Tarpon | Bonefish on the Brain

Gear — 2 Comments
02
Oct 12

Gear from Belize – The Sage Response

The Sage Response is both what you’d expect from Sage and something unexpected from Sage.

First, the color and feel of the rod are classic Sage. It felt like casting one of the old RPL’s, which is a great rod. The blank is the same color as those classics, the RPL and RPL+, of which I own one of each (7 and 5 respectively). The rod cast well as I searched for both baby and adult tarpon. Maybe too well, as I dropped more than a couple casts right on the heads of tarpon who were really not game for that sort of thing.

I wish I could tell you how well it handled a long fight with a tarpon… but, yeah, the longest I lasted was 2 jumps, which was not so long as I would have liked. I made the casts though. Tomas, my guide, even said my casting was good, which was a good thing to hear and some solace on a day with no landed tarpon.

What you might not expect is that this rod is $395, putting it in “the Bjorn zone” of pricing. The Sage One is one hell of a rod, but you could buy two Responses for that amount to fill the gaps in your arsenal (somehow I still don’t own my own 10 wt.).

It’s a well made rod, you feel the quality in your hand. It’s made in the USA, which is nice and unusual for a $400 rod.

Looking 12 and the fish came at 9. Such is life. Me, casting the Response.

Well done Sage… well done.

I’ll say it was also a nice rod to have between your toes.

The King’s Court – Belize 2012

I am up early, 4:30 AM, the last day at El Pescador. I could fish for bonefish, and I love bonefish, catching as many as I have time for, but I’m starting to understand things about flats fly fishing. When the King is holding court, you attend.

Tomas, my guide for the day, is waiting for me before the sun breaks over the horizon. “I should have told you last night to leave at 4” he says. I think a 5 AM push off is pretty good, especially in the light of it being the last day of my honeymoon. My wife is in bed, asleep I hope and I’m off to hunt tarpon between Ambergris and the mainland. As we get into the panga to depart the air is still, the water calm, the silence loud. It is pure smoothness as we slide through the water, heading West.

Soon, our first stop. A mangrove island full of bird calls. The sun is just emerging, but is hidden behind a wall of gray. Clouds coming from the East have stalled with no more wind to carry them. One massive cloud sits above us, seemingly forgetting its race across the sky, content to look down on Ambergris, on us.

Stillness

The water, still and unmoving, reflecting the grey underbelly of this huge cloud, is indistinguishable from sky. We try to peer into sheets of cold, grey steel.

We wait and watch for rolling fish. There is only stillness and birdsong.

Reel up and run.

The cloud has not moved. The air is still. The sun is climbing. The water still impenetrable. The fish hidden.

Reel up and run. This time all the way to the mainland where the same story is told. We have not seen a fish.

We run back to the East and find a break in the clouds, but the glare on the water is still difficult, still like trying to see through polished steel.

Totally still.

The air remains static and while we finally have the lights on I now grasp the other disadvantage of a windless day on the water. The heat. It is hot. Really hot. I try to find even an inch or two of shade from the low gunwales on the bow of the panga to provide respite to my baking feet. The light blue deck is molten.

“Gulp.”

Tarpon breaking. We see them. They are in range and I make the cast, landing the light 3/0 bunny 3 feet in front of the lead fish. He charges, inhales, I strike viciously and the fish bolts into the air. I bow, the fish lands and the fly parts company with the fish, excused.

Damn.

“We’ll get the next one in the boat” says Tomas.

He’s wrong.

The next one I won’t see in the glare and I’ll put the fly right on his head. He’ll bolt.

The next one is too close to the boat to cast to.

The next one is 30 feet too far away.

The next one isn’t interested.

The next one I line.

The next one I can’t see and again put the fly on his head, which he is not keen on.

As we search for fish the wind is an absent player, but in place of the wind is the heat. It is smothering, intense heat. I have sweat dripping down the backs of my legs. My shirt is soaked. My feet, even through my polarized lenses, look bright, fire red. I feel like I am losing gallons of water a minute, but I’m hesitant to take my eyes off the water to get more fluids. I don’t want to miss the King.

The next fish I spot just as Tomas is about to point it out. I say “Tarpon, 12 o’clock” and point my rod. Tomas says “yes!” A school of 5, maybe 7, heading right at us. I cast, a good cast, and the lead fish charges the fly and crushes it. I strip set, feel the fish and then, inexplicably, sweep the rod. The fly is out, but the fly is still in play. I strip again and the second fish charges. I set. I feel the fish. I set again. The fish leaps in the air. I bow. I still have the fish. I start to think about getting the fish on the reel, getting ready for the battle. The fish jumps again and I bow and the fly… it unbuttons.

Tomas has no complaints. He says I did everything right, on the second fish.

Tomas does not say we’ll get the next one in the boat.

The next fish I cast behind.

The next fish comes with a gang and follows, chases the fly too close to the boat, but the school is still there. I cast in the middle of the milling fish and one smashes the bunny before I can get ready. The chance is gone and so are the fish.

There is no next fish. I realize if we actually find another fish I wouldn’t have the time to fight it. The trip is done, the honeymoon is about to be too, but this was a good day. I got my shots and I just didn’t convert. This is why we play the game.

A beautiful, wonderful, windless day in Belize.

“If it were easy, everyone would do it” says Tomas.

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Fish Tails / Gear — 8 Comments
06
Sep 12

The last piece of the puzzle for Belize

The last piece of gear I needed came today… a 10 wt. Sage Response loaner. I’ve put on the Lamson Lightspeed and a clear int. sink and I have in mind mangrove channels and baby tarpon. I close my eyes and see a 25 pound “baby” emerging from the leafy darkness, frantic casting, the fly landing close, the fish seeing it, charging, opening it’s dumptruck mouth and inhaling the fly, quickly turning away, and then the chaos. Holding the line tight to keep the fish from running into the mangroves and ruining all hope, the fish will leap, high and repeatedly, putting holes into the still water with every jump and crash. The fish will be subdued, maybe not the first, but I’m hoping the 4th or 5th shot might stick. I’m predicting some shrieks from the newly minted Mrs., and I’m expecting awe and if it comes together, I’ll have it, because it is that kind of experience, it inspires and commands awe.

That’s what I have in my mind. That’s what I want to not only experience, but share.

Anticipation

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Locations — 5 Comments
02
Jul 12

Interview with Bill Horn – Seasons on the Flats

I first learned about Seasons on the Flats by seeing some of the art work for the book done by Bob White. That got me interested and so I tracked down Bill Horn and asked him to do an interview. That we did. It took me a while (like, 3 months) to sit down to transcribe it and it was at that point I realized the recording must not have started on the phone call… “0 Seconds” is all it said.

Crap.

So, Bill finally sent me an email on something else and I had to confess that I had failed to record the initial interview and he quickly, and graciously, offered to do it a second time. So, I’m glad to have this interview with Bill Horn, author of the upcoming Seasons on the Flats (out this month), to share with all of you.

The Author, Bill Horn

Your book is called “Seasons on the Flats,” what was it that drove you to write this book?

I did a few magazine articles (my first ventures into outdoor writing) and submitted one titled “Tarpon Camp” that got rejected. Started to rework it and got the idea of taking a Keys’ visitors through an angler’s season. That idea, and the fun of telling tales about these wonderful little islands, got me going and the “book” just poured out in the next few weeks. “Seasons” is my love letter to the Keys.

Given the book chronicles the seasons, which is your favorite to be there?

Ouch – that’s a tough question as each season has its distinct pleasures. Summer is probably my favorite with good bonefishing, permit, junior tarpon in the backcountry, enough big poons to make it interesting, lobster season, night reef fishing, and hanging out on sandbars in warm clear waters with a cold one in hand. Of course, this gets interrupted periodically by hurricanes and tropical storms but it’s the price you pay for being in subtropical latitudes.

The Keys have a reputation as being a bit rough… the fishing is difficult, the guides prone to yelling and the number of people to contend with are growing… how do you feel the stereotypes match the reality?

The Keys’ flats demand your “A” game but that’s what makes it great — it is never boring. These are the major leagues for flats anglers. The tarpon and permit fishing remain excellent and bonefish are still there (just not in the numbers in places like the Bahamas or Mexico). And newcomers shouldn’t shy away. The guides might be intense (the days of yelling are years past) but damn they’re good and a few days with a veteran Keys’ guide is a great learning experience. Crowding and conflicts with others do occur, especially during spring tarpon and in the Upper Keys, but that’s why there’s summer and fall and the Middle Keys.

This is my kind of thing.

When you look at the future of fishing in the Keys, what are the biggest threats?

Water quality is the big threat but the outlook is good. The Keys are systematically retiring their septic systems and that should improve inshore waters. Plus the Everglades restoration projects are finally getting into gear and in a few years water flowing into Florida Bay (quantity and quality) should also get better. Although not a threat per se, the years of not knowing much about bonefish, permit and tarpon are ending. Research by BTT and the Florida Wildlife Commission are shedding new light on fish migrations, spawning behavior, rearing habitats, etc. With this kind of information finally available, there will be new opportunities to make good fishery management decisions to bring back the bonefish to historical levels and hold onto the great tarpon and permit fisheries we presently enjoy.

When looking for bonefish, what is your go-to rig (rod/reel)?

I’m pretty old school – been using the same 8 weight Scott STS and Abel 3N for years. I like to upline my rods and have grown partial to the Wulff Bermdua lines. Use as long as leader as you can and my favorite Keys bonefish fly may be a surprise – a big old #2 Red Headed Gotcha.

The Keys are also knows for their characters. You have a story about one of those?

Being the end of the road, an eclectic entertaining bunch of souls do collect in the Keys. For regular chuckles, check out the “crime reports” in the Key West newspaper. Last year’s favorite was a minor car wreck caused by a woman shaving her nether regions while driving to her boyfriend’s house with her ex-husband in the car.

I have seen some of the illustrations in the book done by Bob White. How did you come to work with him?

Met Bob about 20 years ago when he was head guide for Tikchik Narrows Lodge in Alaska. We fished together and I was an instant admirer of his art. When the book was almost done, I wanted it to look classy and that meant one thing – get Bob to do the illustrations. It took one phone call to make it happen. His 15 pencil sketches in “Seasons” are wonderful; the three maps and the hammerhead shark are my favorites and you can purchase originals or prints from him.

Work by Bob White

In our fishing lives we run into people who, for one reason or another, give of their knowledge to help us out. Is there someone who has been instrumental to your growth as a flats fisherman down in the Keys?

Getting introduced to Albert Ponzoa, Bus Bergmann, and Rich Keating – three outstanding Marathon guides – really opened the door to the Keys’ flats. I had fished the Keys as a kid in the 50’s, and caught my first bonefish in 1974, but these guys took me to a whole new level. They taught me a lot, prodded me to improve my skills, laughed and cheered when we enjoyed success, and cried with me when the fish kicked my ass. An angler, and friend, can’t ask for more.

Thanks for doing this twice Bill and I look forward to reading that book!

All the other stuff — 11 Comments
23
Jun 12

BOTB in the Drake

Well… who knew? I was just at Barnes and Noble and saw an issue of The Drake.

I don’t have a subscription and while I have heard really good things about the magazine, I had not ever purchased one. I had decided that this was the time to do so and as I thumbed through the magazine on the way up to the cashier I saw there was a poster insert. I took a peak and recognized, instantly, my own hand. Well… that’s kind of awesome. My tarpon is in The Drake. Jim Klug took the photo, and a damn fine photo it is.

My poon, photo by Jim Klug

Fish Tails — 6 Comments
16
Jun 12

The lexicon of tarpon

No one has ever cared about how many trout I got to eat in a day. You don’t count the number of trout you get to jump.

The reason that no one talks about those things is because they are pretty trivial. If you get a trout to eat, it is likely going to get hooked and if you get it hooked… well… odds are good that it is going to be landed.

Tarpon fishing is different. It is an accomplishment if you can get one of those massive, per-historic piscatorial wonders to eat. If you get it mostly right and you get a little lucky, you’ll get one to leap out of water in a cartwheeling, frenetic explosion.

Only when it all comes together, when you do what you need to do and you have luck on your side do you get to see the whole thing through to completion and hold that fish in your hands and look into it’s bottomless eye and feel the coarseness of its mouth and then see it swim away, maybe coming up to gulp some air before it continues on its migration.

That’s why people care about the fish you fed, the fish you jumped and the fish you landed. It is all hard and unlikely and intoxicating and so, so, so much fun.

That’s a very real smile.

Photo by Jim Klug

Locations — 2 Comments
15
Jun 12

Fly Fishing Poet and the Salt

Matt, aka the Fly Fishing Poet, got down to Florida to go throw in the salt for the first time. I haven’t made it down to the Keys since I was 10 (I loved in then… wanted to be a treasure hunter as a kid, which I know makes no sense as a mountain bound Californian).

A damn fine read. Here’s a taste…

Islamorada, I’m here and everything about you is foreign to me. Timeless retro hotel and diner and marina signs. Languid, saronged women in their generous brown skin and strong, salty women in their salty brown skin. Bar-top sweat-rings telling stories between drinks. Backcountry islands hovering on the teal horizon.

Check out the full story here (and it is worth it).

Go time.

PS – Matt has a story in Pulp Fly, which you should totally buy (for Kindle and anything that can handle Kindle books, like iPads).

Gear — 5 Comments
17
Apr 12

What I got right about gear for Cuba

While I got a few things wrong, I did make some good decisions and had some of the right stuff with me.

Flies:

Having some of the super hair chartreuse flies for cudas was a really good call.
I had enough Gotchas in different sizes that I could have fished for bones for another three weeks.
The tarpon bunnies were good patterns and if I had them in a 3/0 I would likely have been feeding tarpon with them.

Leaders:

The leaders I tied were effective and worked for bonefish and for tarpon. The 80 pound shock tippet was perfect on even the big fish and the bimini twists I tied didn’t fail. I didn’t have a single leader fail or a single knot fail.

Reels:

The reels I primarily used were the Ross F1 for the 8 wt, the Orvis Mirage for the 10 wt and the Redington Delta for the 11. I had along a Ross CLA and a Ross Momentum, but they had on specific lines that didn’t get selected by the guides.

Lines:

The textured saltwater line for the 8 was a great line.
The Orvis line was different… it sounded like a textured line and it cast very well.
I cast a Rio clear sink tip for the 11 and the guides liked it, preferring it to the full floating line each time.

Rods:

Both of the 8 weights were lovely rods. The Sage One is light and responsive and did all I asked of it. The prototype was just as lovely and I’d be glad to have either one as my go-to 8.
The 10, the Orvis Helios was a great rod. I’ve had that one before and I really like it. It might have been a little heavy for Permit, but it would have worked well for that and it was a good rod to have rigged for barracuda.
The 11 Redington… it was heavy, but when it came time to do the business it got it done. That feels like a pretty important thing to judge by.

Something right got me that fish.

Locations — 2 Comments
08
Apr 12

Awesome day in the garden of the queen

We started off today getting an unexpected shot at a nice permit… a black tale sticking up through the wave about 40 feet away. I made the cast, had a follow and a little jack grabbed the fly before Mr. Permit could.

After that I broke off a bone, lost one in the mangroves and was starting to get a little frustrated. Then… the day turned around. My boat-mate, Charlie, caught his first fly caught bone, then his second and third. We found a school of bones that just wouldn’t spook and we caught bone after bone.

Then, we went looking for tarpon. We found them. We fished a deep cut with sooooo much life, it was just amazing. There were jacks busting bait and tarpon rolling and cudas crushing little bait fish. It was happening all around us and it was awe inspiring. Felt like being transported back in time to some virgin bit of paradise.

I had a tarpon eat my black death bunny about 20 feet off the boat. I was sure I had a good hook set on him, but he spit the hook on the first jump. I was shaken… literally. Took me a few minutes to get composed (but it was the kind of being ruffled with a big smile on my face). Had a second shot and a good hoot set. The fish took off and then jumped (caught on camera, I’ll get it up when I can) and then came off. I even jumped a third tarpon. A nice tarpon. Maybe 60 pounds. Awesome.

It was just a fantastic, wonderful day with Avalon guide TiTi and boat-mate Charlie. I caught somewhere around 5-7 bones, three snappers, a horse eyed jack (15 pounds) and jumped three nice tarpon.

We’ve even seen Franco this evening, the saltwater croc that hangs around the houseboat.

One of the most enjoyable days I’ve had on the water.

Yes... it is as awesome as it looks here.

Locations — 8 Comments
07
Apr 12

Arrival at the Tortuga

I’m here… finally. The night in Cuba got off to a late start. Things don’t move quickly in Cuba and it didn’t help that Jim got held up because he “had a lot of camera equipment.”

We know now a bit about the nightlife in Cuba… which is a bit insane. We rode is some vintage American made cars for taxis and basically stayed up all night and got on the bus at 4:30. I passed out in the lobby and missed the sing along, which I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.

A 3 hour bus ride and a 3 hour boat ride and we got here. Quick lunch and off to the skiffs.

I landed 2 bones and a cuda in the abbreviated day. Soooo nice to be out on the water again.

Avalon Guide Ti Ti had sharp eyes, spotting every fish before I did and spotting some I never saw.

Two tarpon passed by while I was releasing the second bone.

Pics to follow at some point. The internet is pretty slow, so I’ll do what I can.

Bonefish on the Brain Bonefish and all that relates (maybe a bit about tarpon too).

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