Fishing Megathread: Looking For Big Girls Who swallow

[Pescado_Rojo 19,423]

22 minutes ago, hookemATL said:

So I was in Port A two weeks ago and took a run at reds with not a lot of luck.  I was fishing out of a kayak in Wilson's Cut and saw lots of actions and some finning but wasnt able to get one hooked up.  I plan to try this out again as soon as possible, but I was curious about what I could do to help improve my chances.  For reference, I was using an 8wt rod with a Lamson reel (SA redfish flyline and 10ft leaders) while tossing out some clousers and shrimp patterns mostly.  

Are you sure they were Redfish? Lots of fish tail and fin in shallow water. Catfish, black drum, sheepshead, even mullet will show fin tips. I think the best thing you can do is use the yak to get to where you want to go, then get out and wade a little. The extra height makes it much easier to identify what you're casting at. Also, put the fly on their nose. They aren't usually too shy about water disturbances, so don't be shy about casting close to them. I've had more than one red eat after I've hit it in the tail or back with the fly. 

[hookemATL 11,758]

Thanks. That’s fair that they may not have been reds, I might have been just making an assumption there. I was out of the yak wading quite a bit and it was a HELL of a lot easier. 
 

Any specific spots that are conducive to yak/wading for reds in the area?  I went to Wilson’s Cut bc it was close to where we were staying but I would love to know any places that you recommend. 

[Pescado_Rojo 19,423]

22 minutes ago, hookemATL said:

Thanks. That’s fair that they may not have been reds, I might have been just making an assumption there. I was out of the yak wading quite a bit and it was a HELL of a lot easier. 
 

Any specific spots that are conducive to yak/wading for reds in the area?  I went to Wilson’s Cut bc it was close to where we were staying but I would love to know any places that you recommend. 

Yea, there's a dedicated launch on the ferry road on the AP side. From there you can paddle across the channel and be in the lighthouse lakes in 5 minutes. Google Harbor Island Road Launch- Aransas Pass and look at it on google maps. 

[hookemATL 11,758]

Just now, Pescado_Rojo said:

Yea, there's a dedicated launch on the ferry road on the AP side. From there you can paddle across the channel and be in the lighthouse lakes in 5 minutes. Google Harbor Island Road Launch- Aransas Pass and look at it on google maps. 

You rock, thanks boss.

[Pescado_Rojo 19,423]

So Mexico was pretty cool.





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[troph 24,851]

Yes!!!!!

[hookemATL 11,758]

ENHANCE!

Only posting this to combat my blood red jealousy.  Nice job!

Edited August 16, 2021 by hookemATL

[Pescado_Rojo 19,423]

@troph One of the guys on the trip had one of these on a 10 wt. I watched him whip a 40-50lb Tarpon's ass in about 10 minutes. 24Lbs of drag, smooth as butter. He raved about all his Nautilus reels. Also, it's what DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt was using.  

Nautilus Silver King

[crash_davis 23,113]

4 hours ago, hookemATL said:

Thanks. That’s fair that they may not have been reds, I might have been just making an assumption there. I was out of the yak wading quite a bit and it was a HELL of a lot easier. 
 

Any specific spots that are conducive to yak/wading for reds in the area?  I went to Wilson’s Cut bc it was close to where we were staying but I would love to know any places that you recommend. 

They whole area gets a shitton of pressure. It's the Texas beach vacation mecca for much of the state. Kids and moms play on the beach. Dad and teenage boys kayak and boat fish that whole area from Aransas Pass to Lighthouse Lakes to Wilson's cut to everything in between. That crystal clear water makes it even harder to fool the fish. 

I would temper your expectations. For 15 years, I kayaked fished most of the Texas coast. For me, that area is the hardest to pull a limit of reds and trout. Others will disagree.

[troph 24,851]

On 8/16/2021 at 3:28 PM, Pescado_Rojo said:

@troph One of the guys on the trip had one of these on a 10 wt. I watched him whip a 40-50lb Tarpon's ass in about 10 minutes. 24Lbs of drag, smooth as butter. He raved about all his Nautilus reels. Also, it's what DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt was using.  

Nautilus Silver King

had lunch with a couple of lawyer buddies this week, one spends a ton of time up in CO and fly fishes almost exclusively as his time off hobby and he sent me up to Tailwaters in Dallas for gear.  They are hooking me up. 12 wt Thomas & Thomas rod, cheaper back up for the 12 wt. and then an 8 wt set up too with a Scott rod.  they are putting me in the Ross Reels (two of them 12 wt / 8 wt) and swear by them.  https://www.rossreels.com/evolution-r-salt.html  then they will send me with flies for GT, bones, indo-pacific permit and a handful of other reef fish.  they said the guide can do the knots and he's happy to cast if we need an 80 foot cast.  he said practice before you go but that if I can cast under 40 ft decent i'll be fine.  I can cast 30 feet pretty reliably so I'll grab that extra 10 feet between now and then.

Edited August 18, 2021 by troph

[Pescado_Rojo 19,423]

17 minutes ago, troph said:

had lunch with a couple of lawyer buddies this week, one spends a ton of time up in CO and fly fishes almost exclusively as his time off hobby and he sent me up to Tailwaters in Dallas for gear.  They are hooking me up. 12 wt Thomas & Thomas rod, cheaper back up for the 12 wt. and then an 8 wt set up too with a Scott rod.  they are putting me in the Ross Reels (two of them 12 wt / 8 wt) and swear by them.  https://www.rossreels.com/evolution-r-salt.html  then they will send me with flies for GT, bones, indo-pacific permit and a handful of other reef fish.  they said the guide can do the knots and he's happy to cast if we need an 80 foot cast.  he said practice before you go but that if I can cast under 40 ft decent i'll be fine.  I can cast 30 feet pretty reliably so I'll grab that extra 10 feet between now and then.

Great choices! The reel on my lap in that Permit pic is an Evo R Salt. Love the drag, my only complaint is the drag knob isn’t super easy to adjust in the heat of battle. I’d prefer a big knob, but that’s the same drag that’s on the Abel STS so it’s smooth as butter. 

[troph 24,851]

1 hour ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

Great choices! The reel on my lap in that Permit pic is an Evo R Salt. Love the drag, my only complaint is the drag knob isn’t super easy to adjust in the heat of battle. I’d prefer a big knob, but that’s the same drag that’s on the Abel STS so it’s smooth as butter. 

I agree that knob looks sleek a.k.a hard to find when pressed.  invoice for a full complete set up down to flies is coming back $4600 without discount (I've asked for one) with 2 premier rods, two nice reels and one back up rod that's $300 ish.  I'm choking right now, but I'm sure I'll get over it.  fuck this hobby is stupid expensive like idiotic stupid dumb expensive.  my girlfriend is either going to kick my ass or ask for a $5K credit.  I think I may elect for the ass kicking.

[Pescado_Rojo 19,423]

26 minutes ago, troph said:

I agree that knob looks sleek a.k.a hard to find when pressed.  invoice for a full complete set up down to flies is coming back $4600 without discount (I've asked for one) with 2 premier rods, two nice reels and one back up rod that's $300 ish.  I'm choking right now, but I'm sure I'll get over it.  fuck this hobby is stupid expensive like idiotic stupid dumb expensive.  my girlfriend is either going to kick my ass or ask for a $5K credit.  I think I may elect for the ass kicking.

One of the reasons I got my son started so early. I figure if I keep him interested, he'll never be able to afford drugs. 

[troph 24,851]

10% discount coming.  you assholes are going to have to fish with me in mexcio and at the coast for me to get my money's worth on this shit. fuck.  $10K for two days of fishing, no lodging included.  damn GTs better chinese buffet / pizza buffet / golden corrale on my lines all day long!

[troph 24,851]

one more question @Pescado_Rojo  I assume the $900 rods are worth it, should I down grade my 8wt to a back up first then upgrade later?  that might save $500 or so.  lead with the nice GT rod and back up and a back up worth rod for bones? or should I just say fuck it.  they did say the 8wt would be great for texas coastal reds etc.

Edited August 18, 2021 by troph

[fattyflattie 4,639]

1 hour ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

I’d prefer a big knob

Me too but been working with what I’ve got forever. 

[Pescado_Rojo 19,423]

Just now, troph said:

one more question @Pescado_Rojo  I assume the $900 rods are worth it, should I down great my 8wt to a back up first then upgrade later?  that might save $500 or so.  lead with the nice GT rod and back up and a back up worth rod for bones? or should I just say fuck it.  they did say the 8wt would be great for texas coastal reds etc.

They are all about weight savings. A 10wt TFO and a 10wt Scott Sector can probably cast similarly...probably less than 10% difference in performance. Where the Scott or T&T will shine is that it's lighter both in the hand and in energy expended to cast. It can make a noticeable difference on a long day of casting. 

If it were me, and I was looking to save a few bucks I'd spend more money on the rod I was planning to use more often. An 8wt is a very versatile rod. Everything from bones to Redfish to bass. You could find a place to use it pretty much every weekend in Texas. A 12wt is a pretty specialized tool. Tarpon, GEETs, offshore species like small tuna and sails, etc.   That's why I told you to spend the coin on a high end reel for GTs, but you could save a little on the rod. How many casts do you think you'll make to a GT in 2 days fishing? 

[troph 24,851]

I'll probably land on eleventy billion GTs in 2 days, if I'm being perfectly honest.

[troph 24,851]

I'm just going to spend $4K and say ...

[fattyflattie 4,639]

1 minute ago, troph said:

I'm just going to spend $4K and say ...

It’s alright man. I am thankful (for your wallet/retirement) that you don’t seem to be a gun enthusiast.  You don’t have to work nearly as hard to unass 4k in that particular hobby. 

[justhookit 4,191]

So my friends on Rebecca won the billfish tournament out of Freeport last weekend and came in 2nd at Legends in Port A the week before that. They also won a tournament early in the season. Having a heck of a year. And I was supposed to fish with them for last weekend’s tournament but had a scheduling conflict. Sucks for me to say the least.

 

[midtown 3,346]

A girl I knew in HS just posted this. She's always fishing in CR tournaments.

[justhookit 4,191]

Damn, Rene and the girls crushed it. 

[Sam Lin 3,559]

On 8/19/2021 at 1:34 AM, fattyflattie said:

It’s alright man. I am thankful (for your wallet/retirement) that you don’t seem to be a gun enthusiast.  You don’t have to work nearly as hard to unass 4k in that particular hobby. 

4k might cover airfare and your first fitting?

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12,301]

On 8/16/2021 at 12:41 PM, Pescado_Rojo said:

So Mexico was pretty cool.





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Show’em the heartbeat monitor!

day 1 I was on a boat with a buddy and we had 11 permit eats and 6 to the boat before lunch. There were 2 instances where I was certain I was in the begin stages of cardiac arrest. It was quite literally too much.

[fattyflattie 4,639]

@DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt wasn’t it your buddy who’s spent crazy money but still never landed a permit?  Need to get him down there stat. 

[Pescado_Rojo 19,423]

Show’em the heartbeat monitor!
day 1 I was on a boat with a buddy and we had 11 permit eats and 6 to the boat before lunch. There were 2 instances where I was certain I was in the begin stages of cardiac arrest. It was quite literally too much.

From cast to release, a Permit story told with a HRM



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[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12,301]

3 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

@DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt wasn’t it your buddy who’s spent crazy money but still never landed a permit?  Need to get him down there stat. 

He estimates he has spent north of $150k and has caught 4. 😳

[troph 24,851]

Speaking of…. gear arrived!!

 

 

 

 

and Tahiti on a 3 week lock down 😞

Edited August 21, 2021 by troph

[Mac8111 2,107]

Just wrapped up an epic and exhausting fishing run in POC. Wade fished Weds, Thurs & Friday, flounder gigged Thurs night and then fished with some coworkers from the boat today. Not every day was as fruitful as Thurs was but we had a great time.

[fattyflattie 4,639]

@Mac8111 that’s just too many flounder for you to eat.  Please ship 4-5 of them to my house whole, thxkbai. 

[Braff Zacklin 13,618]

Possibly more stuffed flounder pics on the way? I look forward to eating them vicariously.

[davidg 4,038]

[mention=918]Mac8111[/mention] that’s just too many flounder for you to eat.  Please ship 4-5 of them to my house whole, thxkbai. 

Username.

[fattyflattie 4,639]

1 hour ago, davidg said:

Username.

That’s actually was the premise behind my username. About 20 years ago I caught the 2 biggest founder of my life on the same trip, on nearly consecutive casts. And I wanted to brag on 2cool and that was the best I could think of in haste.  One was a little over 26”, the other just under.  Both on shrimp tipped cocahoes in Christmas bay, in the first little cut about 100 yds from big mamas.  
 

ETA: 24 years ago. God time flies. I still use the chronarch I was using that day as my surf reel. 

Edited August 22, 2021 by fattyflattie

[troph 24,851]

Holy furk I gotta practice ! 

Edited August 22, 2021 by troph

[texastough 1,129]

On 8/22/2021 at 1:55 PM, troph said:

Holy furk I gotta practice ! 

Practice and a lot bigger fishing budget lol!

[troph 24,851]

4 hours ago, texastough said:

Practice and a lot bigger fishing budget lol!

Found an empty field yesterday and practiced casting and strip setting … guess how many feet my casts went??? 

[texastough 1,129]

6 hours ago, troph said:

Found an empty field yesterday and practiced casting and strip setting … guess how many feet my casts went??? 

You live in Dallas right? Did you book casting lessons with Tailwaters?

[Johnny Chimpo 478]

It’s a lot easier to practice casting on or in a body of water, the water will put friction on your line and let you get better tension on your back casts and etc. 

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12,301]

7 hours ago, troph said:

Found an empty field yesterday and practiced casting and strip setting … guess how many feet my casts went??? 

About 6X longer than they’ll go when you’re casting to fish in waist deep water. 😜

[Lat22 4,015]

56 minutes ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

About 6X longer than they’ll go when you’re casting to fish in waist deep water. 😜

Yep. The only time I get backlashes now is when I’m casting to fish I can see.  Buck fever on the water. 

[troph 24,851]

The answer is tree fiddy come on guys.   I can cast it tree fiddy feet. 
 

actually I’m averaging just under 40 I think but the loop is getting tighter. That 12wt is heavy it’s not as much finesse as a 5/6wt cast on a river 20-25 feet.  you actually have to put your body into it (that’s what she said). I’ve gotten to 54 feet with a tight loop by my calculation.  With the weight of it aiming is easier though. Also avoiding the tangle more and more should be a nonissue by next practice session. 
 

not in Dallas don’t have a close by body of water so the field has to work. I may take it out on the boat or too the dock this weekend by our under construction home. 

 

 

[troph 24,851]

1 hour ago, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

About 6X longer than they’ll go when you’re casting to fish in waist deep water. 😜

 

5 minutes ago, Lat22 said:

Yep. The only time I get backlashes now is when I’m casting to fish I can see.  Buck fever on the water. 

That Florida guide said I casted better on the fish than when I was practicing. Clutch city baby. 

[davidg 4,038]

About 6X longer than they’ll go into a 15nm wind when you’re casting to fish in waist deep water.

Fixed.

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12,301]

28 minutes ago, davidg said:

 

Fixed.

 

this fish...it was our last opp of what was a brutal day and rojo let me take it. fish were moving left and wind was coming into our face...i literally gave it everything i had and then some. 65 feet. i can throw 90 in my sleep at the park. shit just changes when the fish show up.

[troph 24,851]

Fuck the wind in the face. 

[mapplewhite132 309]

2 hours ago, troph said:

The answer is tree fiddy come on guys.   I can cast it tree fiddy feet. 
 

actually I’m averaging just under 40 I think but the loop is getting tighter. That 12wt is heavy it’s not as much finesse as a 5/6wt cast on a river 20-25 feet.  you actually have to put your body into it (that’s what she said). I’ve gotten to 54 feet with a tight loop by my calculation.  With the weight of it aiming is easier though. Also avoiding the tangle more and more should be a nonissue by next practice session. 
 

not in Dallas don’t have a close by body of water so the field has to work. I may take it out on the boat or too the dock this weekend by our under construction home. 

 

 

Do you know how to double haul? If not that's probably worth learning - huge help with saltwater fly fishing. 

[troph 24,851]

33 minutes ago, mapplewhite132 said:

Do you know how to double haul? If not that's probably worth learning - huge help with saltwater fly fishing. 

I've got it down on the back cast but am working on it for the forward.   I think that's my extra 10 feet right there because as I false cast a few times the velocity gets going with just the back haul but then the weight of the line without more velocity causes the actual cast to fizzle out.  I could probably get more line out and have that final cast whip out their farther if I can get the front haul down.  I was calling it something else earlier.  but yeah, it's a game changer for getting distance.

[davidg 4,038]

I would try invest in some casting lessons before the trip.   Probably the best ROI you will get on all the $$$ you are spending.  Nothing will be worse than not being able to make the cast with that 12wt when and were you need to regardless of conditions.

[troph 24,851]

9 minutes ago, davidg said:

I would try invest in some casting lessons before the trip.   Probably the best ROI you will get on all the $$$ you are spending.  Nothing will be worse than not being able to make the cast with that 12wt when and were you need to regardless of conditions.

just figured out that double haul is like winding up an old school toy that scoots around on the floor after winding it up.  I may have a casting lesson coming soon.  I'm not like totally new here to the cast, but yeah now that I've got the gear and the trip logistics are behind me I can keep moving foward with mad skillz acquisition.  Those fucking fish ain't got no idea what's coming.  a little humility sprinkled with optimism and a no fear of failure attitude.  "it was this big" stories coming soon!