A time ago I took a correspondence course from the Shakey The Mohel School of Film. Anyway, here’s some less than stable shots from an old trip* that at least shows somewhat the blast of chasing false albacore. *(Repurposed from a while back, just because.)
Tagged: backing, false albacore, shakey
Reading my Sunday New York Times, I’m greeted with this advertisement on page 11. Whew, I was worried BP was going to try and sweep this under the carpet once it disappeared from the news cycle. I think they could have gone with some better photo choices though.
Did we not see this coming? The Chicago Sun-Times called out BP three years ago for dumping toxins into Lake Michigan. A Wikipedia page lists a long litany of offenses, mentioning that Mother Jones twice named BP one of the world’s 10 worst corporations. Another report says BP’s safety record is worse than you imagined. I fully realize it does nothing now to care and express anger after the fact. Do we need to refocus our conservation priorities? What good do slot limits and cutting up the little rings on plastic six-pack holders do if one careless, or possibly malevolent, corporation can so effortlessly undo any collective environmental gains? And who else has the potential to take a dump in our backyard?
Tagged: BP Oil Disaster
You can see a few more close-ups of my digits in Tosh Brown’s gallery here. There are actually a lot of pictures of better fly anglers, as it’s the second wave of photos from our in-progress book project. It ain’t about me. It’s about guys like Bob Popovics and the Salty Flyrodders and Jason Puris and John Page Williams. Guys who drop what they’re doing and alter their life patterns around the migrations of fish. And also the guides and conservationists who make it all their life’s work. We’ve got a couple of more legs to go, and some of us have a couple thousand more words to write, but it’s all good.
The picture above is grainy but it illustrates the reason why grown men leave home at 3:30 in the morning to be on the water at first light when it’s a cutting 36 degrees, with no respite on an open boat. Had the photographer (me) not sucked, he would have captured more elegantly the 80 pound bluefin busting the surface right in front of the boat. Instead he got a small bit of fin. I am not the hardcore one here. That distinction belongs to Capt. Chris Hessert and his buddy Squid Vicious, who took me along on one of their Quixotic quests to hook a bluefin on spinning gear. I experienced it a week ago with Capt. Dave Azar and had to try…
Tagged: bluefin tuna, Manhattan Fly, winter fishing
Will be watching on Monday from somewhere.
Tagged: black marlin, Hooked, national geographic
Michael Heintz of Denver sent in this picture of a bull dolphin fought, caught, and released on a trip to Cabo.
Tagged: bluewater beasties, dolphin, mahi, reader pics
Done properly, catch and release is an awesome conservation tool. Mishandle the fish and you’re throwing back dead meat. Hannah Belford over at Flyfishergirl.com is holding a contest to promote proper fish handling and why its important to let big fish keep swimming. Check it out and maybe you’ll win a reel while you’re at it.
Tagged: catch and release, ethical anglers, fly fisher girl, steelhead
The Hamilton Eat-Me is my favorite fly. The Florida guide Scott Hamilton introduced me to his pattern 10 years ago on a trip where we used the same fly to catch baby tarpon, dolphin (mahi), and false albacore. He gave me one and the next day I used it freshwater fishing and caught largemouth and peacock bass. Since then I’ve caught 21 different salt and freshwater species with an eat-me. Hamilton says the species count is well over 100. (Like Alex said today on 40 Rivers, a good streamer/baitfish pattern will work for just about anything.) It’s a simple, durable, deadly baitfish pattern. I like simple. I like durable. Deadly, too. When I started epoxying my fingers together tying a few years ago, I…
Tagged: eat me flies, fly tying, mono thread, Scott Hamilton, simplicity, super hair
My buddy Fritz just got back from Bimini and said the Bimini Big Game Club has closed. The island has undergone a lot of change the past few years, and not for the good.
