Category Archives: fly fishing

Producing the film: “A Ride With Clyde”

Without a doubt, Andrew Gilbert and I have had an attachment with Clyde since he visited Oak Hill and the images that were created during the time we spent with him found their way into the Summer of 2018 “20th Anniversary Edition” Drake Magazine.

Late in the fall of 2022 after learning that Clyde was languishing in a pole barn outside of Birmingham, we set a plan in motion to bring him to east Tennessee with the idea of creating a fly fishing film centered around the car and cast of Tailer Trash Fly Fishing‘s personalities and friendships.

It wasn’t until late spring and a little arm twisting later we were able to get Clyde to Bluff City, TN. Instrumental in the task were our friends Cody & Kyle who trailered him there from Chattanooga where they met Sam Bailey for the pass-off.

Clyde arrives late spring 2023

When Andrew and I set off on the project we had a basic idea of how we wanted the film to look and feel. As we started working our way through our shot lists, we found out we may need to pivot on some of our ideas.

Our Key Technical Consultant for Clyde – Howard O.

By my count, I think we changed directions around three times. Some of the changes were a result of difficulties in the story arch, others were due to getting permission to include some of the locations featured in the film.

Director of Photography & Editor – Andrew Gilbert

By the end of the summer of 2023 we had what we needed for footage and Andrew began the heavy lifting of editing them together to bring the story to life.

Our partnership ultimately lead to being selected for the 2024 International Fly Fishing Film Festival.

A Ride With Clyde – Official Selection 2024

The entire experience was one that lead to an even tighter knit relationship between all of us.

Tiller enjoying a Ride With Clyde

We’re already looking for another project to team up on.

Mosquito Lagoon Fly Fishing Guide

For decades Mosquito Lagoon has been know to some as “The Redfish Capital of The World”.  The area earned the title due to the presence of redfish of all sizes that roamed lush grass flats, shoals and oyster strewn bays.  The highlight being the presence of schools of  breeder size “bull” redfish in many areas that sustained the local population by remaining in the estuary to spawn.

Over the years, water quality has suffered and what was once an estuary known for its gin clear water has become a place where often times you will face limited visibility due to algal blooms and turbidity caused by a devastating reduction of seagrass.

Now more than ever, the guides that work in Mosquito Lagoon must be committed to loving the imperiled estuary.

Loving the estuary starts with how and where they fish, how they handle and release the fish and what they teach anglers about efforts to restore Mosquito Lagoon.

There are approximately 80 guides who may legally operate charters on Mosquito Lagoon.  Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is responsible for the permitting process and enforcement of commercial operations across a vast area.  The Law Enforcement Officers tasked with doing so are understaffed and underfunded.

Due to the wholesale lack of a law enforcement presence, guide operations are not unlike the wild west frontier.  Routinely you will see behavior that is unprofessional and unethical in the name of putting fish in the boat.

A large number of the permitted guides are merely part-time operators who merely see their trips as extra cash in their pocket, not a lifestyle or profession.  Their behavior in exploiting the resource is shameful.

The small number of working guides who are out there nearly everyday are working hard to highlight these problems and have taken on a leadership role in advocating for policies and practices amongst guides that will aid in sustaining Mosquito Lagoon.

If you’re looking forward to booking a fly fishing guide in Mosquito Lagoon, please make sure you’re supporting the resource by choosing a guide who has demonstrated a commitment to preserving and protecting it.

Not sure who that is?  Contact me and I’ll make sure you get the names of guides that I would trust.  I’ve spent a long time fishing alongside them and know who is worthy of your hard earned money.

More importantly, I know who loves the Lagoon.

 

Skiff Dog Adventures

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.

Visit New Smyrna Fly Fishing Guide

Skiff Dog Mosquito Lagoon Charter

Once he started to slow down, I figured it was time to go look for a redfish.

Orlando Disney Fly Fishing Guide

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.

Fly Fishing Space Coast

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.

Mosquito Lagoon Fly Fishing

I believe that Cabo is going to be fishing a lot more in the future.  Maybe my solo trips are over for a while…

– Ben Sittig Is A Huge Fly Fisherman – I’m A Huge Fly Fisherman Too

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!

 

Why Firsts Are The Best:

Recently, the family and i loaded up and headed north to Charleston to meet up with other friends and attend an annual social event hosted by Flood Tide Co.

I’ve been friends with the founders of the lifestyle brand for years and it makes going to the event more like a family reunion.

While in Charleston there are a multitude of amazing places to eat, drink and generally enjoy yourself.  We made sure to take full advantage.

The first that is referred to in the title came for my friend Marc.  He had never fished a flooded spartina grass meadow for tailing redfish, so it was a priority to give him a shot to cross off a bucket list item.

Despite being windier than most would like, we found a couple of kindred souls willing to brave the gale and swell on the Wando River on Friday morning.

We powered through sporty conditions as the wind and tide worked against each other, stacking up chop that at times made me wonder why we had ignored the small craft advisory.

Once we made our way far enough up the river, leeward shorelines welcomed us.

Marc took the bow of my skiff and we started our search.

His wonder and excitement was palpable.  It was truly special to see his wonder and amazement as we pushed along over a meadow that had only hours before been high and dry.

We finally spotted a redfish tailing and maneuvered into position for a cast.  The ending was less than favorable thanks to a “trout set”.

With a mistake behind us, we found another fish and began what would turn into a 8- 10 minute game of cat and mouse as the fish would appear and disappear in the grass, moving along in search of prey with zero clue as to our presence.

The pace got a bit frenetic as the wayward redfish moved steadily towards us.  Casts were going long, wide, short; pretty much everywhere they could without being in the “spa” they needed to be.

In response to my suggestion; “hit it on the head…” Marc’s fly dropped by the fish’s left eye, maybe 3 inches away.  The response by the redfish was a definitive surge to inhale the crab.

And, just like that, Marc had his first Lowcountry redfish on the fly.

We had a hard time wiping the smiles off our face the rest of the day.

Firsts do that to a man.

 

 

Tailer Trash Fly Fishing Podcast

I’ve been maintaining a weekend retreat along the shores of Mosquito Lagoon now for going on 14 years.  Its where I retreat to unwind and spend my days on the water searching for fish.

Its from that little slice of heaven where friends and I hang out and record our experiences and thoughts about life,  fly fishing, drink beer and smoke meats.

If you’re inclined to enjoy shooting the shit at a fly shop or on the water with like mined folks, you may enjoy our podcast, Tailer Trash Fly Fishing.

 

Its hosted on Soundcloud and is available via iTunes or your favorite podcast app.

Find it here:  Tailer Trash Fly Fishing Podcast 

Between episodes you can keep up with us on Instagram.

@tailertrashflyfishing 

 

IFTD 2015 – Playing Hookie on Day 3

After spending two days at the Flood Tide Company booth, I ducked out to film a little with Catch 1 Films on the home water; Mosquito Lagoon.

ONE: mosquito lagoon

Its always great to spend time on the water with friends.  Being able to relive the moments in film is priceless.

 

 

 

 

 

Deck The Walls -An A.D. Maddox Hatch Is Coming Off

We love art at Salt Bum HQ.  It provides us with a daily reminder of what we love through the eyes of the artists that created the works we’ve been lucky enough to collect.  When we come across something that sparks our interest, we often have to re-hang and adjust the collection to make more room for another addition.

We’ve found just such an opportunity in A.D. Maddox.  If you haven’t seen her work, you owe it to yourself to seek it out.

Known for her vibrant work, creating amazing  paintings of trout and their bold colors, artist A.D. Maddox  has just released a new series of recently finished originals depicting various fly patterns.

Serious collectors will likely be snapping up these stunning works, so if you plan on getting in on the action, get on it before the hatch is discovered by the masses.

A small sampling of our favorites from her new releases are shared below.

 

 

To see all of her works, including limited edition prints of her past originals, visit:  http://www.admaddox.com