So, I’m not sure who originally thought it was a good idea to go spend all day in the blinding tropical sun, hunting for fish that are only slightly smaller than the low-freeboard skiff you’re in and then trying to hook said monster with a wad of feathers and glue, but they tell me fly fishing for tarpon is a blast!
Our pal and Northern California fishing guide extraordinaire, John Klar is officially a tarpon fishing junkie these days and has been making annual treks down to Marathon Key…the epicenter of South Florida silver king fishing.
Though the cold water denizens of Nor Cal’s Redwood Coast are what put grub on Klar’s table, it’s tarpon on flea flickin’ gear that really tickles his Toad (the fly pattern, Tarpon Toad, that is!). Is it the art of the stalk? The act of making a perfect cast to a fish and seeing him turn? Does the rush come from the instant you stick one with some steel? Or when a fish the size of Rhode Island goes airborne?
Alll bow to the king!!!
Perhaps it’s all about getting up close and personal with a fish…touching it…and then letting it go…
Definatley bigger than a steelhead...and the water's warmer too!
Or maybe it’s something else… [click to continue…]
You’ve got to hand it to Oregon for being proactive. In an day and age when salmon and steelhead populations can use all the help they can get, the Oregon State Senate just passed two key pieces of legislation — Senate Bills 472 and 545– that will create larger and healthier anadramous fish populations in the state’s rivers. [click to continue…]
Nobody likes a bruised groin, right? Well, thanks to the folks at Scotty, the black and blue spots on your hip, groin and boiler are a thing of the past… [click to continue…]
Flaming Gorge Reservoir, the world’s most prolific big kokanee salmon factory, out-did itself on June 14, 2009 when Brian Ekx of Vance’s Tackle set a new reservoir and Wyoming State record with this monster 24.75-inch, 6.26-pound koke!
The leviathan smacked a pink/blue No. 1 Vance’s Sockeye Slammer towed behind a blue/copper Vance’s dodger. At the helm? The man himself, Vance Staplin, who said that the record fish almost didn’t happen because Brian’s dad Scott, had a “small” 3.5-pound koke on at the same time that tried it’s best to tangle up Brian’s line.
The ocean-sized landlock set the record — and also helped propel Team Vance’s to victory in the Buckboard Marina Fishing Classic.
Ekx’s fish beat the previous record of 6.04 pounds, which had stood since 2009. Though certainly a massive koke, the new Wyoming record was still well shy of the all-tackle world record of 9 pounds, 6 ounces, which was caught by Norm Kuhn in Okanagan Lake, British Columbia on June 18, 1988.
The downside of the whole deal…if you can call it that…is locals say that the fish are so big this year at the Gorge, that Ekx’s record (and who knows…maybe the world mark) may not make it out of the summer alive. Stay tuned!
Want to be a better surf perch angler and have more fun doing it? If so, forget everything you know about the sport. Leave the 40-pound test and the 4-ounce pyramid sinkers at home and put that 14-foot telephone pole and giant coffee grinder you’ve been using on Craigslist once and for all.
We’re not chasing sailfish here, people…the biggest perch you’re going to find off West Coast beaches are going to be redtails, which rarely top 3 pounds…so why all the heavy gear? If you scale back your tackle you’re going to put more fish in the bucket — and have a way better time doing it! [click to continue…]
Sometimes you’ve just got to get back to the basics. You know — ditch the boat, the 50-pound tackle boxes and $20 baits and keep things simple. Grab a rod, throw some terminal gear into a box that fits in your pocket and head for the water.
That’s precisely what Reilly and I just did…we hit some Nor Cal beaches for redtail surf perch last week for a couple days — and I have to say we both had a blast. Here’s a little photo essay of the mission. If you get fired up and want to try it on your own, check out my little how-to article Light Tackle Surf Perch. Otherwise, sit back and check out the pix… [click to continue…]
We’ve been hard at work in the FishWithJD Command Center lately — tweaking here, tweaking there…all in an effort to keep this thing on the cutting edge. Well, I’m please to announce our latest upgrade: our brand-spankin’ new Contest Page, which includes our ever-popular Smoker of the Year contest, along with the just-released HAWG of the YEAR, complete with updated photo gallery software.
To get to either one, simply click on the yellow Contests button in the menu bar:
Here’s a quick look at both…
HAWG of the YEAR
This contest is pretty simple…catch a big fish and submit it to us (there’s an upload button on the contest pages now!) and we’ll post it. At the end of the year, we’ll vote on the best one and the person who submits the Hawg of the Year winner wins a fishing trip with Team FishWithJD.
Smoker of the Year
We’ve all done it…caught and kept a fish well past it’s prime…and then justified it will the classic line: It will smoke!.”
Well, here’s your chance to show off your best photos of those black beauties, sore tails and cheeseheads! Our ever-popular Smoker of the Year Contest is back for it’s third season and is better than ever! At the end of the year, we’ll award a brand new electric smoker to the winner.
Okay, so it’s still hard for some folks to believe but the Sacramento River near Redding, CA is one of the best rainbow trout fisheries you’ll ever run across. I know, I know…it sounds kinda bizarre, but this tailrace fishery below Shasta Dam is as good as just about anything you’ll find in Alaska in terms of numbers of fish.
When the Sac is really going, fly and spin anglers can catch as many as 100 rainbows from 12 inches to 3 plus pounds (most are closer to 3 pounds than they are a foot!) per day. And this is a year-round fishery, too, with the trout biting winter, spring, summer and fall!
Team FishWithJD hit the water recently with guide Gary Manies of Stricty Fishin’ Guide & Tackle in Redding for a quickie 2-hour stop to sample the fishing. Well, all I can say is that, due to schedule issues on our end, we hit it dead wrong — 1 p.m. on a 94-degree day…and we still caught a bunch of trout. That’s just how good the Sac is! [click to continue…]
