Believe it’s a 52’ hatteras If the captain is game to take us we’re not going to tell him otherwise, we also won’t bitch about not going if he cancels on us citing safety reasons.
Did you get out on that tarpon trip? Thinking about trying my late summer tarpon spots in the bay this weekend. I think they'll be there
Youre going to get beaten to death even on that boat, but it still beats work. Have fun. edit: Looks like the new marine forecast has the system getting out of here faster. Should calm down to 2-3 by the time you go. Bite has been really good all summer.
Got my new reel in and loaded it up with new backing and line. Went out this evening on the Chauga and used some more of the flies I made. They were hitting the caddis and adams all over and caught over a dozen. At one spot I walked up on 3 trout hanging out behind a rock. I proceeded to catch all 3 and was able to get it on the slow motion on my camera.
I enjoyed tying flies and had already lost a few, so I borrowed my dad's equipment and have been tying more parachute adams. My girls asked if they could tie one, so I help them tie one, then they did one themselves to varying degrees.
Catching a lot of sheepshead lately for some reason. Pretty fun on ML or L smallie gear though and the bass are out deeper and harder for me to get at in a kayak anyway.
What do you suggest? I'm getting a beach spinning rig. We're going to 30A for August. Have one guide lined up for wife and myself, likely going to do a fly guide just with myself. For the beach and sandbars, I've got my 9 wt with intermediate line and for back bay I've got my 8 wt with floating line and my SUP.
My 13yr old & I are doing a guided wading trip using Living Waters Fly Fishing out of around Rock next weekend. First time for both of us fly fishing and he is excited to do it. Nothing like a fishing trip for some father/son time.
This isn’t uncommon in freshwater fish, lots of regional names for some species. https://www.michiganseagrant.org/bl...r-drum-are-fun-to-catch-but-can-you-eat-them/ I did not keep this fish, I almost always catch and release. Especially large old fish I tend to worry more about contaminants. I will keep a trips worth of walleye maybe once a spring and likewise maybe one perch meal a winter. These fish do put up a fun fight, probably the third best you can find in the Lake St. Clair (maybe 2nd depending on how you view a musky fight). They typically freak out the first time or two you get them close to the surface and will peel a good bit of line from my 3000 size reels for a fw fish. Smallmouth do much funnier/crazier shit but don’t have the same muscle.
There stills should be some tarpon out front. I'd see if you can find a guide still running trips for tarpon on fly Depending how late in August you are going, reds should be at the very beginning of schooling up. Where are you going to be exactly?
has the head of a drum for sure. when i first saw the top of the pic I thought it was a redfish. that is a gnarly looking freshwater fish. would have never guessed it was freshwater.
Yeah, it's huge. But the state record for a Brook was out of the Chattooga (4 lb 10 oz), and the old record for a brown was from the Chauga before it was beaten by a 17+ lb one from Jocassee. So there are big ones in the big rivers.
i need to look at the jocassee records again. iirc at one time they held all the state’s trout records and a few of the bass records.
Think my next 2 or 3 purchases. 1000 size real for inshore 6000 size tarpon and bullred upcoming mullet run Verticles jigging rod
I've never handled one but I don't understand how the Stella could be that much better than this Stradic.
I wouldn't spend much more than the $175 or whatever I spent on the stradic for salt water because salt water reels eventually corrode from the salt water and have a limited life span no matter how much you spray them down with fresh water after use and oil them. You probably aren't going to get much more than 5 years max on them. So unless you are just loaded it doesn't make sense to spend much more than $200 on a reel. And like you said, the stradic is so damn smooth, I don't understand how it could be that much better. I will say the difference between a shitty reel and stradic is light years and really probably does make a difference in setting a hook and landing more fish.
Probably buying a 22 Pathfinder this week. It's a 2000. Trim tabs, power pole, new electronics-Simrad fish finder and gps, new ipilot trolling motor. Hate that boats are depreciating assets and thus terrible investments but if you live on the water and fish a bunch....you just have to have one. Kayak has been great for 7 years but it can't get me to the Chandeleur islands or the barrier islands where some serious fishing goes down or even further up into the bayous where I kayak fish. Gonna be a new chapter in my fishing life. Whole new frontier. If this rain would ever subside and I could sea trial it, then I'd pull the trigger.
I would agree with that. Although I have a Stradic 4000 that's only been used in salt that is 10-12 years old now. It is looking rough and not as smooth as it once was but still very usable. Other than a spray down after use it was hardly ever taken care of. Finally sent it in for a service recently and I dont see a problem getting a few more years out of it. Got a 19 Scout that is about to go up for sale for more than I paid for it. Used boat prices right now are crazy.
Stella is shimano's flagship saltwater reel. Any new Shimano technology goes straight into Stella first. Then filters down through the lineup. It is also sealed. Stradic is the high end "freshwater" reel. Technically it's not designated as heavy saltwater use as it's not sealed.
Nah... I have a bunch of reels that are 20+ years old. All of them are even better today than they were when I got them because bearings are better. A nicer reel has nicer parts and will last damn near forever if it is a well-designed model. And a nicer rod - and a rod thats fits your style of fishing - will make a huge difference in catching fish.
I 100% agree with the nicer rod will improve your fishing. Don't get me wrong I still have some old Ugly Stiks, but my higher end stuff fishes so much better.
NC no longer requires an extra fee for trout fishing. it's $20 cheaper to get a Non-resident license now.
Getting rid of the stamp is odd. I know that extra money goes a long way towards funding hatcheries, establishing cold water BMPs, etc.
Going night fishing. Hoping to lay into some wipers but I'll take anything. Should be a perfect night. 60s, light winds, clear skies.
i agree, and have argued a few times that i wish SC had a program(assuming it would be set up to benefit trout waters and state hatcheries). i reread the license page and all annual and temporary options a few times to make sure i was not missing something.
Hiked into the Chattooga River to Big Bend Falls today. Caught a nice rainbow on the muddler minnow I made at the base of the falls and got some good pictures of the Chattooga. The hike out is always murder though.
i've always seen pics of those falls on the gram. knew they were on the chattooga but no one ever mentioned them by name.
It's about a 1.2 mile hike to them from the end of the gravel road, then down about 100 feet straight down like access to a lot of other mountain streams.