Panama Red

We'll have to do it up…Fish, food, beer, whats not to like? Give us a shout when you decide to make the trip.

I use a lot of materials from hobby lobby, great stuff. I like those flies, topwater and subsurface are great fun. Red and white always does well and with the color of our water at the moment those two darner ones would be deadly. Let us know how you do…dave

We'll go buy a new hat…the rest is gravy (and beer).

It was great fun seeing Bills face when he caught that first redfish! Since the pinfish aren't out yet live shrimp on an 1/8 jig head made for easy fun fishing, he wants to see the fly rod work next time around…So I'll break out the nine weight with some stout tippet to get away from the pilings and see what happens, hopefully he'll join the addiction. There's something about fish tacos and beer that make all things right with the world.

Took a friend fishing for his first redfish Wednesday…He must be living right because we found a school of fish on a kamikaze mission to make his day very eventful. Since the goal was for Bill to catch fish and it was my job was to make sure it happened I left the fly rod at home and concentrated showing my friend a good time. Most folks learn best from a demonstration performance method of instruction…he caught on quickly! Many fish were caught, all upper slot and a couple came home for dinner. Success Now for the food porn… Soak fish in beer for about 30-45 minuets this gives it a nice light beer batter flavor, for a bit of zip add wasabi to the mix…Awesome Dip in egg Roll in Doritos Spicy Nachos and panko bread crumbs and Fry @ 350* Garnish as desired

Come on down, we'll go to the races one day and fish the next. Funny thing is all my saltwater fishing was done underwater with a scuba pro magnum 95 spear gun (Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo) but, if you don't watch your stringer they will try for a free meal. Used to love watching them swim through the kelp … Only fly fishing I did was in freshwater around Redding (way north) for trout. Or try the baby fly, could prove universal! I think our biggest problem is the long history of tourist feeding dolphins, when we moved here 20 years ago people were openly feeding them. Seems they have come to equate boats with easy pickings. You should see them during snapper season, can't tell you how many fish we've lost or had destroyed. As you said… It does make for some exciting moments when they run off with your fish.

Small whitebait patterns with lateral scale flash and white EP ultra shrimp on 40lb bite tippet All the areas in the bay are stained, the only clean water I found was near the pass…I saw no bait and very few fish other than spanish.

I went to one of my favorite haunts today, heard some good pompano reports and thought I would see what I could do. As it turns out I did nothing noteworthy…The recent cold snap didn't seem to do much for the fishing, I caught some spanish when I could get them to the boat before flipper got to them, some were decent size and pulled a good amount of drag. The rest…not so much. Results of my tug of war with flipper… I moved to get away from the spanish and the dolphin. No luck… Sill had fun.

I can tell you the fly looks great in person, also saw the article in skiff life, great job Bill! http://www.skifflife.com/681522/bill-laminacks-first-fred-hannie-lifelike-shrimp-bait/ I've got the boat loaded and ready to go to CIS this morning, will give you a call when I get home to let you know about all the pompano I'm going to catch. How did you do Saturday?

Glad you changed your mind, that dog will hunt.

That's real nice. Trying to build something like that would send me to the emergency room to try and reattach severed body parts. I'm not too good with wood or sharp tools…

They fish for shad here in florida, something I'm going to try one of these days. How do they pull? Those snakehead look like a pair of boots I owned in the 70's, you'll have to let us know how they taste. Glad you came out of your deep freeze for a day on the water, sounds like a great time.

Killer looking rod, can't wait to hear how it casts. I'm also curious as to which brand of guide you used, I have a couple of rods with recoils…tad bit noisy, buy not enough to care.

Great looking flies AP. I tied a bunch of flies using EP brushes this last winter, looking forward to trying them out in this summer. Look forward to seeing your results, they look like serious fish catching machines.

That's it, also the last time I fished there. I launched into north bay at deer point dam…about five minuets from Panama City by boat.

I was soaked and beat by the time I got back to the ramp, but the time spent on that pond was awesome. It's the same place I went over a year ago and caught a couple of reds just before we did those back to back saltwater swaps. Water was a lot dirtier than in this pic, with a tad lighter wind in the bay. I went out this morning and it was like someone turned off the heat… However, not nearly as bad as y'all. As for the drag strip…There is talk in the household of building a 70's style street fighter motorcycle ala Kawasaki 750-4, but with a twist. Same style frame set up, big tank and drag bars…but will use an older bored and stroked H-D Sportster motor with a nasty cam. Set back foot controls, flat black, no chrome street racer! (add male grunting sounds) And I leave my boat and fly rod collection to… Too old to race like an 18 yo idiot, but young enough at heart to cruise. At this age it's more important to look and sound bad ass than to prove it.

I think the operation turned out well…Not many folks can say they have binobo ass fat as lip enhancement. Binobo: Is distinguished by relatively long legs, pink lips, dark face and tail-tuft through adulthood, and parted long hair on its head. The bonobo is found in a 500,000 km2 (190,000 sq mi) area of the Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Africa. The species is omnivorous and inhabits primary and secondary forests, including seasonally inundated swamp forests. The bonobo is popularly known for its high levels of sexual behavior. Sex functions in conflict appeasement, affection, social status, excitement, and stress reduction. It occurs in virtually all partner combinations and in a variety of positions. This is a factor in the lower levels of aggression seen in the bonobo when compared to the common chimpanzee and other apes. Bonobos are perceived to be matriarchal and a male's rank in the social hierarchy is often determined by his mother's rank.

Gota love the furies they get the award for most bad ass. A popsicle. Really? Man we don't need any more rain, the water is dirty enough as it is. Give me a holler when you get back, we'll do it up.

I'm not saying… After couch fishing for so long it was killer to get out and wet a line! Hoping to get out this weekend after the weather passes through, thanks. I keep telling the wife that the doctor said no physically demanding work…Launching the boat and fishing isn't work, it's recreation. Right? Are y'all going to get some of the cold weather from this front?

Very dirty, I was really disappointed at the tannin color. The coming rain is not going to help either, hoping it's cleaner along the beaches. Thanks PJ, it's a salt pond surrounded by trees, not the best place in the heat of summer the no see-ums gather in mass there. I caught the spring break nippers today, a small but dedicated crew.

Thanks fellas, a great day for sure. The wind is crazy stupid, I wanted to fish the gulf side of crooked island sound for pompano and look for cobia and jacks…Not on a bet! It's supposed to stay windy through Thursday, looks like honey do house cleaning for me. Now for a hot pad and some Advil….

I went fishing, with a boat, water and everything! There was even a strange man standing on the poling platform with arms outstretched making a proclamation for all to hear, the crowd at the ramp went insane!!!. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJo18lvnGYk It was more than a bit windy and not exactly what I call skiff friendly, however, I had to go. I went to a little out of the way spot that gets almost zero pressure, even when the wind howls your are almost guaranteed to be alone. First fish on a new rod & reel, a fine little mangrove snapper, my first ever on fly. Next stop there were a number of small trout like fish with a need to meet the fat man at the end of the rod. A bit further up the way a handsome golden redfish came out to see what all the yelling of "can you dig it" was all about. The flies….didn't take a picture of the craft fur shrimp the trout were eating. Not an extraordinary day of fishing under normal circumstances, but after waiting since last May or June just to be able to go fishing…. It was epic to say the least.

I see the big lip secrets out…I actually heat the tube with the adapter still in place, I just pull it back a smidge before heating. This ensures a round hole and allows you to control the size of the lip…Is that strange sounding or what?

Those are some sweet looking shrimp and will fill the bill nicely. I tie a craft fur shrimp with medium eyes and fish it on an intermediate line, works great for pomps…

Pompano in the surf and spanish off the first trough. Tout are still holding in deeper holes off the flats for another week or two, heavy fur shrimp or clousers will bring fish… Nice flies and great pictures. Sent you a PM….dave