Wind Over Water

8/4/2019 Wind Over Water

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Wind Over Water

Jim Clark

Scotch Run..looking for natives

Patrick had a small ultra light spinning rod with a micro shimano reel. Wheneverfishing a trout stream he used 2 lb. test. When wading he wore a vest to keephis hooks, jigs or spinners.

On one spring morning on Scotch Run he worked a small area of the creek froma boulder on the bank at the base of a hill. In that spot there is a current racethat flows into deeper water turning back into rapids a little farther downstream.At the base of the boulder is a backwater. At first he drifted a meal worm on a #4hook. The fish were right on the edge of where the race met the backwater. Hecaught several brookies that were 10 or 11 inches making the same natural drift.The trout were holding in the same place on the edge of the race. He landed asmall rainbow in the same size range as the brook trout catching five fish driftafter drift. He freelined the fish for a second or two before hooking up. The fast

current made landing the fish more challenging. Pat saw this as a good chanceto land fish on an artificial. He had small white foxee-jigs. He made his cast intothe same part of the current race jigging as his lure drifted downstream. Itworked on the first cast. An aggressive brookie darted up out of the rapids intothe backwater to strike. Pat had the drag set on real light pressure at first until hecould work them into the backwater at the base of the big boulder he wasstanding on. He landed on more rainbow on the foxee-jig after several casts.The rainbow was in the rapids downstream of the deeper water. Rainbow trouthold in fast water. Pat caught one more small brook trout after that making iteight fish in that one part of the stream. Patrick noticed his father walking over.He said he caught three rainbows above there wading in slow moving shallowwater.

JIM "man this is a great looking spot, I caught three rainbows wading upstream ofhere, I let them go"


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PAT "I caught two rainbows, I caught eight fish right on the edge of this race,most of them were brookies, I released all of them"

JIM "good going man, what a great morning"

PAT "I thought about walking farther upstream to see if I can find natives"

JIM "how far?"

PAT "farther than I ever went before"

JIM "alright man, go exploring"

Pat climbed up to the top of the hill above where he was fishing until he got as

high as he could go. He hiked over a mile walking along the ridge until he cameto the edge overlooking the creek. In his sight was a bend in the creek thatlooked good. The creek meandered through the mountains. The get to the partof the creek that he wanted to fish Pat had to climb down the rock ledges below.Pat fished below the bend in the creek he noticed first. It was fast water flowingthrough small boulders. He waded upstream as he worked the current with hisfoxee-jig. When he got to the narrow bend he found a shallow outcropping tocast from. The current cut into the bank forming a deep edge. Pat was almostnervous as he drifted his jig along the deep bend anticipating a fish. Afterseveral casts he hooked a fish. To his amazement it was the native brook trouthe was looking for. He measured it before he let it go. The fish was 14 inches,big for a native. Pat kept on casting. He landed two more natives before walkingback to find his father.

Jim was casting in the shallower water where he caught the rainbows earlier inthe morning.


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JIM "I walked about a mile downstream, I caught two brookies casting a smallspinner"

PAT "I found natives, I caught three over a mile upstream"

JIM "awesome man, lets call it a morning"

The Susquehanna

Rick made a long cast into the main river current. Rick had gotten out of the boatthen waded onto the shallows where there was vegetation full of minnows in thewarmer surface column amist the late spring sunshine. Rick jigged up a bigsmallmouth on his ultra light rod. He hailed the boat as he fought the fish to getthe attention of Jim and Patrick. Rick had a competitive nature that made himwant to catch the most.

RICK "someone work this edge with me"

Rick landed his smallie

JIM "good going Ritchie, keep it up man"

Patrick looked through his lures getting out mepps spinners for casting in theshallows. Jim waded over to the current edge where Rick was. Rick wasstanding on a shallow outcropping. The outcropping was a river flat of smallstones. On the edge it got deeper so the current was racing more than it was in


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the shallows. The shallows were on the downriver side of a big island severalmiles north of the Bloomsburg bridge. Patrick went to the eastern side of theisland to make some casts in the race between the two adjacent islands. Patricksighted several small largemouth that were taking shots at his spinner. Asmallmouth came striking after his lure in sight. The hooked fish came right out

of the water, then turned into the current. The fish leaped again. Patrick kept hisrod light as the bass jumped then began to wind fast pulling the bass across thesurface easing the fish right into his hand. He raised the smallie in the brightafternoon sun shouting, "I caught one." After a quick release Patrick went backto casting. Again Pat set the hook on a smallie on his spinner. The bass wentinto the race then was taking line jumping in intervals farther downriver eachtime. The bass then went deep using the current. Patrick worked the fish up alittle at a time lifting then winding tight until the smallie was tired. Pat walked tothe edge of the island catching his fish. Pat measured the smallmouth quick thenlet it go. A great fish of over 20 inches.

Jim worked the current off of the shallows where Rick caught his two fish. Hislure selection was a small chartreuse spinner bait. He cast 45 degrees upcurrent letting the lure sink then used an alternating retrieve winding fast thenslow. His first strike was where the edge of the backwater met the current justbelow the river flat.

JIM "man these fish sure fight good in the current"

RICK "sure got that right"

JIM "check out these minnows"

RICK "far out, cool"

JIM "the fish must be right on the edge of the shallows chasing them"


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RICK "for sure"

A rock shoal is similar to a sandbar. Some rock shoals are the result of springs.

Cold water in the shallow spots is something an angler can look for to find aspring.

Using the same technique Jim hooked another smallmouth.

JIM "this is a bigger fish"

Wading downriver, Jim gained a little bit at a time. He was almost waist deepwading when he caught the fish. Rick was upstream. After landing his fish Jimbegan treking to the boat. The air got colder as the sun was setting.

PAT "primo, we all caught fish"

JIM "mine were on a chartreuse spinner bait, man were the fish aggressive"

PAT "this mepps #2 spinner caught me two"

RICK "the ones I caught were on eighth once jigs, one was on a powershad, theother was on a twister tail power grub"

PAT "lets fish the channel for awhile"

RICK "sounds good to me"


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JIM "jig slow the water is cold"

RICK "man is it getting cold"

PAT "there is a fish"

JIM "what is it?"

PAT "the fish was along the bank over there towards the island"

The channel that flows between the islands is deep. It is narrow making thewater flowing through it fast. Rick cast his silver powershad.

PAT "a walleye"

JIM "awesome"

RICK "there is one"

JIM "alright, good going, the fish must be on the move?"

RICK "well it is colder plus it is almost dark now"


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JIM "need a net on that fish Pat?"

PAT "yeah"

JIM "one in the boat, good going Junior"

RICK "Jim there is mine, quick get a net on it"

PAT "look the fish are all in the same size range"

RICK "what a cool fish, distinct spot on the tail, look at the eye glowing,awesome"

The fish caught were all over 15 inches. Jim started casting a jig.

RICK "look at the pintails"

JIM "cool"

JIM got the next strike.

JIM "alright!"


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After Jim landed his fish it had almost gotten dark.

RICK "well we all caught fish"

JIM "great trip"

The sun set over the horizon on the back to the boat ramp. It was a little coldexcept it was a real nice night.

Fort Pierce sailfish

December is a cold month in Stuart Florida. I got held up one morning on A1A

driving to the dock because a train was blocking the road. The fog wasbeginning to lift as the train rolled past. What a hastle man. Charlie flipped onme, telling me I should have left for work earlier. Well, I would have made it tothe boat on time if the train wasn't blocking the road. I still got there 15 minutesbefore our one angler for the morning. The rods were all rigged, plus there werefour dozen baits brined on ice. It was a still calm morning. As the sun was risingabout 200 or so ravens flew past the dock at first light. The fog began to lift upoff the Indian River. The horizon had a distinct red haze to it that morning. I tookout the sailfish rods then had a cup of coffee. Charlie was blowing smoke aboutme getting caught up at the train tracks. Todd pulled up. Charlie said "lets gosee what he thinks about the weather." Todd said "we might as well go" So wewent. The inlet was rough. We had a wave break over the bow as we weregetting out of the inlet. The wind was right out of the east. It was over 20 knots,gusting at 30. Most of the sailfish being caught were offshore of Fort Pierce.There is an edge that we would work about 15 miles east of the shoreline. Eventhough it is 15 miles out, the edge there is just 150 feet deep. It was a rain gearmorning. Man we got drenched on our ride out. The wind was hawkin', so weput out four baits rather than our normal spread of seven. Sometimes that is all ittakes. The first fish came right up on the flat. I had the drag set real light so the


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fish could tug some line without resistance. A sail will pull a little line then drop abait before charging back in on a bait it is best to wind on the bait a little or holdthe rod up in the air. Getting the hoo in sight makes the fish visible also. Themore excited a fish is the better the chance of getting it to commit. I hooked thesail. Todd fought the fish. It made several short runs except it was small. We

were able to back right up on it. I brought the fish onboard quick to get the hookout of it then dragged it through the water a little to revive it. Our second fishpopped up on the left rigger. After banging the clip down I gave it a quick feedgetting the hook into the fish on the first take. It was another small sail. It came

jumping towards the boat. I had to be real delicate with these small fish, theirbills are soft. Charlie cooled off after we landed some fish. Number three cameup after our squid chain, then faded back on the flat line. I dropped back to itthen hooked up again catching the fish. We called it a morning after landingthree sails then ran back to Stuart.

Sails at Sun up

...dialog based on Capt. Richard Quirk

JACK "Ritchie where are we going this morning"

RITCHIE "up to Conch"

JACK "look at the frigate bird, it is all worked up"

RITCHIE "sailfish, there is our sailfish kiddo, this is critical get on the deck, let meget in front of the fish"

Ritchie lined up on a set of birds working in the same area as the frigate. Thesailfish were feeding right near the edge of the dropoff. The wind was gusting as


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it was, along with intense seas, it made it awesome to be going after a fishthrottled up.

RITCHIE "get the lines out"

JACK "right man"

RITCHIE "fast kid"

JACK "no worries"

RITCHIE "now watch, look at those seagulls milling around, now look at thatfrigate bird, it is looking right at a fish"

JACK "right, got it, go after it"

In a short time...

RITCHIE "there goes the right rigger kid, hook that fish man"

Jack dropped back to the fish fast giving it several jabs on the hookup. As thefish went into the first run Jack gave the rod to the angler. The fish went up inthe air right after it made the first run. The angler kept his cool just letting the fishgo off.

RITCHIE "good work on the deck"


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Ritchie hooked a fish on the center rod up on the bridge as that was going on.Now there were two anglers on the deck fighting fish.

JACK "man those fish are freakin', this is wild man awesome"

RITCHIE "watch it now backing up, now one is going off to the starboard side,back the drag off on that reel"

JACK "so let the fish run right man"

RITCHIE "focus on the fish on the transom kiddo, make sure to gain back line aswe go after the fish"

JACK "got it, man the drag is screaming on the fish running to starboard"

RITCHIE "the drag goes screaming alright, that fish has a sore jaw, now there isthe leader on our first fish, light, light, slow on the leader kid, wait till the fish popsitself out of the water"

JACK "got the bill, right on"

RITCHIE "nice fish, now get it back in the water, tighten up on the drag, lets goget the next one"

The sailfish was throwing water all over. Out in the elements at sun up.


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Dorado

...dialog based on the Bubba Louie, a 33 foot Crusader

DAVE "we are all fueled up, lets get going"

BRO "alright"

JACK "primo man"

BRO "how far out are we going"

DAVE "far"

The wind was out of the east. Dave went right into it. The Crusader handled wellin most weather. It was a run of over 30 miles to the current rip Dave wanted tofish.

BRO "look gulls working"

JACK "where"


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BRO "look over there man"

DAVE "I got the birds, the gulls are working on fish, let me get up on them"

Bro let out two flat lines as Dave caught up to the birds. Jack got a rod for a pitchbait to cast under the birds.

DAVE "cast a bait under the gull low on the water"

BRO "there goes a bull after it"

JACK "the fish is all over it"

Jack had his timing right on the hookup.

DAVE "man look at that fish"

As the bull began to make a run a big cow came charging in on the right flat, Brohooked up on it. The bull took off fast charging through the waves taking line inmid air. Bro had his fish on trolling gear, it got up in the air except it madesmaller runs. The bull Jack was fighting went deep after it got tired. Jack had a40 lb. fish on a Penn 850.

BRO "work that fish in slow Jack"


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JACK "there the bugger goes running again, man is it taking drag fast again"

DAVE "just keep on him"

BRO "Dave get the gaff, the cow is up"

JACK "nice gaff Dave, good going Bro"

DAVE "there goes the bull leaping out of the water again, Bro catch some ofthose smaller fish"

JACK "bailing gaffers man, awesome, Dave the big bull is tired, get the gaffDave"

Dave being an ace with the gaff handled the big fish well.

BRO "nice work"

DAVE "the gaffers, the birds are still over those gaffers, we'll get on the fishagain"

Dave ran the boat up current of the feeding fish.

BRO "hooked up again"

DAVE "awe we can fill the box"


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JACK "man look at all the blood"

DAVE "keep going"

BRO "man it is awesome catching fish like this"

DAVE "we've got over four hundred pounds"

JACK "enough right?"

DAVE "lets run inshore"

JACK "now lets chill out"

BRO "look how awesome our catch is bro, lets smoke a joint eh"

JACK "sounds good to me"

DAVE "right"

After setting course back towards Tennessee Light. Dave noticed a woodenboard floating. He gave Jack a 40 lb spinner with a Penn 950 reel, set up with aYozuri lure. Jack ran the lure out as Dave made a pass on the drifting board.


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Out of the blue came a 20 lb. wahoo.

BRO "man did that fish take some drag fast"

Dave gaffed the wahoo then went back to the helm to find the debris again. Brolet the Yozuri out the same distance.

JACK "amazing we just hooked into another wahoo.

DAVE "run the lure out once more Jack"

BRO "far out bro, we just hooked into our third wahoo"

The wahoo were all in the same size range. After gaffing the fish Dave setcourse back to shore as the sun was setting.

...saltwater footnotes

At lobster walk the dock looked like an aquaculture farm as a result of Dave Curlswho became a commercial diver collecting tropical fish. There were lookdowns,lobsters, sea urchins, hermit crabs, angelfish, rock beauties, clownfish, mangrovesnapper, small lemon sharks, bonnetheads and so on...

Dave turned me and pops onto something new one evening. We never knewabout lookdowns. Using ultra light rods and bright micro jigs we filled our livewells for the outdoor tanks.


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Pops and me did all sorts of diving with Dave Curls. Dave is as skilled as anamphibian in the water. Sometimes we went with Hawaiian slings. One of our

best adventures was to a series of rock caverns on the ocean floor in the Gulfwhere we ended up scoring big on lobsters.

One time dad poled me up current into a cut in a flat where redfish were muddingin chaos. Flamingo being new ground for us at the time. I just kept jigging. I hada millies bucktail tipped with a live shrimp. I landed two reds, one about eight lbs.another one about four or so, releasing the fish.

The first permit I landed was at Oyster Bank on the edge of the Gulf. Dad and Ithought we saw two small tarpon tailing along. I made a cast then hooked up.The permit took off like a bullet. It made a big first run. After I got line back onthe fish it made another run. We went after it with the engine running. Again thefish ran. It was a 20 lb. permit. At the time there were Oceanic White Tips aswell as medium sized Tiger Sharks fining on the bank. We landed an eight footTiger Shark that we estimated at 250 lbs in the same area on another trip.

There is a hidden lake adjacent to Madeira Bay. There is a narrow cut that leadsto it. When we discovered it I began casting a buck tail tipped with a chartreusesplit tail grub. I got snagged on a mangrove root, to our disbelief a snook cameout of the cut to take the jig off of the mangrove root. We landed the fish, thenreleased it, the fish was 30 some odd inches. One time dad and I were polingthe eastern shoreline of Madeira Bay looking for redfish muds. We came up on asawfish up real shallow on the flat. For a shot in the dark I cast the buck tail Ihad on a light tackle rod at the sawfish never expecting it to even give a look atall. For some reason the sawfish went right after the jig, taking in an instant. Thefreakin thing ran then looked like a sailfish making all sorts of far out jumps. Thesawfish was real erratic as it ran. The fact that it got up in the air several timeswas something else. Even though we had it on real light tackle we landed it. Fora sawfish it was small, 5 feet. We caught it on 10 lb. test with about a 4 foot20 lb. test leader.


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One evening I went out to one of the mangrove islands in Matecumbe Harborwith Cain and Victor in a small Carolina skiff. We crushed the mangrovesnapper. There were pilchards all over.

Most of the diving we did for lobster was legit. One evening Vic told me and Cainto raid a trap line on the outside edge of Long Key Bight. We broke open 20traps filling the skiff full of large lobster.

I went on three trips to Cay Sal Bank. The first was in a 22 foot Mako with Bro. Itwas flat calm. We had to fill a 40 gallon drum full of gas for extra fuel. On therun over we spotted a mix of Yellowfins and Skipjacks. When we ran up on thetuna we saw three giant Whale Sharks. What an amazing sight! We got to

Elbow Key alright. Our focus was on grouper. We caught several scamp as wellas a number of rock hinds. It was great to see the rock islands and the oldlighthouse on Elbow Key. We had no trolling gear on us or we would have takenon the Yellowfins. Even before we left to return back to Islamorada we found afuel drum that had several big slammer dolphin on it. Bro said it was getting darkso we had no time to catch those fish. On the trip back the seas were made upof the most subtle flat calm swells I ever noticed. It was a tranquil night. Wearrived back in Lower Matecumbe in the dark.

Some of the hardest work I ever did was on lobster boats for traps in. I workedfor Ken Teeple and for Bill Greenwall out of Lower Matecumbe. We set traps inthe harbor, the Gulf, and also Oceanside. One of the mates was from Columbia,several were from Cuba. I learned about their native countries and also began tograsp Spanish.

Waterspout

There is one morning of Tarpon fishing I will never forget. The horizon had anorange hue to it. There were all sorts of dark clouds forming around us. Ourlocation was Matecumbe Harbor at the time. We were running due east towards


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Lignumvite Key. On the far side of the harbor is a well known bonefish flat.There are several unmarked cuts in the flat there. On the eastern side of the flatis a well marked channel. To the right is the marked channel to go pastLignumvite Key to get to the bridge whenever running Oceanside.

Our plan was to veir north in Lignumvite Channel towards the flats we planned onfishing. As we came across the bonefish flat we watched a dark nimbo cumuluscloud form into a waterspout. The wind picked up first. We were running so fastin the Action Craft we had to take our hats off. Had we been wearing hats thesudden gusts of wind would have taken them off for sure. The wind gusts weresudden and abrupt. The cloud started spiraling downward. There was noquestioning it, this waterspout was going to form. Sometimes a cloud will hintlike it is going to turn into a waterspout then fade out like nothing or amount tosome serious wind gusting. The clouds were some of the darkest I ever noticed.

As we came across Matecumbe Harbor the sun was coming up. It was justgetting light out. The next thing we knew it got real dark. The skies were black.The wind was gusting hard, plus it was pouring rain. The rain pelted us bad aswe ran even faster than normal to get out of the storm clouds where the tornadowas forming. The waterspout was more like a tornado in size. The thing cameout of the clouds quick then it meandered west right towards where we wererunning in the boat.

We turned north towards the Petersen Keys then ran out around those islands to

the north turning to run northwest to where we were planning on fishing on theedge of a flat near Barnes. The waterspout went past the island then across theflat into Matecumbe Harbor. It was tough to see since it was raining so hard. Welost sight of the waterspout in the rain, except it must have dissipated as itdisappeared into the Gulf.

Believe it or not after the weather event it got real still as the sun came out. Wewent first thing in the morning so we would be the first boat on the flat. Therewere tarpon all over the deep area on the edge of the flat that morning. Thenumber of tarpon we sighted was amazing. After our scare with the waterspoutwe had a good morning. It was the ideal scenario to fly-fish. The tarpon werelaid up or rolling. We spooked our share of fish as we polled. I thought we werequiet as a ghost except some fish were responsive when others were almostasleep. Several fish turned on his lure almost taking as we polled along untilChuck hooked one. I noticed it was an awkward fish since its reactions as it

jumped were abnormal for a fish that size. We had to put our time in thatmorning. After landing our one tarpon, we called it a morning then headed back


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to Lower Matecumbe.

Shoal Fishing

The Everglades can also be thought of as the Florida River. In fact theEverglades is somewhat of a tidal river.

Light Tackle fishing for Big Jack-Crevalle is so often overlooked in the shadowsof more coveted game fish. The winter migration of large jacks has beenexceptional so far. Locating a school of jacks has been exceptional so far.Locating a school of jacks has been exceptional so far. Locating a school of

jacks on the feed can be the source of some great action. Working birds are agood indicator most of the time. The inshore fish can be the source of somegreat action. Working birds are a good indicator most of the time. The inshorefish can be caught one after another if sought out. Aggressive spin fishing with

artificial lures like a DOA minnow or a bucktail with a twister tail worm are almosta sure thing. Jack-Crevalle in the 5 to 15 lb. range are abundant from Flamingoto the Islamorada bridges right now. The brackish channels that hold seatroutare good. The classic techniques of jigging for trout never fail if fish are in thearea. It is important to maintain a constant retrieve to prevent losing fish.Artificial lures must be moving to look alive. A constant retrieve means constanthook-ups. A ten plus lb. jack on 8 lb. test is great. It is rewarding when a fishmakes several runs during a fight.

At times there are colossal fish on the reef line in numbers difficult to imagine.The ocean side fish have been observed in numbers as great as four or fivehundred 15 to 40 lb. jacks moving as one unit. Those fish are smarter than theones found near the flats. Freespooling a live Bluerunner on sailfish gear is aprime tactic. Be prepared for long deep powerful runs. The bigger fish haveabove average endurance. A reel with lots of backing along with a precision dragsetting is important. A spool of 200 plus meters of 12 lb. test will get the job donemost of the time. Fishing a bimimi twist to a 40 to 50 lb. test leader increases line


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strength as well as provides an abrasive proof leader if a sailfish strikes. It is agreat feeling letting a big one go after a long battle.

Bluewater Footnotes

...the rainstorm

The skies grew dark as we headed for shore. We were in a full blown rainstormbefore we knew it. Waterspouts were almost forming up. As the rain dissipatedwe spotted several sailor gulls circling over fish. The wind was out of the East atalmost 30 knot gusts. The reason it was somewhat calm is the fact that the rainflattened the seas out. In the downpour it was as tough to see as it is in the fog.The captain ran up on the birds then got upwind of them to make it easier for meto cast to them. Using two 30 lb. spinners then one of our 20 lb. rods we gottakes on three fish in a quick flash of action. The wind made for real long castsinto the fish the birds were on. On the first cast I gave the fish a short drop backwith a flying fish. The fish were not in our sight we just knew the dolphin were

under the birds. After hooking into the first fish I took a deboned hoo on another30 lb. rod to cast. Again it is how it is sometimes. When dorado are on thesurface in a pack of 4 or 5, the feeding fish never hesitate to take if thepresentation is right. The third fish was shadowing the fish we had on so I castanother deboned hoo to it. After our navigating through the rainstorm we had atriple header on. To our good fortune we landed the fish. As we worked in ourthird fish two more dorado moved in. Sometimes things just flow right. The firstwas a bull the next was a cow. What a blessing to catch five dolphin in the 20 lb.range after we got skunked in the harsh weather that morning.

...threadfins on the reef

The morning was dead still. There was a low fog lifting off of the horizon. Thefirst thing we did on the Kalex was catch Threadfins using our 14 ft. net. Alex gotus on the pilchards that were racing in great numbers on the patch. George was


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also just as onto the Threadfins as Adler that morning. Dave alternated turns onthe net with me. We used our scatter chum to cloud the water to cover the netsince most of the time Threadfins aren't ever caught in the castnet. The scenariowas something else that morning as we were scoring two to three hundredPilchards or Threadfins at a time the numbers were so great. We had real fine

sand chum.

The Yellowtails were all over the edge of the reef at Alligator. It was a great timecatching big Yellowtails on the Threadfins. What made it even more awesomewas the fact that we were catching big Mangrove and Mutton snapper in thecloud of Yellowtails at the same time. The fish were right on top of the watercolumn. Imagine a flash or red as a big Mutton snapper takes a Pilchard right onthe surface. Our big Pilchards or Threadfins are what made things happen forus.

Wind Over Water

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