wind, wind, go away and don't come back!

Since I left you last the wind has been blowing and don't mean breezy, I mean bllllowin'! Not only have I lost a bunch of charters but, the ones I did do were tough. Don't get me wrong we caught fish everyday but I don't consider a few snook here and a few baby tarpon there a very good trip. When we have these Bermuda highs and the wind blows hard out of the east and southeast for weeks on end it is tough on a guys psyche and health, excessive coffee in the morning and beer in the afternoon. On a positive note I have found some extra time to tie flies, yesterday I came up with what I hope to be a cool new tarpon fly. It is a half toad (marabou tail) and half bait fish with a flash blend collar and big eyes. Our tarpon are different from the Keys fish, sure they like crabs but once they are moving through our area they like to eat mullet, sardines, pilchards, and glass minnows, so baitfish patterns seem to work the best here.

For the first time in a long time the long term forecast looks good with calm ocean conditions starting Monday, hopefully these conditions will last through the week so everyone who is coming to the film tour can have good fishing conditions. I am scheduled to fish with Pat Ford on Friday morning before the big event. This will be my first time with Pat in the boat and I certainly hope to give him loads of photography opportunities. Since I brought up Pat's name I should mention that not only is he coming to our film tour he also put together a slide show of some of his best photos. I have already previewed Pat's show and I will tell you that the slide show alone is worth the ticket price. Myself and Mike Holliday are also putting together a slide show of our photos and after seeing Pat's we both decided it was best to show ours at the end of the show, when people are walking out of the door!

If you have not gotten your tickets for the film tour get them now, the event is only a week away. Here is a little more incentive, if you need it? One of the film makers from World Angling, Dave Teper is going to be in attendance and he is bringing an additional film that I am sure will have some insane saltwater action from the Keys. Their film "DRUM" is in the line up for the tour, it is a crazy look at huge redfish in Louisiana, with some even crazier personalities.

In case you have been living under a rock, here is the information again. April 3rd at the Lyric Theatre in downtown Stuart. The doors open at 6:00pm and the show starts at 7:00pm, it will last until 9 something? We obviously will have incredible films to watch, cool photos to view and also tons of giveaways. A Crowder flyrod, a Hatch reel, and a pair of Oakley shades top the list. Also, we are going to try and have a fly swap. I am just officially announcing this today so I am not sure what the turn out will be but here is the gist of it. You bring 2 identical flies that you tied or bought. You put both in a fly box that is located at the Southern Angler table in the lobby and you take one out that you like. During the intermission we will give away the fly box full of the remaining flies. Hope to see everyone there.

my guide service website http://stuartflyfishing.com/
my photography website http://pbase.com/stuartflyfishing