Winter Issues

One of the things that keeps me entertained on the web other than blogs, are the many free e-Magazines that are out there. There's a plethora of them, and they all offer a ton of informative and entertaining information. Two of my favorites just released their Winter issues. You should definitely check them out. 

a TIGHT LOOP

Fly Fishing the Midwest

Follow the link - Slip Sliding - Winter 2015

Southern Culture on the Fly

Follow the link - The Winter of our discontent. Winter 2015

Birds of Prey

Whenever I am out driving around, fishing, kayaking, or doing whatever. I am always on the lookout for birds of prey. I keep a pocket book in my car, so, I can better identify what I had seen while driving, or when I get back from a fishing outing. 

Here's a shot of a Red-tailed Hawk that I am quite proud of. Captured this while the sun was setting. The hawk was eyeballin' me and took off shortly after this photo. Thanks, for the profile shot!!

The pocket guide I use.

(National Audubon Society Pocket Guide: North American Birds of Prey)

Got 'em

The rabbit was playing it smart and avoiding the box trap ever since it worked the first time. Who would have thought that would have worked to begin with. Hahaha

MONDAY

I brought 2 of my trout/kayak fishing nets. I wasn't able to join the guys in the lower level to attempt to capture the trapped rabbit, but I was able to watch from above, and help as the "eye in the sky." Unfortunately, my buddy Arik was not sneaky enough to bag this furball.

TUESDAY

We set the box trap up again with hopes the bunny has forgotten about how it works. No luck.

That little rabbit was wise.

We tried coaxing the bunny into the area, but it would simply avoid the box. Heck it seemed it felt safer closer to one of us. Our trapping time was almost up for the day, so, I gave the nets a shot, and came up empty.

After taking down the trap and calling it a day, we were just about to walk away, and the rabbit came out of the bushes again, sort of putting itself in a corner. I quickly grabbed my nets and raced on over, and quickly tried to fool it into running into one of my nets. The rabbit quickly juked left, right, left, right. It began to look a lot like Barry Sanders with it's swift moves, but eventually I became the victor. One wrong move, and I had it.

The rabbit won some parting gifts.

The rabbit was released in a courtyard on the ground level. It's an area I walk past daily on my way to the fitness center at 5 AM. I often see bigger rabbits out eating and hopping around. Hopefully, one of those bigger rabbits is one of it's parents, and it can now teach it the ways of surviving. I just hope we didn't spoil the little bunny, too much, when it was trapped. (Thinking about it, it ate like a king - carrots and apples galore.) As the bunny left my net, it quickly started eating some of the plants in the open areas, and seemed like it was in a familiar area. Which is a good sign.

Hope to see you around little buddy.

The last thing I told the bunny was, "Don't get eaten by a hawk." ..."Keep your eyes on the skies little man." (Don't know if it was a male or female.)

The Salt

Fly fishing the Gulf of Mexico....

What an experience.

I stayed in Fort Meyers for 3.5 days, and I fished the Gulf 4 times. I was at the beach gearing up every morning as the sun would rise and illuminate the sky revealing the vast water I intended to fish.

Day One

I was very timid getting out. I started casting from the shore, based on the knowledge that was shared with me from friends. There were 2 guys that were far out, about 300 yards away from the shore, and at first, I thought they were sitting on paddle boards or float tubes...I was wrong. They had waded all the way out there following the shallow sand bar that went for miles up and down the coast. There was another fly fisherman there who was on vacation there (His daughters spring break) from the Midwest (Indianapolis). He gave me some more tips, and even showed me the way to wade out to where those other 2 guys were. I caught no fish that morning, but I did find a horseshoe crab. Zero fish were caught.

I went back to that spot in the evening, and had a bunch of follows from some sea trout. I even managed to hook up with one, but I was unable to bring the speck to hand. Usually, I don't mind losing a fish, but this time...pleased, I was not.

Day Two

Decided to fish the same area (It's only 10 mins away from where I was staying...I wanted to maximize my time on the water). The fishermen the day before were local guys, who told me that, that area we were fishing is normally a happening area in the morning, and you can spot boils in the water up and down the beach line. Success!! I hooked up, and brought to hand my first fish from the Gulf of Mexico, a sea trout. I couldn't have been more excited about the catch. I was quick to lip it using the grips I borrowed from a good friend (Lucid Grips). That fish was going no where! After admiring the beautiful fish, snapping some photos, and releasing it, I felt relieved. Goal achieved....catch a salt water fish.

Day Three

The wind was fierce, and completely blew out the area I intended to fish. So, I payed the toll and fished on the backside of one of the islands on the Sanibel Causeway. I did not catch anything. The Indianapolis fly fisherman had the same idea and arrived an hour after I did. He was able to hook up with a few lady fish before calling it a morning. I unfortunately did not catch anything but a tan.

My salt water adventure was a success. Big thanks, to the sea trout that gave me a salty smile!

I kayaked and fished Lovers Key State Park. I floated under a tree and was 20 ft from a beautiful Osprey.

I made a few casts at Bowman's Beach on Sanibel Island. I also, got to see a wild manatee, Florida alligator, and a two person kayak share the same water way.

Can't wait to return, and catch some more salty species.

I would also like to say a big "Thank you!" to Tim Adkins over at Critical Angling. Tim has helped me a great deal with the flies that I was tying for the Gulf. Search the hashtag #yetmmoreunsolicitedadvicefromtim LOL!

Nature = Amazing

If there something that bonds all of us fly fishermen/women, besides fly fishing, I'd say it would be an appreciation for the outdoors, and wildlife...nature.

Nature - It truly never ceases to amaze me. I am always stumbling across new and interesting information when I'm not outdoors, and then when I am, I always see something new and interesting. My eyes and ears are constantly wandering when I'm out on a river or lake. I'm not searching for anything in particular, more so, for the appreciation of where I am and what's around me at that given moment. You never know what you're going to see or hear.

Check out this video I found in my news feed on FaceBook. It's about how the reintroduced wolves are changing Yellowstone National Park. Who would have thought a pack of wolves would have such an affect on so many different things. (I'm sure Wildlife Biologist expected results like this, hence, why they reintroduced them to Yellowstone.)

Thanks, for reading my babble!