Greetings and Happy New Year everyone! I hope you enjoy perusing my new site, as I’m very excited about it. I’m also psyched to share with you some other big news about a fresh water fly reel redesign and prototype that I’ve been working on over the winter! The prototype was fished with no issues and to great success during my annual sojourn on the Green River in Utah, last month. I hope to bring this reel to market soon, so stay tuned for future updates!
On the fishing front, I was able to splash my skiff on Saturday afternoon with a friend for a few hours. Despite the cool southeasterly breeze and water temps in the mid 50s, we spotted a half dozen striped bass holding in 3-6′ of water. I expect the flats fishing for stripers to explode very soon as water temps break into the upper 50s and we get into a southwesterly, summertime weather pattern.
The past few weeks I’ve had the pleasure of fishing with a new client, young Max Kramer, a summer resident from Bridgehampton. Last Friday, June 4th I invited Max out to Shinnecock Bay for a day of flats fishing on fly. As usual Shinnecock didn’t dissapoint! The visibility couldn’t have been better. Winds were light and variable SSW with perfect visibility, high sun, few clouds and perfect gin clear H20!!
The bottom was literally carpeted w stripers mostly school sized w some 30″ plus fish in the mix. 8 weight Scott S4s’s were the rods of choice paired w Cortland’s “Crystal” clear floating fly lines. To keep the stealth approach intact we used Orvis Mirage 16 lb flurocarbon leaders. We had takes on two flies in particular. The first wout any weight was a Glen Mickelson 1/0 tan colored “sand” shrimp imitation(so real you wanted to peel and eat it yourself!) The second, also a Mickelson fly, “the bird” fly tied on a 1/0 hook w pink and white griz hackles, pink bucktail and a hint of crystal flash.
Needless to say, Max was impressed w what Shinnecock had to offer! Here is a great pic of a fairly good representation of the stripers that we caught that day! I love the Spring!! Lets hope for continued cool H20’s and lots of Hi vis days to come! catch’em up you fishin fools!! See you out there………
Since its tarpon season in the Fl Keys I thought I’d share w you some insider information regarding migratory “Atlantic side” flats fishing for the silver king. Down in Key West we happen to be blessed w some of the most expansive and productive oceanside flats you would ever want to encounter! Extending west some 23 miles from Key West to the Marquesas these bright, marled, firm bottomed flats are teeming w fish of all makes and models! This is where I consider my home away from home during tarpon season. Some people guffaw(even some guides I know)at the idea of spending one’s day fishing for migrating oceanside tarpon, opting for laid up or cruising fish over turtle grass, admittedly an easier means of duping Megalops!
Why are tarpon supposedly so much harder to catch over bright sandy bottom you ask? The answer is: they are and they’re not. Let’s tackle the “they are” part first. Any fish whether its a striped bass, bonefish, tarpon etc…. that is left out in the open is EXPOSED! Without any cover ie. a dark covered grassy bottom, or a deep channel bordering a shallow flat, these fish feel naked and are on HIGH ALERT!! There is good reason for this as there are BIG, TOOTHY PREDATORS in these environs that would think nothing of cutting an 80 lb tarpon in half just for the fun of it! Not many people know this but there is an actual migration of sharks specifically hammerhead and bull sharks which follow that of the tarpon migration. Over the last 10 years of my guiding career I’ve had several encounters with sharks that have made easy meals out of tarpon that were being “played out” by my clients with the long rod.
Aside from the very real threat of predation, tarpon have HUGE EYES, the better to see you with! We’re talking the size of a quarter! Add gin clear water and that beautiful, bright sandy bottom and you’ve got quite a dilemma on your hands!
The “HD Flip” footage you are about to see will pretty much elucidate what I’ve just written about(minus the big toothy predator part). These fish are indeed catchable however as any fisherman knows even the best laid plans can and will go awry……….
PS: My next installment ends on a happier note! I’ll also discuss some strategies that have worked for me w regards to actually hooking these oceanside swimmers.
This is the footage shot from the April 5-11 2010 Green River trip. For a detailed description of our trip please click on the 1st entry for the month of April. Stay tuned for some tutorial flatsfishing footage for tarpon from Key west of last season 2009! Catch’em up! Capt. Merritt.
The Blue Wing Olives did not dissapoint on our perrenial trip to the Green River in Dutch John, Utah. With above freezing temperatures at night and warm, sunny days well into the mid to upper 50’s you couldn’t have scripted a better scenario for this particular hatch. The water in the “B section” starting @ mile 7 down from The Flaming Gorge Dam is also a few degrees warmer than that of the “A section” and so this is typically where you will find the BWO hatch begin in earnest!
For the 1st half of our trip(we floated the “A section” for 4 days and the “B section” for 2 days)we used Scott G2 5wt fly rods strung w 9′ 6X fluorocarbon leaders and tippets with double dry fly rigs w # 20-22 adult midges(either single, cluster or cripple patterns) and BWO emergers, typically # 18-20 Beefus para-emergers to dupe these magnificent German brown trout. As the week progressed, the weather steadily warmed and the BWO hatch really came into its own! Like clock work from 12 noon until 3 pm #16 BWO adults would come off the H2O and boy did those fish respond in kind!! No double dry fly rigs here!! Just about every single adult BWO pattern in our boxes worked as these fish were super aggressive. If you looked a 100 yards down stream you would see trout gleefully sipping, actually gulping down may flies! For a minute there we thought we were in the middle of a Montauk striped bass blitz, it was that crazy!!
The fish of note for the week were an 18 and a 19″ German brown brought to hand by yours truly! You’ll see the 18″ fish in the 1st segment of the “HD Flip” video. The majority of the fish caught were browns in the 13-15″ range. Most of the mature rainbow trout were on the spawn but we did manage a few jacks in the mix. We also caught a few fish on #12 goldilox streamers and Richard “the nymphomaniac” that he, is did well on Barr’s emergers and Juju bee patterns while waiting for the topwater action to heat up.
If your arm got too tired from bailing fish, the scenery and surrounding wildlife on the Green didn’t dissapoint either! The birdlife was stunning as we saw(and heard)golden and bald eagles, ospreys, great blue herons, great horned owls, turkey vultures, the bluest of bluebirds(one of my favorite’s), the ubiquitous water ouzel, common goldeneye ducks, and common mergansers to name a few! On the mammalian side we saw herds of elk, mule deer, prong horn antelope, river otters and muskrats.
We were saddened to hear that “the old sage” Emmett Heath had retired from the Trout Creek Outfitter’s flyshop. We always looked forward to hearing his advice and a tale or two about his earlier days guiding on the Green. I must say a much younger but just as capable salesman and part time guide, Curtis, was there to fill the void! He reminded me that double dry fly rigs, not triple dry fly rigs, were allowed on the river and gave “the nymphomaniac” some advice on dredging the depths of the Green. Be sure and stop in to say hi to the gang at Trout Creek Outfitter’s(http://www.fishgreenriver.com/). They won’t steer you wrong whether its fly selection or booking a day walking and wading or floating the magnificent Green river!
That about sums up our trip on the Green. I hate to leave the “sweet H2O” behind but its time I turned my attention towards the salt. Lookout “Mr. Pajamas” here I come!! Enjoy the “HD Flip” video! I’m finally getting the hang of this editing thing!!
PS: As I write this lengthy report there have already been a few stripers and blues caught in my local waters of the East End here in the Hamptons. No cinder worms yet but alewives, squid, sand eels and grass shrimp seem to be on the menu as the H2O temps begin to creep northwards! I plan to unwrap my skiff shortly as I will be taking out customers in early May. Catch’em up folks!!
Spring fever has struck everyone pretty hard in Aspen this week! On our two day float on the Colorado near New Castle, we had beautiful sunshine filled days w air temps in the low 50’s. At the put in we were rewarded w some gorgeous pre spawn rainbows taken w double nymph rigs. Chartreuse glo bugs were strung up as the lead fly trailed w either a # 20 black midge nymph or a # 16/ 18 red midge nymph w a white glass bead head.
Unless you’re fishing the Frying Pan (just below Reudi Dam) the name of the game this time of year is to sleep in, go grab some biscuits and gravy at the Hickory House, and wet a line by LATE morning. The action will slowly crescendo throughout the day and w any luck you might find a midge, BWO, or even a winter stone fly hatch by late afternoon, early evening!
Both days yielded similar results nymphing and we even took a few fish(German browns too) on natural colored tan/ brown bunny strip streamers w stinger hooks which help to alleviate short strikes.
The second day produced the most fish taken on dry flies. With the Scott G2 as our fly rod of choice, we strung double and even triple dry fly rigs to 9′ 6x flurocarbon leaders. Our top fly of choice was a #16 parachute adams followed by a #18 griffith’s gnat w a hi-vis post followed by a #20 black midge. The black midge was the clear winner and although the fish were predominantly smaller yearling rainbows, the action was nonstop for as long as we cared to fish. The light was so low and flat at this point the “HD Flip” camera didn’t do much of the dry fly action justice.
Hopefully we’ll get a few more float trips on the Lower Roaring Fork and the Colorado in the next few weeks. Just after Easter we’ll do a five day float on the Green in Utah, so definately stay tuned for that. The Green is an EPIC fishery in April and not too many boats! If you make it up there yourselves be sure to bring LOTS of layers and extra gloves!!!!! Stop into Trout Creek Flyshop and tell Emmett Heath I said hi! Enjoy!!
