Simms Bluewater Shirt

Last year’s number one selling warm weather shirt is now available with the Salty Feather logo.  This shirt features COR3 fabric technology.  COR3 Technology, exclusive to Simms, is designed to offer exceptional performance and comfort in all fishing environments.  COR3 fabric finish provides UPF 30+, anti-microbial properties to minimize odor and outstanding wicking performance. 

The Bluewater Shirt has quickly become a warm weather favorite

Features

·         30 UPF sun protection

·         Under collar buttons

·         Mesh vent in back

·         Zippered vertical chest pockets with mesh venting

·         Internal lines pocket

·         Accessory loops

·         Articulated sleeve with roll up button tab

·         Hanger loop inside collar

Four great colors Aqua, Blue, Khaki, and light Green

Sells for only $69.95

Hobie Mirage Pro Angler

It’s a kayak.  It’s a boat. It’s a fishing machine.  It has the stealth of a kayak and comfort and storage of a boat. The Pro Angler comes loaded with features that puts it in a class by itself.  With capacity of over 600 lbs. you can bring it all.  Protected horizontal storage for up to six rods that will even handle a 9 foot fly rod. Space for 13 Plano tackle boxes, three in-hull storage compartments, plus an additional large on deck storage area for an optional livewell or cooler.  You get a fully-adjustable, breathable cool ride seat, a work area/cutting board and replaceable mounting boards on each side to attach your fish finder, GPS, or lights.  The Pro Angler is powered by the Hobie MirageDrive which allows you to enjoy fishing without the noise and expense of a gas engine.

If you would like a test drive a Pro Angler give us a call at The Salty Feather to schedule a demo.

904-645-8998

It’s time to stock up on leaders. 

All leaders and tippet in stock are 15% off.  Stock up on your  favorite whether it’s Rio, Froghair or Climax. Fluorocarbon doesn’t deteriorate and has an unlimited shelve life; so buy some extra leaders now and save.

This week only, June 8^th thru June 13^th, 15% off on all leaders and tippet if you say you saw on the web.

C & F Fly Boxes

The C& F Box is by far the very best fly box on the market.  When you spend hundreds of dollars on flies or hundreds of hours tying flies, you want to make sure your flies are safe.  The C & F Box is light weight and waterproof. The foam is slit so it holds flies securely without tearing.  It comes in a number of different arrangements including a system box with interchangeable inserts. The only thing The C & F box didn’t have is a smaller box that would fit in your pocket. 

Introducing a smaller C & F box - 6.2” X 4.2” X 1.6”.  A smaller fly box with all the same features as the original but in a size that will fit in your pocket.

Closeout Special on the following Cortland lines.  50%off.

555 Tropic Plus Ghost Tip - WF9F and two WF12F    Was $62.00 Now $31.00

555 Tropic Plus - WF8F and WF10F  Was $62.00  Now $31.00

 555 Clear Floater - WF4F   Was $ 59.00  Now $29.50

444SinkTip Rocket taper – WF7F/S  Was $50.00 Now $25.00

555 Little Tunny  - WF11I  Was $60.00 Now $30.00

 

 

After seeing all those reds in small area yesterday I decided to take Fred and Don back to the same spot.   The plan was to get there early and stake out.   We’d wait on the fish to come to us.  Great plan but the tide never got low enough to bring the fish to us. We sat there watching a school of reds off in the distance only to discover that the tide had turn and was coming in before   the fish got to us. We chased the school but they kept out of casting distance.

We moved to the surf where we found clear water and a lot of sharks.  The sharks were active feeding on reds in deeper water. It was spectacular to watch from a safe distance.  I kept thinking that the sharks would move some reds or black drum up into the shallows but it never happened.

We ended the day chasing bait pods.  Thank goodness for old mister reliable.  Jacks, Ladyfish and Blues...

Capt. John Bottko

Sunday I had the pleasure of guiding Mark Brodersen.  We started with Reds at low tide, and then moved to the surf and finished chasing bait pods.  The tide was lower than I anticipated and we ended up with a big school of reds trapped in a small area.  The only problem was that we were stuck in the mud a hundred feet from the fish.  Mark is a good caster but hundred feet with the wind blowing strong against his right shoulder made it impossible for him to get his fly to the fish.  Mark had a new spey rod along which he had planned to use in the surf but with the fish just a little out of his casting range with   a single handed rod Mark broke out the spey rod.  With the spey rod Mark was able to cast the distance necessary with a left handed roll cast.  It was amazing.  Mark ended up getting three reds to eat but only got one hooked up. After a three minute battle the fish broke off because the line got wrapped around the boats trim tabs.   Without the spey rod he would have had 0 bites and 0 hookups.

We moved the surf where we found clean water and no fish.  The sun was out and the water was clean but the fish weren’t there.  Mark did get up close and personal with a big shark.

We finished the day chasing bait pods along the beach.  It wasn’t as good as it has been but Mark ended up landing several nice jacks and blues.  

Capt. John Bottko

I was down in Stuart Friday  6/26 and Sat. 6/27 fishing with my long time south Forida friend Carl to find some Snook, Tarpon and Bonito action.We could'nt get out on the beach front Friday due the 2-3 seas just outside the inlet with our shallow water boat. A couple waves over the top sent us back!  One thing I've learned is when ever I plan a trip it seems as though 1/2 the time your there the weather is going to set you back. So we stayed inside the inlet for some Snook fishing and managed to get a few. We also explored some new areas and ventured up the North Fork of the St.Lucie River and found a bunch Tarpon that had no interest in the fly. On Saturday the seas laided down enouph so we could get out on the beach front. We pretty quickly found a couple schools of Tarpon to play with and got 3 eaters to take our Black and Purple EP Mullet flies. None landed but got a bunch of jumps of them with some good laughs! We then headed into deeper with some chum and got into a few Bonito. Overall it was a good short trip about 3-1/2 hours away.

Here's a look at my 1st video attempt...

YouTube Video Link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZCYGDdpyZU

Capt. Rich Santos

http://www.flyfishjax.com/

 

Fishing Report from Spotted Tail 6/26/09 My apologies for the late report. I’ve been busy. There may have been a touch of procrastination, too. On June 11 I drove down to Pineland and launched the Mitzi at about 11 AM. I didn’t make it to Captiva pass before I was throwing a fly at a daisy chain of tarpon. I found them all along the beach. On the Johnson Shoal I saw a single and tossed a small black streamer to him. He took it! And I missed the strike. It didn’t seem to bother the fish much, so I tossed it back to him. He took it again, and this time I stuck him. It was rough. The wind was 15 out of the northwest. I’m trying to chase the fish with the trolling motor while simultaneously fighting him and staying in the boat. It didn’t work. He broke off during a jump. The leader was very frayed. Further searching turned up a small daisy chain. I dropped another small black streamer on them and a fish came right up and took it. I struck and broke him off- the tragedy of the bad knot. The next day Dr. George Yarko joined me. Using pinfish, mullet, threadfin herring, and small blue crabs we threw to tarpon most of the day. He had one strike on a pinfish but missed it. That was it for the day. Dr. Michael Collins was along for some flyfishing on Saturday. We didn’t have a shot at a fish until almost noon, although it got good in the afternoon. It also got rough, again with the northwest wind. I couldn’t get the anchor to hold, and we finally gave up at about three o’clock after having every fish we threw to laugh at us. Jack and Scott Radloff joined me on Sunday. We saw maybe ten fish all morning. Finally, at about 2 PM they started to move. We had some great shots with both fly and various spinning lures. The fish all laughed at us but one, which took a small black streamer. I missed. I had to drive home so we gave up at about 4 PM not having hooked a fish. My boat had some minor issues and I brought it to East Cape Canoe for repair. I want to thank Adam for taking care of it in a most expedient manner. On June 20 Shawn Healy and I went scouting on the Mosquito Lagoon, launching at River Breeze. I ran all the way down to Max Hoeck Creek, and saw very few fish. We got three trout between us to about three pounds, all on a three inch DOA Shrimp. Sunday Max and I went to Port Canaveral. I had heard there were all kinds of pogies in Canaveral Bight. We looked there without success, so we ran south. South of the Cocoa Beach steeple we found a huge school of bait and loaded up. The next bait school south was full of rolling tarpon. Naturally we stopped to fish it. Maxx got the first bite. Not a tarpon, it was a monster crevalle in the 30 pound range. I got the next bite. This was a tarpon. He tossed the circle hook (!) on the third jump. Maxx got three more tarpon to eat, breaking off the first two and getting the third. I held it while he unhooked it, then we revived it on our way back to the school. I had two tarpon rods out with us that day, one loaded with 20 pound braid and the other with 50 pound. We broke that 20 pound three times. I’m sticking with 50 from now on. The bite at that bait pod went cold so we ran further south, to Patrick AFB. WE found a huge school of bait full of rolling tarpon. We had several bites here, got cut off by a couple, got a couple of handsome blacktips, and I got another big jack, but no tarpon bites, sniff sniff boo hoo. It had been a great morning though, and we bailed at 1 PM. Monday Mark Martuch and Doug Hartley joined me. They had originally wanted to go to the Mosquito Lagoon but I talked them into fishing the beach. We ran all the way to Patrick AFB and didn’t see a single baitfish. It amazes me how fast they disappear. Keith Kalbfleisch told me later the pogies were down off Melbourne but that’s a longer run down the beach than I’ve ever made in one of my boats. Casting at the jetty Doug got a snook and a fat mangrove snapper, both on a three inch DOA Shrimp. We then went through the locks and fished the Banana River all the way south of the Pineda Causeway. We saw a few redfish but did not get another bite. It was a long, slow, hot, tough day. C’est la fishing! Live is short- go fishing! Life is great and I (in spite of days when the fish make me look stupid) love my work! John Kumiski www.spottedtail.com

Kevin, Gary, and I launched off the beach today at first light near the inlet looking for sharks and it didn't take very long to find them.  Kevin hooked up right off the bat with a nice 6 footer and followed that up with a 5 footer.  I ended up with a 3' and 4' sand shark.  We caught at least a dozen ladyfish, jacks, and bluefish combined.  We also skipped up at least a dozen pompano.

Advanced Inshore Fishing School

Dec 5th and 6th 2009

 

The who’s who of Northeast Florida’s inshore fishing. Over a hundred years of light tackle and fly fishing experience. Captain’s John Bottko, Larry Miniard, David Borries and Tony Bozzella have teamed up to present North Florida’s first inshore fishing school.  This two day seminar is limited to only 12 students so you will be up close seeing what’s in each of the Captains tackle bags and how they rig their boats.  Many of the classes will be broken down to even smaller groups with two captains teaching six students.

 

The seminar is going to be held at Deep Creek Lodge, which is located just south of Jacksonville on the ICW.  This pristine setting will allow both class room and on the water instruction. There will even be kayaks available for you to use after class if you would like to try out what you learned.

 

The first day is going to cover tackle and techniques. You will learn how to use all the tools from fly rods to trolling motors. This is where you will learn the secrets of what to use and why. There will be casting and retrieving lessons with both fly and spin.  And plenty of one on one time to get all your questions answered.

 

The second day is going to cover structure and reading the water. Northeast Florida is unique in that it has seasons and water temperatures that vary from the high forty’s to the low ninety’s. It has tides that move from four to seven feet of water every 6 hours and six area inlets that vary in clarity from tannic to clear.  With all these varying conditions, you will learn what to fish for and how to fish twelve months of the year.  We’ll even touch on cooking and cleaning what you catch. And of course there will be plenty of time to get all your questions answered.

 

Cost is $600.00. Lunch and munchies will be included. Class is limited to the first 12 paying students.

The art of fly tying is one of the most rewarding facets of our sport. Catching fish on a fly is one thing, but creating that fly takes the catch to a whole new level. This course will get you tying the flies you need for our local waters in just four weeks. The topics covered include tool selection, knots, and the use of all the different materials. The lessons do not stop there though, also included is a lot of discussion about how and where to catch fish on the flies that you tied. All materials and tools are included. If you already own a vise and tools you are encouraged to bring them. Cost: 150.00 Four consecutive Tuesdays or Thurdays, starting between 6:00pm and 6:30pm

 

Next Class: 

We periodically offer specialty courses covering unique fishing opportunities we have locally or within a days drive. These classes are designed not only to teach you the flies you'll need but how to and where to use them. All classes are four weeks long and include all your materials. You must have taken the beginning class to take these classes. Cost $150.00

Next class date: July 18th and 19th 2009

Simon Gawesworth will be teaching a two day spey casting class. You will not only learn to spey cast but you will learn how to adapt it to salt water fishing.  The class will be held on Bird Island where we will be able to cast with the wind coming from all different directions by moving to different sides of the island.  You do not need any equipment. Simon will have over 15 different spey rods for all of us to cast and try.

Simon learnt to fish at the age of 6 and took up fly fishing when aged 8, being trained by his father well known fly fishing instructor and author John Gawesworth.  By the time he left school at 16 to teach fly fishing Simon had become the British Junior casting champion, repeating the feat the next year.  In the folowing years Simon broke Seven casting records and won the adult casting championships three times in succession, representing England in two European and one world team championships.

During his career Simon has written numerous articles for the fishing press, published a best selling book on spey casting, presented five instructional videos and DVDs appeared on numerous television and radio shows, demonstraated casting at fly fishing shows around the world and is recognized as one of the leading authorities on spey casting.

Cost of the class is $700.00 and includes your lunch both days.

For more details call 904-645-8998.

Next Class July 18th and 19th 2009

Spend the day with Capt. John Bottko and learn his secrets from 25 years on the water fly fishing N. E. Florida. This seminar covers everything you need to know about fly-fishing the Jacksonville area.. Whether you are experienced, or a beginner, the course will help you to be a better fly fisher. Topics covered include tackle, knots, rigging, casting, fighting fish,  line management and fly selection. A special emphasis is placed on what species are available in N.E. Florida to the fly fisherman  and how to catch them. The class is taught by Capt. John Bottko. Lunch is included. Cost is$150.00. Call the store to reserve your space 904-645-8998. Class is limited to six students.

Next Class: June 27