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Saltwater Flyfishing

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Salt of the water
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5:30a, 2/22/16
AG
I poled a friend around on Saturday. Reds were up in between exposed oyster beds (tides still low) in a foot or less of water. Bite didn't really start until 9 or 10. Water temp was mid 70s.

Lots of tiny shrimp in the marsh which is what I think the fish were feeding on. Saw a few subtle tailers where they raise the tip for a second but no full on headstanders.

Tried to find backers in some skinny ponds deep in the marsh but the action got slower the farther in we went. Seems like fish are holding deeper overnight and moving onto the flats once the sun warms things up.
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RickSawyer
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6:51a, 2/22/16
AG
East Matty, the premier spot to clean your hull! Just from my limited experience I have never seen thicker oysters anywhere else.
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Finn Maccumhail
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10:04a, 2/22/16
AG
Fished Port Fourchon area Friday & Saturday. We had clear skies but the water was really high & dirty and the wind was not remotely the 9-11mph forecast- more like 15-20.

We found a fair amount of fish but they were really spooky. I can't tell you how many we put the fly in front of them only to be ignored. It may have been because of the full moon. I had one fish about 15-20# break me off on the hook-set and saw a massive drum, had to be 45# where I absolutely wiped his nose with the fly and he just ignored it- he was a tailing, happy drum and just kept on rooting around.

No monsters this trip but this red had a really nice, blue tail:



My partner caught this 20# red:



And my big fish was this drum pushing about 18#:



But being over there skews your perspective, any one of my reds would have been just over the slot or solid slot fish here but they seem like babies there.
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RickSawyer
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In reply to Finn Maccumhail • 1:02p, 2/22/16
AG
quote:
Fished Port Fourchon area Friday & Saturday. We had clear skies but the water was really high & dirty and the wind was not remotely the 9-11mph forecast- more like 15-20.

We found a fair amount of fish but they were really spooky. I can't tell you how many we put the fly in front of them only to be ignored. It may have been because of the full moon. I had one fish about 15-20# break me off on the hook-set and saw a massive drum, had to be 45# where I absolutely wiped his nose with the fly and he just ignored it- he was a tailing, happy drum and just kept on rooting around.

No monsters this trip but this red had a really nice, blue tail:



My partner caught this 20# red:



And my big fish was this drum pushing about 18#:



But being over there skews your perspective, any one of my reds would have been just over the slot or solid slot fish here but they seem like babies there.

This is so similar to our trip two weeks back. KBo (Kevin) and I placed flies way in range of good fish and struggled to get follows early in the day. Bite improved later, closer to peak sun then slowed down into the afternoon.
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Salt of the water
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7:10p, 2/22/16
AG
Nice fish Finn. Love those blue tails.
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Salt of the water
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In reply to RickSawyer • 7:13p, 2/22/16
AG
quote:
East Matty, the premier spot to clean your hull! Just from my limited experience I have never seen thicker oysters anywhere else.


Here's a shot I got from Saturday. EMB ain't that bad compared to some of the marsh around Freeport.


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RickSawyer
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7:31p, 2/22/16
AG
Yeah, I would smoke a few of those ha!
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Ayto Siks
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7:34p, 2/22/16
Great pics. That blue tail is sick. I haven't caught one with that much blue.
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Kalebcs
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In reply to Salt of the water • 8:28p, 2/22/16
That looks like my neck of the woods over here around cedar lakes! My buddy is building an aluminum polling skiff because it's the only option.
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Salt of the water
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In reply to Kalebcs • 9:01p, 2/22/16
AG
Yep cedar lakes creek North of the ICW. Aluminum is definitely the way to go, that fiberglass crunch on the shell is worse than nails on a chalkboard. If I had a nice skiff, I would not be fishing back there.

There's an aluminum poling skiff for sale down in corpus. http://corpuschristi.craigslist.org/boa/5428945203.html

Speaking of cedar lakes... I finally made the trip down there by truck one day. That was a rough drive, but it looks like there's some decent wadeable water there.
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Finn Maccumhail
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In reply to Salt of the water • 10:21a, 2/23/16
AG
quote:
Yep cedar lakes creek North of the ICW. Aluminum is definitely the way to go, that fiberglass crunch on the shell is worse than nails on a chalkboard. If I had a nice skiff, I would not be fishing back there.

There's an aluminum poling skiff for sale down in corpus. http://corpuschristi.craigslist.org/boa/5428945203.html

Speaking of cedar lakes... I finally made the trip down there by truck one day. That was a rough drive, but it looks like there's some decent wadeable water there.
Just know your boat's abilities and limitations and you're fine. I'm not going to be reckless but neither am I going to fret over using my boat.

Those Xpress skiffs are neat boats. Definitely well made boats.
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Centerpole90
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3:56p, 2/23/16
AG
That latest fishbras post.
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Finn Maccumhail
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In reply to Centerpole90 • 4:04p, 2/23/16
AG
quote:
That latest fishbras post.

Nice!
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RickSawyer
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9:50p, 2/23/16
AG
Alright guys, who here bought this?

2001 Hellsbay Waterman

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Centerpole90
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1:27p, 2/24/16
AG
https://instagr.am/p/BCK6R4FCSnZ

I could stare at this pic all day.

That's a nice ride headed to Tx Rick.

Reminds me of when I was searching for a skiff this incredible side console Whipray (I think) w/ a tunnel came up. It was pristine and I forget who'd owned it but in the pictures was a pic of Flip Pallot sitting in it (I joked that pic drove the price up 10%). Anyway. It was a lot of Jack, $, and I pointed it out to an Aggie buddy of mine I've fished with before. He dropped a dime and his Corps Ol'Lady who lives in FL bought it that very afternoon! There's some real neat stuff on MS and it doesn't get then traffic but the HB Darkside site has some nice sleds too.

ETA. I found it. The thread to MicroSkiff was lost in the forum change but the photos are still cached online in a GIS. $29k three? years ago, about, and as far as I know it belongs to an Ag.







Check out those custom seats; and that is SeaDek done RIGHT. (I see a lot of it done wrong)

Aaaaaannnnd.... this is an endorsement for your skiff boys:

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BKClark
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4:02p, 2/24/16
AG
Join the Darkside Luke. I know it's killing ya
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Centerpole90
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In reply to BKClark • 4:19p, 2/24/16
AG
I'm just shopping for Ayto so we don't have to wade with the gators if we go on an OB SWfly tour.
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Ragoo
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4:28p, 2/24/16
AG
find me an 18HPXV for not 43K and not 1000 miles away
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Ayto Siks
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In reply to Centerpole90 • 6:46p, 2/24/16
Haha, one of these days... speaking of gators, did you see the seat cushions on that Whipray?
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Centerpole90
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In reply to Ragoo • 7:06p, 2/24/16
AG
Hey, if it's only 1,000 miles away it's a good bit closer than my HPXt was. It was just over 1,300 miles to New Smyrna Beach. I left at about 4:30 am and checked in at a hotel in the shadow of the Daytona Speedway at 11pm (their time, midnight to me). The next morning I looked the boat over and loaded up headed home. I broke that down to two days because I spent all morning with the guy and then hit up Vaughn Cochran's BlackFly shop in Jacksonville on the way back. If I'd been leaving from Htine it would have been just a stroll.

I guess that's the thing about living at the end of the world; EVERYWHERE is a drive, so how far is only relative.

Being willing to go to FL makes your skiff dollar stretch a lot further - unless you have the patience of Job or have a stroke of luck. If that Whipspray had been anywhere near my price range it would be sitting in my barn right now because I damn sure wouldn't let a 3 day adventure and some diesel get in the way. But I'm a hard headed sumbich and a poor example so disregard everything I just said.
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Centerpole90
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In reply to Ayto Siks • 7:09p, 2/24/16
AG
I did see those cushions. If that was my boat I would insist on having secks on those cushions. Even if it was with myself.

ETA- I was just looking at that picture of the HPX in that IG post closer on my desktop. One of the things I've noticed about a lot of skiffs is they have some long and storied careers. That HPX is far from a new one; it has the white (non-clear) push pole holders and the pop-up nav lights in the bow. I'll bet that's one of the very early HPX models. And the Whipspray above was an older boat too IIRC.
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Ragoo
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In reply to Centerpole90 • 8:09p, 2/24/16
AG
Hmm, I was thinking it is an -S model. I've only seen the black trim along the bow on the S models.
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BKClark
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8:27p, 2/24/16
AG
that's a good deal on the 17'8" in the valley. Beautiful boat. Go ahead pull the trigger. You know you want to join the Darkside. Come to the light
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Centerpole90
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In reply to Ragoo • 8:30p, 2/24/16
AG
Older ones can have the fly line minders too. My buddy's 2001 has them. Here is a pic off the interweb of what I mean about the early lights and push pole holders. This one has minders too. You'll notice on the older HPX that the compartment you sit on comes all the way to the edge, it's not a recessed hatch door. The front compartment is the same way, it extends back to the bulkhead and lips over.

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Centerpole90
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In reply to BKClark • 8:39p, 2/24/16
AG
All this boat talk has me thinking about...









fishing.
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Ragoo
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In reply to Centerpole90 • 8:39p, 2/24/16
AG
Awesome! For some reason I thought the overhang compartment was the 17 footer and the recessed was the 18 footer. I need to be more observant instead of googly eyed next time I look at one in person.
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Finn Maccumhail
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8:41p, 2/24/16
AG
Those are some sexy boats.
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Centerpole90
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In reply to Ragoo • 8:45p, 2/24/16
AG
I believe it's all in the vintage. Mine's an '07. You can see how the hatches on mine are recesses; front and back. The later ones are laid out differently with more compartments and what-not. Busted up 10wt means it was a helluva day!

.

You just keep looking and you'll find the MAV you want. MAV makes you feel all warm n fuzzy inside.
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Centerpole90
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In reply to Finn Maccumhail • 8:48p, 2/24/16
AG
Ya, I need to jump off this thread for a while. I don't know if I'm trying to sell Ragoo a boat, Ayto a boat, RS ANOTHER boat, or if BKC is trying to sell me a boat...

You're the only guy safe right now.

Centerpolette knocked down a nice local scholarship today - I'm afraid I may adopt Congressional Spending rules and consider that amount as a savings and apply it toward a skiff!
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RickSawyer
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8:55p, 2/24/16
AG
I don't need another boat. I mean, there is a BT Strike around the corner from my house... I could buy that and sell the micro.... Or keep the micro.... Oh how badly I don't want another boat!
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Centerpole90
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In reply to RickSawyer • 9:03p, 2/24/16
AG
You aren't cruising MicroSkiff Classifieds for no reason bro.
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RickSawyer
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9:05p, 2/24/16
AG
Ha! For friends!
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Finn Maccumhail
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9:16p, 2/24/16
AG
Oh, I'm not safe. I'm constantly trolling MicroSkiff, CraigsList, and scanning boat repair/storage lots for a project skiff to restore.

I want something like an old Johnsen or Shipoke or something similar that I can gut and restore.
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Finn Maccumhail
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9:28p, 2/24/16
AG
This is my inspiration. I wouldn't do the faux-mahogany wrap though. But I do want to do either teak or mahogany toe rails, cockpit floor, rod holders, deck chair, and the sea foam green hull and decks. Right down to swapping out the Etec decals for vintage Johnson Super SeaHorse emblems.

https://vimeo.com/46483878
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Centerpole90
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In reply to RickSawyer • 9:35p, 2/24/16
AG
What are these friends budget? Perhaps looking back a page or so Microskiff and about 2x your example....



'98 Whipray refit @ Islamarine
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