Southern Culture on the fly

Who is up for 150 pages of Monday morning procrastination? Another great online magazine from none other than here in the Southeast. Full time guide David Grossman from Ashville, NC has put together a killer 'zine with way more info than ads and some great photography to boot. Check out their site, Southern Culture on the fly , where they released issue 0.5 last spring and now have published Issue #1.

S.C.O.F

New Contemporary Sportsman

The latest Contemporary Sportsman is out! What could be better than wingshooting and flyfishing in the same place?!?

Damn Good Read!

Introducing The Humidor

If you don’t know, I dig a good cigar, but a good cigar doesn’t have to come from an island 90 miles from Key West nor does it have to cost more than ten bucks. Don’t get me wrong, I have been lucky enough to have my fair share of Cuban Cigars (real ones) not the counterfeit ones you buy when you go to the Bahamas on a family cruise. I stand by a Montecristo #2 when I have that option but my income and legal matters inhibit me from keeping a few on hand.

You will find most of my cigars I discuss here will be rolled in the DR, Nicaragua and Honduras. Rarely will I spend over $6 a stick “retail” or $3 a stick when ordering online. Currently I have a box in my humidor that I paid $1.75 a stick! Just as with wine there are gems that are easy on the wallet, you just have to do your homework and try different sticks until you learn what you like. Personally, I enjoy full flavored cigars with oily maduro wrappers and Nicaraguan fillers. Some that top my list are the CAO Mx2, Rocky Patel’s The Edge and a Diesel Unholy Cocktail. Each is an excellent after meal smoke with thick velvet smoke and paired with a scotch or bourbon whiskey.  For a nice day time smoke I turn to a lighter mild-medium smoke that I can enjoy on the boat or at a tailgate. Some of the best are Nick Perdomo’s Slow Aged 826, Indian Tabac Classic or Limited Reserve and a Gran Habano Vintage.

Disclaimer* With the exploring that it takes to find excellent cigars that wont break the bank be prepared to smoke one or two that are dog shit. My advice, don’t just buy a cheap box. I always try new sticks in singles or five packs.*

Hopefully I can introduce some new brands to cigar smokers or help someone who enjoys a cigar but doesn’t want to blow ten bucks a stick. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for supporting local cigar shops that bring something to the table, but all too frequently you find a shop owner that doesn’t want to take the time to help you out if you don’t have the coin to spend $250 on a box. But, for those that are willing to help and teach you a few things and know what you like and what your budget is, support them! I have a great shop by my house; Tobacco Cove on Baymeadows Road is the shit. Great people and great smokes, plus every month or so they do a tasting where a cigar rep brings a bunch of samples and they hand out free smokes and have raffles to win stuff. Also, the gem of a serious shop is they have a few sticks that they created just for them. Tom, from Tobacco Cove has a smoke dubbed the Gringo that resembles The Edge from Rocky Patel. It rocks, plus doesn’t carry the same “brand name” price tag. Stop in and introduce yourself and be honest what you’re looking to try and spend, they will point you in the right direct. There are tons of incredible smokes in the $5.50 and under price range to try so you can get a feel for what you like before you order boxes or sampler packs from places like cigarbid and cigarsinternational.

So, check out The Humidor page for what I smoke and reviews. 

The cool down begins

Unfortunately, other responsibilities coupled with sub-par fishing conditions have keep me off the water and the fly rod in the tube lately but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. Last week after work dad and I got on the water for some low tide action and although we boated a few fish there really wasn’t anything to get really excited about but looking forward is a different story. The fall cool down is starting to happen and is making the fish; both fresh and salt become more active every day.

Saturday morning I was on the water before day light and was greeted with an incredible sunrise along with a howling NNE wind. Since it was less than optimal fly rod conditions I decided to use my time wisely and scout new areas that were exposed due to the low tide. The low water offers the opportunity to see what fish attracting structure lies in the maze of salt marsh creeks plus there is always that chance you will find a redfish cruising the shoreline with his back out of the water. After four wind blown hours the Gheenoe was back on the trailer and headed home… I had yard to mow. 

Seatrout on Fly - White and Chart Fro-Toad

With the lack of success from the morning trip and finally getting all the chores done I spent 30 minutes in the pond behind the house with some bass poppers. Working the bank yielded a few over zealous one pounders, until the proverbial “last cast”. The fish was just over four pounds and certainly made the day, until watching the ass kicking in the swamp later that night. 

Bass on hand painted popper

With Monday looming I decided to erase my case of the Mondays with an after work trip in the Gheenoe to fish some of the places I scouted in Saturday. The tide was high at 4:05p and although I do not like fishing a high as much I knew by the time I hit the water it would be flowing hard and hoped the fish would be moving. Small feeder creeks dumping water over oysters produced about a dozen trout that were carbon copies of one another at 14 inches. As the sun went behind the trees I opted to change over to a topwater plug and on the first cast landed a nice redfish that was slightly overweight to say the least. It resembled an over fed house cat with its big gut and tiny looking head. See for yourself. 

Red on Topwater

Also, this will be the last evening trip I will ever elect not to bring a cigar. The bugs were all over me and if not for long sleeves, pants and a buff it would have been miserable.  

Monday's Sunset

Again I apologize for the iPhone pictures.

Low Tide on Fly

It is hard to say that anything tops tailing reds on the flooded grass flats but hunting them at low tide sure comes close. Last night, there was a predicted 0.4 low tide at 6:00pm which makes for a perfect after work trip. I loaded up the Gheenoe, grabbed my cigar and fly gear and was on the water at 5:45pm. As soon as I arrived at the creek, I was greeted by two reds crashing bait down the shoreline.  I picked up the 8weight first since the wind was in my face but as quickly as the reds showed, they were gone. I began blind casting as I worked my way down the bank and picked up two small trout.  Although the trout are fun, looking for that big red was the mission. I abandoned the blind casting and just patrolled the banks waiting for my shot. I set up in front of a pocket where fish were working but couldn’t get to them in time. Thankfully, a red came out of the creek and into the pocket with his back out of the water. A well placed fly a few feet out front and he slammed it. 

Upper Slot Red

The one thing that differs from the flood tide fish is these reds ability to fight. On the warm flood tide flats there usually isn’t a lot of room for these reds to run plus there is not as much oxygen in the water and they tire quickly. I noticed that the water temperature has fallen some from the upper 80’s we have been seeing and believe that was one of the reasons for all the activity. From September to December or until the cold weather really shows up can be the best time to fish in Jax. For me, canoes, kayaks or small skiffs are the best choice for this area and especially during low tide sight fishing. Being able to float in six inches or less quietly will increase the number of fish you see and catch exponentially. The fly producing lately is the Fro-Toad.

Fro-Toad

Tied with a Finnish raccoon tail, palmered estaz body, and Enrico Puglisi’s crustacean brush plamered over the estaz to the front. I comb out the EP brush which gives it a larger profile in the water and gives it a fro look. Tied in a myriad of colors this fly has great action due to the coon tail and weight and water absorption is minimal with the EP fibers. I get all materials at Black Fly Outfitters since they carry everything from normal to weird materials in all colors. Remember, buy local and you get the best advice.

Only in Patagonia

Beginning around 38 degrees south latitude and continuing all the way to Tierra del Fuego, the region known as Patagonia is home to some of the most diverse landscapes and collection of wildlife found anywhere on this planet.  One particular activity draws thousands of likeminded individuals each year to the famed rivers of Patagonia, fly-fishing. 

With winter in South America soon approaching I needed a reason to visit some of our lodges in Patagonia or I was just going to have to wait till next year.  Luckily, we had a group of three anglers headed to Challhuaquen Lodge at the end of March and they allowed me to be the fourth.  Not only is it important to Trek to travel with our clients and visit our business partners but we are dedicated to always finding the next best place; enter Estancia Tecka.  Tecka has been on our radar for sometime, from client recommendations to our own curiosity, it needed to be experienced. 

The trip down was easy and uneventful, flight to Buenos Aires with connection into Esquel and 45 minutes later we had arrived at Challhuaquen Lodge.  The lodge sits high above the banks of the Futaleufu which provided us with stunning views of the snow capped Andes Mountains.  The group, consisted of a farmer, a former assistant athletic director and a guy in the “petroleum industry”, all of which were from Texas.  Needless to say, they were a fun bunch. 

The first two days at Challhuaquen began with light drizzle as snow fell in the higher elevations of the Andes.  Christian, our guide, worked the drift boat as we nymphed our way down steam through deep runs and freestone flats.  As the temperatures dropped we moved to deeper runs where we found nice concentrations of fish in the 16-18in size range. Copper John’s and Prince Nymphs in size 18 worked during the overcast conditions but with an afternoon of sunshine, a caddis hatch brought the trout to the surface. Day three, the group headed to Rio Rivadavia located in Los Alerces national park.  If you had one public stretch of river to fish the rest of your life, this could be the one.  This free flowing river is a connection between a chain of lakes in the national park and with pool names like, the aquarium; you can see why many anglers would die happy here.  Rivadavia offers, riffles, pools, freestone flats, undercut banks and over hanging willows.  If this river does not have it, it doesn’t exist and the fish here are smart, real smart, and have shoulders.  If you have never heard 5x tippet pop like a .22 caliber rifle, you just might get your chance here.  The eight hour float flew by as the incredible scenery caught us in a daydream but the quick flash from a rising rainbow snapped us back to business quickly.  This float trip was my last day on the water with the Texans as tomorrow I headed south to Estancia Tecka. For the incredibly tough conditions we faced I have rarely seen guides work as hard as Cristian and Guillermo when the odds were stacked against them. As we fished hard, they worked harder; rowing, repositioning, and trying different techniques and flies to zero in on what the fish wanted. I honestly believe if we wanted to fish into the night they would have smiled and said, “no problem”. At that point, there really is nothing more you can ask of your guide. Back at the lodge, Chef Herman, certainly pulled his weight as well. Fresh bread bake every morning plus wonderful, meat and fish dishes that even would make to lady in your life jealous. Challhuaquen is one of the most well rounded lodges I have visited, catering to the hardcore fisherman and leisure traveler alike. 

The following morning, Eduardo picked me up to make the drive to Tecka.  From the scouting report, I knew it was a huge working ranch and offered many miles of private water to be fished but upon arrival I found no amount of study could have prepared me for what I was about to experience. A brief history on Estancia Tecka reveals a London based company purchased 385,000 acres in Patagonia in 1910 and called themselves The Tecka Land Company. The original cattle brand can be seen painted high on a sheer rock face and is evident throughout ranch to this day. In the 1960’s the Ochoa family, from Spain, purchased the ranch with additional acreage, making Estancia Tecka a total of 436,000 acres of the best sheep farming land in the region. Presently, Estancia Tecka still maintains over 95,000 sheep and 5,000 head of cattle, plus the two lodges with approx 95 miles of private trout water.

The first night was spent at Tecka Lodge, a.k.a. Headquarters, which is where their main offices and heads of the ranch live.  This lodge was the original ranch house constructed in 1921 and is home to framed original documents and pictures taken between the 10’s and 20’s.  I caught myself reading translated documents and looking intently at photos for more than an hour before dinner.  An excellent lamb chop with rice was on the menu for the evening finished with a rich blueberry cheesecake.  I dozed off scouring the property on Google Earth in anticipation of what tomorrow would bring.

Martin, the head guide, has been at Tecka since their first season thirteen years ago.  He knows every river, spring creek and resident Andean Condor by name.  For the next two and a half days we became pretty good friends as he showed me everything this incredible ranch had to offer.  We started at the Rio Tecka which is a spring creek that originates on the property and is the ranche’s namesake.  This creek bends its way through the estancia for over 25 miles with grass beds, small riffles and over hanging willows.  A size 10 hopper pattern landed me my first Tecka rainbow and although only 10 inches he fought like he was 18.  We stalked our way upstream taking turns casting behind rocks and making drifts down undercut banks. We fished carefully upriver, using brush as our cover and in some instances backing off the river 15 feet to remain unseen. My hopper was half way down an undercut bank when it was ambushed by a stocky brown trout. Martin commented, “now, that is what Tecka is all about”. We continued up the bank crossing the river multiple times before making it to an area of heavily wooded willow trees.  We scanned every over hanging branch looking for that one fish that everyone comes so far for.  Holy shit, there she was, a huge brown, now all I needed to do was make the cast. Keep in mind; it’s a sunny day, surrounded by willows and brush in 20+ mph winds.  It took five casts to place my parachute Adams exactly where she wanted it, but she wanted it, all 30 inches of her.  After I calmed down and cleaned my language up a bit, we moved on, looking for more like her.   

The next day I moved lodges to Caridad, which lies on the banks of the Corcovado River in the Southwestern section of the ranch.  Caridad was originally on an adjacent ranch to Tecka before the Ochoa Family purchased it along with the surrounding property.  The lodge was constructed in the 40’s and still holds all the old world charm with original photos and large wood burning fireplace.  Martin and I shared breakfast together before making our way to the drift boat on the Corcovado.  Unfortunately, our fishing was cut short as the strong winds of an impending cold front moved in and we had to ditch the drift.  One of the incredible assets of this property is the amount of different terrain and diverse water each angler has at their disposal.  From what could have been an end to a day of fishing at any other lodge, we were able to move to a location on the leeward side of a set of hills in a valley protected from the wind.  The spring creek Tucu-Tucu allowed for a few hours of fishing before lunch that filled the void left by the windy conditions at the Corcovado drift. 

The afternoon was spent exploring and allowed some time to hike into a spring creek that is virtually inaccessible due to the surrounding terrain.  Martin and I hiked into a creek not seen on any maps or typically ever fished.  We came to the bottom of a canyon after a 20 minute hike down rocky slopes and through thorn bushes.  This over grown creek stays hidden from above by the dense willows and hardwood trees that line its banks, which also made it extremely difficult to fish.  Long story short, it was worth it.  In four hours we only made half a dozen true casts, the rest were bow and arrow and roll casts that yielded strong, very wild fish. Now, don’t think for a second that Martin or I will give the true location or name of this creek, but understand it is there and you just might fish it, without knowing. In three days I found Estancia Tecka to be the real deal and a must for any fly fisherman looking for a diverse, private and unique Patagonia experience. 

Thank you to Gustavo, Guillermo, and Cristian at Challhuaquen Lodge and Frederico, Martin and Nicole at Estancia Tecka for making this the ultimate Argentine Trout trip.

Farm Ponds

It has been way too long since my last post but at least I have a weak excuse. Between changing jobs, moving and a little remodeling this has taken a back seat Well it wasn't even in the back seat, it was left behind. So we're back and ready to make a better run at this blog. I wanted to start with a killer afternoon on a farm pond in Ocala, Fl last summer. Those long summer days in the land of no lakes were terrible for a fly fisherman but luckily I never had any time off from the shop, so most of my bitching fell on deaf ears. Finally, one hot Sunday evening we dropped the canoe in a one acre farm pond that we had seen bedding fish in previous weeks but were nervous about jumping a barbed wire fence. After, a little research on the property owner and lessor phone calls were made and we were in! Armed with "Bea Bea Bugs"(more on them later) and my own fly, "Project Hopper", we glided across the lake to an area that looked like a bombing range. The Bluegill had fanned beads the size of truck tires in a 400sq foot area on the South end of the pond. I eased the small mushroom anchor in the water and we went to work with our four weights. We landed 15 Bluegill in about 25 casts. It is incredible how these fish turn on right before the full moon and their spawn. The first few fish were smaller but we could see multiple fish racing for the hopper as it settled on the water. As we weeded through the little fish we finally landed what the locals call a "titty bream". As a local Marion County man put it, "Dey get so damn big you gotta' hold 'em against yer titty to get the hook out". Well, excellent. We had found the local "titty bream" we were searching for! After it was all said and done, 31 Bluegill came over the side of our canoe in about an hour and a half. It was a Sunday I will never forget. Although not glamorous those "titty bream" sure can be a blast.