Articles

Fall Redfish in the Low Country

by Captain Owen Plair - Wednesday, Nov 6th, 2013

Sun glistens golden off the side of this pretty redfish.

There really is no such thing as a bad time of year to target redfish on fly in South Carolina's Low Country, but autumn is by far my favorite. Redfish are particularly unique because, throughout the year, they offer the angler many different opportunities to pursue them in sight casting situations. Examples include flood tide tailing fish, low tide schools, fish crushing bait, floating fish in the grass, tailing fish on oysters, and even belly crawling fish in super shallow mud flats. These are all situations you will encounter while fishing in the Low Country, but the fall is the only time of year you can see it all in one day.

The months of September, October, and November are far and away the three best months of the year to experience everything the Low Country has to offer when it comes to redfishing. This is the time of year when the weather is cooling down, shrimp are moving into the flats, fiddler crabs are going crazy in the spartina grass, and redfish take advantage of it every second they can in order to fatten up for a long winter. Targeting these fish on the fly isn't always the easiest thing to do, but it is by far the most rewarding way to target them. It's all about being able to see the fish, make the cast, and strip set. The experience of sight fishing is the ultimate experience when fly fishing and the plethora of sight fishing opportunities that redfish present are what makes them such a special species.

Airflo Introduces Next Generation Long Bellied Spey Lines

by Ben Kryzinski - Friday, Nov 1st, 2013

Airflo Delta II Spey Line

Airflo announced yesterday the next iteration of its long bellied spey lines. The new lines include a refresh of Airflo's Delta II spey line redeveloped and redesigned for the first time in 10 years using modern technology and materials, and also include the introduction of a new long bellied spey head. The new Delta II spey head was designed for anglers that want to experience the benefits of casting a longer spey head without needing to change spools, by instead pairing the Delta II spey head with a running line.

Airflo noted, "after 10 years of being the go-to long belly spey line it was time for an upgrade. Taking advantage of new materials and concepts in spey line design, the dream team of Dec Hogan and Tim Rajeff worked some magic to bring forward the new Delta Spey II fly line." Regarding the new long-bellied head, Airflo indicated that "with the introduction of this revised taper, we felt it was time to make the Delta Spey II available in a shooting head configuration."

SmithFly Introduces the Cooler Kilt

by Marshall Walker - Friday, Nov 1st, 2013

SmithFly Cooler Kilt

SmithFly has developed a solution for anglers looking for a way to consolidate their gear while fishing in tight places such as drift boats and rafts. Designed with coolers like the YETI in mind, the Cooler Kilt eliminates the need for you to carry both a cooler and bag by directly snapping to the front of your ice chest. And, like all of SmithFly's MOLLE webbing-based modular gear, the kilt allows you to attach various pouches and other accessories to your cooler so you can easily carry and access your gear.

"There wasn't a good solution for carrying fly boxes and tackle on the water while fishing from smaller, more nimble boats," explains SmithFly owner Ethan Smith. "Now you can haul your gear and your beer in one trip from the truck to the boat."

The kilt is attached to your cooler using six stainless steel self tapping screws with snap heads. Drilling screws into your expensive cooler can be a little scary at first, but Smith says to "put on your big boy shorts and do it." The company also promises that attaching the kilt will not "compromise the integrity or performance of your high quality cooler." If you're a YETI owner and have added accessories like the lid-top seat cushion, you're already familiar with taking the plunge into poking holes in your cooler.

Turneffe Flats Honored with Green Globe Certification

by Marshall Walker - Wednesday, Oct 30th, 2013

A permit from the waters surrounding Turneffe Flats.

The Turneffe Flats Resort in Belize announced today that it has earned Green Globe certification. The Green Globe Standard is a "structured assessment of the sustainability performance of travel and tourism businesses and their supply chain partners," according to GreenGlobe.com. To earn the certification members must have high standards in environmental, sociocultural, quality, health, and safety issues, plus contribute to local communities and their local environment.

Turneffe Flats Resort, located 30 miles off the coast of Belize, recently led efforts to establish Turneffe Atoll as the country’s largest Marine Reserve. The resort offers fly fishing, scuba diving and marine eco-tourism activities. It also features a spa, casual dining, private villas and guest rooms.

Pebble Isn't the Only Mine Threatening Alaska's Fisheries

by Chad Shmukler - Tuesday, Oct 29th, 2013

Proposed KSM mine site.

The Unuk River in southeast Alaska is home to one of the largest king salmon runs in the world, as well as the other four species of pacific salmon, steelhead, rainbow and cutthroat trout, char and whitefish. The waters where the Unuk flows into Behm Canal and eventually the Pacific Ocean are bountiful shrimp and crab fisheries. And, while so many eyes are justifiably trained on the saga surrounding the Pebble Mine project in Bristol Bay, the proposed KSM (Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell) mine -- which is part of what Trout Unlimited describes as a "mining frenzy" in northern British Columbia -- that poses serious threats to the Unuk and other nearby rivers edges closer to becoming a reality.

Trout Unlimited notes, "spurred by weakened environmental regulations and the construction of a massive new power line that is one of Canada’s biggest transmission projects ever, as many as 10 new large-scale mines are undergoing exploration in the mineral-rich region that borders Southeast Alaska. Five of these Canadian mineral projects are located in trans-boundary watersheds of key salmon rivers including the Stikine, the Taku, and the Unuk. These mines could produce water pollution that may harm Southeast Alaska fishing and tourism industries while offering few, if any, economic benefits to the communities of Southeast Alaska."