Gettin Cranky on the Cooper

I have not used conventional fishing gear for the bulk of this year, as a matter of fact I have only picked up a spinning rod twice this year but after an interesting offer from my buddy, Capt. Chris Margate I had to go take a walk on the dark side.   Capt. Margate is the King of Saltwater Crank baits and he offered to take me out and let me see what it was all about.

Normally crank baits are a freshwater lure used for largemouth bass but redfish have the same kind of mentality, ambush predators and love structure as well, so I thought this might be fun.  We met at the landing and launched his 24-foot Shearwater bay boat and we headed out to his favorite hunting grounds.   As we ran down the river, pelicans cruised inches from the water, dolphins swam along in small pods and the smell of the marsh filled our noses.   It was a little overcast and comfortably warm and we both knew the conditions were perfect for early morning fishing.
As we motored up to the first spot and dropped the trolling motor we talked about the lures we would use.  A long billed Rapala was the choice to start with, the current was ripping petty good and spinner baits would not do well in this current.   With the current so strong the spinner baits would lay over on their side and not look right, he explained.  My first cast went straight across the creek and hung itself neatly in an overhanging branch.  Yeah, it’s been a while since I threw a lure this heavy.  We both laughed as we motored over to un-hang my lure.  It took me a few minutes to get the hang of the conventional gear again, but I quickly adapted and was putting my lure where I wanted.   As we worked our way down the bank feeling the crank baits ticking off the structure and digging along the bottom we talked about fishing and the techniques we were using.   As my lure reached the end of the structure it was banging around on and I was about to pull it in to re-cast I felt a sharp tug and the rod tip started dancing.  I pulled my rod tip up to keep pressure on the fish and a beautiful speckled sea trout, close to eighteen-inches came up and was quickly netted.  This was cool.  My first sea trout on a crank bait.  We were off to a good start. After some quick photos the fish was released and swam off back to the structure he had come from.

 

Capt. Margate has been fishing these waters for over 30 years now and knows every spot down the creeks and rivers where fish hold.  His first boat was a 14-foot jon-boat he bought when he was 14-years-old.  Since he wasn’t old enough to drive, his Mom would take him to the landing and drop him and his boat off and he would spend countless hours exploring the waters around Charleston.  From tiny creeks on the Cooper River to the jetties he ran that jon-boat everywhere.   As he got older he joined the U.S. Navy as a Corpsman and was medically retired later on in his career.  He owned his own business for a while but the pull of the water was strong.  He continued his fishing and learned more and more about the waters and made the decision to become a guide and began his guiding career and never looked back.   I asked him what his favorite kind of trip was and he replied, “I love taking kids fishing, teaching them and watching their faces as they reel in fish is awesome,” he said with a big smile.   We talked about fishing and our favorite fish and spots.

As we worked the section of bank over we got to the end of one spot and moved to the next spot down the creek.   The current was a little slower here so we switched to spinner-baits and fished the bank over pretty well.   No one wanted to get hooked there so we motored to the next stretch of bank.   Back to the crank-baits we went.  After a few casts I felt a tug and the rod bent over hard and the drag started peeling off.  We both looked at each other and I know we had the same thought, that’s a Redfish.   The fish bulldogged down into the structure and fought pretty hard.  I gave it a little slack and the fish swam out of the structure and I was able to get it up and away and close enough to the boat to be netted up.

Twenty-three and a half inches of coppery redfish goodness was lying on the deck and we were both excited.  Another first for me, my first redfish on a crank-bait.   After some quick photos I held the fish over the side facing into the current, after a few seconds her gills flared and with a strong kick of her tail and a splash to my face she was swimming hard back to the bottom of the creek.  We continued down the creek working over spots and landing more trout and just talking about fishing, boats and our experiences in the Military and our families.   As we continued to work down the river the bite slowed down but we both knew the fish were there.  I put the crank bait down and decided if I was gonna step to the dark side today and fish with conventional gear I was gonna go whole hog.  I grabbed a rod rigged up with a popping cork, stuck a mud minnow on the hook and tossed the float toward the bank.  The float was on the water for about five seconds before it was gone and the drag was singing.  Another nice little redfish was in the boat.   We floated minnows down the bank and caught a few more small redfish and trout.  I tossed my float back out under an overhanging tree, as it floated with the current I looked away for a second to say something to Capt. Margate and I felt a tug.  I looked back and there was no float and my line was steadily moving up-current.  I reeled down and the line came tighter and the drag began its beautiful melody.   As I reeled the fish in I thought we had another nice trout until it rolled on its side and I saw the telltale black lines on silver scales of a striped bass.  Another first for me, my first South Carolina striper!

As we fished the tide came back in and the water got a little too deep for the spots we were fishing and we called it a day.  We ran back to the landing, passing dolphins, pelicans and other fishermen.  Another banner day on the water with a great fisherman and friend was in the books.  As you can see he’s a pretty good phtograpger too!   If you’d like to have a great day on the water yourself, from the small creeks we fished,  to the reefs a little off shore and anywhere in between,  give Capt. Chris Margate a call. His bay boat comfortably hold 6 people safely and is a smooth ride.   You can find more information, rates and photos of some of his trips at http://www.qualitytimeoutdoors.com/Home_Page.php
Or you can just  give him a call at: 843.425.7259

There is an Echo in the boat

As a fly fisherman I love new rods and reels.  Recently I was able to play with a one-piece fly rod.  It is made by a company called Echo Fly rods and it is called the Prime.  The eight-weight version made it into my hands and of course I had to take it out for a test spin.  I called my buddy Andy and we launched his Maverick HPX and headed out for some low tide, skinny water redfish hunting.    The morning was clear, sunny, cool and there was no wind, everything was perfect.  We made our way down the river and found our usual spot where we knew a couple schools of redfish liked to hang out.  As we poled along the glass calm water we could see pushes along the bank, the telltale sign redfish were cruising looking for something to eat.  Well we had a new rod to play with and a box full of flies to offer them.   Another friend, Chris, was along for the ride and we set him up front first.  Chris has never fished a one-piece rod and I wanted to see his reaction to this light-weight line cannon.   He carefully stripped line off the reel and scanned the bank.  As we poled closer to a creek mouth that had a nice shallow mud flat in front of it we saw the water start to stir.  The school of reds had found something tasty to chase and he began casting towards them.   As he casted and let the line shoot, the size 1/0 black Clouser he tied on shot out and landed with a soft plop.  He stopped, and slowly turned around to look at me with a look of disbelief on his face.  He just made a 60-foot cast with hardly any effort and was amazed.    He had no idea the rod would shoot line like that.   He stripped the fly back slowly, picked up the line again and effortlessly launched another long cast towards the school of feeding fish.   This time he realized the cast was not just a lucky cast or a fluke, this rod was the real deal and he was pretty excited.  As he stripped the line in it came tight and he swept the rod low to the left and drove the fly into the fishes lip and the fight was on.  The water exploded as he spooked his school mates and fish went hauling fin in every direction of the compass.   The fish fought hard and ran and quickly took enough line to get on the reel.  Chris reeled him in and played the fish.   As Andy and I were hooting and hollering about the fish and seeing all the fish running everywhere, Chris turned around and gave us a look and put some heat on the fish.  The rod bent over and the line sang and after a quick fight Chris had a beautiful redfish in his hands.

After seeing Chris cast that rod Andy was antsy as a 4-year old at Christmas so we put him up front next and like a kid in a candy store he was casting the rod in amazement as well.  I own another brand of one-piece rod and Andy has casted that rod but he was really excited about the rod.   He started laying lineout and the rod was singing.

We poled down the bank a little more and found another school of fish pushing along.  Andy is used to casting other rods and kept trying to overpower the rod and it was driving him nuts.  I told him to just relax and cast the rod, let it do the work and almost instantly his casts laid out longer and right on target.  This pod of redfish was not as cooperative as the last pod but a nice speckled sea trout liked his fly and ate it heartily.

We looked at the tide and realized we only had a few minutes before it was dead low tide so we motored up and headed down a small creek looking for pockets of fish.

As we came around the bend of the creek we found a nice flat area scattered with oyster mounds and pools of water where we could see redfish pushing around and chasing down shrimp and small baitfish.  These fish were not interested in any fly we threw at them.   As the water rose and the fish moved deeper into the grass we headed out back to the main river.  I had casted the rod in the pools but I really wanted to feel a fish on the end of this rod.  As we worked our way back I was throwing a fly along a grass edge and trying to work over every pocket and feeder creek mouth.  I felt a tug on the line and set the hook with a low sweep and the fish ran out towards deeper water.  I lifted the rod to keep pressure on the fish and saw the biggest trout I have ever hooked lift its head out of the water, look me right in the eye and shake the fly out of its mouth.   That felt good but I wanted more.  We kept making our way done the bank and I saw a fishy looking pocket, I casted into it.  I stripped the line slowly, nothing.  As the fly cleared the pocket and I was about to pull it up to cast again the line went tight.  Another sweeping strip set and the line was flying out of my hands and coming tight on the reel.  The redfish ate the fly and bulldogged me and then ran straight at the boat.  I threw my arm as high as I could and stripped in line as quickly as possible and was not keeping up when Andy started stomping his foot down on the platform.  The fish quickly adjusted course and swam away from the boat and came tight on the reel again. I wanted to see how this rod handled a decent sized fish, I knew I had a strong enough leader and tippet on so I palmed the reel and really put the heat to this fish.   The rod bent but felt solid and never felt like it was at the end and I needed to let up.   I reeled the fish in and took some quick photos before I released it to fight another day. Another awesome day on the water with good friends and cooperative fish was in the books. 

A big Teeny line

Recently I got my grubby little paws on a “Kayak” specific fly line.  I was wondering what this meant.  I have used a lot of different types of fly lines but never one for a “Kayak”.   I loaded it up on a reel and did a little research.  

Captain Pat Horrigan from Florida came up with the idea and went to Jim Teeny Fly lines and they worked together to come up with a fly line designed for kayak fishermen to be casted form a seated position.   According to the website and Capt. Horrigan, "I designed the new Kayak Fly Line for our contestants. They seemed to have a tough time throwing feathers while seated in their yak. Not everyone has a stand-up kayak and I wanted to help promote both kayak angling and fly fishing. Kayak fly fishing is most stealthy way that there is to get close to spooky fish on the flats and the new Kayak Fly Line now will allow anglers to throw a 50 shoot with only one back cast."  

This peeked my interest and I wanted to see for myself.   I spooled the line onto my Okuma SLV 78 reel and thought about the line.  It seems to have a heavier head to the line, a lot like a shooting head but it was about 50’ long.  It did not feel heavy like some of the shooting heads do.  You can kinda feel the line is heavier, but this felt like a normal fly line.  I grabbed my March Brown Distance 8wt and went outside.   I dumped the line out and started to false cast.  At first it was clunky and felt really heavy, I only had about 20 feet of line out so I let a little line shoot and had the shooting head just out of the tip top and the line really came to life.  I let the line drop and stripped a bit back in.  I picked it up and threw a quick double haul and the line shot through the guides smoothly and gave me that “thump” at the end that said, “I want more”.  I spent about 30 minutes casting this line trying to throw 50’ feet with one back cast.  Well since the head is 50’ long, it performs as advertised.  I was able to throw the entire head of the line pretty easily.   I was able to dump the entire line and about 10 feet of backing through the tip top easily.  I was doing all of this standing up so I sat down and went through the same process.  I achieved the same results from a seated position.  

Now that I had seen the legs on this line I wanted to see the short game.   While this line is great for casts out to 30 feet and beyond it is not as good at short shots.   At ranges from 10-25 feet the line casts great but the aggressive head causes the line to really slap down on the water.   Here in my home waters, that is gonna spook a redfish pretty easy.  Now at ranges beyond 30 feet the line performs well and does not slap the water anywhere as hard and lands like any other shooting head line and soft enough to not spook fish.  

Again, this is not a short cast line.  I thought this may be caused by the rod.  The distance is a mid-flex rod and is a little soft.  I decided to try it on a few other rods. 

I casted the line on a group of 8wt rods, as the line is only available in 8wt right now,  namely the Hardy Proaxis ,  Sage Xi3, Sage Approach , Sage TCX , a TFO BVK,  and, TFO Professional II.  I work in a fly shop so it was a good excuse to go out back and play.  Of course the shop neighbors always look at me like a lunatic siting on the ground in a parking lot casting a fly rod.

The Xi3 stood out and really liked this line.  The stiffer rods seem to cast this line better.  While all the rods will still give you a quick long shot, the stiffer tip rods really make it sing.  I didn’t find any of the rods made a better short cast.  They all still gave the hard presentation and slap at the end but the casts out past 30-feet all landed soft enough.  None of the rods gave me a bad cast with this line.

The line performs pretty much as advertised.  This is not an all-purpose line though.  If you want to make shorter shots at fish you need to have a second rod rigged up and ready to go.  For places like Florida where you have big expanses of flats and even around here out away from the creeks it will be a help, especially in the coming months when the water clears up and the fish get spookier and longer casts are required.  

I do warn you, this is also not a line to spool up and go fish.  Spend a little time casting it and learning how it responds.  If you are looking for a line to get your cast out while sitting down I encourage you to check out this line.

Tight lines ya’ll!!

Thank You Mr. Hardy

 If you are fly fisherman the name Hardy rings a bell.   The story goes in 1872 a pair of young men set up shop in Alnwick England.  There they were known as gunsmiths, whitesmiths and cutlers.  In 1874 they grew the company to include river and sea fishing tackle.   In 1891 the first Hardy Perfect was born.   This was a superior reel that is still in production today, a feat no other manufacturer can challenge to this day.   Through the years they expanded into making rods as well.  Some of the finest bamboo rods passed under Mr. Hardy’s careful eye.  He was even known to destroy an entire day’s work of a rod builder if he found even the tiniest mistake on any of the rods the employee had made.   This tough as nails adherence to the highest quality control is still in place today although I don’t think they destroy a day’s work anymore. 

Now that you know a little about Hardy, I wanted to share my experience with my new Hardy Proaxis  8’10” 8wt one-piece rod.  I had heard about one piece rods and know they existed but after laying my eyes on one I fell in love.  Then I casted it and I was hopeless.  I had to have one.   Eventually, I became the proud owner of one and gingerly loaded it for the trip home.  The 9ft rod tube is a little hard to hide from the wife and a little bulky for traveling but this is not a travel rod.  I immediately took it out of its case and sock and I felt like Arthur drawing Excalibur from the stone.   I was amazed at the lightness of the rod.  I grabbed a reel with WF8wt line and headed out to the backyard.  As I shook out about 20 feet of line and started to false cast the rod came to life.  I have never casted a rod that loaded so fully and so quickly.  I was a little timid at first, I didn’t want to break my new rod, and then, I remembered this is a Proaxis. 

Besides having a solid worldwide warranty it is also made with a composite material called SINTRIX™.  SINTRIX™ is carbon fiber held together with a resin impregnated with silica nano spheres. This technology is new and produces a material that is significantly stronger and potentially lighter than traditional carbon fiber, and Hoo boy I am here to tell you they got right with the Proaxis. 

I put my man jammies on and casted the rod with no fear and I really wanted to see what this rod had in it.  I started out with soft gentle casts at short range and was able to lay line out effortlessly.  The titanium recoil guides let the line shoot smoothly through them and even though the line I was using was an old line with oyster scars and some scuffs in it, the line still shot like it was brand new.  Even though I was taking it easy I could feel this rod really wanted to shoot more line.  It felt like a caged animal in my hands.  Enough with the short casts I wanted to see this rod really walk.   I stripped all the fly line I had off the reel and carefully piled it at my feet.  I started my false cast and the rod ate line like potato chips.  Even though I had a good 60 feet of line in the air the rod loaded and unloaded a beautiful loop.  I let the line shoot and as the line disappeared from the pile at my feet through the guides it laid out in a perfect line and I still felt the “thump” as the line came tight to the reel.  This rod wanted more.    I stripped off backing and casted again and all of the fly line and about 10 feet of backing sailed through the tip top guide like it was magic.   I am not a big proponent of long distance casting, especially with my accuracy but I did want to see what it would do. 

I put all the backing and most of the fly line back on the reel and started playing around.  Again I started out easy at short distances as I tried to double haul 30 feet of line. The rod picked up the line and loaded it effortlessly.   I dropped out about 45 feet of line and the same result.   At 60 feet I figured it might not be as good and while it did not load as quickly as the shorter lengths it did pick up the line and did cast it right back out.   I was very impressed with this rod.  The subtraction of the ferrules does make the rod lighter by the simple fact there is less material but the SINTRIX™ fiber is so light and strong it is truly amazing.   As I casted the rod I began to really cast it hard.  I could hear a Scotty’s voice in my head, “Cast it like you are trying to break it”.   I did just that.  I drove this rod like I stole it and it performed even better.  With a hard back cast and a sharp snap of the rod as I stopped it forward the line still loaded quickly and evenly and shot out of the guides like a scalded cat.  This rod has some cajones and it’s not afraid to show ‘em to ya.  Now it was time to break it in right, on some redfish.

I met a friend early Saturday morning and we hit the water.  I had the Proaxis loaded with a Royal Wulff Bermuda Shorts line and we motored to a spot.    After the sun came up we found a school of redfish and started the hunt.   Before the sun was really up I threw a gurgler towards the bank and had a few small blowups but no hook-ups.  The line was singing through the guides even better with the aggressive shooting head of the line.  The sun started to peek up over the horizon and Andy poled his Maverick down the bank.   I made a few casts with a shrimp pattern and the redfish gave me the middle finger.  As I stripped the fly in I felt a little pressure and set the hook.   I felt like I had a dishrag on the end of the line and it turned out to be my first flounder on the fly.  A quick flip and he was unhooked and back in the water to grow up and I changed flies.   The next fly was greeted with the redfish middle finger again and Andy told me the secret weapon for this area.  I tied one on and we found a good sized school.  I casted into a pocket and after two strips I felt a tug.  I swept the rod back low and right and felt the line pull away as the line quickly made its way onto my reel.  After a short fight, a smaller slot sized red was in the boat.  I wanted to get one of the bigger ones we had seen cruising the bank.   We found the merge of two schools and saw where they were milling around.  I made a few casts and then I felt pressure on the line.  I swept the rod back low and to the right again, no trout setting for this kid today, and felt the fish come tight.  Now that Ms. Redfish knew she was hooked it was on.  I heard Scotty’s voice in my head again, “try to break it, I dare ya”.  I put the heat to this fish, hoping my 20# leader would hold, so I gave her an extra stick and pull and the fish ran, the rod bent and the drag sang.  A few times I put more pressure on the fish to turn him and the rod bent and never felt like it was anywhere near too much. 

After a few more minutes of rod bending-drag peeling runs the fish tired a little and we were able to boat him.   Andy scooped her up and handed her to me for a quick photo.  Near my personal best on the fly, I was stoked.   

We cruised up and down the bank as the tide came in and eventually made our way to another spot where we found a few reds DEEP in the grass but none we were able to cast at.   We did find about six big bonnet heads working an oyster bar and we chased them around for a while with no luck before we headed in.  

All in all it was a stellar Day.  Of course if you'd like to check out a Proaxis for yourself we have them in stock at the Lowcountry Fly Shop, www.lowcountryflyshop.com.  Tight lines and screamin drags to ya'll!!!

New flat with a new Friend

          I have caught some fish in my life.  I have caught many fish, I have caught big fish, I have caught many big fish.  I used to be a conventional fisherman, using spinning gear as well as my fly rods but lately as I get older I want to really challenge myself so I have forsaken the conventional gear and I am 100% all fly fishing. 

          I have noticed I do not catch as many fish as I used to.  At first this concerned me but then I remembered why I made my choice and I am completely at peace with my decision.  Tonight I got the chance to walk a new set of flats with a new friend and it was a stellar evening.  As we arrived to the first spot it was bone dry and we walked along the creek where it would eventually flood and looked at the topography.   The first thing to greet us was a big red-tailed hawk launching from his perch and giving us a call as it flew away.   It looked very fishy.  We scouted and waited for water to move in and flood the grass.  As we scouted we saw some good sized tails in the grass.  Easy casting distance and they were eating well but I found if you throw at the first fish you see as the water is coming in, they seem to be the scout fish and tell all their buddies that there are idiots with buggy whips throwing things at them and the fish usually find another spot of move into. 

          We left the fish and backed off down the flat.  The water was not supposed to flood very deep but we were taking a chance there would be a few spots that would flood enough.   As we left the first flat to explore another, we found another pocket with a couple BIG tails waving.  We got back in the truck and headed down the road to spot number two.  This spot had some serious potential.  As we walked along the edge we could see water pushing and bait everywhere.   All these good signs had us pumped up and ready to walk the grass.   We found a good spot and started making our way over to it.  Within seconds tails started to pop up.  Simon and I put the sneak on them and we maneuvered ourselves into a good spot and started working the fish.   Fly line sang through guides, the soft plop of the flies at they hit the water were echoed by the sounds of redfish tails lazily slapping the water as they rooted for food.    Simon had the line for the cast and he was working them pretty hard.  The grass was pretty thick and trying to get a fly down to the fish was harder than usual but we kept at it.  Behind him about 30 yards another big tail popped up.  We split up and decided to chase our own fish. 

          As Simon worked his fish and followed them around the flat I walked over and got myself in a pretty good spot where I could see two fish tailing happily about ten feet apart.   After I smacked the first fish on the head with my fly and lost sight of the second one I walked a little more to my right and further back on the flat towards thinner grass.  I stopped.  The sun on my face felt good.  I closed my eyes and soaked it all in.  The smell of salt water and pluff mud, he sound of water splooshing as bait ran away from the redfish, the sound of shrimp popping on the surface in the grass.  The slight breeze on my face with the setting sun’s rays was warm and cool at the same time.  Good Lord I LOVE living in the Low country.   I was totally absorbed in the moment; I was truly happy and had not one care in the world.  As I opened my eyes I noticed that in the minute or so I had been standing there in my trance I was literally surrounded by tailing redfish. 

           It had been so long since I was in a position like this I had no idea what to do.  I slowly stripped line off my fly reel and picked the biggest tail of the bunch to cast at.  My fly line sang through the guides and the fly landed about four feet in front of the fish.  Perfect, except my fly was 4 inches out of the water hung on the grass.  I gave it a small strip and the fly came off the grass and sank perfectly, right on the fishes head.   As the fish spooked and ran away as fast as his fins would carry him I looked for another target.  Off to my left was another fish.  I launched my fly in its direction and landed a perfect cast three feet in front of the fish.  No way he didn’t see it.  As the fish got closer a big swirl and the fish was on my fly.  Then nothing… it looked like it was eating my fly but he either missed it or spit it out.  No problem, I got other options.  I pulled my fly out and double hauled it a little further in front of another fish.  Another good shot but this fish swam over my fly, I picked it up and dropped it back in front only to be snubbed again.  The third time was the charm as I smacked him squarely on his head and spooked another one.   I was running out of options and I looked for another target.  A big tail popped up a ways out and after I stripped more line off I let fly with a long double haul and dropped my fly right in his path.    WHOOSH!  No eat and he was gone like the others.  

          After a few more shots the flat was empty of tails and we decided to move back to the original flat.  We headed over and the water was up where we wanted it, not as deep as we thought but there was water.  We jumped out and made our way to the spots we scouted earlier.  About three seconds on the flat, BAM, Tail.  I stripped line of and made a cast into the tall thick grass.  After about four casts the fish either didn’t like my fly or saw me and made a bee-line for deeper water.    We worked further down and Simon found a fish.  He was working it hard, this fish was eating well and at one point was totally out of the water.  He never saw his fly and moved out.  We worked further down and I went all the way to the furthest part we had scouted and started working my way back.  I saw a push and dropped my fly about three feet in front of it.  A big swirl right where my fly was, this fish attacked my fly but never ate it, as he swam off I expected to feel the line move but no hook up.  I still had a huge grin on my face.  I worked my way back towards Simon and saw another tail.  This was a good sized fish so again I put all my Jedi powers to work and started to put the sneak on him.  I quietly moved through the grass and water at a snail’s pace and kept the tail in my sights.  As if moved towards the taller grass I angled myself towards the tall grass as well but further behind.  As I entered the tall grass I lost sight of the fish.  I moved up about six feet and stopped looking for any sign of the fish.  I didn’t see anything.  I guess he ghosted.  Then I realized my Jedi/Ninja powers must have been in overdrive because three inches in front of my left leg was the fish.   Maybe he was a little slow, you know the special needs redfish, but he was just sitting there.  I froze and tried to figure out what to do next.  The tip of my fly rod was nine-feet away so a cast was impossible, I could try to drop the fly in front of him but I didn’t want to move.  Then the special needs fish made my decision.  It actually moved sideways and leaned his shoulder over and touched my leg.   Of course the material of my pants was not spartina grass and he did not like that but he just swam off lazily…   I laughed and made my way to where Simon was and we decided to call it a night.    We made our way back to the truck and headed home. 

            I ended the night at 0 for 6.  So my batting average sucks but the experiences I had far outweighed the no hookups.  As I get older and I hope wiser, I realized it’s not about the catching anymore, it’s about exactly what I did tonight, fished with a friend and saw some amazing things.  It doesn’t get much better than this. 

The Hobie Pro Angler

I went to the dark side… I pedaled today.            

I know a lot of people who Pedal a kayak instead of paddling one.  I am talking about the Hobie brand of kayaks.  Namely the Pro Angler series.  Today I finally got back on the water in a kayak with my buddy, IFA Kayak Angler of the Year and 2011 IFA Kayak Champion Justin Carter.   Carter is a local kayak fishing guide and knows more about redfish than most bottle nosed dolphins do.  I’d swear his Dad was a Redfish and his Mom was a Mermaid but I have met them both and I saw no scales.  Carter and I used to fish all the time, sometimes 3 or 4 times a week.  But school and work and other things got in my way so we of course do not fish as much as we used to.  Today was a day to catch up and check out a kayak I have heard good things about, it was time to see it for myself. 

I remember when Carter got his first Pro Angler (PA), or “BattleStar” as I call them.  I have photos of Carter standing on the bow of his PA and our other fishing partner Austin standing on the back of the same PA poling it around like a flats skiff while Carter threw a 10-foot cast net for bait.  These things are SICKLY stable. 

My goals today are to see the stability, comfort and ease of use the pedal drive affords for myself and see if I think they are as good as the claims.  

We met up at Carters house and loaded the gear and hitched up the trailer.  After a quick stop for a bite we were on the way to the landing.  Once we got there we started to unload the kayaks.  Carter had the PA12, this is new this year and winner of awards at ICAST, and I was in the PA14.  I dubbed it mentally as BattleStar Redfisicus.  Unloading from the back of the truck was pretty easy but I doubt I could do it by myself.  The kayak weighs in at a little over 100 pounds un-rigged,  it is manageable for most non-injured folks but not for this broken up old guy.  After we got all the gear loaded and the truck parked we launched and started making our way out.  It took me a few minutes to get the drive system down.  You’d think that it’s like riding a bike but it is a little different.  You have to watch your cadence to keep your, I guess fins is the term, from slapping the hull.  I didn’t realize I was doing it until Carter mentioned it and it makes a lot of sense… You don’t want to try puttin a sneak on a school of Redfish and then start slappin the hull with those fins making all kinds of noise.  After a few minutes I got it down and we were off and peddling.  

It took me a little while to find a really comfortable spot in the kayak.  I had the seat back too far up, too far back, pedals were too far forward, then too far back.  I made sure I was out of the way of any passing boats and got myself situated.  Once I figured out where I wanted to be it was amazingly comfortable.  As I tried to catch up to Carter the first thing I saw fish wise was a good sized Bonnet Head shark cursing the shallows… I threw a fly at him but he wasn’t interested and before I could think about another one he was gone.   I gathered up my fly line and chased Carter down.  We found a few spots and started fishing.  Carter throwing Top water and having a lot of blow ups, I was throwing an M4 and getting bit here and there.  As I started to fish I stood up.  Wow.  I have stood up in a good many kayaks and have always had to find a center of balance, sometimes a little sometimes a lot, but in the PA there is nothing like this.  You stand up, period.  It is literally like standing up on a dock.  The claims about the stability while standing to fish in this kayak have been under-rated.  It is simply amazing.   The drive system is easily removed and put on the seat behind me to keep my fly line from fouling, if you want to fly fish from this kayak I highly suggest this or have a good stripping basket with you.   I set a stake out pole and started casting.  I turned sideways in the kayak to cast to my right and it was still stable and a comfortable.  I have been a fan of the Freedom hawk kayaks but after today, they need some work if they want to keep claiming the stability they do, of course this just my opinion.   

We continued to pedal and fish along the Inter Coastal Waterway and pickup trout and lady fish here and there.  Sometimes I would get a little too shallow and have to pull the drive system.  Once I did this I used the paddle as a push pole and was able to get shallower and keep fishing.  One piece of advice for anyone who has never used a Hobie Mirage drive kayak… Make sure you do bring a paddle…   even though you may not need it, coming around a bend in a creek to find myself in a few inches of water, the Mirage Drive did me no good.  All you will do it tear up your fins and disable the drive.  Having a paddle is still a must but I only used it twice the whole day to get myself out of spots where the drive system was too long for the water depth.  The fact remains that it is a mechanical piece of equipment.  It seems very well built but if it has moving parts it CAN break… Take the paddle, ya never know.

So my list of Pros for the PA14:

-         -  Most Stable kayak I have ever been in.  Period.  There are others that are stable but nothing compares to this kind of stability.  I have been on power boats that were not this stable.

-         -  Comfortable seat and positions to pedal.  The seat is high enough to let you see easily without having you so high up you feel like you will tip over. 

-          - Plenty of storage room and even the bow hatch is easily accessible on the water.

-                      The smaller storage areas in the cockpit are well laid out and easy to get to and use.

-      -     The drive system is very easy to use after a little familiarization, you won’t be kicking up a rooster-tail wake behind you but it is smooth and powerful and makes fishing on the move or trolling very easy.

-       -   Very maneuverable for a kayak this big.  The rudder is well placed and the kayak responds very well to the rudder commands.  Having the rudder below the stern and basically enclosed keeps fish from getting wrapped up on it and lines catching on it almost impossible.  I have lost fish on other kayaks due to lines getting caught on the rudder hardware and breaking.  

My list of Cons for the PA14:

-          - The weight.  You have to sacrifice something and I will take a heavier kayak that has this kind of stability but for some people this will just be too much weight to handle solo. 

-         -  And personally the cost.  It is a little high for my kayak fishing budget.  In kayak fishing it is truly “you get what you pay for” in this case you get a lot for what you pay.  Not saying the kayak is not worth the price they ask, it’s just a little steep for me.  

Over all I would give the PA14, on my new scoring system of Redfish tails, 10 being the best,  9.65 out of 10 Redfish Tails.    I enjoyed my day in the Pro Angler, I saw that all the claims I have heard were true and some ideas I had about it to be wrong.  The kayak is stable, agile, comfortable, roomy and easy to pedal.  The awards won for this design are well deserved.  

If anyone would like to try out a Pro Angler, you can book a charter with Kayakfishsc.com and ask for Carter.  http://kayakfishsc.com/guides/  

If you’d like to purchase one they are available at your local Hobie dealer, here in Charleston that is Time Out Sport and Ski, http://www.timeoutsports.net/index.htm.  Stop in and the team will take care of all your Kayaking needs.  

And of course for ANY and ALL of your fly fishing needs, fresh or salt water, from rods to reels to books and videos, tying materials and tying tools, come visit The Low Country Fly Shop, the only true Fly Shop in the low country.  http://www.lowcountryflyshop.com/