The Passion Of The Pursuit

Finally got a chance to take the Kayaks out to Flamingo again. My friend Steve has been dying to get out and we finally made it down to do a little exploring of the backcountry before the weather and mosquitos got out of hand.
The plan was to explore Bear Lake via the newly cleared Bear Lake Canal. We were hoping to bend the the ultra light rods on some rarely fished & secluded spots.
The morning started out promising as the access road to Bear Lake Canal was actually open.

We proceeded to unload the yaks and got in the water without much issue. Felt good to be back on the water.

Unfortunately Bear Lake Canal was extremely shallow and full of stagnant water. There was ZERO water flow which of course means no fish. In addition the canal was extremely shallow. I don’t think it was more than 2 feet deep at any point. After about a mile of paddling it got so shallow we decided to give up on reaching Bear Lake. We ended up getting out and dragged our yaks back a few hundred yards rather than paddle through the muck again. The area was beautiful and very different than what I’m used to fishing in down in Mingo so it was not a complete waste.

We did actually manage to make it to Bear Lake after I discovered that the padlock at the 2nd gate ont the access road was unlocked. After loading our gear and yaks back in the car we drove the 2 miles to the lake to check it out. The water looked absolutely nasty and it was windy as hell so I don’t think we missed out on any quality fishing.

Instead of heading home early we decided to quickly dump the yaks back out in Florida Bay and just fish the mouth of the Flamingo Marina. It ended up being a great call as we both ended up bending the rods on numerous small fish. I hit the jackpot fishing a spot less than 100 yards from the dock. I was having fun just catching small snapper and lady fish on my ultra light spinner but ended up also hooking up with a little red and snook. All fish were a ton of fun on that rod.


All fish were caught on a brown bucktail jig tipped with shrimp. Can’t go wrong with the classics.

This guy showed no fear. Took this pic with my point and shoot with no zoom. I must have been less than 3 feet aways.

Till next time….

Hehe I love this thing!

Finally broke down and got an apple keyboard. I want to actually start using my Dell monitor when editing pics and movies and a Windows keyboard wasn’t going to cut it due the the few special apple characters that are missing. Would have been nice if Apple actually offered a full size bluetooth keyboard, but I’m happy with their wired USB version since it does have an additional 2 ports on it.
It is overpriced, as all Mac products are, but damn it looks and feels nice!

Now I just need an Iphone to make the complete transition over to the darkside……

My favorite movie of all time now on blu-ray and now in my possession. Mmmm…..

The kids spent the night at their grandparents house this past weekend and I got to watch the final and 3rd place match of the 2010 world cup at their house.
Also had a chance to play with my camera a bit more. Used the 28mm and 70-300mm lenses and tried to see what kind of bokeh capabilities they each have.

Link to all the pics: World Cup Weekend

Had a chance to travel to Philadelphia for business in June and wow am I glad I volunteered. Had no idea Philly was such a great city. So much history, so much to see and so much to do. Not only that but, the food was ridiculous.

I was only there 3 days but I got to spend the last day site seeing and spent one night out on the town taking pictures. I used the trip as an opportunity to finally apply everything I’ve been reading about in my photog books. Still have a looong way to go but I had blast playing with the camera and I know feel comfortable using my tripod just about anywhere.

My two favorite restaurants were Honey’s sit ‘n eat and Silk City Diner. Also had a great steak and dessert at the always reliable Capital Grill.

My favorite spot to photograph was City Hall at night. Such a great building with incredible lighting.

Link to all the trips pics here: Philly on my Smugmug page.

Hope to one day make it back and have more time to enjoy the city….

Finally got back to fishing Flamingo on my yak this morning. It’s been a loooong 6 months since the last time I even touched a rod and was itching to get into some action. Decided to keep take it easy and only bring 3 spinning rods and minimal gear. It was HARD not bringing the long rod but, I wanted to keep it simple and just bend a rod by any means necessary.

Did not get out as early as I wanted but the Mingo ramp was not busy at all at day break. The 45 minute paddle out to the flats was pretty uneventful. Was thinking I’d see a few tarpon rolling like I did all last summer but it was dead quiet. Things changed quickly once I hit the flat. There were Redfish all over the usual spots. Unfortunately, they were super spooky. Must have seen at least 2 dozen cruisers and tailers in under 2 hours but only got one of them to eat and he popped off as I was putting my anchor down. Probably spooked a good dozen others either by casting too close or they’d simply spook upon seeing the lure.
I was hoping to get more shots as the tides got better but a major thunderstorm started rolling in from the Keys that had me running back to the marina earlier than anticipated. Of course, the damn thing turned North at the last moment and I could have probably stayed on the flat all day. Frustrating but better safe than sorry I guess.
Oh, definitely bringing the fly rod next time. Couldn’t help but wonder if I would have had better luck with a quieter presentation? Of course, that means getting a lot closer, so who knows….
Time to start practicing with the fly rod again!

Took the kids and Charlene on their first camping trip this past weekend. We hit the campground in Flamingo and had some great weather. The mosquitoes got bad around dusk but other than that it wasn’t too bad.
The kids had an absolute blast and Charlene did pretty well too considering it was her first time camping and she is not an outdoor person.
Unfortunately we had to cut the trip short and left early Sunday. We wanted to go hiking and take a canoe trip but Charlene and I got ZERO sleep thanks to the winds that kicked up around midnight. Kids slept through the entire night but us old folks were way too tired that morning and decided to call it a day early.
Will definitely be planning another trip once fall rolls around. Getting too hot and buggy already for another one this season. Next time I’ll most likely head north and inland a bit to keep away from the winds. Thinking of something near the springs at the center of the state.

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