Ed Mitchell Outdoors

Pineland this morning? No way!

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Ed Mitchell

Drove back to Pineland early this morning. Got there around 7:40 AM. Not good enough! Damn. The parking lot was already full. It’s not a big lot to begin with. So handful of cars is all it holds. Today there were four cars, and a kayak trailer, capable of transporting half a dozen yaks. Smell a tour anyone?

Pineland

Disappointed, I turned around and went back home. After taking the yak off the car, I headed to the gym. On the way, I saw a messy road kill. A big wild boar was lying by the side of the road. Someplace in Punta Gorda there is a car with a nasty dent. Got to the gym and took my frustrations out on the weight machines. On the way back home I saw a gator flattened on the white line. Its a tough times for animals in PG.

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More Rain Coming

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Ed Mitchell

Yesterday morning I ran into one of the guides at the ramp. This guy is well respected. I asked him how the fishing was. He said it has been off. I agree. Things are slow.

Whats up? Rain. It has been a wet summer so far, and more rain is on the way. Damn. Large doses of rain negatively impact the fishing in two ways. Rain lowers the salinity, and raises the turbidity. The former can force fish to drop back down toward the Gulf, especially when rain arrives in large sudden downpours. And turbidity makes fly fishing harder. The fish are harder to see. And the fish have a harder time seeing the fly.

This Mornings Red

There is also a third consequence of hard rain, although frankly I do not know how much it affects the fishing. Pollution! Rain brings agricultural runoff. As well as pollution from other point and nonpoint sources. For example, recently some beaches have been temporarily closed because of high fecal counts. Not a good thing.

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Back to Pineland……Its Tarpon time

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Ed Mitchell

Decided to head back to Pineland. Needed a change of scenery, for one thing. And I figured I might get a shot at a tarpon. So early this morning I put the Chupacabra on the roof and pointed the car south, toward Pine Island.

Early Morning at Pineland

Pineland is pretty country, and this morning it shone in all its glory. Immediately upon launching four porpoise swam by me. They were close enough that I heard them breathing. Then one vocalized, calling to his friends. Nice.

Running with a northeast wind, I soon covered two miles of open water. While high above a frigate circled. Around Rat Key, I spied a black colored fin. It popped up and then disappeared. I thought it might be a small shark, but I made a cast. At the end of the retrieve, I raised the rod and met solid resistance. Bingo! Turns out that fin was actually the tail of a tarpon.

Tarpon from a Kayak

No it wasn’t huge. Low teens, I’d say. Still it put up a wonderful fight. As we all know tarpon are terrific adversaries on a fly rod. They pull hard, run, dive, and jump. Amigo, you and your tackle are going to get sorely tested.

The Silver King

Eventually I landed the Silver King. Got my fly back, out of the roof of its mouth. And then let the King swim back to his castle. Yes, it was a sweet experience. Kings from a kayak? Its a great way to go.

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Rain, Rain…Go Away

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Ed Mitchell

Man has it been raining! Its nearly a week since I paddled out. Two days ago a spot across Charlotte Harbor from me got 10.4 inches of rain in less than 12 hours. How’s that for a downpour? Gators were swimming right up to people’s doors. Crazy.

This morning the rain held off. So I got the yak back in the water. Still the fishing was slow. Weak tides, and high winds, hampered the effort. Hoping for better conditions!

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A Rainbow in the Maumturks

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Ed Mitchell

I saw a rainbow today. It got me thinking about one I saw in Ireland, years ago. A friend of mine had rented a house in a remote valley in Joyce Country. Situated 4 miles in on a dirt road, the house hung on a hillside in the rugged Maumturks. Possessing a stark beauty, the valley and surrounding mountains held a haunting aura that is difficult to describe.

Home in the Maumturks

I arrived in late winter for a short stay, and soon fell under the valley’s spell. Out my bedroom window, a salmon river coursed the valley floor; while the mountainsides became a kaleidoscope in the changing light of day. Then at night, stars filled the heavens. And without any artifical light for miles, freely they fired down. The universe seemed only an arm’s reach away.

Along with natural beauty, about 300 yards from the house there was a megalithic passage tomb. Untouched since its origins in the neolithic, this long, oval mound of earth held the remains of people that walked this valley in the stone age. If that tomb could talk what stories it would tell.

One morning a storm surged down the valley. It raced through the mountain passes carrying torrential rain. As the storm subsided, I stepped out with my camera. Suddenly a rainbow appeared. It arched out of the sky and greeted the tomb, as if to honor those 5000 year old bones. I’ll never forget that rainbow in the Maumturks.