I'm back

Have been for a bit, life has been hectic and slow at the same time. Soon as all this dust settles I can return to normalacy once more...

One bit of news though - I am now a member of Malibu Kayaks Pro Staff and am currently awaiting the arrival of my Stealth 14...soon as I get that sucker in there will be plenty of fish porn to enjoy, cheers

To the mountains once more...

will have pics upon my return! Celebrating Swiss Independence this weekend, in style

"Some birds feathers are too bright to be caged, I know I'm not that colorful but a bird just the same"

Festivals and mountains

So Paleo ended up being much cooler than I thought it would be and as always in life it seems the best was encountered while wandering off the beaten path. There was this group, which for the life of me I can't remember the name, regardless, they rocked: Trumpet, Piano, Tabla, and Indian Vocals...very interesting. The piano player was an indian version of Thelonius Monk, beautiful accents and voicing, but enough of that. Great festival, great food, and cheap beer! Cheap Good Beer! Thats an oxymoron in itself but the Hoegaarden's flowed that night.

The next day we took a leisurely drive into the mountains near Gstaad. Any direction you look is a postcard, without exception. We took Shannon's dogs with us and it was quite picturesque: dogs frolicking with mountains in the background, the mountains change color as the sun gets lower in the sky so even though you remain in the same place the scenery changes.

We slept at Shannon's apartment in Gstaad and ate at a place where they specialize in Rosti...man, that was some good rosti, who knew bacon and pears go so well together? Anyway, enough of my stupid rambling, pictures are better, enjoy

Fortress Europa - Geneve, Lausanne, Montreux, Nyon, Paris, Paleo...where the hell am I?

Paris...



Montreux late night

Paris, outside Le Pompidou


PlaceMonge...where its at
Everyones got a voice here
The 5th
Riding that train...





Lac Leman...I mean Lac D' Geneve, Montreux
Crepes, Crepes, Crepes
Best bookstore ever, you the man Brian
Le Suisse invade Paris by night

So its been pretty crazy so far this July...thats an understatement.

I arrived in Geneve at the beginning of the month, I think the 9th or 10th, can't recall. Haven't had internet, or a phone, and although it made some things difficult I can now say it was good thing, still no phone, and no intention of getting one soon either...the freedom is beyond liberating.

So I've been running around town with French courses, paperwork, looking for work, and taking in the sights when I can...my sister makes sure of that...she is too good to her brother. We spent last weekend in Paris for her boyfriend, Frank's, birthday...man what a town. I blitzkrieged that place and in three nights and two days I saw as much of the city as was possible...a man could grow rather rotund with great speed in that place as every little cafe, boulangerie, bar, and vendor has great, no, excellent food...the mouth waters right now.

So we stayed at a friend of Frank's apartment in the middle of the 5th quarter, no one slept much as far as I can remember and that caused me to miss out on a morning hike with a very intriguing Canadian fellow who owned a marvelous bookshop in the 4th quarter...the dude had everything, rare finds, I spent way too much money in the book shop but i've been reading nonstop lately, finishing close to a book a day...haven't been able to do that for a long time. Regardless we made the best of it and tramped all about Paris with many many crepes devoured.

So Besides Paris, there has been a string of festivals, Montreux Jazz (Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, AND Victor Wooten in one band...WTF?, John Schofield and much more) and Paleo all this week, there are many more to come and besides the big name events there is La Fete D' Geneve running all the way till August: Free concerts every night by the lake...lots going on to say the least.

I am still running about like a fool so I don't want to waste too much time on the computer, plenty more pictures but uploading requires time I simply can't, or won't, waste...I'll post something up again when things cool down a bit, till then Bon Chance!

Sun Sentinal Article

Here she is: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-everglades-canoe-b062609,0,4874018.story

Rainy Day Flamingo 06/24/09

10 knot winds my azz! Me and my buddy Ken arrived at the marina in Mingo at 5am sharp, greeted by thunderstorms and rain we passed out in the truck till about 6:30, by then they had mostly disappated and we launched in a light rain and headed towards Christian Point.We weren't too happy about the conditions, the weather report called for a mild day and it was later on, but not when we were out on the water. Those 10-15 knot winds were closer to 20-25 knots, and this was confirmed when we got back to the marina later in the afternoon. The West winds limited us to fishing to backside of islands and that was fine, the fish were stacked on the lee-side anyway and this made fishing very easy...shooting fish in a barrel came to mind.

Both me and Ken tossed big topwaters all day long, the snook were ravenous! This was my buddies first time down there and he was amazed at how aggressive the fish were, 5-6 hits a cast, coming completely out of the water for it...pretty cool stuff. We fished through the rain and even that wouldn't kill the bite, I actually caught the biggest fish of the day in the middle of a downpour!

I can't really remember how many snook we caught, we both lost track at some point in the day, I'd have to say around or just under 2 dozen for me and Ken must have been close behind, he got the only red and I got a tarpon near the marina that actually towed me into the marina, well, that and the tide. I guess that rain cooled down the water a bit and made the bite last all morning long....we had a great outgoing tide too.

All in all another great day down in Flamingo and the best part was that there were no bugs to speak of! I didn't get bit by any bugs at all! And the overcast conditions allowed us to throw topwaters until noon! The only tough part of the day was paddling back from Palm Key to the marina with 20 knot winds in our faces...I needed the workout anyway. On the way out we saw tons of wildlife, crocs, gators, snakes, and bald eagles...everything seemed to be out and about yesterday...makes me wish I was down there today!

Flamingo 06/18/09

White mangrove at the trailhead

gone...like magic

Bear Lake

Yesterday was hot...I feel like I'm still sweating. Me and David (Perch) hit the water a little before 5:30, we played with the little tarpon outside the marina for a bit, they were crashing the skitterwalks but rarely connecting with it. Had to help David removed a treble from his finger early on in the morning, sorry you had to start your day like that David, I felt your pain.

There were reds cruising the flats on the way to Christian point but they weren't hitting anything, out in Snake Bight the reds were just as spooky but I managed to fool one into hitting my rootbeer DOA Cal. I also got a snook off that same flat before starting to drift back towards the launch.

Daivd stuck it out and I left him fishing Joe Kemp as I searching for reds on the flats. I saw bait jumping near the West end of Joe Kemp and tossed the skitterwalk to what turned out to be another snook. Near the marina I lost another snook on the skitterwalk and jumped two little tarpon on the Cal before calling it a day...too damn hot to be on the water.

I wish I had more days off, I'd really like to spend 2 weeks at Flamingo and fish every possible tide to see where the fish are holding. There are lots of big big big snook hanging around Florida Bay right now and the reds seem to be out on the flats every day...if you can get past the bugs it really is fishing paradise down there. I think next time around I may fish West Lake, I stopped at the launch on the way out and saw a ton of action on the water and lots of little tarpon rolling around. I think the rains have finally cleared all the sludge out of Cuthbert and the Lungs so now the passage down to Garfield Bight may be open...so the fish (and tide) can flow in and out.

The work on the trail was tough, we had a new deadfall right at the launch itself, took us an hour to clear that before we could paddle on down to the planned work. We saw a huge crocodile in the canal as well and I was "bumped" by a small gator as well.

The next day I awoke feeling pretty sore but thought nothing of it, went to work, had to move a heavy desk and as I was lifting it I felt a pop in my back...man oh man, I've never felt pain like that in my life, dropped me like a ton of bricks and I've been laid out all day at home. I doubt I'll be able to help out next week and that really upsets me, but in order to be of some use for the rest of the summer I must rest now...like the saying goes: A good soldier knows when to sleep.

Flamingo 06/11/09

Man the skeeters were bad! I met Perch at the marina a little before 05:30 and we were hoppin' around getting our gear together with the swamp angels singing around us till we launched.

Our first spot was the best for us throughout the morning, I boated 3 decent snook and one slot sized fish, losing a couple (the curse of topwater) to pulled hooks, David got a couple of nice snook on the skitterwalk as well.

We made our way over to Christian Point to find a red hot ladyfish and jack bite, there were tarpon rolling but it was impossible to get a bait past the ladyfish. One of the big pilchards rolled next to me and like the amoeba that I am (stimulus = response, tarpon rolls = cast) I pitched a gulp shrimp at it tied to 30lb leader on my stradic 2500...of course it inhaled it.

So now I have this 80-100lb tarpon clearing the water in front of me, peeling line, and towing me in circles around snake bight channel...I knew I wasn't going to land this thing but yet I gave it my all, for what felt like hours, probably about 30 minutes before I got overzealous and palmed the drag a bit too hard...friggin tarpon. Perch got some video so I will post it up when I can get my hands on it.

That was pretty much it for me that morning and I think David too, great fishing with you btw (see you out there next thursday...with bigger rods), I made a mental note to bring my tarpon rig (which will ensure that I won't see any more tarpon) to Flamingo next time so I can devote my morning to catching one of the truly large ones from my kayak...no fish makes a fool out of me!

Low tide was a 3am this morning, winds out of the South at 5 mph when I first wet the line at 5:30am at Dania Beach. I'm always alone at dawn on Dania, nost of the other snook fisherman arrive after sunrise...missing the best part of the bite. I got two schoolie's this morning, one a bit over 22''-24'' and the other at 16'' or so, and a couple of small jacks fell to the white bucktail...it never fails, was home at 7am and went back to bed till 9, good start to the day.

First week of June and Flamingo 06/04/09

Monday Morning

Tuesday Morning Dania Beach Snookin'

Wednesday with a buddy @ the pier, Dania that is

Flamingo Florida - Paradise, with bugs

I've been moving at very high speeds for the last few days, moving really took it out of me and since then I've been cramming as much cleaning and upkeep as possible into my days.

So with all the work/fishing last week I wasn't expecting to make it out to Flamingo on Thursday but last minute I called my buddy Matt and we met at Flamingo at 5:15am.

The mosquitos were pretty intense in the marina, they followed us around for an hour or so before slowly disapating, we weren't catching anything but ladyfish until then anyway. When we made it to Christian point we were greeted by snook roving the shorelines, my skitterwalk was hit by a small snook, Matt's topwater was engulfed by a much larger snook that broke him off on the first jump. There were Tarpon about as well and Matt jumped one, I jumped two, landing one for a few pics.

We caught nothing but lady's for the next hour and at slack low tide we started drifting over the grassflats on the way back to the marina...they were loaded with reds, friggin reds everywhere! The were incredibly spooky in that thick grass, I got a shot at 4 tailers and Matt had a few attempts as well...no takers. We were just staked out with reds all around us, talk about frustration. I was off the water by 9:45, Tom was a litte late getting to work so I fished from shore where I could, landed a little snook and a small goliath, pretty cool way to kill some time.

Working on the trail today was particularly tough, the bug suits were a must as the mosquitos are back in full form...they are our constant company and so were the sankes! I counted 10 pygmy rattlers on the way out from Bear Lake, I also shoo'ed a large cottonmouth off the road after almost running over the thing. Another great day in the park, all 17 hours of it, got home at 10:15pm after leaving my wife sleeping that morning at 3am.

Flamingo Quickie and a little pier fishin' 05/28/09

This morning the snook took me to school... tarpon too.
I paddled out of Flamingo marina at around 6:50am, heading into the SW winds and drifting the shoreline towards Christian point. My first cast lands a hefty jack that straightened out one of the hooks on my skitterwalk :cuss: And like an idiot I left my other skitterwalk sitting in the truck, useless.

Nevertheless I proceeded to lose snook after snook for the next hour or so, I was amazed at the sheer concentration of snook on the shorelines, I was getting 5 hits a cast in some spots...a lot of missed connections and pulled hooks, I think I was off my game but will blame that straightened hook for the record. I landed about a dozen small to mid-sized snook and then a monster slob engulfed my lure...he jumped twice before shredding through the 30lb leader, looked to be a big girl in the upper 30 inch range.

So now I had no big topwaters left, the mirromullet wouldn't swim right in the chop and neither would the top dog...but the trusty chug bug worked pretty damn well in a pinch and boated a few more snook before starting to drift back towards the ramp. I finished up the morning by jumping two tarpon near the marina; one jumped off first time up, the second I leadered but lost at the side of the boat, both probably around 15-20lbs. I must say the snook really seem to be active down in mingo, and that wind combined with the overcast skies made the topwater bite last till I had to get going at around 9:30.

I really do love those mornings, hope they last through this hot summer…now if only the bonefish would hit like that. I also made a quick stop a little spot I know off near home for a quick shore-bound session now that my little yellowtailed friends are back for the summer:

not bad for the cost of a dozen shrimp, not bad at all.

Indian River Gheenoe Trip 05/27/09

Took The Gina out with my buddy Rigo near Ft Pierce, launching at about 7am after a stop at the Snook Nook for live shrimp, they have the best livies, stayed frisky till we got off the water at 2pm!

We started out fishing the causeway and almost immediately Rigo hooks up with something substantial that I backed away from the pilings, unfortunately Rigo got a little overzealous and palmed the drag too hard so the fish broke off...we were wondering what the hell it was the rest of the day.

We fished the flats for a bit with a few dinky trout to show for it before moving on to the real quarry: Tripletail. Managed to put Rigo on his first of two different fish, its always cool to wittness those events unfold and recall your own experiences at the same time.

We did pretty well, managed to catch a mixed bag of sheepshead, 3 nice sized tripletail (including a double hook-up!), and various short muttons, grays, and lane snapper. All in all a great day on the water and I only burned $8 in gas while covering nearly 20 miles, pretty friggin sweet, off the water by 2pm right before the rain came down in true SoFla fashion.

Ding Darling 05/23/09

No rain all day, man I love that Sanibel "bubble", seems to swing the rain clouds just off that island, everytime.

We fished all over, went into Pine Island Sound and caught alot of nice-sized trout on topwaters and jigs, I was tossing a mirro-mullet when everyone got into to the bite and did pretty well as the water had a little chop to it.

The fishing wasn't as good as I had hoped, it may have been all the freshwater instrusion from all this rain we've been having...the bite would have been better in Flamingo but the winds and more importantly the thunderstorms wouldn't have allowed us to fish very long.

We got off the water around 3pm, trout all day long, nothing else, not even ladyfish, pretty strange for Ding Darling I felt, usually I at least get a redfish or some small snook...it was a spec-filled day.

Magical Mingo 05/14/09

I had a 9am report time in Flamingo for a little volunteer work and so I decided to get there early and do some fishing. I got to the marina at 5am but was greeted by a bit of wind out of the East, around 10-15mph. I was tired as hell from waking up early all of this week so I said "screw it, going to sleep" and passed out in th truck with my alarm set for 8:45. I was jolted out of my sleep after about 30 minutes, don' know why but I was wide awake now for no reason...time to fish.

I hit the water a little after 6am and paddled into the wind towards Christian Point. The wind wasn't fun but I fought through it to a nice flat that offered a bit of protection and casted out the skitterwalk. First cast comes walking in and is engulfed by I-don't-know-what, it hugged bottom and ran. I fought this creature for 15-20 minutes before getting a good look at it but I thought it was a small shark or a big bull red from the way it was running. It starts taking me into the mangroves so I had to take the chance and palm the drag hard to bring her head out, thank god the line held.

She went way over my 36'' measuring board, she looked to go another 5''-7'' over the board but she was seriously fat and very heavy, I would have to say at or near 30lbs, easy.
So After that debacle I tossed the skitterwalk back out and instantly hooked up with a nice snook, and then another, and another and so on...I ended up going 6 for 8 on snook before moving on to another spot.

At the next spot the skitterwalk started getting blown up without a connection, again and again, finally I made contact and after a tussle I brought in a nice red, then another, and another, and so on, 13 from one spot alone, 3 on topwater and the rest on a rootbeer DOA cal as they started to get finicky with the skitterwalk.I caught the last red at 8:30 and rode the wind back into the marina ready for work.

What a morning, wasn't going to go out but I'm sure glad I did. Had a great day working in the park and even the bugs were mild today, it was a good day.

Key Largo/Butternut Key 05/09/09

A "complication" in scheduling at work resulted in me getting a paid day off...so I went fishing, my mother celebrates mothers day earlier in the month so I had no obligations!

Decided to head to the keys, Key Largo on the bayside from the Carribean Club. Hit the water at 7am with a bucketful of shrimp and my wife in tow. We headed out towards butternut key and fished Little Buttonwood Sound on the way out. There were fish biting all day but everything was small: 8'' Mangroves, 13'' trout, and even short grouper (red and gags).

We relaxed on Butternut Key before heading back, The engine ran great all day, we ran about 25 miles without a problem when a 1/4 mile from the ramp the engine cut-out. It would restart but only run for a second before stalling out again. There was pressure in the fuel hose, fuel, oil mix was good, it didn't seem overly hot.

When I first got the engine it stalling out but I found that it was a air leak from one of the fuel hoses, I clamped them with cable clamps and didn't have a problem again...till now. When I got home I figured it should be okay but I couldn't get it running to flush the engine. I finally did by gunning the motor everytime it sounded like it was dying, I did it long enough to flush and noticed that the water coming out of the motor was much warmer than usual...could this have been a simple over-heating? This was the longest I continually ran the motor as previously I was making short runs and stopping for a bit as opposed to running 5-7 miles at a time and idling at fishing spots instead of shutting her down. I'm clueless at this point and I haven't had a chance to mess with since, hopefully tomorrow I can get a break and troubleshoot a little more.

despite the frustration I felt at the end of the trip it was another great day on the water...I just hope it isn't my last for a while.

Chokoloskee with Gina and Gina 05/07/09

My wife took the day off and came down with me to chokoloskee to finally see the 10K Islands...she refused to come paddling with me for years so now with the Gheenoe she had no excuse!

We left ODR at 8am, later than I'd liked but the Alley was closed and I had to take Tamiami. We hit the oyster bars in the bay at nearly dead low tide, nothing but catfish. I ran into a dozen or so Trout in Rabbit Key Pass with a few decent ones thrown in, nothing huge though.

We fished the flats near Rabbit Key with nothing but catfish to show for it, oh yes, and one tiny gag.

I brought the grill in the boat so we landed on Rabbit Key and cooked lunch, met some paddlers who had been out for a few days, gave them a couple of beers and few smokes and they told me I was sent from heaven...I just know the feeling: 7-day paddling trip, beer runs out on the first night, smokes soon to follow...those beers sure tasted sweet I'm sure.

Before taking off I saw that skinny lone shadow of a snook off the beach but didn't have anything with me to throw at it, so I threw a plain chartuese jighead, ripped it fast past his head and sure enough he smacked it, only snook of the day.

We headed back on the last part of the incoming, fished the same spots and caught more trout and catfish. Not the best day fishing on the water but a great since my wife could finally come out and enjoy the day with me.

all fish, besides the snook, were caught on jigs tipped with live shrimp.

Convoy Point Slob 04/16/09

HA HA HA!!!

Hit Convoy for an hour on the way to work today, went looking for bonefish so I had the peekaboo and my wife's stand-up paddle, two rods with 20lb leader, thats it.

I paddle/poled across to the spoil islands and blind casted while scanning for those elusive grey ghosts. Near the canal I was working the really shallow stuff against the shoreline when I spotted a black shadow near the point. I joked to myself "thats a monster snook" and pitched a line near it, I was 100% sure it was a snook-shaped log on account of the size...I was shocked when the snook log came to life and engulfed my 1/16th oz jighead tied to my 20lb leader!

So the snook cleared the water at least 3 times before settling into long runs, taking me into the canal and towards the rocks across the channel. I was afraid to put too much pressure on the fish so I just held on and went for the ride. Fighting the fish from the standing position was definately an advantage as I was able to better anticipate any turns the fish was making and could adjust my angle accordingly.

So after about 15 heart-stopping minutes I get her to the boat, heave her up over the side and let out a wookie-like yell I'm glad no one was around to hear. My measuring board was in the truck and I wanted her back in the water fast on account of working her for so long. I laid her across the deck of the peekaboo (35'' wide) and even without her laying straight she still went a good 2''-3'' over on each side. My best guess is somewhere between 41''-43'', she was fat as hell and a good guess on weight is somewhere between 22-25lbs, my biggest yet to date!

Chokoloskee 04/12/09

Hit Chokoloskee for a charter today, managed a gag, flounder, a mess of silver and spotted trout before calling it a day. All fish were caught on a glow DOA shrimp and from what I gathered at the launch it seems that no one did particularly well...I should consider myself lucky that all my cilents caught something (two of them cleaned up on trout near Rabbit Key), I find this odd as the weather was practically perfect, nice warm weather and moving tide...no fish, weird.

Biscayne Bay Baby Tarpon 04/15/09

Went chasing bonefish on wednesday, couldn't find any of those stupid snooty fish so I went to my tarpon holes hoping that the warm weather has brought my little friends back to play...and it has!

Jumped two little guys and brought one to the boat, called it a day after that as the rain looked to moving in, not looking forward to the summer thunderstorms but the fishing has been stellar as of late....so glad my little silver friends are back!

West Lake Full Moon Snookin' 04/10/09

Friggin' West Lake! That dead-zone stench hole excuse for lake actually produced some nice fish for once! I finally figured out where those stupid snook are hiding and the chances are elevated on the full moon at night so now I have a good spot to night-fish come summer time! I brought Bob Stolzberg with me, he's a fella from St Louis and he's going out on a full day charter with me and another guy on sunday down Choko way.

Bob sounded like he needed to get away when I talked to him so I told him I'd bring a kayak for him if he wanted to join me fishing in West Lake, I wouldn't charge anyone to fish West Lake as I told him I'd be surprized if we got anything good.

Sure enough Bob hooked up with nice snook, first snook too! The big grin says it all. I managed a few nice snook before we had to pack it up, all in all a great night. All fish were caught on Carbonated Glow DOA shrimp...that mad scientist Mark Nichols never seems to fail me.

Bear Lake Canoe Trail - Day 1

So I volunteered for the first time at Everglades National Park on the Bear Lake canoe trail. The Bear Lake Canoe Trail has been closed for years, it was dredged back in the 20's during the time of reclamation, the hundreds of miles of canals that severed and crippled the natural flow of water that has since been hampering the natural order of things in the ecosystem throughout South Florida.

The canal was dug and has remained since, covered by years of dead falls, brush, and whole trees due to storms and hurricanes. The tidal flow was no-existent until Thomas Rahill came along with his partner Jim and they volunteered to clear the debris and make Bear Lake accessible once more. The work those two men have done is nothing short of extraordinary, working with equipment dating back in design to the 1890's. Since this is a national park everything must be done with the utmost respect and care to ensure that no trace of our work is left behind.

Tom is quite the character and immediately gives the impression of a big-hearted woodsman, his knowledge of the Flora and fauna is incredible and it betrays his deep passion for the park in a most intriguing way. Out of respect for Tom and the project I will refrain from going into too much detail as to the work involved as their have been a few obstacles that could become obstructions if too much is said regarding the nature of the work. Once the trail is done Tom feels there will be little objection to continuing on from Bear Lake to Gator Lake and then eventually all the way down to Lake Ingraham, restoring the safe inland passage, that was the Homestead Canal, to Cape Sable.

I will be in this for the duration and although it is back-breaking, hot, sweaty, wet, gator-infested, mosquito-ridden, and tiring work I felt a sense of satisfaction like never before when at the end of the day I could say "I did this" and when it is all through I can only imagine how it will feel to see people paddling down the canal for the first time.

I got there early so I could go fish Flmingo for a couple of hours...jumped a tarpon near the marina and caught a few trout...damn full moon always messes up that morning bite.

Stand Up Kayaking for bass 04/08/09

Headed over to my parents house to visit and the lake looked so calm and placid...and that "historic" cold front never really reached historic proportions, this was made even more apparent by the fact that the bass and exotics were going crazy. The peekaboo hasn't seen use for quite some time but I feel that with the stand-up paddle the boat will get a new lease on life, its really well suited for poling and the stand-up paddle. Once the bonefish in Biscayne get acclimatized to this warm water again and the winds settle me and the peekaboo will be all over South Biscayne.

Morning Slob 04/06/09

Hit North Biscayne Bay early this mornng, started off pretty nice with an overslot snook! I was casting at what I thought were baby tarpon rolling when the glow gulp shrimp I was using got rocked. I thought she was a huge jack since she stayed down and peeled line like crazy. Almost flipped my kayak during the fight as she pulled me into the mangroves at one point and I was leaning out of the kayak as far as I could to keep the line out of the myriad of snags along that shoreline...it was the closest I've ever come to flipping a boat and I had wet butt the rest of the morning as a result, which was fine by me.

After that debacle we fished the flats for trout but got nothing but a few dinks and some cudas, Lefty had a fairly good-sized cuda on before we called it a day around 9am.

Keewadin 04/01-02/09

We hit the water from Shell Island road around 7:30am on Wednesday, the weather looked iffy and the conditions were not promising as we paddled out into the 15 knot headwind...building later to 20 with gusts to 25 as the afternoon wore on. That didn't stop the snook from chewin' though.

We fished the upper reaches of rookery bay catching a mixed bag throughout the morning and early afternoon. Snook up to 20'', little goliath groupers, whiting, jacks galore, and I managed to jump a nice tarpon in the channel leading to Hurricane pass, he smacked a White and Chanteuse bucktail bouncing on the bottom. We explore this little creek leading a big lagoon in Rookery bay, at high tide there was just barely enough water to make it through so fishing time was limited but we managed to pull a few snook out of the mangroves before the tide started heading out.

Keewadin itself was quite choppy, the wind and surf had churned the water up quite nicely and the snook were plentiful and uninhibited when it came to hitting DOA cals and mirro-dines. My previous experiences on Keewadin consisted of decent snook action in the morning and right before sunset, this was a constant bite from 4pm until sundown, we were sight casting snook surfing in the shore break! Most of the snook in the backcountry were small, less than 20'', on the beach they were a little bigger on average, and they were hungry.

We fished and drank till the sun went down, the when just drank, it was a cool and bug-free night with the breeze running through till the morning. I woke up at dawn and caught another dozen or so little snook on a white bucktail before something of decent size pulled my line-to-line knot out...always humbling, always makes me feel like a damn amateur.

We got going off the beach around 9am and drifted back down Hurricane pass with the wind and tide, we caught a few little snook on the way in but only in Hurricane Pass. the backcountry was deserted it seemed. We packed up and had lunch w/margaritas at the Iron Rhino off of US41 near Goodland.

Glad to see the snook off the beaches again, means more morning fishing for me close to home on Dania Beach, not the craziest snook spot in the world but 5 minutes from my house and productive when the time is right…and the time seems right as I must have nailed around 30 snook on the first day and a little more than a dozen on the paddle back the next day. Most of my fish hit either white bucktails and holographic DOA shrimp.

Long Point 03/18-19/09

So the weather changed our orginial plans of beach camping on Keewadin to camping on Round Island...but then the rains made us run all the way up to Sebastian Inlet. We ended up staying at Long Point State Park, just North of the Inlet, which was car-camping instead of paddling out to a secluded island but we made the best of it.

The campsite was actually very nice, every spot has direct access to the Indian River Lagoon via a series of sheltered lagoons and creeks. We made camp, relaxed and ate a light lunch before going out and exploring with the paddlecraft. The wind was still howling but from the East so we were sheltered from the worst out it, the fishing was ok only because of the weak cold front that brought all the rain down south. Lots of trout, saw a giant snook, and tons of manatees...Gina had her first run-in with those "murderous sea-cows" and she survived, as I knew she would.

We made it back to camp just in time for a little rain to roll through, we had been up late the night before and had also woken up very early that morning so we took a little nap and awoke just as the sun was coming back out, perfect timing. I cooked Gina her veal cutlet and then we built a fire and drank wine and beer till we fell asleep...quite glorious.

The next morning I woke up to watch the sunrise and go fishing, Gina slept away in the tent while I went out into the lagoon and caught a ton of trout, I eventually had me fill and returned to the camp to find gina just waking up. We broke camp and headed down to the inlet to check it out. Lots of surfers and fisherman, huge standing waves were breaking just outside of the inlet, some were pushing 10'-12', pretty gnarly.

We left the inlet and had some breakfast in Vero Beach, drove down A1A to Round Island near Stuart and went out paddling again. Round Island was placid and peaceful, not much for fishing but it was nice to get out and work off the deadly deadly breakfast of french toast, bacon, sausages, pancakes, toast, and home fries...ughh, deadly greasy breakfast I love so much.

On the return from one of the spoil islands near the west bank of the IRL the wind changed direction and picked up, Gina had a little trouble tracking into the wind but we eventually returned to the launch, loaded up and headed home...stopping at Sonic for more deadly greasy goodness...and milkshakes, delicious milkshakes.

Been computer lazy lately...

Ever since I returned from my nine day odessy into the deep Everglades backcountry I found myself having trouble with basic tasks involving technology...computers especially. I will eventually put a trip report up here but for now the pictures lie in wait. I am also hoping Flex will have "processed" some of his pictures so that I can put some of those up or links to his work, he did get some incredible shots out there.

Since I've returned there has been alot of fishing, its been very windy as of late, spring is here and the rains have begun to peak their heads above the horizon...soon the mosquitos will rule me in the mornings, not looking forward to that at all.

So with the wind blowing 20-25knots on my days off I have been fishing the Loxahatchee alot, I'm not complaining, the snook have been getting bigger and the bass as well but soon the warm weather will push those snook back out towards Jupiter Inlet and the beach snookin' season shall begin!

Instead of relating the many outings here are some pictures from the trips I did in March, lots of paddleboard shots too as now my wife can join me out on the water...pretty cool.

The Big Trip pt.II

Changes, changes, changes...to much to see and so little time will make us do crazy things...So after several "meetings" Flex and I have finally chosen a set route, well two set routes: Plan A and Plan B. Its always best to start at the beginning...and when you get to the end, stop:

02/15 - Day 1 - Coot Bay Pond to Osyter Bay Chickee - 15 miles. Whitewater Bay can get nasty with a little wind, thus its name, hopefully we'll have a good day as the kayaks will be at their heaviest on the first day, the tide is unimportant on this particular day.

02/16 - Day 2 - Oyster Bay Chickee to Highland Beach - 16 miles. This day will be one of the larger open water crossings, anything but a NW wind is okay but if it does blow hard out of the NW then we will have to lose a day taking the sheltered route via the Harney River.

02/17 - Day 3 - Highland Beach to Willy Willy - 17 miles. This is the whole reason for the trip: The Lostmans River, no other place in the Everglades holds as much appeal as this, the most remote area of the park. The water by Willy Willy is completely fresh so we are expecting gators galore as well as big snook wintering in the deep backcountry. Willy Willy is a Calusa mound and the surroundings of the campsite resemble a rainforest more than a swamp...very cool.

02/18 - Day 4 - Willy Willy to Camp Lonesome - 10 miles. A nice relaxed day, no tides to worry about, short mileage, and beautiful surroundings. Camp Lonesome is well known for having big Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes so we will have to be on guard...which reminds me I need a cockpit cover for the kayak to keep unwanted travelers from trying to hitch a free ride.

02/19 - Day 5 - Camp Lonesome Exploration - ? - There is no passage from Camp Lonesome to Canepatch (Shark River Terimus) but there are some "holes in the wall" that look like interesting places to go rippin' into. We are going to initially try and bushwhack our way into Canepatch but most likely we won't make it so we'll probably just try and break into the freshwater marshes behind the wall of mangroves for some pictures. If we do make it through to Canepatch we will have successfully have blazed a trail closed for decades and the whole trip will have to be changed...no worries.

02/20 - Day 6A - Camp Lonesome to Highland Beach via Wood River- 14 miles. The Wood River is quite infamous, it is one of the routes more prone to closure after storms as the already tight confines become blocked by deadfallen trees. The Wood River is a very constriciting route and it is never used by motorboats and still not so often by paddle-craft, definately something we must see for oursevles but once we have commited we will have to finish as there may not be room to turn around a 19' sea kayak. This route will be taken if the weather is crappy and will be crappy for the rest of the trip...otherwise we will take the "plan B" route along the outside of Cape Sable. We love the backcountry but both me and Flex will always prefer the beach in the end because...well, because life is a beach. Staying at Highland Beach again will set us up to re-enter the backcountry via the Harney River on our way to Canepatch.

02/20 - Day 6B - Camp Lonesome to Graveyard Creek - 18 miles. If the weather is nice we will push down the Graveyard Creek (supposedly haunted between the hours of 3-4am) as that will set us up perfectly for rounding the Cape the next day. This would require good weather for three days in a row as it will be three days of open water paddling in some of the more notorious waters in South Florida...my last experience here was in 8'-10' seas off NW Cape Sable, not fun for me.

02/21 - Day 7A - Highland Beach to Canepatch - 18 miles. Half open water and half Shark River, it will be a long day and we will have to start early as the tide starts incoming at the mouth of the Shark River at 6:50am and then slacks at 12:45pm...a very short window to paddle up into the tidally-unaffected backcountry. Canepatch is, along with Willy Willy and Camp Lonesome, one of the most remote campsites in the park. At one point it was a backwoods agricultural center and thus the name, Canepatch, sure enough you can find wild coffee, bananas, Sugarcane, and wild corn growing in the surrounding area. There is talk of a big and aggressive gator hanging out there so both and Flex will have our gator-fighting sticks at the ready!

02/21 - Day 7B - Graveyard Creek to NW Cape Sable - 15 miles - All open water, this is where I got beat to all hell last year and I'm not looking to repeat it. There is not one safe landing in that 15 miles so basically once you start you are commited to finishing, I'm praying for good weather.

02/22 - Day 8A - Canepatch to Watson River Chickee via "The Labyrinth" - 15 miles. Should be an easy day, the only thing to watch out for is paddling through the labyrinth, it is a maze but it will cut significant mileage from the trip.

02/22 - Day 8B - NW Cape Sable to East Cape Sable via Little Sable Creek/Lake Ingraham/East Cape Canal - 16 miles. I've always wanted to explore the inside of Lake Ingraham and until recently there was no way to know if these little unmarked creeks actually lead somewhere: http://gladesgodeep.ning.com/ - This is best site for those of us who enjoy going completely off the map and blazing our trail. The guys who run this site are very helpful fellows and through conversing with them we decided on our final trip. Without this site I would have never chanced paddling into Little Sable Creek or The Wood River as there is just no information out there regarding these little off-the-map areas. This should be the day we see crocodiles as Lake Ingraham is home to the largest population in Florida besides the Turkey Creek cooling canals.

02/23 - Day 9A - East Cape Sable to Flamingo - 11 miles. A good closure to a great trip, this paddle is a breeze as we've done this more than anything else in Everglades National Park...one of us will have to hitch/walk the 5 miles to Coot Bay Pond to get the truck though.

02/23 - Day 9B - Watsons River Chickee to Coot Bay Pond - 12 miles. Finally an easy day...but I know I just jinxed myself though.

Total mileage will be anywhere from 115-130 miles, I can't wait to get the hell out of this concrete jungle.

The Loxahatchee Revisted

So the front hit on my days off as usual and not to be beaten by the weather gods I decided to drag Lefty out to the Loxahatchee with me. I figured he'd never been there and last week I only paddled up to the first dam and turned around.

It was cold when we hit the water at 7:30am, oddly enough the fish were biting. We paddled upstream into the loxahatchee canal and casting the tiny gold rapala I was catching feisty little bluegills left and right, the occasional bass broke the cycle.

We paddled back downstream and into the river down past the first and second dams and past I-95. The water level was so low it was a completely new experience; I'd never seen the banks of the Loxahatchee before or the bottom for that matter, very picturesque.

On the way back the sun was warming up the sky and the bite really switched on, we found the snook on the return journey and in a 50yd stretch of river I got 16 to the boat, yep 16: Swordspine and common snook, with one of the common snook at nearly 20'' and what a fight on a 4lb test rod! With the drag and me screaming as the little 3lb snook made for the snags along the bottom...I got him though.

We lost track of time the fishing was so good, making it back to the launch around 4:30pm after a long yet satisfying day of catching. I have no idea how many bluegills and bass we caught, I caught one last snook near the put in before calling it a day. Definitely found me a new windy/cold day spot.

Ding Darling - Loxahatchee 01/28-29/08

On Wednesday morning me, and my good friends Kenny and Justin were going to Chokoloskee but somehow on the drive there we started talking about Ding Darling and one thing led to another…

We hit Ding at 07:30 and paddled straight out to McIntyre Creek, the trout were everywhere. We could have limited out right then and there but after a few dozen trout we decided to hit the Sound for reds.

We poked around the sound with more trout and no reds, fished the inside of Ding Darling on the way back to the second launch with more trout, trout, trout.

We decided to fish the second launch in order to find some damn redfish, our cooler was nearly full, just enough space for a smaller-slot red once we took our beers out from under the trout slime…nothing like a fishy beer on a hot day let me tell you…

I managed to get a flounder later in the day and a few under-sized mangroves before we called it quits…it seems like the trout were biting all day, they were everywhere, places I don’t usually catch them…guess they were hungry that day.

On Thursday I met up with Palm Beach Pete up in the Loxahatchee, Pete invited me along on his charter and we hit the water at 07:30. The Lox is such a beautiful place, it never ceases to impress me every time I go there: giant cypress, tannin-stained water, and great ultra-light action.

I had to dust off my freshwater gear and through lack of practice when I launched I brought my big saltwater tackle bag instead of my little freshwater box…I fished the whole way the Loxahatchee canal with a tiny terror-eyez watching Pete & co. get bass after bass while I could only manage two little bream. Pete loaned me a little gold rapala for the trip back downstream and only then did I find the snook:

I’ve never caught fat or swordspine snook before and I’m glad to have checked them off the list. I caught 3 little guys and one miniscule snook that wasn’t much bigger than the lure he hit.

We were off the water around noon and I rushed off to pick up my glasses at Costco, and now I have a piercing headache because I think the prescription is too strong…another week with broken lenses…again. It was a great day on the water and thanks to Pete for getting me dust of the micro reels, I’d forgotten how much fun 4lb test was!

South Biscayne Lately...

Been spending more time further south in Biscayne, I usually avoid the area as its simply just too vast to properly fish with a kayak. Sure you may have a great day and really be on the fish sometimes but without the ability to haul ass over to the oceanside flats you lose the ability to truly spend all day fishing for bonefish or permit, stupid permit.

I'm getting sick of chasing these snobby flats fish around, I finally see a big school the other day but I was on a charter so I had to have the cilent take a shot at them. He casted behind them and hooked up...with a jack, the little bastard came in a grabbed from the bonefish, go figure.

It's been nice paddling different areas for a change but I will always prefer the "trout factory" of North Biscayne to the Bonefish/permit tease that is South Biscayne.