April
2009 Report
2003-2009
Reports
^^Please check out our archives^^
April
30, 2009 - Islamorada Recap
Florida has come and gone, and though we did not hammer
the fish, it still did not disappoint. All
said and done the group landed one big tarpon - - about
100 pounds - - a few smaller ones, and other assorted game
fish. This might not sound like much but we had to deal
with some serious east wind most of the time. It just never
let up. This did a couple of things. Caused us to have to fish
in the lee, which seriously reduced where we could fish.
Also, the wind really blew a lot of water out of the bay.
When it is not that deep to begin with, 6" can make
a big difference. It also made it tough to
sight fish. Anyway, you get the drift. Despite all that,
we did get the one, which ate a yellow and black fly with
dumbbell eyes. Clouser-esque. The fish were down deep, so
we fished weighted. 12wts and intermediate lines. Must say
it was very cool seeing the large torpedoes leisurely drifting
across the lite-colored sandy flats.
When it was too rough, we hit the lee of the mangroves.
This proved tough though since there was not much water.
We had to stay away and off the banks, in the slightly deeper
water. But at the same time, the fish were set way back
and in the groves. Guess they did not like the rough water
either. This made it rather difficult to see the fish. And
if you did make out the shadows, you had to some how manage
to get the fly into the maze of roots, and branches. Was
no easy task. Talk about structure.
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Capt. Marc Bellefleur leadering the big
boy.
Nice size sea trout caught near the mangroves.
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So in the end we did some in tight mangrove fishing, along some
open water sight fishing for the big boys. The trip was a good one,
but could have been better with a more gentle Mother Nature. |
April
22, 2009 - Islamorada Bound!
No reports for about a week, as 1/2 of FFPA will be in the promised land chasing TARPON! Though we will have one boat on the Lehigh this weekend. So on the flip side look for shots of big tarpon (fingers crossed) and an update as to what is happening on the Lehigh. In fact weekend weather from this far out looks Florida-like!
Get out there and enjoy it.
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April
21, 2009 - Lehigh - Opening Day 2009
Slow! That unfortunately was the case this past Saturday. Yea,
we did get into some fish, landing a handful, and missing about
double that - - but it should have been better.
You know when you do not get into fish like you think you should,
we always tend contemplate what it was that either put the fish
off, or what it was that you did not do. In this case, our best
guess as to the lack of action was due to a pretty heavy rubber
hatch. It looked like late-May with all the rafts - - bank-to-bank
- - in spots. This had to put the fish down, as the season is
still young. We have found that later in the season the rafts
don't affect the fish as much.
Anyway, as for what worked - - buggers (brown), and wet flies.
We nymphed quite a bit in the pocket water, and that did not produce
anything. There was a heavy caddis presence, but they did not
look like they were hatching. Most likely they were coming out
of the trees, as the air temp warmed up. We also saw a handful
of hendricksons. Only did see a couple of risers.
As for Sunday, the fishing was better. We had fewer rafters,
as well as less sun. Saturday was extremely bright, and the Lehigh
is running very clear currently. It could use a bit of color.
Sunday also found more risers, with a heavy caddis hatch around
2pm.
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April
19, 2009 - Native
April 16, 2009 - Penns is Up!
But before the rise, it was fishing well. And no
doubt that after it peaks, the fish will be on the feed big time!
We have effectively fished Penns up to 900cfs. Obviously at that
level you need to fish the hard edges, and softest water.
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Nice fat Penns Creek rainbow. Prolly full
of eggs.
Prior to the rain, the fish were keying
on the varigated stone pattern, and generic nymphs. As
far as bugs go, blue quills, olives, little black stones
and a smattering of caddis were bouncing about. Nothing
was looking up though. Water temps were still cold - -
just 48F. Give it another week or so and the grannoms
should be, then it is on to the big marchies. You can
not wrong fishing our march
brown nymph on the flip side of this high water.
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April 14, 2009 - Update - Lehigh
Once we get to the other side of
some much needed wet weather, spring looks like it should rear
its head (finally) - - at least for a few days. We are slated
to be out on the Lehigh this coming weekend, so with the warmer
weather the fishing should be on the up and up. Word is folks
have already been doing well in the Gorge and below down thru
the Walnutport area. If the reports are true, it really sounds
like there is a lot of fish in the river. Now is the time to get
out there and scout the river for that honey hole to hit up come
hatch time. Remember the Corps
will be holding back water for the opening-day weekend, so flows
should be somewhat fisherman-friendly. Get out there, and get
after it!
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April 13, 2009 - Upper D System Report
The Upper D System still has yet to get going. Over
two days of fishing we landed a handfull, and moved less than
that. There
were bugs to be had, and even some risers on the lower West, but
they were very intermittent. The bugs we did see were olives,
which included the cornutas, along with black stones. That said,
the most productive method to get into action was to chuck streamers.
This time of year, streamer fishing is usually the name of the
game. Once again, as
in years past, our marabou streamer produced. Water temps
were only in the lo-40s, which prolly explains the slowish action.
Once we finally get some sun and warmer temps, watch out. Things
should blow-up!
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Beautiful lower-West brown.
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April
4, 2009 - Food in the drift.
This is what I'm talking about! Food in the drift
and lots of it. Pretty much like your good 'ole all-you-can-eat
buffet for the stream predators. For the angler, it is the best
of both worlds, as the feed is both on top and underneath.
With this type of action the dry/dropper rig is
the way to go. Use the dry as both a trout-catcher, and an indicator.
For instance if you were to match the bugs in the pic to the right
- - you can not go wrong with some sort of olive
imitator for the dry -- either a small parachute or a cdc
emerger would be our first choice. What we are getting after is
a flush floating imitation -- something that has a low profile
and rides down in the film. For the sub-surface fly go with a
nitro or a small
flashback pheasant tail. That red midge larva did not do a damn
thing. That was experiment time.
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