Family Vacation

The family headed down to Florida for a little R and R. The house we stayed in was not too shabby. Even with 10 other families in it.

Most of our time was spent going from the beach to the pool. The weather was really hot in the day time so I tried to get out early in the morning to do some fishing. There was a large tropical storm hammering the east side of Mexico. This caused unusually large surf for the gulf beaches. The waves beat me up as I tried to stay waist deep. The fishing was slow.

It wasn't until my third day that I managed to hook some lady fish. These fish were really fun to catch. They jumped several feet out of the water during the fight to bring them in.

With the surf the way it was I tried to find calmer areas. I decided to try my luck at Okaloosa Bay. The weather was perfect. Hardly any wind, the water was glass clear and you could wade several hundred yards from shore and never be deeper than your knees.

There was plenty of wildlife to observe. It was neat to see stingrays, hermit crabs and other animals outside of a aquarium. In the distance I saw dark shadows moving in the flats. I figured they were drum. The water was so shallow stalking them was a challenge. I cast at several fish and wondered if maybe I wasn't using the right fly. A group of four shadows was heading straight for me. I cast right in front of the small school. A shadow moved towards my fly I tightened my line and the shadow took off. My line made a wake in the water and I felt the pull from the fish. My reel sang and I couldn't help but yell WOOOH! out loud. The fish gave me a decent fight but I knew it was no match for my nine weight. I thought for sure the fish was a small red drum. As it came closer though I could tell it was something different.

I read about these catfish before visiting. They are a species that can tolerate salt water. Apparently the locals loathe these fish and think of them as bait stealers. Say what you want about them but they are really fun to catch. The fish are aggressive and will gladly take a fly. The pattern didn't seem to matter. It was the cast and placement of the fly that made the difference. I started to get the hang of what the fish wanted. It couldn't have been more fun. It was the perfect type of fishing to me. Shallow water, sight fishing and the challenge of having to make good casts. I got my fill of the catfish and spent the rest of the day just exploring the flats. 

The rest the vacation was spent with playing on the beach, lounging by the pool and quality time with the family.

It was a great vacation and my wife is already looking into next years. 

Crappie Morning

A warm front came through and I figured it might entice the crappie into the shallows. It rained last night and usually that makes things even better. The storms usually flush warmer water into lakes and streams boosting the temperatures. Fish become active and start feeding because of the upswing in temperatures but also from the flood of things drowning in the water. The action wasn't hot and heavy but it was educational. I found several signs of catfish cruising the shore

 and these crappie were staging.

Should only be a matter of time before they start filling in the shoreline. This crappie was so large I mistook it for largemouth. It has obviously been eating well. The catfish never surprise me but they do seem to have major feeding frenzies with temperature changes. I'm still trying to figure them out.

Taking A Swim

I got out this morning to one of my favorite stretches of water.

All the rain recently had the river running higher than normal. I still thought the fishing would be great. None of the the usual flies seemed to work and I didn't see as many fish as I expected. In one fast riffle I managed my first fish. It was a chub and I think it was showing spawning colors. I've never seen one with red fins like this.

The water was pretty chilly and turtles were lining logs and rocks to sun themselves. It always seems like I see one or two of these guys.

I've observed water snakes hunting before and after doing so I'm glad they are harmless to humans. They are ferocious predators and seem to get any fish they go after. With the flow of the river I found it hard to figure out just what the fish wanted. I decided to try a fly that sank but didn't go all they way to the bottom. This proved to be the best tactic for me. In an eddy under a tree I got a nice surprise.

I don't catch catfish very often and it's always a treat when I get one on the line. This fish fought really hard and took awhile for me to get it to the surface. It was really the highlight of the trip for me. I spent the rest of the day enjoying the sites.

I only saw this in one section of the trail. I believe it's wild azalea. I wanted to try some but I'm a little paranoid about eating plants that I'm not sure of. I've heard some interesting stories about how people ate one thing they thought was something else and spent the rest of the day in the bathroom.

There was one pool just off the trail that looked amazing. There wasn't any easy way to get to it and the best looking access was this sketchy bank that basically was a muddy cliff. I found a spot that looked decent and I held onto a tree while I tried to work down the bank slowly. I went to put my foot down figuring that it was solid only to find I sank in about 2ft of mud. At the same time I lost grip of the tree and started to fall backwards. I kept waiting to feel the water and when I did I was surprised at the velocity I gained. I basically did a backflop into the water and it wasn't just a spash it was like KER-PLUUUGE! It wasn't that deep but I basically laid down in the water and soaked everything but my head. I let out a shudder kind of like when you get hit with a cold shower because you forgot to turn the dial. I was surprised no one heard or saw me. I was embarrassed and luckily only my ego was damaged.

Mom's Catfish

From my experience August has always been catfish month.  This most recent fishing trip just confirmed that even more.  My mother is still getting the hang of fly fishing.  She recently took a Orvis Fly Fishing 101 class where she learned the basics of casting and how to rig the rod herself.  This was the first trip where she rigged up her fly rod and tied all the flies on herself.  The only help I provided was suggestions on fly selection.  The trip was really a test for my new toy.

  I have never used a fish finder before and I have always been interested in how exactly they work.  If nothing else it would be neat to see what the bottom of the lake looks like.  I wanted to cover a lot of water so I decided to rent a canoe.  I haven't fly fished much from a canoe and my mother hadn't done it ever.  She hasn't had much experience in a canoe in general.

  We headed out and the weather was almost perfect.   The fish finder didn't mark much and it was amazing how much of the lake bottom was featureless.  The finder showed the water was 81 degrees and the average depth was around 8ft.  I set the fish alarm to only go off if it signals medium to large fish.  Not really sure what that means but the finder went off at various points that made sense.  Any indention's or obvious changes on the lake bottom usually registered at least one fish.  The fishing was slow and as we we let the wind drift the canoe I heard a familiar sound of a fish feeder.  At first I wasn't sure if that was exactly what I heard but then I saw the splashes and fins from fish feeding underneath.  We headed over and started to fish around the feeder.  By the time we got there the surface frenzy had died down but you knew the fish had to still be there.  The fish finder started to go crazy registering fish all over.  I'm not sure if the fish alarm is a good or bad thing.  It was kind of hectic looking through my fly box and being distracted with beep..... beep beep..... beep in the background. Each beep signaled a fish and one showed up as a big one.  I knew something that looked like a fish pellet would probably work but I had nothing similar.  I decided to go with a carp crack fly my buddy ties.  I hucked my line near the feeder waiting for a tug.  It didn't take long.  After a few stips I felt resistance and had a fish on.  I figured it was a catfish and I tried setting the hook a few more times.  That was my mistake, the fish came loose right under the boat.  We circled the feeder a few times and as I was looking across the lake I heard "I got one, I got one!"   I looked over to see my mom's rod bent over and almost pulling the tip into the water.  I remembered she only had a 5wt and this fish was pulling hard.  I thought if it was a big cat it might break it.  I tried to position the boat and give her directions to have the fish tow the canoe.  That way it could get tired on its on instead of making the rod do all the work.  In the riot I grabbed my mom's phone and started to record her first big fish with a fly rod.

You can tell from the video I had more fun watching her catch it than if I had caught the fish myself. She did a great job fighting the fish and I could tell she was stoked the whole day. It was a really nice catfish and a great accomplishment to catch it with a fly rod. If this is an indication of the fishing in August, bring on the catfish!

Gotcha Sucka!

I was going after carp last week with a black wooly bugger I tied. It was one of the first flies I tied years ago and pretty ugly. The fly action in the water was great though. The carp wanted nothing to do with it and worked there way around the fly turning their noses up at it. The carp at my work pond get leery quick. After a few casts they know something is up and go to deeper water. You can tell where they are at times by bubbles that come up to the surface. Many times I will cast at the bubble and I've actually had a few hits doing this. It is really hard because you are doing everything blind. I can't tell which way the fish is facing or when they see my fly.

A carp came close and I watched it and tried to measure my cast. It started to move to the darker water with horrible visibility. I cast maybe three feet in front of the carp hoping the fly would sink and land in front of it. Once my fly hit the surface a catfish charged and engulfed the fly. I was surprised but ready. I set the hook and the fish made a nice sprint for deeper water. Then it did what all catfish do and headed right back towards me just as fast as it swam away. It kept doing this pattern and I thought maybe this was the same catfish I had lost at the bank earlier the week before. It fought the same, it would come within feet of shore then swim off peeling line into deeper water. Once I had it near the bank I saw my fly was barely in the corner of the fishes mouth. I tried to lift it up over the grass on the bank but I could feel the 10lb test line was at it's limit. The fish was no where near 10lbs but I could just tell by the tension and feel of the line that it was about to pop. I gave it one good yank and SNAP! The line broke right at the knot. I just stood there at first expecting to see the cat flip off the grass and go back in the water but it was spent. I tried to figure out a good way to grab it but the fish was almost too big to wrap my hand around. I eventually grabbed it by the wooly bugger in it's mouth. The fly had lodged in the rubbery corner of the cats mouth. I pulled it up the bank and the fish looked enormous.

From Summer2011

From Summer2011

I estimated the fish to be well over 30inces. I had my neoprene socks in my backpack and I used those to grab the fish and pick it up to test it's true weight. This fish was no where near as heavy as I thought it was. Maybe 4-5lbs.

From Summer2011

I tossed it back in the water and it swam away as if nothing had happened. Catfish are brutes. When I got home I looked at the pictures and measured last night on the rod to see just how big the fish was. I grossly over estimated the fishes length. The length of my rod to the first eye is only 26inches this fish is a good distance from that. The fish was probably more like 21inches. Still my biggest cat yet, just interesting how much my eyes exaggerated the size when I had it there next to my rod.

Pure Muscle

Its settled. August is catfish month around these parts. I've only fished three times in three different locations and caught a catfish. All of the fish were caught on a crayfish colored bugger pattern with rubber legs. All of the fish hit the fly with in seconds of it hitting the water. The key is do nothing. Letting the fly drop and sit was the only way I've found works. The amazing thing about catfish is their ability to dive. I caught one tonight on my 8wt rod and even when the fish was with in a few feet of me I could not pull it to the surface. It wasn't until the fish was exhausted that I could bring it up. There's something about catfish I find fascinating. Maybe it's the whiskers or the strange look of them.

From Summer2011

The fish seems to be pure muscle but also has a docile look to it.

From Summer2011

This was a healthy looking channel cat. The recent fish have been caught on flies I tied. I'm not sure if that means my flies are great or that the fish will hit anything. I don't really care either way. Hopefully I'll continue to catch them.

Here Kitty Kitty

I found a post on the blog Currents about tailing catfish. It inspired me to go after cats again last night. I hit a spillway close to my house. It is gross and has tons of snags at the bottom but it is perfect for catfish. The recent rains have allowed water to slowly run down the spillway. There were shad schooling right at the edge. Some even tried to run up the trickle that had to be no more than a quarter of an inch of water. The bigger sunfish and catfish seemed to be taking their passes through the shad. I threw out a brown DDH Leech and in a few casts hooked this guy. I think it is a bullhead although I have never seen one colored this way.

From Summer2011

From Summer2011

It confirms what I've read and experienced. The hotter the weather the better the catfishing. I read an article that said catfish feed heavily in 85 degree water. It has been in the high 90's for almost a month. It is unusual for me to catch catfish in back to back days. Especially at different locations. I might go out again today at lunch and see if I can continue the streak.

The Cat Days of Summer

I had a Deja Vu moment fishing yesterday. It was at the work pond and I was trying out some new fly patterns. I didn't have any action and the fish seemed shy and reluctant to even follow the fly. Then I saw movement in the water under a tree. It looked like a fish swirling. I cast right in the middle of the swirl and with in a second my line shot away from the bank and headed for deeper water. I yanked back putting the pressure of the 8wt against the fish. Line started stripping and the fish wasn't slowing down at all. This had to be a carp. I watched my reel spin and kept an eye on the line that was rapidly unraveling. In about 5 seconds this fish had almost taken me to my backing. Then the reel stopped. I thought maybe the fish came off but as I kept tension on the line and reeled in the slack I could tell the fish was coming towards me. I tried lifting the rod to bring the fish to the surface so I could get a good look at it. The fish would have none if it. It was bull dogging and keeping to the bottom. Then it bolted again stripping line and I knew this was going to be a fight. The fish kept doing patterns of coming close then running out to deeper water. The fish rolled and I saw its tailfin. It was the unmistakable tail of a catfish. I had caught a catfish last year at almost the exact same time. It was the same scenario too, I saw movement under the same tree cast the line out and the fish hit instantly. I couldn't tell if it was the same fish. This one seemed smaller. It sure had the same fight.

Then at the end I even had the same problem of how to land the fish. I didn't bring my net and there was a small cliff I had to lift the fish up on to. I was using 10lb line but I was still worried about the knot holding. This fish was heavy to just lift straight up. I tried a few times and my line kept getting wrapped around weeds and sticks on the bank. I eventually had a free space to pull the fish up. I grabbed the leader and POP my fly just came off. I thought maybe the hook bent but it was in perfect condition. I have no idea how the fly just came out. When I caught a cat last year I grabbed the fly and tried to pulling the fish up the bank then it shook its head and unhooked itself. I kicked myself for not bringing my net. I'm not sure it would have been big enough but it would have helped. I estimated the fish to be at least 5lbs.

Warm Day on the Haw

Weathermen can't predict exactly where thunderstorms will hit but they've been pretty accurate predicting the high temp for the day. This was my second time fishing the Haw and again my temp gauge in the car read 92 degrees. I saw a familiar car in the parking lot and I was happy to see my buddy Dave was already on the water. The water level had raised some since the last time I visited.I met up with Dave and he informed me the fishing had been pretty slow. I tried the usual spots where I knew fish held and instantly had a sunfish hit my gulley fish fly. I wasn't targeting sunfish today, I was going for largemouth. I kept working water hitting pools here and there. The sunfish were in every piece of slack water. I also found I would have to start stripping before my fly even hit the water. If I didn't I would miss several strikes. The pools looked great but I couldn't seem to find bass.As I went up stream I saw a section under a tree where I was positive a bass had to be. My assumption was right and on my first cast I pulled in my first Haw largemouth. The fish was only about 10 inches but I was really happy to finally catch one. The fishing started to warm up with the weather. I caught several sunfish and when I cast towards a pool near a downed tree something slammed my line. The fish swam away for a second then bee lined towards me. I could barely strip fast enough to stay ahead of it. It was about a foot away when I raised the rod and the fish swam as though it was trying to bury itself into the ground. I was starting to wonder if the fish was a bowfin or carp. It wasn't until the fishes head came up that I realized it was a catfish. This was the biggest one I have caught this year.The fishing kept going with sunfish here and there. The wading was a little sketchy with the water being so murky. I decided to call it a day. When I turned around to go upstream I saw a view that was out of a dream.The picture doesn't do it justice. It was topped off with a osprey flying by me with a good size fish. The bird was maybe 20ft away. It was a neat moment and one that will make me view the Haw a little more fondly.

Today was a good day...

The carp have been shy lately. I haven't seen them in the pond by work in a month or so. I tried my luck today and was able to catch some gills and little bass. The gills were decent size a little bigger than my hand.

The picture really doesn't do it justice. The color on the gills out of this pond are beautiful. I think it's because the water is really clear.

Later I met a friend at Crabtree Lake, I had never fished there before. The water looked really good and you could see rises in all direction. I went with a popper first but didn't have much luck. I decided to try a big bead headed brown bugger. I worked one section then went to a nice eddy. After a few cast I latched onto this guy.The take was pretty ferocious. The fly was only in the water for seconds before the fish hit it. I thought maybe it was a carp because it took line instantly. As I started to fight it more I realized it was a cat. The fish in this lake are supposedly unedible due to contamination from hazardous waste dumping in the past. I think this fish is a good indication the fish population might be bouncing back. It looks pretty healthy.

Local Pond

I decided to try my luck at the pond by my house. I haven't fished it since late march. There is some new construction being done around the pond and the water level has been drained some. I'm not sure why this is done, but this is the second year they have done this. I fished a drainage section I recently go to and was able to hook up with this little guy.I don't catch catfish very often. I caught this one on a damselfly pattern. Basically a beadheaded olive bugger. I think the spawning season is coming close for the catfish. This makes them really agressive. I was also able to catch a small crappie. It hit a blue and white clouser I tied for stripers. The fish wasn't much bigger than the fly. I was going for bass and running the fly close to shore. The crappie pounced on it. Both fish were caught less than 3ft from shore. I'm starting to think that most fish are caught in this distance. They do hangout in open water but more often then not hang out close to shore. I'm going to test this theory more this summer.

Fun Fishin'

I decided to try out my spinning rod that I haven't messed with since I got it. It was bought to try for some smallies when I went on the mountain trip. I took it to the local pond last night and put on a spinner bait. On my second cast I caught this pig. I guesstimate the fish to be around 5lbs. When it first hit the spinner bait, it hit it so hard I thought I hooked a turtle. It took me awhile to reel it in. I was horsing it to the surface to see what it was. I haven't caught a bass in this lake before so when I finally beached it, I was totally shocked to see it was a huge bass. It was really thick and healthy. It swam away fine after the pictures. The rest of the night was kind of disappointing, I saw the tail of a fish that had to be huge. I think it was a carp. There was lots of surface activity with fish slapping and minnows boiling. I didn't catch too much after that. Just a few bites here and there. I decided to come back the next day. Today, I showed up to the lake with some night crawlers and some new spinner baits. I haven't fished with night crawlers since I was probably in high school. I was hoping to catch a huge catfish. I didn't manage to catch a huge on but I did manage to catch quite a few. Most were between 7-10inches with the occasional 13incher.After catching about 10 or so I tried to move around the lake and change baits. Nothing was working as well as the night crawlers. I caught a few more catfish and a few bluegill then called it a day. It was really fun fishing. I haven't caught so many fish in such short of a time in awhile. This last pic is a catfish that was probably the biggest of the day.