to chromosome numbers between the different fish. You can read more about them at American Angler’s web site:
http://americanangler.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=911&Itemid=0
The tiger trout is known as an aggressive predator that is used to reduce fish population. I only saw one guy catch a trout at the reservoir. It was a brown trout that had its tail trimmed down. Not sure if the tiger trout were picking on it, but I never seen anything like that before. I understand that the best times to fly fish the Cobleskill Reservoir is from April to very early July, and then again in September. Rumor has it that tiger trout are exceptionally vigorous fighters. The best flies to use when fishing for them are with non weighted and weighted wooly buggers of different colors. My research said that the most successful colors were black and brown.
Two Saturdays ago I decided to drive to the reservoir and try it out. The weather was very changeable. There was everything from cloudy to sunny, rain to snow to ice, in addition it was cold and windy. Wow, I had my long underwear, my neoprene waders, fingerless gloves, hooded winter jacket and anything else I could bring without looking like the Michelin-man. Casting was very interesting. The wind was gusting to approximately 25 mile per hour. I began casting perpendicular to the wind. This seemed to work ok, but no hits or follows. I fished for 2 hours and moved some, but nothing.
I decided to check out a few streams that I saw while driving. So I headed to West Creek, a fishy looking creek that wasn’t very far from the reservoir. In checking out the water I made the mistake of putting my hand in the water to see what insects were active. I identified small mayflies (probably BWOs) and some white and green caddis larva. Once my hand was wet and the water that dripped down my sleeve I began to get cold as the wind and precipitation continued. I fished for a very short while in the creek and then decided to go back after around 2 to the reservoir. This is where I began to see following trout. They would follow my brown or black woolly buggers to the shore and then take off back to where they came from. I wasn’t showing them what they wanted or at the right speed. What was interesting was that I began to see fish jumping out of the water or at least some surface activity. The wind was blowing stuff into the water and the trout were going after it. I wanted to change my reel spool from my intermediate line to my floating line and then a small stimulator pattern. But by now my hand was getting very cold and painful. I don’t think I would even be able to tie on another fly. It was time to go back without any fish but with an interesting adventure researching a new place to fish for a rare fish… the tiger trout.
Tight Lines.... Joe
Posted April 26th, 2010 by Joe Riolo |
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