Presents:
The 2024 International Fly Fishing Film Festival
Join us again at The Marine Discovery Center for an afternoon tailgate with friends new and old before we all enjoy the latest films selected for the IF4 are shown at the amphitheater once the sun goes down.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the IF4 website.
This years exhibition of the International Fly Fishing Film Festival will be a special one for the podcast. We cant wait to see you there!
I was recently asked by April Vokey to craft a few words for an article on her platform; Anchored Outdoors.
Surely you have seen stickers for sale at a fly shop, picked up a few at a show or have been given one or two by a friend. While mostly viewed as a promotional item (even though most times you pay for them), there is a secondary market that exists for these colorful, uniquely identifiable pieces of vinyl.
Beyond their intended purpose of building a brand, promoting products or memorializing an event; stickers are themselves a form of currency in the fly-fishing community. A few years back I flew out West and joined a friend for a few days’ worth of adventure and the concept of their value really gelled in my mind.
We don’t get to control the weather, we deal with it. That fact is a constant in life and often impacts when and where we fish.
Long ago, I resolved to worry less about ideal weather conditions and seize upon the idea of making whatever was happening work for me.
On a recent morning I had the opportunity to get on the water, but it was already sketchy with fog, low clouds and light showers filling the sky.
I went anyway.
I was joined by a good friend who was equally optimistic. We spent the morning hugging leeward shorelines as we hunted for a hungry fish to feed.
Despite finding a few, we were rolling snake eyes.
As we finished a long stretch of shoreline we emerged at a point of land where we could see to the south. It was not pretty. A wall of rain was working toward us across the middle of the lagoon.
No problemo, we knew exactly where to go.
Once we were reasonable sure we had a window of opportunity, we made the final push up to our local joint, JB’s Fish Camp, for a little sustenance and a cold beer.
When we emerged, things had changed.
We spent the next little bit spooking fish and blowing shots. The lull in wind soon evaporated as a northeast wind began to set in.
As we motored back to the ramp, we got a little wet from the light sprinkling that had begun to envelope the area.
As I drove home thoughts filled my head.
Had we let the weather stop us, we would have never explored a new area, seen a juvenile bald eagle or spent a few hours completely ignoring the static of everyday life and the challenges it offers.
The next time you’re waiting for perfect weather to head out, don’t.
Actually filmed during 2019 MLB Spring Training , Orvis just released a short vignette profiling Rick Porcello and his love for fly fishing.
Rick and I have been sharing the water together in Mosquito Lagoon and SW Florida for around eight years, so when he asked me to come down to help by running my skiff in support of the effort, it was an easy yes.
Working around his daily workout at Fenway South, we managed to spend a fair amount of time in the afternoons and evenings on the water.
My skiff makes a cameo appearance in the back half of the video.
Here is the result of David Mangum & Cavin Brothers work behind the lens.
Thanks to Simon & Tucker from Orvis for taking good care of me while I was there!
Have you ever had the pleasure of poling a remote shoreline in Mosquito Lagoon early in the morning while being serenaded by the buzzing of thousands of wings?
No, not the insects for which the area earns its well deserved name; honey bees and bumble bees are omnipresent when mangroves are blooming. So much so, their collective buzzing nearly drowns out all other sounds in the area.
The next time it happens, slow down and poke your nose into the shoreline and watch them work. It’s a fascinating service they perform as they glean nectar from blossoms and collect pollen.
The lagoon is an amazing place, down to its smallest detail. Just like these little overachievers, we all need to do our part to make sure we’re acting in a manner that contributes to its sustainability.
Our responsibilities lie in how we treat it today and how we leave it for tomorrow.
There is something about Charleston… The entire place has a vibe about it that is unmistakable. It’s the kinda of place where everyone is welcoming, happy and looking for the good in every situation.
After working the first half of the week in Washington, DC it was a welcome place and change of pace to wind down the week and ease into the weekend.
My family loves the place as much as I do, so they welcomed the chance to meet me there.
The next few days were spent eating, skating, fishing, drinking and being merry.
This is what Good Clean Livin looks like:
While we were there we made sure to get our yellow lab, Cabo, a session with Bre Williams. She takes amazing photos, check out her latest work on Instagram or click here.
For a couple of years, I would get a call from time to time to fly right seat over to the Bahamas with a good friend who was working in South Florida as a charter pilot.
We would take folks over for the day and while they did whatever they were there to do, we would harass the local bonefish on the “airport flat”.
Getting there and back was also a lot of fun.
Get out there and seek adventure, even if its just for a day, or a few hours!
Lately; my English Lab, Cabo has been spending a good amount of time on the water.
As with most labs, he loves the water and often times finds the most inopportune time to quench his desire to get wet. He’s a master at going total ham and plunging into the backyard lake when you need to be on the way out the door to an appointment in five minutes.
Over the Christmas and New Years holidays, Cabo spent a couple of weeks in Melbourne with Florida Fly Co. co-founder, Ben Pickett. While there he joined Ben on the water a lot and unlike when he was younger, seemed to be a bit better behaved / able to remain in the skiff.
I’m not sure whether Ben employed some “dog whisperer” charm on him or its simply that he has settled down now that he’s four years old.
Recently I had the opportunity to get out for an afternoon session on Mosquito Lagoon and figured it was time to see if he was ready to join me while I tried to fly fish.
We stopped on an island beach to get wet on my terms and in hopes that maybe Cabo would be more apt to chill out the rest of the day if he had just gone full tilt for a few minutes.
Our beach time was a blast.
Once he started to slow down, I figured it was time to go look for a redfish.
A few minutes into the first flat, he was totally chilled out, simply posting up alongside me, content to watch the shoreline pass by as I hunted for a hungry fish.
We spent the next couple of hours slowly poling over deserted flats, taking a few shots at the happier redfish we came across, even managing to feed one that was lost skiff -side when I bungled the landing.
Cabo still seemed proud of my effort, showing great interest in the fish as it spun and thrashed alongside the gunnel.
Occasionally, an osprey or pelican would attract his attention, but he remained calm and never left the boat, which was exactly what I was hoping for.
I believe that Cabo is going to be fishing a lot more in the future. Maybe my solo trips are over for a while…
I’ve known Tanner for years. He’s been in love with Mosquito Lagoon since before he was able to drive. Years ago, his parents would drive him over to Oak Hill so that he could explore and fish the area from a Gheenoe.
There is no doubt he’s developed a vast knowledge of Mosquito Lagoon in that time, but what strikes me most about Tanner, is that he is always seeing more.
The last time we spent time on the water together was around Thanksgiving and as always, we had a great time and shared in the joy of giving a few redfish a quick ride in the skiff.
When planning to fish this time, our expectations for good weather was high.
Unfortunately, as is often the case, the weather guessers got it wrong.
The calm winds and clear skies we were expecting were actually a fresh breeze from the NNW coupled with thick clouds.
The first area we chose to fish had decent water clarity and a bit of visibility tight along the shoreline. As we poled along we spent time catching up on the latest happenings. Its times like these that I cherish the most about a day on the water with a good friend. Life’s normal distractions fade to the background and the topics of the moment are of our choosing. They are typically something fun, upbeat and positive.
A redfish appeared along the shoreline, hovering along, over the sand as it silently searched for its morning meal. Tanner was the first to see it and with a calm and deliberate clock position and distance had me focused on the prize. My first cast landed precisely where it should to set up a crossing pattern between fish and fly, but while in mid flight, the redfish’s attention had been peaked by something else and after it had turned to inspect the distraction, it had reversed course,
Before being able to adjust to the change, the distance between the fish and the skiff had shrunk to inside of 30 feet.
Sadly, my accuracy at that range was horrible and the open loopy cast I attempted smacked the redfish right on the head and it was over.
Shortly after that failed attempt, we made a decision to try another area in hopes of changing our luck. One redfish per mile of shoreline wasn’t really cutting it…
Despite the fresh breeze, we elected to fish open water over a well known bar to take advantage of better water clarity.
Tanner had hopped up front to give it a go and off we went.
The overcast skies were beginning to break up a bit and blue sky was peeking through at times. As one of the breaks in cloud cover streamed past, the sunlight illuminated the light sandy bottom as if stadium lights had been turned on. It was all we needed to expose a lone redfish that was swimming parallel to the skiff 45 feet away.
Tanner let fly a back cast as soon as the fish was seen and a couple of twitches of the fly were met with a flaring of gills that signaled success.
As I staked-off the skiff, we saw flyline turn to backing as the fish tried to make the county line in an effort to escape.
It didn’t.
We spent the next hour or two meandering to the south exploring a large flat where we saw several tailing fish, but I was unable to coax any of them to eat my crabby offering.
Eventually, I relented and offered Tanner the bow again and resumed the role of pushing.
What was once a cloud covered sky had morphed into a nearly cloudless sky and the brightly lit result had given us hope for even more opportunity.
We transitioned back to shorelines and eventually found another unsuspecting redfish that became our focus.
Tanner worked through a couple of presentations and soon was tight again.
The entire stalk and resulting hook-up was accomplished with a simple low whistle and nod, as I was on the phone with a client when the fish appeared.
I wrapped up the call just in time to hop down and snap a couple of pictures to memorialize the event.
We wrapped up our day on the water a little while later and headed back in.
I’m always thankful to have spent time on the water with Tanner, he’s one of the nicest folks you’ll ever meet.
If you’re ever looking for a capable guided to lead you to a successful day on Mosquito Lagoon, you’ll do yourself a favor booking him for the trip.
Recently, I had the good fortune to spend a few days on the water with my good friend, Ben. As always, I picked him up at the Orlando International Airport and within an hour or two, he was tight on a redfish. Its become quite the tradition for us.
Ben is working on a new YouTube project and it was a “work trip” for him, so it seemed fitting to put him on the back of the skiff.
Here’s the result of that effort to get him up to speed with a push pole.
I’d say he’s well on his way to becoming a regular Pusherman.
In addition to stabbing a few fish in the face, we spent time talking about more technical issues like the following:
Make sure to follow Ben on his new YouTube channel, Huge Fly Fisherman, more content is on the way, including conservation issues facing Mosquito Lagoon.
Ben will also have his writings about the state of conservation efforts in Mosquito Lagoon featured in This Is Fly magazine very soon, check it out.
Stay Huge!
