New fleet should get here in time for superb fall fishing

Steve Gibson with a fine Pine Island Sound redfish caught on fly rod.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I’m upgrading my fleet. I got a chance to see the 2011 Native Watercraft Ultimate 14.5 camo version this week and it’s sweet.

I met with Native’s (http://www.nativewatercraft.com/) Andy Zimmerman at Economy Tackle/Dolphin Dive in Sarasota where we took a look at some new and exciting innovations. Native’s great sit-on-top, the Manta Ray, now comes with a wheel on the stern to facilitate moving the vessel. No more lifting!

The Ultimate features a new tract system on both gunwales into which you can plug rodholders, GPS units, fish finders, etc. Additionally, the boat also has a new drainage system that will help out immensely. The new First Class Seat is something to behold. You can fold the back down and sit on it, raising you up to gunwale level.

Those of you who have fished out of my Ultimates know all about the First Class Seat. It’s the best kayak seat in the industry by far. It’s very comfortable and eliminates the need for an additional cushion.

I added a Watertrail Padding Gear Paddle Pole to my personal boat. It’s 9.5 feet in length, pointed on one end and with a thin blade on the other. It’s valuable tool when standing and poling the boat.

I expect fishing to pick up nicely as we transition into fall. The air and water temperatures are cooling and that usually signals fish that it’s time to eat.

Spotted seatrout, ladyfish, jack crevalle, Spanish mackerel and bluefish should hit flies and lures on the deeper grass flats of Sarasota Bay. I look for redfish and maybe a few snook in the shallows.

Jonathan Allred of Texas fished southern Tampa Bay and Bishop Harbor with me and caught several spotted seatrout and ladyfish on flies. We tried t sight-fish reds on the sand bars, but visibility wasn’t good.

Clients have been catching trout to 26 inches on D.O.A. CAL Jigs, D.O.A. Shrimp and MirrOlure MirrOdines.

Beach snook action should start winding down, although I did see a bunch last week in the surf. Allred had shots at more than 500 snook, but couldn’t get a hookup. The snook were extremely wary. He had maybe a dozen snook follow his fly to the dry sand, but turn off at the last instant.

On a solo trip last week, I hooked a 26-inch snook and was having fun playing it when a large bull shark swooped in and inhaled the fish in one gulp. It happened so fast there was nothing I could do. My totals for the day: one lost snook and five small redfish.

When we get some negative low tides, I’ll start heading to Pine Island Sound. We usually get lots of shots at tailing redfish. In addition, spotted seatrout, ladyfish, mangrove snapper, pompano and tarpon are available.

On the freshwater side, bluegill and shellcracker should cooperate on nymphs and other sinking flies. We usually don’t target bass but get them up to 4 and 5 pounds on small poppers, Myakka Minnows and FLY Nymphs.

Of course, it’s always a thrill when we hook into a big Lake Manatee channel catfish on fly. These fish will take you into the backing quickly. Just the other day, I hooked eight channel cats on my Myakka Minnow, but was only able to land two. One took me deep into the backing on my 2-weight.

Speckled perch (black crappie) should begin to cooperate in numbers in November.

Dusty Sprague, a Federation of Fly Fishers' Master Certified Casting Instructor, and I fish Lake Manatee and didn't fare so well. We caught about 25 bluegill and stumpknocker, with only four being hand-sized. Slow bite. We did see a number of schooling bass, but couldn't get on them.

Our Everglades trips will begin in mid-November. I don’t know what to expect after last year’s freeze killed thousands of oscar and Mayan cichlid. I’m hoping the feisty fish will rebound quickly. There should be plenty of bass, bluegill, shellcracker and speckled perch.

We’re booking into November, but still have openings left in October. If you’re going to be in the area, please shoot me an email or give me a call (941-284-3406).

Again, I’d like to thank my sponsors: Native Watercraft, Watertrail Paddling Gear, D.O.A. Lures and Temple Fork Outfitters (fly rods and spinning rods).

Steve Gibson

Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing

www.kayakfishingsarasota.com

http://gibbysfishingblog.blogspot.com/

(941) 284-3406

steve@kayakfishingsarasota.com

When Things Come Together... 09/28/10

This past Sunday, my buddy, Mike Burton, fished in his club tournament on Lake Aldred on the Susquehanna River. We had been out twice together the week before for pre-fishing this lake with some good smallies coming to hand. In those two trips, we caught about 28 bass between the two of us with many being over the legal size limit of 15 inches.

The weather this past Sunday was pretty nice. There was a bit of overcast with a slight breeze, but nothing too bad that would be affect boat control. The air temp was in the upper 70's and the water temperature was about 71 degrees.

The Safe Harbor Dam was not generating Sunday morning and there was only a small flow exiting one gate for oxygenation purposes. Some of the club members were on fish with crankbaits during this time. But when PPL started to generate electricity, three gates were opened and the fish scattered.

The fellow who took third and lunker had a fiberglass Stratos just below the dam. He was swept into a rock ledge and broke his trolling motor. Luckily, he made it out okay and Lakeside Marine in Harrisburg, Pa. had the part(s) he needed and replaced them already... Good for him since the club has another tourney down there this coming Sunday!

Mike placed fourth place out of eleven anglers. That's not too bad, but I think he can do better this coming weekend.

A new challenge has arrived over the past two days in the form of RAIN! We haven't had a substantial rainfall here in South Central Pennsylvania in weeks. The Conestoga River (Safe Harbor) will probably be dumping dirty to muddy water into the river over the next few days and tributaries north of the dam, likewise.

That may change our strategy for Mike. We will be back out tomorrow to fish once again and we'll see what he needs to do to adjust.

I've been on Lake Aldred three times in the past week and caught two 19 inchers. These fish were not caught anywhere near the dam which is very important to know. Not all the bigger sized bass are holding in that area. In fact, I caught the one 19"er in 11 feet of water and the other in 7+ feet of water.

There is not suppose to any wind tomorrow, but the weekend (after Thursday's forecast rain) may have a pretty good wind coming from the NW. That will play into the strategy we develop tomorrow.

I'll be back my blog after the trip to let you all know how we did.

Take care,
Dad

For those who like flyfishing...

check out these videos!

Jerk surprise

Asp-63cms

It is my first ever asp on jerk. I got it from slow current river, where asp population is very small. Great fighter BTW. Happy days :)

Feelin' good and giving thanks

The annual TKAA tournament was this weekend and I was lucky enough to have some family help out with my baby and bedrest ridden wife. I know it probably looks pretty bad leaving my poor wife at home to fish. But she knows I've been looking forward to this the whole year and insisted that her sister can help out and she'll be fine. So I guess I'd like to start by thanking my wife and her sister.

Secondly, I'd like to thanks all the people that organized the event. It was a first class tournament and I had a blast. The wind made for some challenging fishing, but it was still better than not fishing! I went out to Lynnhaven inlet since I fished the day before and scoped out some prime areas and saw some huge swirls that I knew had to be redfish. Anyway, I ended the big day with a 19.75" and 18.75" flounder. I had a 12" speckled trout too, but that didn't count for the tourney and the redfish spot I found the day before did not produce like I thought. Oh well. It was still a good day on the water.

I got back to the weigh in and helped to review the contending photos. It was fun to see everybody and put some faces to the names I know from the forums. For all of you that had kind words to say about my posts, pictures and videos, thank you very much. I really enjoy doing it and I hope it motivates you to go out and try it yourself.

I came in third in the flounder division, which was actually a surprise to me. I really didn't think my fish would hold up in such a big crowd.

After looking at it closer, it's actually 20" since I didn't put the nose on the line. I wouldn't have come in second anyway.


I won a Hobie stakeout pole along with several other raffle items including a Roger's western hat, Tilly Airflo hat, gift certificate to Blue Talon Bistro in Williamsburg, and various Aqua Pac accessories. Thanks to all the sponsors that really made the event happen.

On top of everything else, knowing that all the money from the raffles and entry fees go straight to two great causes, had us all feelin' good and giving thanks. Heroes on the Water and Project Healing Waters are really what this is all about. Chad Hoover of Kayak Bass Fishing had a great speech and one of the things that I was able to relate to is when he spoke about how amazing it is for these wounded vets when they feel that freedom and be able to control their movement on the water. I know how I feel when I take those first few paddle strokes of the day. There is definitely something therapeutic about it and I can only imagine how it feels for someone who may have been limited in their movement on land. I am proud to have contributed and plan to help out with HOW's new Central Virginia Chapter as time and family allow.

Once again thank you to everyone that made this happen!

Voodoo River Bassin' - September 26, 2010

I am going to try a little something different this week by walking you through my morning on the river as it happened - so here goes!


5:08 AM - climb out of bed, get dressed, & round up last minute gear for the trip. I loaded the car with most of my fishing stuff and kayak the night before. It was warmer than I had expected.


5:45 AM - pick up Mary May. I could barely see her in her camo outfit.


6:18 AM - arrive at the launch. It is still dark. Meet Gary who loads me up with Deep Creek baits. My car will smell their like garlic scent for weeks.


6:40 AM - launch the yaks. The water feels pretty chilly on my feet. It is still rather dark. We begin heading down river.


6:45 AM - 2nd cast, 1st fish - a 2+ lb LMB that ate a Deep Creek creature bait rigged on a Carolina Custom Rod. Mmmm, yep, gonna be a good day!

First bass of the AM who bit light on the Carolina Custom Rod

7:15 AM - Gary gets on the board with his first bass then lands a chunky 19.5 incher that hit a Deep Creek bait.

Gary's second fish - a chunk


7:30 AM - Mary May boats her first fish - another fat LMB that hit a plastic worm. She gave the cheese face.

Mary May's first bass of the day!

8:15 AM - I hook into a solid bass and reel in a 20.75", roughly 5 lb LMB on a plastic worm. This fish proceeded to give me the pseudo-cheese face.

A 20.75" Piedmont largemouth

9 AM - At this point we decide to turn around. Altogether we have landed about 10 bass with 2 over 4+ lbs and 2 more well over 3 lbs.

Deep Creek Lures were irresistible to these fish


9:05 AM - 10 AM - We are landing 1.5 - 2.5 lb bass with general regularity - mainly on plastics. I lose a gar on a swimbait. Gary begins telling stories.


10:15 AM - Gary hooks into a nice bass on a Deep Creek bait and Scrounger head combo. He lands a healthy 20.75" fish. He even smiled for the picture!

Gary with a 4.5 lber

Mary May holding Gary's fish

10:30 AM - Mary May loses a couple fish on the way to the boat. One of them even splashes her on his return to the depths. She is sad.

No caption necessary!


10:45 AM - The bite is pretty decent, but it is getting warm and we were running out of energy. The chilly water is tempting me to take a dip.


11 AM - Gary gets a bite from a BIG bass. He breaches the surface and throws the bait. Weight estimate - well above 5 lbs. Mile radius from which Gary's scream was heard - well over 5 miles.


11:05 AM - We turn around and head back to the launch. We all look tired, but are smiling. (Except Gary who is still half pouting from the one that got away)


11:15 AM - I get a huge bite from a fish I first thought was a log. The fish wraps me up and I thought I lost him. The hook pops out and he hits the worm again! I miss him again...uuuggghhhh! Insert F-bomb here!


11:30 AM - The bite is pretty consistent with fish at every 3rd or 4th lay down including a few 2.5 - 3.5 lbers. Mary May realizes that fishing in MA can't hold a candle to NC.

Lots of healthy 3+ lb fish were out and about

11:45 AM - One last fish to end the day - a chunky 2 lber that hit a plastic worm! Man...these fish pull hard!


Noon - hit the launch, load up, and hit the road after a very fun and successful morning.


Totals - LMB for 3 of us: 20-30
3+ lb LMB: 8-10
4+ lb LMB: 3-4
5+ lb LMB: 1-2
Giants that got away: 2
20 minute silent treatment: 1 (Better than a 5 lber!)

The scenery, as it often is, was tough to beat!

We caught fish on plastic worms, creature baits, scrounger heads, and chatterbaits. I was really happy with the way some new gear (a Daiwa Zillion HSA and Carolina Custom Rod) performed. We put a hurting on some bass and came away with some photos, sleigh rides, and smiles! Until next time, tight lines!

Off to Prussia

Spider Araneus diadematus

There is no any bigger red brick castle in Europe than Marienburg

My first Prussian jack pike

Traditional type of wooden boat-called ''the coffin''

Touch of Middle Ages

Big Cruiser on the Druzno Lake

Thousands Canals Lake

Jack from Druzno Lake

Pike Kingdom

Lancaster County Junior Hawg Hunters 09/25/10

Hello Folks,

I joined the Lancaster County (Pa.) Hawg Hunters back in the late 1980's. Back in the day, I owned a fiberglass ProCraft tri-hull bass boat with a 70 Hp Johnson. It wasn't the best for river fishing, but it got the job done.

Mike Burton, my good friend and fellow teacher at Penn Manor School District, introduced me to the Hawg Hunter bass club. It consisted of a great bunch of anglers who enjoyed bass fishing, hleping one another become better anglers, and gathering as a group. Over the years, the club changed drastically towards cut-throat competition and I decide to leave. With most of the competitive members gone, the club seems to have returned to the type of club I once knew and enjoyed.

The one great thing we accomplished during those years was the formation of the Lancaster County Junior Hawg Hunters. Prior to the Juniors, we used to hold a once a year fishing derby and picnic. Many of the members brought their own children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews to participate. It wasn't really designed to include the general public.

As a middle school counselor for 24 years, I had access to many children between the ages of 12 and 14 years old. The middle school and high school had a weekly "club period" which is how I started the Junior Bass Fishing Club. Mike had a complimentary club at the high school that made bass lures. Our clubs were always filled with future anglers.

At the middle school level, we would watch videos of the Bassmaster television programs and any other fishing related videos I could lay my hands on. These young people were eager for knowledge on improving their fishing skills so that the could better relate with their fathers, mothers, grandparents, and other caring adults. Two of our club's favorite videos were filmed by Glen Lau... "Bigmouth" and "Bigmouth Forever". What great instructional videos.

As the years past and more and more children passed through our club, Ray Caldwell's son, Adam, became a member. Ray was an active member of the Lancaster County Hawg Hunters. Together, we took the school club and moved the meetings to the evening so that we could include all kids interesting in bass fishing. The club was very active in the BASS and was one of the first chartered clubs in the USA.

One major difference between the school club and the evening club was that we actually took the kids on the water to fish several times a year. We also had adults and companies help sponsor the club. The sponsors would donate many lures, hats, etc. to the club for the kids use. Some of our favorite local sponsors were Susquehanna Fishing Tackle and the District 3 of the Pa. BASS Federation (Now called the Federation Nation).

Today, I am no longer an active participant with the Hawg Hunters, but I still take an interest in their youth club. For example, I took a bunch of spinnerbaits (old and new) to the access to hand out to all the kids. They love just about anything you give them. What they don't use, they sell at fishing flea markets over the summer to raise club money... Cool idea!

The Lancaster County Junior Hawg Hunters had a club tournament on Lake Aldred of the Susquehanna River. As you know, that is my home waters. I just had to be there when they came back tot he ramp. I took some new and used spinnerbaits down to the access to handout to the kids... Christmas in September!

Here are some pics from today:

Upper Lake Aldred with Safe Harbor Dam in the background...


Mike with his two Junior Hawg Hunters...


Second club boat in the background...


Boats arriving back at the ramp with adult member/boat owner and Junior Hawg Hunters...










Eight Junior Hawg Hunters fished today. One Junior had five legal size bass and took first place... Great job!



If you know any youngsters, girls and boys, ages 11-18 yrs. old who would have an interest in fishing with the Lancaster County Hawg Hunters, let me know and I'll pass the word on to the adult club.

Dad

Fishing With Dell 09/24/10

Hello Folks,

Wardell Jackson gave me a call this past week and told me that he only had a half day of teaching on Friday. They had a Parents Night at his school on Thursday evening and got the hours off the next day... Nice!

It was hot, hot, hot! The temperature was 91 degrees when I reached Dell's home at 2:00 p.m. We spent some time preparing his jet rig and topping off the battery charge.

We arrived at the ramp around 3:30 p.m. and launched his boat. The water level was down and there was a muddy bank angling the courtesy dock downward. I was parking the tow vehicle and Dell was pulling the boat up to the dock... Snap!

He forgot that he had laid his three rods across the back deck and two of them snapped. What a way to start the trip! They weren't expensive rods, but rods none the less. Luckily, he had a spare rod in the rod locker to use.

There were fallen leaves in the water and Dell must have sucked a few up as we launched. As we entered the river, we couldn't get up on plane. I laid on the back deck and removed the leaves that I could get to, but the boat still was struggling.

I had Dell go back the next time since I have my wrist in a brace.

He had been on the North Branch two weeks ago and sucked a NB rock into the grate. Great! We headed over to the shore so that he could get out a remove it... Thank goodness he had his swimming trunks on from closing his pool yesterday... LOL.

Okay... broken rods, leaves in the intake, and rocks stuck in the grate. All before we even even started fishing. :)

But it all paid off for Dell as we reached our first spot. He was throwing a Bandit 200 Series Natural Goby and nailed this beautiful 17" smallie.



The Safe Harbor Dam was pumping more water than I have seen all summer long. They had three gates open. Two were pushing heavy. Although there was a lot of water entering the pool, it wasn't rising at all. usually that means that the Holtwood Dam was generating electricity and pulling the water through(?).

Dell landed another bass on the same crankbait before he stuck it on the bottom and lost it. "Dang!"

We decided to fish some deeper water (7-10') because we didn't want to drain Dell's batteries in the heavier current. I tied on a favorite Fat Free Shad in the Tennessee Shad color. It took some time until I nailed a beautiful nice 19"bass... We didn't get a good pic of it, but we were very pleased with the results.

We caught a few smaller bass and lost a few before calling it an evening.

There was a stiff S to SW wind blowing our entire trip. It was blowing b/w 5-10 mph. We had mostly sun with a few passing clouds. There was a haze on the water as evening approached.

The water was turbid due to the amount of water they were pushing through the dam gates. The water level was below top pool and a bit more shallower than I've fished in the last two trips during a week's period.

The Lancaster County Hawg Hunters have a youth tournament on Lake Aldred today and their adult club is competing tomorrow. I plan to head back down to the ramp later today and tomorrow to see how they all did.

Today's weather is much more pleasant than the past two. I doubt that we will see the 90 degree mark the remainder of this year. we may be in store for two days of rain at the beginning of the week. The weather forecast calls for showers on Monday and Tuesday. The long term forecast is promising!

Take care,
Dad

Jacks on Jerks

To fight another day

Some updating

Kilmichael down

Coalie fish

Rockfishing Action!

 Little tiger

Mobile pic mullet

I had some technical problems with internet acces, recently. So, posting has been suspended for a while. But  nothing intresting happened in the last couple weeks. Sea bass fishing is my worst season in the last three years. Reasons? Mainly due to lack of time, but also because of weather conditions. The last two months, it was a very little mullet  and mack fishing for me.