Hit the streams this weekend!

It should be a good weekend on the streams...Here are a few pictures that we recently captured on Spruce Creek when we went for a short afternoon.  As a rule, hit the stream when the water temperatures are at their peaks throughout the middle of the afternoon.

Take advantage of the warmer weather whenever it presents itself!

Enjoy!

Jeff with a nice rainbow!

GEOFISH: Volume 1

HELLO AGAIN EVERYONE....

Now that PA will take a brief hiatus from deer hunting, I will turn in my bow/rifle for the fly rod to do some serious fishing around Central PA.  While surfing the web I came across an new DVD "GEOFISH."  Costa Sunglasses present their first installment, documenting a journey to fly fish in Mexico.  To say they faced a few obstacles would be an understatement but they find a way put together an amazing fly fishing journey.

Check out the link to the trailer and hopefully you got half as excited as I did for some of the saltwater fly-fishing that the anglers of Motive Fishing have captured!

GEOFISH TRAILER

Enjoy!

Update from the Dock!

Latest news on the dock is the dolphin bite is still going strong! With some king mackerel starting to show up... Also, the sailfish are finally starting to show up! Hopefully, I will get to head out there with the new Helios 2 and try my hand at some big dolphin showering bait... but until then enjoy this photo taken by Captain Dana Banks of the War Bird here at ocean reef, or check out Dana's website at http://www.warbirdsportfishing.com/!

Brief Hiatus

Folks, 

I want to apologize for the brief hiatus from the blog....

It's hunting season in PA and I've just been working too much and fly fishing too little. We apologize, however we have still been getting emails with questions which is great, because we are always more than happy to help! I shared the first one yesterday from Pat Williams and there will be a couple more to follow. It's been too long! Hopefully we will get some new picture submissions and maybe Kirk and I will get to fish! 

Remember it's streamer season, but it's also hunting season in PA. Wear a blaze orange hat so some jagaloon doesn't shoot at you thinking you are a deer trying to cross Spring Creek on your hind legs.... I'm serious.

I'm happy to help!

Pat,

First and foremost... I haven't seen a permit yet. I don't even know what they look like in the water. Which is upsetting, but their time will come. I have confidence I will catch one, hopefully a real sized tarpon too...

Are you set on going to fish taimen? Because I could easily set you up with the lodge we worked for in Alaska. I know at least one of the guides from last season did not work out and will not be returning. Let me know if you want to do that and I will get you in contact with Bob.

As far as taimen go, I only know one person that ever guided over there. I guess only secondhand know someone. I guided Rachel Andras in patagonia and her husband used to guide taimen fishing in Mongolia. She said he loved it. They still run an outfitter http://www.andrasoutfitters.com/ I'd check it out and maybe contact her. She's really nice and easy to talk to. It couldn't hurt to try.

I don't know what other angle you could work. Generally speaking lodge owners are looking to hire guides for cheap/free, so if you really wanted to go there it might be beneficial to say you wanted to guide and talk about how you work for TCO and guide for them (even if you don't). Guides, who will cook and clean etc.. are more useful than just someone who would help out with camp.. You get what I'm laying down?

Anyway I'm always happy to help, especially if you wanted to head to Alaska to work for a summer. Tell the boys at TCO I say whats up.

Brian

Need help? Ask away!

Kirk, Brian

Whats going on with you guys? I was just writing to get your advice about trying to work/fish at a seasonal destination spot, since both of you have a lot of experience with that .I'll be between jobs this summer, and was asking this one pretty reputable taimen outfitter if they needed any help for the spring season (not guiding, but odd stuff, cook, set up camps, etc...). Just seeing if you all knew anybody who did stuff like that where you worked, or what angle I should go about it. Already asked then if they needed volunteers to help and said I worked in a flyshop, could give references, etc.

Thanks guys, and Brian you need to man up and get a damn permit already! Haha, just kidding, but seems like you've checked off every other species.

Kirk, streamer fishing is fun righ now, we should go out soon. I'm looking tino getting a switch rod to swing on Penns all winter too...

Pat...

Colorado Photo Submission

Eric Norman thought we needed a little fresh water love back on the blog so he sent us this hog. His buddy sent him this picture from the Blue River in Colorado. I've wanted to fish it and I looked down on it from 10,000 feet this summer... If I'd only known that hogs like this were in there.

Well thanks again Eric and I look forward to seeing what you guys were able to find in Ohio this fall. Wishing you luck from Florida and looking forward to seeing a couple of rack bucks here soon! 

Mahi-Mahi

Well there isn't a fly fishing story involved here, but it doesn't make it any less awesome! Caught this 20 pound brute the other day! Then I followed that up on Tuesday with TWO sailfish! (No good pictures..) Yes this is what I do as my part time job... Hopefully the good fishing continues! 

Hells Bay Video!

As a follow up to my last post I put together a video of my latest fishing trip into Hell's Bay. You'll notice some overlap in the photos, but I wanted to put together a clip which better showed the intricacy of the mangrove creeks that we navigated through. It is pretty awesome check it out. You will also be able to access it from our videos tab on the top of the page!

The music is "Limelight" by Rush, because it's awesome.

1 Day in Hells Bay

Everglades Fishing Report: Backcountry Grand Slam!

I'll admit heading to the everglades and fly fishing the back country with 20-25mph winds didn't exactly excite me like it should have going into this trip. But, with wonderful advice: "you can sleep when you are dead," I set off for Flamingo at 6am. Surprisingly enough it seemed calm, excitement growing. 

When we arrived in at the boat launch it was like a scene from the Alfred Hitchcock movie "Birds." There were vultures and seagulls everywhere and they were seemingly hovering right above our heads waiting for the right moment to peck out our eyes... (Apparently they are a problem there?) That thought quickly left my mind as we raced across whitewater bay and into some intricate interconnected mangrove channels. This place is a maze of epic proportions. When I was in Alaska I though the lakes and rivers were complicated but at least we could use elevation as a place marker or a guide that you are in the right place. Out here if you don't have a GPS you are screwed. Oh hey, that clump of mangroves looks like that patch we passed an our ago but it also looks exactly the same as... yes... every other patch of mangroves in this area! 

When we finally popped out somewhere in Hells Bay we were immediately on fish but it was sporadic. We would get a flurry of 5 or 6 snook and then nothing. For just about long enough to lull you to sleep and then another one would try to rip the rod out of your hand. This went on for most of the day until we hit this stretch where there must have been hundreds of snook just lining this cut, because it was all I could do to release one and get my fly back in the water. It was literally two straight hours of catching 14-24 inch snook, all on the same fly, all in the same 300 yards of water. It was insane, it was BY FAR the most action I've seen on a fly rod since I've moved down here. To top that off in the midst of the chaos I landed my biggest red fish to date on a fly rod. As well as two mangrove snapper, and a lady fish. All in all I'm sure I landed 25 snook and that is a modest estimate... 

On our way back to the ramp to end our day my luck found a way to have another positive twist! Tarpon started boiling everywhere on glass minnows. Holy shit! Several casts later I had the silver king doing a tail walk across the water right in front of me. Granted it was only a 4 pounder instead of a 104 pounder, but I'll take it! A couple more tarpon in the boat made me one happy fella. After all it's not every day I get to go out and land the backcountry grand slam... Tarpon, Snook, and a Red Fish. 

First Tarpon on the Fly!

The smallest tarpon I landed... haha awesome. 

The only fly I used ALL day. It caught everyone of my fish. It's a little worse off then it started but boy was it productive.

Big snook of the day!

The Red Fish that completed my Grand Slam!

Spruce Creek (10/17/2012)

October 17th, 2012 I visited Spruce Creek for the first time in about three weeks and had a great time hooking into a few good rainbow trout.  It was a beautiful day and the wind was extremely calm which allowed for a tangle free nymphing day.  A few days earlier, I went to another stream and the wind was blowing hard and it seemed like every other cast I was hooking into fallen leaves that were getting swept down the stream.  I can only imagine the difficulty that the fish were having seeing any type of aquatic insect to feed on.  Both days produced a nice tan caddis hatch but the only time that I saw fish feeding on top was on Spruce Creek where there was minimal debris in the water.    

Below are a few photographs posted from my recent trip to Spruce Creek!  I hooked into a much larger rainbow that took me under two branches and snapped me off.  Life will go on!

Enjoy!

Tarpon Photo Submission

Captain Chris White sent me this photo holding up a 30 pound tarpon that he caught near Flamingo this past weekend. He sent me this as a way to make me jealous as I still haven't caught a tarpon on the fly... Well it worked Chris I'm jealous.. When are we fishing?

"Secrets of Fall Trout Fishing"

Outdoor News from Poorfish.com

Fall often screams hunting as the seasons start to open, but the avid angler knows that the fishing is just as hot in the early fall months as it is in the summer. Early fall fishing is one of the best times to head out on the water in search of mega trout. Trout anglers are still grabbing their fly fishing rods and fly fishing reels, casting theirfishing line into the best time of season to fish. Some of the upsides to fishing in the early fall is the serenity that comes with fewer anglers to compete with leaving the best riffles and runs open for exploration, and the temperatures are warm but not scorching. The summer slump trout tend to go through during the hot months is starting to turn around and the strikes are getting hotter in anticipation of winter. Some will put their fishing gear away, but for those of us who look forward to the early fall fishing times, here are some tips that will get your gear reeling.

When fishing during the early fall season there are two tricks that will help make the day not good, but great. The fall brings the needs for some unique approaches to trout fishing and one of those tactics is to throw streamers. While the number of fish that strike the fishing line might not be as high, the quality of the fish will higher. They always say “Quality, not quantity” and nothing is truer when early fall fishing. It is advisable for anglers to strip heavily weighted flies such as Sculpins, Muddler Minnows, and Zonkers rigged with a sink tip through deep holes, but be aware that when a trout strikes the line, the fly rod will nearly be ripped from your hands. The deep water fishing technique and aggressive trout means that a lightweight fishing rod and light tippet are going to do no good. Throw on some waders and wander to the middle of the stream. Cast into the bank and as soon as the streamer hits water, strip hard. This quick action from the fly will attract the trout and before long there will be a tug on the fly line.

The second tactic for fishing trout in the fall is to target brown trout during the spawn. Between October and December is the best time to fly fish for browns, but in addition, large rainbows will be quite active on the same lure, roe. Fishing egg patterns on sink tip lines proves to be a great approach to trout fly fishing since the fish are feeding heavily on the drifting roe. Focus on fishing for the opportunistic trout that are feeding and plenty of fish will hit the line without disrupting the spawn.

Choosing the right pattern for fly fishing for trout is much easier during the fall and winter fishing seasons since there are fewer hatches occurring. An angler’s best bet during these months is the snow fly and trout tend to feed aggressively on this particular species. Across the board, hatches do not last as long and the size of them will be smaller, 18 to 24. The limited hatches mean that the trout will not have as much to choose from and the amount of time they have to feed will also be shortened. The trout are hungry and there are limited options for food, so anything that crosses the trout’s path is fair game. The western rivers call for Zug Bugs, Pheasant Tails, Hare’s Ears, or others that work well when activity is subsurface. For topwater trout fly fishing look to Hoppers, Elk Hair Caddis, and Parachute Adams for great bites.

Tactics for fly fishing for trout during fall are nearly the same as fly fishing for trout during the summer. The only major difference is the water levels affect on fly fishing gear. Fall means that water levels and flows will be low so make sure to rig your fishing line appropriately. Lighter tippets should be used when fishing closer to the surface, drag free presentations and careful wading are all characteristics of fly fishing in fall. Trout will typically be found feeding in the shallower water in the riffles and scum lines lining the edges of faster waters, as well as at the bottoms of runs. Stealthy wading and finesse casting is key to being successful when fall fly fishing. In addition, keep low and concealed as much as possible. Kneel down upstream and on sandbars or behind walls of vegetation. Remember that most trout lie facing upstream to watch for foods that wash by, and they'll be watching you if you move too close. Trout that have been pursued all summer do not want to encounter more anglers -- they just want to eat.

Beautiful Colorado Brown Trout

We've had a bunch of photo submissions recently and this one comes to us from a good friend Adam Massaro, who lives in Colorado.  He caught this hefty brown trout on one of his recent adventures on the streams of Colorado.  He estimated that this beautiful fished weighed around 4 pounds.  Great catch Adam!

Make sure you hit the streams this weekend, the weather forecast in Central Pennsylvania looks beautiful!

If you have a great fish that you'd like to send to the blog, email us at flyfishingfiles1@gmail.com!

Fall Fishing Photo Submission

A special thanks to Bryan Doyle who recently sent us a series of pictures of some absolute toads that he's caught in and around Central PA!  Keep up the good work, I know you're making a bunch of people jealous!

"Its finally fall, one of my favorite seasons to spend time out on the rivers in central PA. Its still early for catching some monster wild browns but the big bows are in full feast mode, here are some photos of fish I've caught the past few weeks on bfc, spruce and spring creek. The fishing is only going to get better going into November and the excitement is building everyday. Enjoy!"

-Bryan Doyle

Chilean Exploration

Every now and again while I was in Chile we got to do something cool. On this trip we went for a hike through the temperate rain forest in search of a hanging glacier.

See photo documentation below: