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01/01/09 Happy New Year Everyone! I thought that it would be nice to ring in the new year with my latest video "A Day in the Life of a Year" I hope you all enjoy it. 2008 was a spectacular year with some very memorable times with friends and clients and I expect 2009 to be even better. There are great things to come in 09' for the Iowa Fortune brand and will be releasing info on all coming attractions as we get closer to the Spring, but for now sit back and enjoy the new video. Keep it reel and see you in the Florida Keys. "A Day in the Life of a Year"
12/22/08 This is my hardest post of the season for sure, the reason being that I am putting my much loved skiff up for sale. This is an amazing skiff and I must say I am very sad to see it go. The reason for selling it is simple, I am getting ready to move into my new skiff for the 2009 season (from the same factory Hewes/Maverick.) Thus, in turn, the Hewes has gotta go. I have had this boat since new in 2002, and anyone who knows me knows how tight and pristine I keep my boats, so when I say this boat is clean you can be assured it is just that. For photos, detailed info and price........ Click on the logo.
12/18/08 Happy Holidays to all. With my NJ season having come to a close this will be my last report for the season here in NJ. My next fishing report will be from the beautiful Florida Keys. I would like to start by thanking all my longtime loyal clients as well as those who joined me for the first time to deliver another great season in the SJ back country. In the interim, before my keys departure, I will be releasing my next Video "A Day in the Life of a Year" along with a new piece for the"Unspoken Word" portion of my website and hope that you find them both enjoyable. Also, as a reminder for the Holidays don't forget about adding the popular Iowa Fortune Gift Certificate to your Christmas list, offered for both full day and half day trips with each certificate custom wrapped for either fly fisherman or light tackle anglers. As for the fishing report, my season ended with a roller coaster ride of action and events, dodging weather, hiding from the winds, ice covered boat decks and some hot fishing.....The tides had us once again on the hunt for laid up Bass for the entire week and despite the continuous non stop winds and fridged temp, our presence was well received by Bass crashing our subsurface offerings, both on the fly as well as light tackle. The cooler temperatures, both air and water, had the mid-day bite in full force. Despite all the good daily catches the fishing still remained an "all or none" situation, but when you find the Bass they are stacked up, tracking well in the shallows, predictably rolling along the flats edges, tightly grouped in dense pods and very willing to play, allowing us to sit on a school for 2+ hours at times. On the flip side, the "none" part of that "all or none" equation is just that, the area would be a vast barren land of voidness no matter how good the water looked. The last push of Bass was of the larger breed that had once again made their way into the backcountry under the radar, all ranging in size from 26-38". As my last trip of the season demonstrated as we h ooked up with the biggest Bass of the season a 38" 19+ lbs taken on the fly in 4 feet of water, a great way to end the season. Once again thanks for the great season and I look forward to seeing you in the beautiful Florida Keys over the winter time. Those not visiting me in the south, I'll see you in the Spring in NJ when my season begins April 15. Happy Holidays.
11/21/08 The day that ends my season in back started out with an unprecedented surprise. No, it wasn't the 12 degree wind chill, or the sheet of ice covering the deck of the boat or even the predicted 1" of snow forecasted, it was the water temperature and the dramatic plunge. I thought I was having a gauge malfunction when the chart plotter read 38 degree water temps but after an entire day of fishing it was true, our temps never got above 41 degrees all day which is stunning considering the day prior was 55 degrees. When we arrived at our first stop of the day I said to my client, today is a big fish day, we won’t have big numbers but we will have weight and our 2nd stop and 2nd cast proved that to be true. The magical "Fortune Fly" once again delivers the biggest bass of the season on the fly. We hooked up with this bruiser and it was immediately game on as he dug deep and rode the current with a long steady run putting us into the back in quick order. After a lengthy battle on the 8wt. rod we had a beautiful 19lb. 38" Striped specimen boatside for some photos before releasing him to fight another day. A real trophy Bass for the SJ shallows. We got back into position to repeat the process and a few minutes later we were tight again with another Bass, only this one was in the 27" 10 lb range. We fished several other areas hard but only managed to have a few lethargic strikes until the last area of the day when we picked up 1 more schoolie in the 24" class to end the trip. I will spend the next 2 weeks running out front in the big boat so my reports will continue to be updated until the 1st week in December.
11/18/08 It looks like the weather will keep me off the water today and possibly Wednesday. Next update will be on Friday.
11/17/08 There was definitely a touch of winter in the air this afternoon as predicted for tomorrow as well. It was tough sledding today. The Bass were very selective and ruthless on strikes, giving you one shot at a hook up, no exceptions. We picked a few smaller Bass early in the trip but didn't get on the bite until the 9th inning when we had good size Bass holding along the edges of the flats. Once we dialed in on how they wanted the lure presented our Bass came more consistently with more agressive strikes than earlier in the trip. The Bass today ranged in size from 18" to 27". Water temps 50.
11/14/08 Slick calm water, no wind, fog so thick we could barely see the bow of the boat and bass rolling like tarpon just waiting for a well placed fly to sweep in front of them, so that’s just what we did. It took us about a 1/2 hour to close the deal on these rollers but we finally manage to hook up after getting the perfect presentation that they could not resist, which resulted in a nice 28" Bass plucked from 10" of water, and as a bonus I managed to capture all of it on film which will be seen in my next video, and trust me on this one...you will not want to miss this! We stayed in front of Bass the remainder of today's trip which produced some fine Bass ranging in size from 20-28". There are some real monsters lurking around throughout the SJ backcountry right now as I witnessed again today as a solid 20lb+ (42") hog came boatside chasing our lure as it came up from the depths. Hold on tight, this upcoming week should be exciting.
11/13/08 Today was identical to last Wednesday with a very predictable weather window ahead of, and between, double low pressure front (aka the “Meloche Crunch”). As my crystal ball forecasted yesterday, we had great moving water, a lot of newly hatched bait and the Bass bite was on once again, in its fall fury. We started the day sight fishing so we stopped in at a "ye ole' Bass n grass" for a bite. I could see almost immediately that we had very nice fish tailing and working bait deep in the grasses, which resulted in getting the skunk out of the boat pronto. With the first fish pressure off we ran to seek out a bit of topwater action which has been hot and cold but after about a 1/2 hour of nada action we pulled up stakes and ran to work the edges of one of my favorite fall flats. It didn't take long before the action heated up delivering some real quality Fall size bruiser bass ranging in size from 26" to 35" that were just crushing assorted artificials and just as weeks prior it was all about presentation.
11/11/08 I will be out of commission for the next 2 days. My steering cable broke as I was preparing for today's trip. If all goes well with getting the part I will be back in action on Thursday.
11/10/08 Today was another day with a weather window to shoot for to avoid some big winds only this time it didn't produce as much as before. The Bass were hard to find today but we worked hard and managed to get our fair share of "ninja strikes" and managed to wrangle 3 to the boat today. I believe things will fire back up and become more predictable once again as we approach the moon and the current starts to run again. Like tomorrow.
11/07/08 Man oh man what a day, overcast skies, light winds, gin clear water and air temperatures in the mid 60's, put them all together and you get a picture perfect striper day. The only way it would have been even better would be if we had caught some Bass. I must say it was puzzling. We had our fair share of strikes throughout the day but the pattern of the bite was one not made for success. We had 1 to 2 strikes per spot, 1 strike per fish and never got a second chance at any of them. We worked hard for the bite today but in all we got the skunker #2 for the season.
11/06/08 Oh Yeah I do remember Gale. Winds are up 40 + I am off the water until tomorrow.
11/05/08 Gale who? The weather window was open so we fished on through it. Even though gale warnings where posted for today I could see the 4 to 5 hours of opportunity so we made the run and got rewarded handsomely. Angry skies and steady 20 knt + blow when we pushed off to head to our first flat of the day and it didn't take long before we could see that our efforts would pay off. The weather made no difference on the action today from our 1st flat to our last we had big moving current, clear water and a steady pick throughout the trip which included a nice 12 lb and a 15.lb specimen. As always both where released to fight another day .
11/03/08 Another bluebird day, 62 degrees sunny skies, smooth water and a steady pick of Bass. After coming up blank at our first flat of the day we jumped ship on the topwater bite (know when to hold'em know when to fold'em) but once we switched to a subsurface presentation we were line tight on Bass the remainder of the day. The Bass were a bit more challenging to find today more than likely due to the abnormal amount of boat traffic which by their boating etiquette had to be leftovers from the fair weather weekend warrier brigade. Not to worry things will be back to no boat status tomorrow. We managed to pick 9 Bass today ranging in size from 20"-27" with the largest of the day escaping us as he broke us off on his blistering first run off the flats.Water temps 49
10/31/08 What can I say it was Halloween. (click on pumpking for gallery)
10/30/08 "One must suffer in order to be rewarded" that's what I said to my client as we settled down at our first spot of the trip, a refreshing ride deep into the backcountry. I often wondered what wakes you up more, a 24oz cup of Starbucks jet fuel or a 5 mile run at 40 mph in an open skiff in 34 degree air temps...I think I will choose option B by default. Today water temps were prime time, 49-52degrees, so we focused on continuing the smashing topwater bite but today it was not going to be. With a 1/2 hour of throwing topwater in fertile grounds, with not a sniff, decided it looked just too good to leave so we settled down and focused on working the area just below the surface. It took all of 10 minutes before we had confirmation that we made the right decision when I saw a nice fin pop up along the grass....game on. Seeing that one Bass, that we caught, led us to getting onto a nice school of Bass that we managed to stay on top of for over an hour, picking up 10 Bass ranging in size from 23” - 32" and countless strikes. Once the spot cooled off we pressed on looking for some good water and after a 10 minute ride we slowly rolled into a fun spot to stake out, warm up in, and catch more Bass. When conditions are right and the Bass are tracking well it shouldn't be long before the game is on...it took 3 casts. We got into them again fast and stayed steady right through to the end of the trip, providing 5 more very spunky Bass between 21"- 29" along with a good number of strikes and one break off. For the day we had 15 Bass. We suffered, we got rewarded.
10/27/08-10/29/08 Gale winds @45 knts+ will have me on land until Thursday. For those of you looking to have the backcountry experienience time is running out these are my open dates for the remainder of the season. First come first serve. Nov. 17, 18, 20, 24, 25, 26
10/25/08 I will be off the water today. As a reminder those looking to get in on the action your time is running out fast. I am now booking from 11/12 on out. For a list of my open dates e-mail me. Have a great weekend.
10/24/08 Another beautiful fall day descended upon us today offering us clear skies (most of the day), light winds and smooth crystal clear waters. The hardest part of my job on days like this when so many flats are looking oh so good, is just where to start the day so today I decided to run my clients to the skinniest water I could possible find and stalk Bass on top water. and that's what we did. We began our trip with a great topwater bite that consumed nearly the first hour and a half of our time on the water with Bass exploding on our plugs as we came across pods of laid up Bass. In this 1st area alone we had 6 Bass landed, dropped 3 more boatside and raised at least 8 others that just some how managed to allude being hooked. We managed to keep that pace up for the entire trip as we stayed in front of Bass throughout the day with just short skiff rides between flats. For the day we had 19 Bass ranging in size between 18" and 29" with a solid 90% of them being ocean fish pushing south. Things are good. Water temps are prime time 49-54.
10/22/08 The winds will keep me on land the next couple of days but I will be back in action by the weeks end. My October dates are filled and am now booking miscellaneous dates from November 12th on. Time is running out. My season will come to a close here in NJ at the end of November at which point I will be Florida keys bound. For a list of my open dates e-mail me by clicking here
10/20/08 Hello fall... phase II of the fall run has now begun. That 2 day NE blow over the weekend triggered the 2nd mirgrational push of Bass into the backcountry which in turn allowed me to keep us in front of Bass all day long. Topwater action, subsurface action, along with some top notch sight fishing, we basically had it all today. We started out the day raising 6 Bass on topwater which led to us picking a up nice bass as we casted to a group of them tailing in shallow 9" pocket of water. With the skunk out of the boat we managed to keep a steady bass picking pace for the remainder of the trip. As always, my focus is on topwater action and with the bass tracking very predictably today in the shallows the surface action was about 80% of the trip. Spot 1 we raised 6 Bass, caught 1, Spot 2 we raised 5 Bass, caught 3, our 3rd area looked too good to pass by so we worked a little subsurface presentation and picked up 23 Bass. In our 4th spot we had 4 nice strikes and lost 1 boat side and when the tide was just right we made a short skiff run in hopes of getting in on some sight fishing and we did just that. See it, catch it. We had 2 nice bass feeding hard in a few tight areas and once again as in prior days, we laid in a few precision casts until the we had just the right swing so that the Bass just could not resist, which resulted in a nice 30" fatty pulled out of 10" of water. No sooner did we get that one photographed and released we were hooked up with the other bruiser we saw (that one pulled out of 8" of water). A two'fer to end the trip. In total for the day we had 29 Bass ranging in size from 18" to 31". Water temps dropped to a prime 49-53 degrees
10/17/08 Trying to hit the weather window today we instead got hit by the weather in the form of wind. We pushed off from the dock in a steady 20knt wind from the north and the bay was almost to wedding cake status with white caps, so we ran deep into the back country to seek protection. We started off on topwater and after about 20 minutes we saw our 1st target which looked to be a solid 32"+ Bass stemming and boiling in a deep pothole. This was a tough cast to be accurate with the stiff cross wind, so we got up close and personal to take the shot. My client threw a great cast, the lure swung perfectly into the Bass's view and up he came for the take. With a big boil he missed our offering and away he went. We fished a few different methods in this area which provided us a handful of very fickle strikes but no hookups. With the tide pushing very hard and rising quick we headed to try our luck with finding some bass maybe tailing in the grass. We rolled into fresh area and no sooner did we pull onto the flat and I could see our quarry slapping bait with its tail deep in the weeds. We got into position and a few casts later we had our Bass on and a second later he was off not to be seen again. We worked the area for about another 1/2 hour with no more sightings other than small bluefish crashing bait. With the winds now a steady 25 knts and the end of the trip growing near, we ran to a code red spot which would be a wind at our back staked out position and let the Bass come to us instead of us finding them (an old Florida keys tarpon trick). Only after a few casts my plan was coming together with a few good strikes by the passing Bass and after 10 minutes or so we had our 1st official bass hooked up and peeling off line and after a great fight he had this 31" migrator boat side. We got back into position and repeated the process for the next hour picking up 4 more Bass and about the same amount in strikes. Our perseverance paid off, a nice way to finish the trip.
10/16/08 Just like the past couple of moon phases this last full moon had the Bass pushing bat into the grasses and today was no different. We started off slow raising a couple fish on top water but no committed hookups. When the tide was right we headed off to sight fish Bass in the grasses and as always they were taunting, challenging and arrogant but patience pays off. We fished a group of 4 bass or so ranging in size from 22" to the most arrogant of the group @ 32". We had these guys tail slapping bait and finning hard for about an hour or so allowing us to take shots about every 5 minutes. We had the 32" bruiser take our fly twice but could not keep him hooked while the others in the group continued slashing further up in the grass. As the frequency of their rises lessened the pressure of needing to hook up was on the increase. Having shown this group of Bass the same fly reapedlly we changed up to the infamous Iowa fortune fickle fly to show them something new. With the 32" having not been seen since the last hook-up we targeted the smaller single Bass we saw stemming the currents in the narrowest creek of the flat, and when I say narrow I am talking 2 feet wide (max) and 1 foot deep which leaves you about a 1 foot window at the most to throw the fly in to get the correct swing. We silently poled into position to within 8 feet from this bass and with my clients 1st cast being perfect the fickle fly hit the water and a second later we were hooked up and with a blistering run out of the creek a few minutes later we had this teen boatside, sight fishing at its finest.
10/12/08 A light NE wind put some Fall feeling in the air today setting the tone for some good steady action. Water temperatures finally dropped to 65 and the Bass responded well. Still on the "one chance only" Bass bite the were more aggressive and definitely bigger than the past week. Though we had only schoolies to the boat today we had some very nice encounters with Bass easy in the 30"+ category, 3 swipes and misses, 1 break off, and another brute Bass in the 33" range that just magically came unbuttoned after several minutes of back and forth battling, an emotional roller coaster but the size of the Bass is a great sign of things to come. As always at this time of the season all the Bluefish you want in the 2-4.lb range.
10/09/08 Believe it or not today's weather forecast was incorrect, light and variable when I went to bed and 20 +knt wind and rain when I woke up, no problem, we hit it. The trip started off by raising an explosive top water attack by a very sizable Bass that snapped us off immediately when he landed on the line after the hook up. That was unfortunately our only topwater action during the trip but we got on a steady pick of nice "migrator "size Bass throughout the remainder of the trip ranging in size from 18" to 29" all of which were thick, fat, healthy and loaded with sea lice. Water temperatures were prime, keeping us in fish straight into the midday high sun. We had 7 Bass for the day.
10/08/08 Fall was in the air today with a cool 50 degree air temp and 57 degree water temp as we pushed off from the dock. The oil slick water looked fertile as we rolled onto our first spot of the day, though we had no action at our #1 spot, we had some nice waking Bass in our sights, just no takers. Having made a move to an area that would give us a prime shot at tailing Bass it was no longer than 5 minutes upon our arrival that we saw our first tailing fish. This thing was a monster and I estimated him to be in the 36"+ category as we watched him ignore our offerings. Never in all my years of guiding have I seen a more casual, rude Bass as we watched him swimming comfortably along the surface with not a care in the world. We fished him for about 10 minutes before he slid into the depths. We got ourselves back into position and a few minutes later we had our 1st Bass of the day, a nice 26" specimen. This area was really alive for about 30 minutes, then someone flicked the light switch and things got tough. We did manage to pick up 4 more teen size Bass before heading back to the dock.
10/07/08 We had beautiful water all afternoon today but tough fishing. Even though we had our fair share of strikes throughout the trip it took us a couple of hours before we got onto a bite that would get some Bass boatside, but once we found them we did OK. We got into an area that really just came alive with waking Bass, tail slappers and rollers but it was the Bass we weren't seeing that were the ones that were willing to play. We had 6 Bass for the day and raised 3 others on topwater.
10/03/08 After a peaceful week on the water the wind from nowhere arrived today blowing about 25knts from the WSW making the waters pretty dirty offering about 1 inch of visibility. We had tough fishing for the 1st part of the trip today only offering up a few strikes but no hook ups. That changed once we started the run and gun from spot to spot. We hit our 1st bass half way through our trip and it was well worth the wait as the perfect cast led to this brute "inhaling" our offering followed by a blistering run for the deep. After about a 5 minute deep digging fight we had a very nice 29" "ocean run" Bass boatside. Now that the skunk was out of the boat we pressed on doing short time at a lot of spots before we settled down to do some time at our last area of the trip that would offer us a shot at some topwater action. We hit a small group of schoolie size Bass along with a lot of quick strikes. As the winds dropped off the waters became slick calm and the Bass started cruising freely on the shallow flats. We raised 2 very nice fish on topwater but both managed to avoid being hooked. We continued to see a lot of Bass moving but unfortunately could not persuade them to the end of our line. We had 4 Bass in total for the trip today.
09/30/08 Fall was in the air today as we pushed off from the dock with calm winds and smooth water. We ran deep once again into the SJ backcountry chasing the tide which was moving at a good clip today. We settled down at our first flat of the day and much like yesterday we raised 2 Bass at the start, both of which acted very suspect to our offerings. As we worked our way down the flat we saw the activity building as Bass popped up from the channel on to the flats to feed. We had a good shot at another 2 Bass tailing in a small pocket of water but once again very weary and hesitant to strike which resulted in 2 follows and no hook-up. After working the area pretty hard we did manage to pull 1 schoolie Bass on topwater. With the tide hitting that magic level we ran to some lower sod bank flats to once again target some fish that made their way into the grasses. The water was really moving, offering us a lot of fertile looking water, good seams, sweeping helpless bait, and good clarity. We rolled into the area a little early so we would be set up in front of the incoming Bass and about 15 minutes later they rolled in right on schedule as we saw our 1st rolling Bass feeding in the grass. Pushing a fair amount of water each time he rolled on bait I could tell this was a solid Bass but in a very difficult area to cast to, but on the plus side we were on the fly with my angler definitely up for the task. This looked to be a single fish that would definitely require a lot of patience in order to get him. We had shots at him about every 5 minutes and after 30 minutes of stalking, this Loner Bass gave us the best shot of the session when he popped through the weeds through a 6 inch opening in 8 inches of water and with the perfect cast the fly landed right in front of him and 1 twitch later the game was on. A few minutes later we had a beautiful 29" Bass boat side, posing for pictures before releasing him. We ran to a few more flats which offered an overabundance of bait but with no success with Bass other than a few grabs working the deeper holes. Today was one of those trips that was low on numbers but high on delivering the experience.
09/29/ 08 With the winds having finally died down to a 10-15 N breeze we ran deep into the back country focusing on finding a topwater bite. The water looked pretty good with some decent clarity considering we had a week of heavy winds. We raised 2 nice Bass right off the get go at our first location. Both were laid up and each gave us only 1 opportunity for a hook up. Seeing really no other action in the area we made a run to take advantage of the quickly rising water to go to an area that would give us an opportunity to sight fish for bass in the weeds that were trying to feed on newly hatched bait from the new moon. No sooner did we pull up and I could already see a few nice tailing Bass. This small pod of Bass were moving predictably but deep in the weeds and would take a pin point accurate cast and patience to close the deal and about 20 minutes later we had ourselves a nice 22" Bass hook up. That Bass having moved the rest of the pod he was traveling with, we were forced to make a move. We had a few more tugs throughout the trip but nothing to the boat and with the wind taking its toll on the water we decided to call it a day.
09/23/08 I have made the decision to scrub the entire weeks trips as the winds are still up @ 25+knts. and on the increase . I am going to go out on a limb here and make a weather prediction for the next 5 days. I believe that this weather system that is sitting off the Carolinas will manifest itself into our 1st Nor'easter of the season. a good 40knt blow followed by a hard NW wind is the recipe to mark the official beginning of the fall run. The bad news is that it will keep me off the water at least until Saturday but the good news is that this is really exactly what we need to get the Bass run moving both in the backcountry as well as along with the oceanside. This will be phase# 1 in the process of what looks to be a great fall run. I will update later in the week.
09/22/08 Today the winds that were predicted to arrive later I the week look as if they arrived early. As of 11am the winds are already blowing a solid 20+ knots from the NNE and the bay looks like frosting on a cake in turn I have decided to canceled today's trip along with tomorrow's. This weather pattern is the type that could develop into our first real storm of the season. I will update again on 9/23
09/16/07 The sleeper day, you have to love them. Calm winds, cloudy skies, clear cool water and no other boats all afternoon. Sound good?. How about Tailing Bass, Waking Bass and mini blitz's? that is pretty much what today consisted of. We took full advantage of the conditions today having Bass from our first spot to our last spot. The cool air temps had bass in fall pattern mode with the groups of fish starting to gather up at all the usual fall flats and holes. Today the Bass were not shy and were willing to show themselves in some very skinny waters as they balled up schools of spearing and peanuts in hot pursuit of the feed. Mini Bass blitz's are also beginning to pop up still consisting of mostly teen size Bass and Bluefish on top with the bigger Bass lurking below. Today in total we had 10 Bass ranging in size from 19" to 24" taken both on top water as well as subsurface artificials. Look for things to be full steam ahead as we approach October and November as we enter the peak season for sight fishing and shallow water Striper opportunities.
09/13/08 We plainly saw the weather window in front of us so we made the run for dolphin. We followed the tail end of the low pressure system as it moved offshore so the ocean was a bit bumpy, but by 10:00 am it was beautiful with not another boat in sight all day. We ran to "Jurassic Park" which is one of my favorite offshore honey holes. The spot being dubbed "Jurassic Park" came about because it is the area that time forgot, and it's not on any modern day charts...it's about as old school as you can get. We had a pretty active trip, picking up 4 Dolphin, lost 2 others, and as a side catch we had a dozen or so "Lesser Amberjacks"which like all the others in the "Jack" family, despite their size they are brutes when hooked up. We have some big winds predicted for late Sunday into Monday followed by a stiff offshore wind which could give us our first shot at some inshore Albies. Keep you fingers crossed.
09/11/08 Having been blown out with 25+knt winds the past 2 days forcing me to reschedule my trips, I could not be happier to finally see subsiding winds forecasted for the next several days making my sights set on hitting the weather windows and running offshore in the 32" for some "Run & Gun" action for Dolphin, Albies and schoolie Bluefin. As I have done the past few seasons I will be splitting my time on the water between fishing offshore and the backcountry for the remainder of September and early October. As of now my September is nearly filled and October is getting thin especially in the second half of the month. Those looking to get in on the backcountry action for the fall run shoot me an e-mail requesting dates. My next update will be on 9/12.
09/03/08-09/08/08 This past week was a real mixed bag of activity weather, water temperatures...Wednesday and Thursday dished up a very topwater bite with 11 bass one day and 8 the other all ranging in size from 18"-29" and fat. Then Hannah made an appearance and the 40 knt winds that came with it shaking things up pretty good in back especially with the water clarity all which kept me off the water for 3 days. Come Monday the weather was great but the water clarity despite the light winds overnight still remained poor. We did have some good top water shots at nice size Bass early in our trip but just could not keep them hung on the hook and with the mass plethora of bait around getting a second chance with any one particular Bass was not going to happen. So post Hannah gave us Bluefish and a odd flounder bite for the day.
09/01/08 Well now here we are, September 1st already and the Fall backcountry push of Bass will descend upon us over the next few weeks. From how the earlier part of the season went I expect that it will be another fantastic fall. The past 5 weeks have been all about the new twins and getting a crash course in fatherhood, but I passed the daddy test and I am ready to get back on the water again. Because of my paternity leave my usual August clients have moved into September and in turn has made available dates thin for this month, but I still have some dates open. For those looking to get in on the fall action I would suggest getting your dates secured. With the September mix of running offshore for Dolphin and Albies, fishing the backcountry for Bass and shooting our first complete episode for " Iowa Fortune TV" this will be a busy fall so short notice trips will probably not happen. Booking in advance is encouraged so for a list of my open dates e-mail me by clicking here. Now that I am back on the water, I will be resuming my weekly e-mail reports along with regularly updating the site with my daily reports, "Unspoken word"as well as other aspects of the site. It's great to be back again on the water and I look forward to seeing you all on the bow of the skiff this Fall.
07/10/08 - 07/12/08 The past few days have been by far the best opportunity to sight fish Bass so far this season and this is just a preview of what's to come for the fall season. The Bass have been blind to water depth as they push pods of grass shrimp into the shallows and with the stable weather calm winds were had and each day was a carbon copy of the day prior. With the Bass tracking this predictably it allowed us to stay in front of Bass offering topwater action nearly the entire trip even during high sun warm water conditions. July is really starting to become a prime month for shallow water bass allowing clients shots at tailing Bass, rollers, wakers and best of all those shallow water slashers that are so shallow that half their body is out of the water chasing shrimp, as was the case at our last spot of the trip today. I gotta say this was a great way to end the 1st part of the season before my 4 week hiatus for the birth of the kids. Over weeks ahead I will be slipping in a few days of work and posting reports but I won't be returning to the water full time until the end of August. During this "time off" I will be updating several areas of the website including the "unspoken word” area as well as the “Iowa Fortune TV". Looking forward to Fall my September dates are starting to become thin so those of you looking to get in on the fall action should start putting the wheels in motion. Talk to you all soon.
07/07/08 We focused again today on hitting bass on top water and found action at each area we visited today but we did seem to have a 1 Bass per spot quota. A quick hit and run spot gave us our first taste of action when raising a nice Bass that was laid up in a small pocket of deeper water. With the winds blowing a stiff SW 15 we did some traveling to find some smooth protected water and soon found ourselves settling down in a beautiful slick calm area that was just brimming with bait. We worked the area for about 1/2 hour before we had a monster bass crash our surface plug leaving us with with only a big boil in the water as it missed the plug. No more than 5 minutes later we had Bass pop up on the flat behind us tailing hard and happy in 8" of water as they foraged on grass shrimp and no sooner did I point them out, my angler laid the perfect cast and 2 pops of the plug later we were hooked up. After a high speed run off the flat and a few minute fight we had a nice 24" Bass posing for a picture. We continued to sight fish tailing Bass for the next 1/2 hour before the area quieted down but could not get any more takers. We had no more topwater action as the heat of the day became a factor so we ran for deeper water to try and find some basin Bass which delivered us some good action as well giving us 3 more very healthy Bass up to 27". For the day we had 4 Bass and raised 3 others.
07/01/08 If I was a betting man, I would have been all in on a day like today. Fortunately, I am not a betting man. We had a lot of goodness on our side today as we pushed off from the dock, no wind, no bugs, good water and cool temperatures, all the needed ingredients for a day of action. The only problem was that no one told the Bass. I should have seen the strangeness of the day coming when our first top water Bass of the trip, who just exploded on our surface plug, came to the boat just a little different than your normal 26" bass, that's because he was tailless. Yes that right, this Bass obviously lost a battle with a bluefish in his earlier years and has still managed to survive, completely healed over, fat and healthy, he just had no tail. This Bass was unfortunately not only the first bass of the day it was also the last. We had a few other opportunities along the way, including a nice hook up with an unmovable Bass that came unbuttoned, along with a few very leery followers on top water presentation but on fortunately could not get them to commit. We saw rollers and a few tailers but in the end we only managed to rustle up 1 Bass @ 26" (30"with a tail) and 1 Blue around 4 lbs.
06/27/08 It’s Voodoo I tell ya. Getting ready to push off from the dock, our mission, stalking laid up Bass on the fly and the conditions were perfect ...no wind, slick calm water, bait everywhere, and then it happened, to my disbelief...as I turned around...there it was...on the bow of the boat...my angler eating a Banana. After the lightning bolts finished descending down from the heavens above I felt a need to chronicle this event so I snapped a quick photo during this fate tempting experience and then off we went to our first stop of the day which should be a curse breaking basin holding Bass. We slowly made our way into the basin and it was looking fine and it didn't take long before raising our 1st Bass of the day. Even though he missed the fly it was a good sign of things to come. A few minutes later we could see Bass pushing across the flat towards us so we laid the fly up in a beautiful pocket of water in their path and with a few twitches of the fly this Bass exploded on it and we were officially hooked up with a beautiful 28"+ Bass. This fish was hot, slashing in the shallows before trying to speed across the sandbar to get to deeper water..and then...it happened...gone. Little did I know but today would be one of those days "as the first spot goes so goes the day.” This scenario would play out about 7 more times on today's trip landing 1 Bass and missing 7. We stayed in front of Bass a good portion of the trip offering a lot of good top water action but like a light switch the heat of the day shut down the bite. Was it the heat? Too slow on the hook set? Or maybe to fast? Was it just the bass's lucky day...or was it....that Banana.
06/25/08 Today we left the dock under the usual conditions with light winds and forecasted storms that never came and no other boats. As we skimmed over the shallows to our first destination the waters looked very good with nice seams, clear and good water levels which would put us in spots through out the trip that would offer small windows of opportunity but often explosive. Timing is everything in the skinny water and as we approached to settle down in area one we could see bass busting and as we made our way up on to the flat they were gone as fast as they came. Being a bit late for the window at that spot off we went to get set up at our second location to be assured that we would be set up and ready for when things opened up. As we settled down things looked right for the action to start and as we took a few casts in wait we could see the birds getting ready as well.. About 15 minutes passed and right on time a mini blitz popped up behind the boat but went down as fast as they came up only offering us a couple cast. A few minutes passed and up they came again but thicker and longer and seemed to be a combination of Bass and blue and getting into position we got off several good cast before the would go down again and from that we got two hookups 1 Bluefish in the 3lb range and 1 Bass @30" taken on top and the other on sinking line. The window was short but active but we could not get the fly through the blues to get to the Bass. The unpredictability of the schools made it hard to get in front of them as they crossed the flat so off we went to our next window that produced the same results but this time we had a few bumps and two break-offs 1 Bass that came right up to the boat before taking the fly and the other which seemed to be a sizable bluefish popped the fly off instantly and this would end our trip for the day.
06/20/08 A couple of Iowa Fortune regulars, no wind , slick calm conditions and of course some good moving water, all the ingredients for a good day on the water. We started today a lot like yesterday by hitting a spot that looked just too good to pass up. Our 2nd cast into the shallow 8" deep pocket raised a beautiful Bass who slashed at the plug but missed it. We waited a couple of minutes to let the Bass settle down before taking another shot at him and once things settled down we positioned ourselves for another shot and once again just as the plug hit the water he crashed the lure and we were hooked up. This Bass was a good 29"+ and going crazy, slashing , rolling, throwing water everywhere before heading off the shallows to deeper water and just as he hit the deep and the line was peeling off the drag he was gone..broke off and the abraded chaffed line told the story that the shallow water rolling of the Bass was just too much for the 8lb test to handle. We had good looking water but no action on top for the next 40 minutes so a move was in order and as we made our way to the next flat there are just some areas that look so good they are hard to ride by and today I could hear the voices from a spot of the past calling out to me..fish me Bryan fish me combined with my Brydar going off it was just way too much to ignore so we made the U-turn and slipped on into the area. It didn't take long to find out this was a good decision as the first couple of strikes turned into an hour of good constant action as we moved around fishing a couple of pods of Bass cruising the basin. We had 8 Bass to the boat all between 18"and 26"and missed about the same amount. After things cooled off we went back on the hunt for Bass on towpath and I knew just where to go which put us in one of my blind fold worthy, double secret honey hole basins, in a very remote area of the back country. We worked our way in to the smooth water back part basin before coming across and raising our 1st Bass of the spot. Strike 1, a few minutes later our 2nd Bass crashes the plug.. Strike 2 then a risky cast amid some dangerous structure, 3 pops later and we had a beautiful bass tight on the line and after a great fight we had this teen posing for a photo. We had for the day 9 Bass , and 1 Blue.
06/17/08 The topwater bite continued to be our focus once again today and with the water temps having dropped drastically into the mid 50's I was feeling good about hitting Bass on the surface during high sun. We had a steady pick of Bass today throughout our trip but it was bookended by the best sight casting experiences of the day as we started off our trip with hitting a nice 24" Bass on topwater on our 3rd cast of the trip. ..and I must say it was a great strike...he was laid up motionless, Gin clear water, 18" deep, and he exploded on the plug the second it hit the water and it was game on. We closed the trip by spending the last hour or so stalking Bass in the skinniest water of the trip purely sight casting to small to mid size schoolies. Tipped off by a small pod of nervous shrimp we took a cast at a laid up schoolie and two pops later we had the nice 28+ crash our bait but miss not to be seen again. Just a few minutes later we could see another smaller Bass tailing in the grass in 6"of water so quietly got in to position and took our shot and a few twitches of the popper landed he made his 1st attempt and missed but as we worked the plug towards the boat we could see him following with interest and with a littleplug finesse and a pause .. with only 3 feet left till the plug was boat side we managed to sweet talk him into striking and a couple minutes later this puppy Bass was boatside and released.
06/15/08 The air temps dropped after the rains passed and in turn so did the water temperatures triggering some spectacular top water action for both my Fly as well as light tackle. We had good water pushing through out the back country which always translates into great skinny water Striper action. Good sized tightly packed groups of Bass made their way into their usual shallow water haunts and with the cooler water they were willing to show themselves readily as they chased down small pods of grass shrimp as they made their way across the flats. Most of the schools today could be spotted as they pushed water/waking as they made their way over the thin water sections of the flats making it easy to pole the skiff in front of them offering good head on or ¼ angle shots as they would approach the boat. The Bass really jumped in size from the warm weeks prior with only a few smaller fish in the 18"-22" range but the bulk of our catches tonight were between 24" and 31" and all were taken exclusively on top water both on the fly and 6lb light tackle gear. Water temperatures stabilized in the 70-75 degrees and with it being forecasted to remain on the cooler side over the next week and with another front predicted to pass early in the week combined with the full moon tide I can only think that this week will be action packed.
06/13/08 With the topwater bite now officially in full swing we decided to go on the hunt for laid up Bass and it didn't take long before we had a few topwater takers. I went old school today by visiting a flat that I hadn't been on since my early days of guiding and man I tell ya, it was like being reacquainted with an old friend as it greeted us with open arms. It was only about 5 minutes before we had our 1st signs that things were going to heat up as we had good size pods of Bass rolling like Tarpon on the surface and a couple minutes later we raised our 1st Bass. The fact that I could see good constant rolling action as far as my eyes could see ahead of us we decided to hunker down and work the area hard and follow the Bass as they moved with the tide. We stayed on this group of Bass the majority of the trip fishing only topwater and managed to wrangle up 7 Bass, raised 4, all between 18 and 25"along with a fun size Bluefish in the 3 lb class. Once things cooled off we decided to do hit and runs as we worked our way back to the dock but unfortunately we had no other hook ups but in all a very fun day. .
06/11/08 Light winds and great looking water greeted us as we left the dock with water temperatures a balmy 73 degrees. We got the skunk out of the boat early with a few hits and 5 schoolie Bass at our first location ranging in size with 2@ 20", 22"27", and 29". We fished hard at all out next areas which offered us a few timid noncommittal strikes until we hit our last area for the evening were we found very cool water in the middle 60's and good moving water and just happened to be on one of my favorite spring flats. About ten casts in as we made our way down the flat we had a great hookup with a bass that never new he was hooked as he made his way across the flat heading for deeper water a classic big fish maneuver. This Bass obviously read the book of " What gamefish to do when hooked" because just when we thought we had him beat he hung a right ran with the current and when down deep and after a few minutes of it towing us through the back country he decided that he had enough and let go, thus concluding our trip.
06/09/08 Things are really beginning to heat up in the back country, literally. Water temperatures jumped from the upper 50's/low 60's to an incredible 72 degrees at our coolest spot of the day and to 78 at the warmest. The warm waters combined with the coming off the latest moon phase triggered a monumental shrimp hatch and that has the bass heading for the shallows as was the case today. This type of massive hatch is like an all you can eat seafood buffet at red lobster for Bass. This warm water/warm air combination will mark the turning point of the season transition from Springtime pattern to Summertime pattern and today's trip proved that. Despite the low numbers caught today we had good promising action and a glimpse of what was to come, which included many firsts for the season. We had our first sightings of rolling Bass in some of the deeper basins which led us to our first top water action of the season. Our first opportunity to sight fish also descended upon us on one of my favorite Summertime flats as we stalked small pods of Bass tailing in as little as 8 inches of water, despite their unwillingness to eat our offerings it is a very exciting and beautiful sight to see. We had our first tail slappers today as bass ambushed shrimp being swept with the tide but best of all today I delivered my clients their 1st Stripers both on the fly as well as spinning tackle. For the day we raised several good Bass on topwater had 2 Bass to the boat, 1 Bluefish, 1 decent size McFlatty
06/02/08 I am getting work done on the skiff and will be off the water for the next couple of days so I will be taking this time to work on updating the site along with getting back to the editing my latest video and hope to post it sometime next week on my Iowa fortune TV page. As most of you know by now I have a couple of kiddies on the way (1 Boy 1 girl due mid July) and the home renovations in preparation for this event have been consuming all my time when I am not on the water and in turn I have been slow posting my updates and email reports (my appologies) but the good news is that the renos' are done and normalcy will now resume. Thank goodness! My June July dates are getting thin so anyone looking to get in on the summertime topwater action should get in while the gettin's good. Remember I will be taking the later part of July and the first couple of weeks of August off for the birth of the chidren. For a list of my open dates email me by clicking here.
05/25/08 - 06/01/08 I am usually not a big fan of posting a weekly review and is something that I will rarely do but things where tight this week and was not able to post daily. So with that in mind... When the weather wasn't keeping me on land, as was the case early in the week, we had good action and it is looking like the Bass are finnally becoming more pattern oriented compare to the weeks prior. The week had its usual big water temperature swings ranging between 53 and 62 and the Bass were on the move in the cooler water and not at all in the warmer which is almost always the case especially in the spring time. Last week we had a good Bass action with small groups of fish tracking fairly predictably as they corralled bait up in the shallows and basins. Depth was not a concern for the bass and thankfully not for my skiff either as we got in front of fish in as little as 8" giving them nowhere to hide and a sucker for a well place fly or artificial. The best days of the week seemed to be right after the storms past by leaving us us with calm winds, cloudy skies, no boats and fun size Bass willing to play. The bass last week ranged in size from 20"-28" and along with them are a nice mix of Bluefish in the 3-6. LB range who are always on the prowl for a free meal. It looks like the stage is set for good action in weeks ahead with good tides for both day and night sessions, and with the summer like conditions forecasted over the next couple days things should really start heating up for getting Bass on topwater
05/21/08 What a rollercoaster ride so far this season as today’s trip could not have been further from yesterday’s action. The Spring pattern is very clear, we have what I dub as the no pattern pattern. The Bass are really on the move, here one day and gone te other, with no area holding Bass the same place twice. Today we had clear sunny skies all day, wonderful air temperature, good moving water, no boats... how much better can it get? Well it could have gotten a little bit better because today, despite great springtime conditions we took it on the chin. Nada, zip, nothing, not even a sniff for the exception of a bite off from a rogue Bluefish. I have no explanation to why it was so tough other than the SW winds that came in early in our trip and everyone who follows my reports knows how much I love that SW direction. For those not familiar with my feelings on that SW topic, here is a summary. SW is the kiss of death, the wooden stake, the silver bullet, my kryptonite, box it up and send it to your enemy, it is plain and simple, it is not good even in small doses. On the flip side of all my sarcastic raging we did have a great time on the water today with some of my longtime friends and clients. The lesson here is you don't need to catch a lot of Bass to have a good time, but it doesn’t hurt.a rollercoaster ride so far this season as today’s trip could not have been further from yesterday’s action. The Spring pattern is very clear, we have what I dub as the no pattern pattern. The Bass are really on the move, here one day and gone the other, with no area holding Bass the same place twice. Today we had clear sunny skies all day, wonderful air temperature, good moving water, no boats... how much better can it get? Well it could have gotten a little bit better because today, despite great springtime conditions we took it on the chin. Nada, zip, nothing, not even a sniff for the exception of a bite off from a rogue Bluefish. I have no explanation to why it was so tough other than the SW winds that came in early in our trip and everyone who follows my reports knows how much I love that SW direction. For those not familiar with my feelings on that SW topic, here is a summary. SW is the kiss of death, the wooden stake, the silver bullet, my kryptonite, box it up and send it to your enemy, it is plain and simple, it is not good even in small doses. On the flip side of all my sarcastic raging we did have a great time on the water today with some of my longtime friends and clients. The lesson here is you don't need to catch a lot of Bass to have a good time, but it doesn’t hurt.
05/20/08 The winds subsided to light NW @ 5 knots as we pushed off from the dock with the plan being to hit the weather window of light winds. We shook the winds but did not shake the rain as we had a constant steady rain the entire day but that made no difference to us or the Bass today. We had a very steady pick of Bass the entire trip from our first spot to our last making the chilly weather conditions easy to tolerate. The Bass today jumped in size in comparison to last week with all of the action today being Bass in the 22 - 24" class and very fat for Spring Bass. We stayed in front of fish the entire trip until the the last 40 minutes when the winds switched to the ENE and kicked up to 20 knots blowing all the wonderful rainy weather right back on us for a second time only much colder. We had 11 Bass in total today with a couple of Blues mixed in for good measure.
05/19/08 We have the winds blowing once again today @ 25-35knts forcing a reshude for todays trip. I shoild be back on the water tomorrow.
05/16/08 have the winds blowing once again today @ 25-35knts forcing a reshude for todays trip. I shoild be back on the water tomorrow.
05/16/08 Today was just the opposite of yesterday, a steady rain, N winds blowing about 15 knts, and good current. The only thing that was the same was the fishing. The fickle bite continued today with a few strikes here and there throughout 3/4 of our day but just as we were about to make a journey to a new spot, we made a quick stop to an area that my clients had mojo in days past. We worked the spot for about 10 minutes before things started to become seemingly active. After a few missed strikes we finally hooked up with the Bass that would get the skunk from the boat, a nice 22" Bass. After a quick photo and release, we got back into position and a couple of casts later we were tight to another fish, only this time it was a feisty 4 lb Blue. Things were looking like we were in store for one of those 9th inning rallies but as things quieted down we would come to find out that would not be the case as our last stop of the day only dished up a couple of light strikes so we called it a day.
05/15/08 It was great to get back on the water again today, bright clear sunny skies, light winds, good moving water. What more could you ask for? Well I'll tell ya, that answer would be cooperative Bass. Things were tough today despite all the right ingredients. We worked good looking water all day with little action aside from picking a couple of blues in the 3 lb range and 2 Bass in the 19" class. But things did peak late in the day as another fish story was about to unfold at our last spot of the trip. The tide was just right so we made a lengthy run to one of those infamous blindfold worthy secret spots that dot the SJ backcountry and things were looking good as we got into position. 1st cast in, nothing, 2nd cast in bump, bump, then it was the charm of the 3rd cast that instantly put us in the game as we were hooked up to a non stop drag peeling brute that was not going to have it our way, and despite our efforts to turn him he was structure bound and a few seconds later he was gone.
05/12/08 The weather will keep me off the weather again today. Its a 5am the winds are violently blowing a staggering 49 knts with 70knt gusts and the bay looks like the frosting on a wedding cake. If things mellow out I will be back on the water Tuesday otherwise my next report will be Wednesday.
05/09/08 The winds are up 20-30 and are forecasted to increase over the weekend and in turn will keep me on land for the next couple of days.
05/08/08 The calm winds and good moving water had the backcountry really looking good today. As always in the springtime rarely do we pick fish it is always the all or none rule meaning that a spot is void or loaded with Bass and today was no different. We came up dry at our first stop despite how good it looked but by our second area we had the skunk out of the boat with a rather large Flounder along with a few other strikes and a Bluefish in the 6.lb range. Once we had the ball rolling we hit Bass for the remainder of the afternoon picking up 9 fish all ranging in size from 19"-21". We also had ourselves some Bluefish along with and mixed in with the Bass, which are always fun on light tackle. So in all for the day we had 9 Bass and 5 or so bluefish (and the Flatfish). calm winds and good moving water had the backcountry really looking good today. As always in the springtime rarely do we pick fish it is always the all or none rule meaning that a spot is void or loaded with Bass and today was no different. We came up dry at our first stop despite how good it looked but by our second area we had the skunk out of the boat with a rather large Flounder along with a few other strikes and a Bluefish in the 6.lb range. Once we had the ball rolling we hit Bass for the remainder of the afternoon picking up 9 fish all ranging in size from 19"-21". We also had ourselves some Bluefish along with and mixed in with the Bass, which are always fun on light tackle. So in all for the day we had 9 Bass and 5 or so bluefish (and the Flatfish). Big winds are on the way the next few days could be shaky.
05/07/08 Everyone has a story about the one that got away and being on the water 200 +days a year I see my fair share, today's trip added another to the list. Slick calm water, nice tide moving, crystal clear water and sunny skies it doesn't get much better. Coming up dry on our first flat of the day we made a short ride and settled down into a fine area that looked very right. A few casts into the area we had our first grab but no hookup and a couple casts later another bite but again no hookup. I got us back into position for another shot and 2 casts later the game was on as we were now officially hooked up as the line was slow and constantly peeling off the drag as our fish dug down at the edge of the flat. A game of give and take for about 5 minutes we hoped that soon we would soon get a visual and as he made his way back on to the flat he rolled showing his broad side and looked to be a 32"+ fish. Just as he hit the flat he once again decided that the game wasn't over and off he went again down the edge of the flat, spinning the boat as he passed by just off our bow and just as we stopped him and coaxed him towards the boat he was gone. No angler mistakes, no captain mistakes it was just one of those unavailable loses. Having not gotten a clear view of the fish it was either a gator size weakfish or moderate size Bass, none the less it was very exciting fight and another fish story in the book. We had sporadic Bass action the remainder of the trip and as the winds picked up we decided to call it a day and head back to the dock.
05/06/08 A warm 70 degrees and light winds had the backcountry looking alive today and with the current moving along uninterrupted I knew we would be on Bass pretty quickly today. Despite producing nada at our first stop a short skiff ride to our second area put us in some good moving water and in turn led to our first Bass of the day a nice 22" specimen. Once the first Bass made it to the boat we had smooth sailing the remainder of the day with good action at mostly all of our locations. We picked up 9 or so Bass today all in the same size class ranging from 18"-22" and the Bluefish all between 3 and 4.lbs. For the first time this season we threw some top water and even though the water temperatures are right in some locations we unfortunately had no takers. Things seem to be perched and ready for the top water action to start up and needless to say that first Bass of the season taken on top is always an high point in the spring, it truly rings in the second phase of the season which is some very explosive surface action that will stay with us straight through to November.
05/05/08 Welcome back folks. Today we were greeted once again with open arms by the gods. Today's trip was a tale of 2 days in 1. We started out our trip with fall like weather, 50 degrees, a chilly N breeze and cloudy skies with a fun Bass bite and ended the trip with 68 degrees with clear sunny skies and a good Bluefish bite. We started out with lean action for the first 30 minutes or so of the trip but things were definitely looking good for our future as we started having a nice amount of those infamous spring time "super speed-light strikes" that require my anglers to tap in to those "kung fu like" reflexes in order to hook up successfully. After a few missed strikes we dialed in and picked up our 1st Bass of the day, a nice 18" specimen followed by another of the same size. Once we got mojo rolling today we stayed on a nice paced consistent bite the rest of the day with a good Bass bite during the cloudy portion of the day which turned into a very fun bluefish bite when the skies became clear and sunny resulting in a very nice 9 1/2 lb Blue taken on 6 lb test in 2 feet of water. In all we had 7 Bass 18" - 20" today along with Blues in the 4 lb class ( except for the 9 1/2 lb tanker)
05/04/08 All house work and no play makes Bryan a dull boy. All house work and no play makes Bryan a dull boy.All house work and no play makes Bryan a dull boyAll house work and no play makes Bryan a dull boy. All house work and no play makes Bryan a dull boy.All house work and no play makes Bryan a dull boy. All house work and no play makes Bryan a dull boy. All house work and no play makes Bryan a dull boy.All house work and no play makes Bryan a dull boy.All house work and no play makes Bryan a dull boy. All house work and no play makes Bryan a dull boy.All house work and no play makes Bryan a dull boy.All house work and no play makes Bryan a dull boy. All house work and no play makes Bryan a dull boy.All house work and no play makes Bryan a dull boy.All house work and no play makes Bryan a dull boy. All house work and no play makes Bryan a dull boy. All house work and no play makes Bryan a dull boy. Home renovations done. Reports will resume on Thursday 5/5
03/05/08 - 03/11/08 The past week has bee very tough with every day offering a new set of challenges, heavy rains, big winds and cloudy waters, you name we saw it. On the days with calm winds the skies were cloudy so sight fishing for Permit was nearly impossible. The shots we did get this week would be short notice and close to the boat and that does not work with a game fish that is a skittish as the Permit. We did fill our days with Barracuda, Sharks, Grouper and Snapper which are always fun when the weather does not cooperate. I will be closing up shop down here over the next couple of days with my sights set on heading back up North to SNJ to start getting ready for the Spring Striper season and if was anything like last season should be spectacular. I will not have access to my email until I get back into town on 3/17 so everyone inquiring about open dates for the 2008 season I will get to you early next week. See you in NJ.
03/04/08 The mystery neck injury that has had me writhing in pain all week is finally feeling much better and it looks as if I could be back in action by Wednesday. Thank goodness!! The weather looks as if it will cooperate as well with warm temps in the mid 80's and light winds and that will equate to Permit and Tarpon shots by the end of the week. Over the past week I have been spending a lot of time working on the new video "As the Reel Turns" and it is coming along great but unfortunately I am having a few soundtrack issues that cannot be resolved from down here in the Keys so it looks as if I will not get it posted until I return home (in 2 weeks). On the Striper front, my dates for Spring are getting plucked on a daily basis so for those of you looking to get in on the action I would suggest starting the formulating process. For a list of my available dates for the 2008 Season shoot me an e-mail.
.02/26/08 Winds are up 20-30 and my neck injury has me down. Not able to move my head and in unbelievable amount of pain I will be off the water at least until Saturday but the upside, if any, is that the winds are predicted to stay up over the next few days so with that in mind it does make the neck feel better knowing that I will not be missing anything.
02/25/08 Today being a day off and the last day for light winds before an approaching cold front blows through I ran for a first light quickie to seek a little Silver. I settled down into the "cannonball cut" we we had shots yesterday. Rollers popped up almost immediately upon my arrival and things were looking good. I had about 3 shots at small pods of Tarpon before jumping my first Poon of the day and 3 jumps later he was gone. This is the way the rest of the morning went as I went 0 for 4 on Tarpon before calling it quits when I tweaked my neck upon jumping #4.
02/24/08 With the full moon having all species feeding through the night for the past few days we hoped that today they left a little room for desert. No wind, slick calm water and clear skies put us on dawn patrol to go on the hunt for Tarpon. Having seen a handful of rollers late yesterday I was banking on the full moon tides and warm water temps to push good numbers of silver into the back country basins. With no other boats to be seen I was certain that we would be the first skiff to get shots at Tarpon, with our first stop showing no signs of rollers we continued our run to were we had seen them yesterday and no sooner than when we arrived we saw in the distance a good pod of rolling Tarpon. We settled in to get a feel for their movement and after about a 1/2 hour they started popping up with more frequency. For the next hour or so we had a handful of very good shots at small groups of 90+ pound “Poons” but despite a couple of close encounters of followers on artificials we just could not get them to eat. With the tides reaching the bottom we switched focus to Permit and a quick skiff ride to Permit country. Once we arrived, in all of 5 minutes, we had our eyes focused on our quarry....a very, very spooky quarry. We had our fair share of shots and some intense, weak at the knee, encounters with incoming giants but as they have been all week they too suffered lock jaw. Exciting nonetheless. With the tide phase in post permit mode we seized some opportunities with some good action with some Jacks that were making a tear in the channel along with a brief encounter with a 7 foot Lemon shark that had the same idea. With storms approaching we decided to call it a day.
02/23/08 Lighter winds greeted us as we pushed off from the dock today and in turn we all held high hopes that we would be on permit in the not so distant future. The water clarity was much better today on some of the flats we visited. We started out the day with Bonnet sharks and soon started the run and gun with a quick stop at infamous Permit rock which produced cloudy water and nada action so we packed up and made the big run west to find some clean water at one of my favorite Permit flats and 10 miles later we settled down onto a beautiful crystal clear white bottom flat, looking as fertile as ever. Greeted immediately by a swimming ray is often a great sign that life is in the area. We worked it hard for about a 1/2 hour with very little to see but our patience started to pay off as we began to start seeing and getting shots at single cruising Permit about every 10 minutes. As the tide started to increase so did the frequency of the Permit which led us to our best shot of the day when a group of 20+ Permit popped up out of the channel and were heading straight at us. Locked and loaded we waited until they got into range then let the Crabs fly and no sooner did the 1st one hit the water and we had a handful of Permit surrounding our offerings like Indians circling the wagons and just when they went for the pickup they slowly moved off. Off goes the 2nd cast to intercept the slow moving group but a bit to close splitting the school in two and moving them back into the channel. As the action slowed with the tide and water temperatures at 75 degrees we decided to set up shop in a local cut to scout for possible Tarpon shots. While I eyeballed for rollers my clients jigged up gag grouper....with only a handful of sporadic "Poons" seen rolling we called it a day and decided that we would be the first chasing the Silver in the morning.
02/22/08 The backcountry had the water flowing today with full moon tides. Water clarity was poor today with only about 30 foot distance on visibility making sight fishing tough. We stayed on the hunt for permit throughout the trip today but unfortunately only managed to get about 6 shots off, all of which were short distance, short notice opportunities. We did manage to get into good action with Bonnet sharks and Cudas on a few later day Flats but that was about it for the day. Calming weather pattern looks to be holding strong so tomorrow's plan will be much the same.
02/16/08 We ran deep into the backcountry once again today in search of Permit but had far less shots today than yesterday. We had 4 opportunities at some decent size Permit in the 25 lb class before the winds switched to a NNE @ 20 knts + cooling off the air and water temps fast and the permit reacted negatively. So we switched our target species and spent the remaining part of the morning targeting Barracuda which are always a fun time. We had 4 today all between 10 and 20 .lbs before we called it a day. The bad news, that poor weather forecast will keep me off the water for the next few days but the good news is that the temperatures will remain high and in turn should keep the Permit around in good numbers and hopefully start the Tarpon moving into the backcountry basins the week's end.
02/15/08 It was great to be back in the saddle again as we ran deep into the backcountry today in search of Permit. Water temperatures jumped into the 70's today and as I had expected the permit came out in good numbers. We had good shots for the first few hours of the day with fish coming at us about every 10 minutes in singles, doubles or in groups of 3 to 4, but it was not without challenges, which came in many forms, wind, sharks and spooky. All of our shots today seemed to be straight into a 15-20 knt wind which can be compensated for but what was the biggest problem today was the sharks. Every time we had a Permit go to pick up our offering along would come a toothy predator and send them fleeing for their lives. Lemons, Blacktips, Bull, you name it they were there. When the current slowed our shots at jumbo size Permit stopped as well. With the switch of the tide the waters go cloudy making sight fishing tough so as we worked our way back to the dock seeking additional entertainment by targeting some nice size Barracudas picking up 2 in the 20 to 25 lb class which are always a blast.
02/14/08 Well after 4 days of relentless big winds and very potent storms we are now on a calmer forecast through the weekend and will finally get me back on the water again. The warm air temperatures should have the Permit out in full force and if the light winds continue to prevail we could have a few shots at some pre-season laid up Tarpon by early next week so until then it will be all about the Permit.
02/11/08 Welcome back everyone and sorry for the lack of updates on the site. It has been a crazy start to the new year but I have finally made it down to the Lower Florida keys were I will continue guiding for the remaining winter months. My departure for the keys was delayed this season which will be followed by an early return to NJ. Why you ask? Well folks it looks like I'm going to become a daddy this summer!!! so home renovations...are a must to accommodate the family expansion that is about to occur. My schedule up in NJ will remain the same as always with my 2008 Striper season beginning April 15th and my Florida schedule (which includes my annual Spring Tarpon trips) will be back to normal starting again next winter. This shortened winter season has my dates filled here in the keys so its time to start thinking Spring 2008 and the upcoming Striper season. As most of you know, my dates fill quickly so advanced booking is always highly suggested especially during peak seasons. For a list of my available dates for 2008 e-mail me. For 2008 the videos on the Iowa fortune TV section of the site will also continue to flow with exciting new episodes both from NJ as well as the Florida Keys. My next episode is currently in the works and should be posted in the next week or so and I must say it is taking shape to be the best one yet. The 2007 Striper season as a whole was a productive one with some very memorable days logged with mini blitz's popping up through out the back country offering fast paced action in the skinniest of waters. The last few weeks of the Spring season were purely top notch along with some incredible days in the fall fall with huge schools of migrating Bass making their way across the shallows in a fall feeding frenzy. It was a crazy unpredictable fall which never really seemed to get fully started until Halloween when the back country really showed its magic. The entire 2007 Bass season was very stealthy this year with a fickle top water bite and a red hot subsurface bite, but I must say that when they did hit on top water they were of quality, like on my 11/13 trip and when you found them "sub" they were thick as thieves 08/08, 10/22, 11/21. The 2007 season gave up only 02 trips out of 185 + days on the water that we came up fishless. This seasons largest top water Bass was taken by Bill Pfaff on November 13th in 1 foot of water (Photo)and the largest summer time Bass was caught by Vince Lombardi on 6/12 in 11" of water and the largest Bass over all for the 2007 season was taken on 10/31 by Wayne Chieppa in 4 feet of water a real trophy Bass (Photo). If you wish to receive weekly fishing reports and stay on top of the action (click here) stating you would like to be added to the list.


REPORTS ARCHIVE 2007
Iowa Fortune T.V.