Last Updated:
03/07/05
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| We all want to know how you did. As soon as you get back and get the boat and tackle cleaned, log on and e-mail your fishing report to the WEBMASTER. It doesn't have to an opus, just a few words on where you went, what you caught and what you used. |
Econfina Flats - Wayne Southwell (4/28/01)
The saltwater fly fishing is really starting to pick up here in the Big Bend area. Case in point, a good friend of mine, Al Adams, and I went fishing last Saturday (April 28th) on the Econfina flats. Al had never really been saltwater fly fishing, so it was a great pleasure for both of us for him to catch his first saltwater fish on a fly. He ended up catching a ladyfish and three undersize trout on a fly and two keeper trout on spinning gear. I ended up catching a total of 16 trout on fly of which 9 were keepers with the largest trout weighing in at 3 ½ pounds and measuring 21 inches. My next two biggest trout were 20 ½ inches and 19 inches. The highlight of my day, besides watching Al catch his first fish on a fly, was the 26 ½ inch, 7 ½ pound redfish I landed on my 7 weight. I’m sure the fact that the wind was blowing the boat hard in one direction and the red was running hard in the other played a big part in the amount of line he pulled off my reel. I have caught considerably larger reds on fly but I have never had one fight so hard. I also landed one puppy red before the day ended at 3:00. The fly caught trout were all taken on either a red and yellow or a white and chartreuse clouser and were caught in 3 to 5 feet of water over thick grass beds. The reds hit the same red and yellow clouser and were caught along the shoreline off grassy points in about 2 to 3 foot of water.
Aucilla River - Danny Riley (2/13/01)
On Tuesday, February 13, the day
following the FBBF meeting, Randle Leger and I took John Botko fishing on
the Aucilla River. It was a beautiful day and, because of the closed trout
season and the early week day, we had it almost entirely to ourselves. We
started with John flyfishing and Randle baitcasting while I handled the
boat. John was fishing a tandem rig with a couple of flies that he uses
for trout in his region. Randle hooked a nice trout on a jig, but it got
off before we could land it for pictures. Later, I rigged up my flyrod and
took Randle's spot on the bow. I tied on a new fly that I designed and
caught seven trout in a hurry. Then, I sold one of those flies to John for
$100 and he started catching fish too. We caught fish steadily until about
noon when John had to head home to teach a fly tying course that night in
Jacksonville. Randle estimated that we had caught about 25 trout by the
time John left, but you know how fishermen exaggerate.
Randle and I stayed and continued to steadily land trout on that fly that
I now call the "Superfly". We caught about as many that
afternoon as we did in the morning for a total of approximately 50 trout
for the day. The average size of the fish was about 16 to 17 inches with a
few nicer ones and only a few dinks, but no gators.
I think that John had a very enjoyable outing, and I was glad to have
taken him on a successful trip for his generosity of traveling to
Tallahassee to give us his very interesting and well presented program.
It's always nice to add a new friend to my list of fishing buddies.
Bill Wiley - St. Joe Bay (6/2000)
Bill Wiley led club members Ben Betts, Charles Owens, Ken Morris, Mike Petrandis, Frank Meyers, Ed Hubert, Dale Carlton, Jim Whitehead, and his friend Tony Melvin on a wade fishing trip on the flats at St. Joe State Park on June 3rd. Frank Wetherbee, Steve Gardner and Roy Rhodes also planned to come, and may have showed up too late to join the group. Fishing picked up as high tide arrived just before noon, and most people caught a variety of fish. Jim Whitehead caught his first salt water fish on a fly and was delighted. Dale Carlton also proudly displayed his keeper trout just before lunch. Several members departed after lunch for the ride back to Tallahassee. A few others fished afterward, and Bill reported catching a total of 10 trout , some ladyfish and a couple of jacks for the day. The most productive fly was the St. Joe Special, a yellow popper with origins in the city of St.Joe, and tyed in great numbers by Bill Wiley. The fishing was pretty tough, and not as good as usual, but it was a beautiful day to be out casting a fly.