The Second Annual Redfishville Shootout for HOW

As I returned firm my second tour in Iraq, I was thinking, I want to give back to my Brothers and Sisters who weren't as lucky as I was to come home physically intact.  I looked into some orgs that do that kind of thing but a friend turned me onto a program that has become a big part of my life. I was put in contact wiht one and I was asked to be the chapter coordinator for a new chapter of Heroes on the water right here in SC.   Heroes on the Water is an orginization that takes injured war vets kayak fishing. Well that is the basic premise of what we do.  Heroes on the Water helps wounded warriors relax, rehabilitate, and reintegrate through kayak fishing and the outdoors is the official verbage of what we do.  Bottom line we give there guys and girls a chance to get out, relax, catch some fish and just relax.   Meeting a vet and tlaking to him for a bit the day before and event and seeing someone who barely makes eye contact and doesn't talk much and after a day of fishing seeing his eyes sparkle, seeing a non-stop ear to ear grin, hear how excited he is and hear him say " this is the best day I have had in a LONG time", is why we do it and makes it all worth it.  Heroes on the Water is a non-profit that relies on donations to fund our events.  The Heroes pay for nothing when they attend one of our events.  We cover all thier costs and even air fare in some cases through a partnership with American Airlines.  One of the ways we raise funds for our chapters is through tournaments.  This year for the SC Chapter we are hosting our second annual Redfishville Shoot-Out.  We will be fishng the Copahee Sound again this year.  The captains meeting will be on October 8th and the fishing will be on October 9th.  This is a CPR (Catch Photo Release) tournament and we have some great prizes for our winners of the divisions.  If you enjoy fishing, especially kayak fishing check us out and come on out and fish for a great cause.   More information can be found on the HOW SC facebook page or by contacting me.

 http://www.facebook.com/?sk=events#!/event.php?eid=142323362444473

Crabs… I got crabs.

Yep Crabs… I got a lot of crabs and some shrimp too... Merkins, Mad Mikes Copperhead Crabs, rag body crabs, small grass shrimp, big brown ones, coppery ones, and some white ones, I am pretty sure I have tied up enough crab and shrimp patterns to get me through some quality fly fishing for reds in the next coming weeks. The water on my usual haunts has been in the 90’s. I have seen fish but they are not very interested in eating and I have only seen one tail this year and it was a sheepshead. After some research and talking to some of my buddies I think I may have a couple new flats to try out. I am going to be working the flats closer to the ocean over in the next few weeks on my new search for tails. Everything seems to a little late this year. The tailers people have reported didn’t really get going until about 3 weeks past the normal starting times and like I said I haven’t seen a red tail in the grass yet. I am still finding some quality redfish on drop offs in the rivers but grass bass have eluded me so far. My March Brown fly rods are aching for a good bend and my Okuma and Nautilus reels are begging to put the drag to the test. On the freshwater side of my fly rod the action has been non-stop. My pond has been on fire with the top water bite. Large and small Largemouth bass readily take my offerings of dragonfly patterns and sparsely tied Clousers while the bream and warmouth eagerly suck down any offering. I have been dabbling in the conventional side of things with plastic worms and frogs. The Z-Man frogs have been killin the Bass. Flat wearin them out. I figured I needed to learn how to use those things since we sell them at my shop and although fly fishing is my one true passion when the pescadorial efforts are in play, playing with the plastics has been fun. I am looking forward to find my beloved tailing redfish and being able to get my upstate brothers on them soon.

Welcome

Welcome to the Redfish Chronicles.  This is my first blog.  I am not 100% sure how this will turn out but my vision is to share my addiction of fly fishing for redfish and other species in the low country of South Carolina.  I am a fly fisherman and I love it but I am also a fisherman and do use conventional tackle.  Redfish are my favorite target but I do love to catch all kinds of fish.  Keep tuning in as October is just around the corner and the prime redfish bite will be on.  I also do a lot of reviews of new or new to me, equipment, so keep your eyes peeled for reviews as well.  Thank you for tuning in and I hope to make this worth a read in the very near future.

Ken