2014 Tarpon Rookie Competition

[Piker20 0]

There you go. It looks good. One Question I have is your choice of line guides. Just from vid they look a little larger than I would have thought. Is this to help with blank action or just the video or another reason?

[Panama Red 0]

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.

[Mudskimmer 0]

Thanks. I added extra large REC guides on purpose. The guy building the rod says it is still super light. I just wanted any loops or knots that I tend to create to pass easily through the guides. Maybe not the most aesthetically pleasing option and not something you usually see on commercial rods. Where I am fishing there aren't many opportunities to hook up so I wanted to cover all bases. I have been fishing a Sage 10 RPLX for a long time now and truthfully never learned how to cast it real well (although going up a line size helped). The Sage was a beast though, I could dead lift a small child! Anyway, I hope this one is easier to sling and enough backbone for those 100 pounders. We'll see how it performs in a couple months.

[Peterjay 0]

Good looking stick Skimmer. Hope we see a few bends in it this summer. BTW, FWIW: my spies tell me that the redfish numbers in NC look really good - hopefully, we'll be in for another banner year here. Haven't seen any reds just yet, but I hear they're starting to turn up in the usual spots. If the wind ever dies down, I'm gonna get out there and do some recon.

[Mudskimmer 0]

I picked up my custom 11 wt from my friend yesterday. I think he did a real nice job with it. Tried a bit of casting in his pasture and even with my unruly style I was able to sling it out pretty good. I haven't bought a new rod in over 10 years. Man are they light. I like the REC reel seat and guides so far. Hardly notice the guides are there. Here are some pics of the finished product. Only thing now is for the first fish to show.

 

 

[Panama Red 0]

Beautiful rod, think I can heat the tarpon trembling in their fins…

[Mudskimmer 0]

Well, despite my best efforts the competition is still wide open. I did find some rollers and bubble trails to cast to on Monday but no takers. Monday morning was actually perfect for the big herring. Little to no wind and water temps in the high 70s. Tuesday got pretty windy and rough. I fished anyway but no sightings. The bilge even came on a few times, little too rough for a flats skiff. Only saw 2 green heads in two days and I made sure the locals won't be bothered by those two ever again. However, not likely to make a dent in the billions of relatives still alive in the marshes. Anyway, sorry no fish pics but here are a couple of stills.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Yes, oversized guides can be helpful on bigger rods - but there's a trick to remember that will actually save your day, your rod, and keep you connected when a really big fish sends fly line with a knot or tangle through your standard snake guides.... The moment you know you've got a line problem that's going to hang up instead of pass through your guides -simply turn your reel up to get the guides on top of the rod. You'll be amazed to see how a tangle will pass right through the guides in this position. I've actually had more than one angler who was able to stay connected that way until we could address the tangle or knot after it passed through the guides with a fish as big as 100lbs. Held in the normal position that same knot or tangle wouldn't make it through the first guide -let alone all of them. When you invert the rod, snake guides no longer can grab a knot at all (unless it's just too big to pass through at all...

 

By the way, can't claim that we're doing very well now on those big silver fish. I haven't had many fly anglers recently - my last one did hook up nicely on a 60lb fish but it wore through the 80lb shocker... Here's a pic or two to show what we're up to.... The first pic is that pesky tarpon, the second and third are a 19lb Black Drum on a big black tarpon fly (no, they don't fight very hard...). My spinning anglers have been hooking big fish, up to 100lbs almost every day - but they're not staying connected very well either....

[Peterjay 0]

Well, despite my best efforts the competition is still wide open. I did find some rollers and bubble trails to cast to on Monday but no takers. Monday morning was actually perfect for the big herring. Little to no wind and water temps in the high 70s. Tuesday got pretty windy and rough. I fished anyway but no sightings. The bilge even came on a few times, little too rough for a flats skiff. Only saw 2 green heads in two days and I made sure the locals won't be bothered by those two ever again. However, not likely to make a dent in the billions of relatives still alive in the marshes. Anyway, sorry no fish pics but here are a couple of stills.

Good report - sorry there are no catches in it. I'm also sorry I wasn't able to make the trip. Yeah, it was really howling yesterday - it couldn't have been a lot of fun out there. I'm hoping the cold winter thinned out the green heads somewhat. They're around, but not unbearable so far. Maybe Arthur will drown a few million of the little wretches.

[Mudskimmer 0]

Capt. Bob, thanks for the tip. A hookup up here is such a rare occurrence I'd hate to lose one due to a big line tangle. Those hard mono core lines I was using tend to tangle up easy, at least for me.

 

PJ, I wish you could have made it. I didn't mention it before but I also scouted out a good bit of the flats and creeks at high tide but didn't find any reds. Saw turtles, crabs, and rays up on the flats but no redfish. Not sure we are going to see the numbers that were around last year unless they are just late arriving.

[Piker20 0]

blimey, think there needs to be more beer sunk and more serious fishing undertaken. We (the collective salty crowd) can't have a second year of a blank on the Tarpon front.

[Peterjay 0]

Capt. Bob, thanks for the tip. A hookup up here is such a rare occurrence I'd hate to lose one due to a big line tangle. Those hard mono core lines I was using tend to tangle up easy, at least for me.

 

PJ, I wish you could have made it. I didn't mention it before but I also scouted out a good bit of the flats and creeks at high tide but didn't find any reds. Saw turtles, crabs, and rays up on the flats but no redfish. Not sure we are going to see the numbers that were around last year unless they are just late arriving.

Man, I hope they're coming. I checked some of the photos I did last year of the reds I was seeing in the river itself, and they were dated late July. Can't say I saw much up until then. Once Arthur blows out of here and the temps moderate a bit, I'm gonna hike out into the short grass and see what I can see. The forage is plenty thick - tons of baitfish and crabs everywhere - something's gotta be hungry out there.

[mikechell 0]

Is that the "Jaws" music I hear in the distance?

[Peterjay 0]

They're out there Mike. I've seen some sandbar sharks where I fish, and the old-timers who bottom-fish in the evenings tell me there are bull sharks occasionally. No law against swimming there, but I don't see any lines forming.

[Mudskimmer 0]

blimey, think there needs to be more beer sunk and more serious fishing undertaken. We (the collective salty crowd) can't have a second year of a blank on the Tarpon front.

 

Piker, hey we are just getting started on the season here in the Mid-Atlantic. I'll be back at it again at the end of the month. Its still a long shot but I am not throwing in the towel just yet.