Just wanted to let you know that some of my work is being featured today on the blog for the fly fishing e-mag, ThisIsFly. To check it out, just go to ThisIsFlyDaily.com.
David Cannon
Idbis Creek, LLC
770.656.7230
www.CannonOutdoors.com
Windows LiveT Hotmail is faster and more secure than ever. Learn more.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
First TARPON on fly!!
My wife, Stephanie, and I just got back from a western Caribbean cruise. We stopped off at Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize City and Roatan, Honduras. The whole trip was great, and I'd tell you all about it... but this is a fly fishing blog. So let's just stick with that content this time around.
The only real fishing we did was with a guide, Ed Taylor, on Grand Cayman. We saw some BIG bonefish, I made some really nice, delicate casts way in front of them... and as soon as they gracefully landed on the water, the fish scattered like a baby grand had been dropped on the flat. Unbelievable.
But, the baby tarpon were very cooperative! Stephanie and I both landed them up to about six pounds on the fly rod - TONS of fun! Stephanie - who's pretty green with the fly rod - even spotted a fish, cast to it, stripped the fly perfectly (stripping the fly for tarpon is done by performing many very short, very quick strips without pausing - pretty odd if you haven't done it before), felt the hit, set the hook and fought the fish all the way to the net! It was great!
I also fought a 40+ pounder for over five minutes, survived many many leaps and 100-200-yard runs and without warning my rod went straight. He simply threw the hook.
Anyway, here are a few photos. Enjoy, and thanks for checking in!
The only real fishing we did was with a guide, Ed Taylor, on Grand Cayman. We saw some BIG bonefish, I made some really nice, delicate casts way in front of them... and as soon as they gracefully landed on the water, the fish scattered like a baby grand had been dropped on the flat. Unbelievable.
But, the baby tarpon were very cooperative! Stephanie and I both landed them up to about six pounds on the fly rod - TONS of fun! Stephanie - who's pretty green with the fly rod - even spotted a fish, cast to it, stripped the fly perfectly (stripping the fly for tarpon is done by performing many very short, very quick strips without pausing - pretty odd if you haven't done it before), felt the hit, set the hook and fought the fish all the way to the net! It was great!
I also fought a 40+ pounder for over five minutes, survived many many leaps and 100-200-yard runs and without warning my rod went straight. He simply threw the hook.
Anyway, here are a few photos. Enjoy, and thanks for checking in!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Grayling
Bad weather made our king salmon trip iffy, so we opted to do some exploring. I was itching to chase some grayling and several people recommended the same spot - Crescent Lake. The lake is a couple hundred acres and is full of this small member of the salmon family, known for its large dorsal fin and willingness to gobble dry flies like they're going out of style.
After a 6.4 mile hike in to the lake (a pretty easy trail with lots of scenery), we arrived to a cold, strong wind and no sign of grayling in the lake. I had all but given up when my buddy, Bear, came running around the corner yelling, "Cannon, you're killing me!" "What?" I said. "I FOUND 'EM!"
The outlet of the lake was completely loaded with these little guys, all of which were hunkered under limbs overhanging the creek and, of course, undercut banks. The branches overhead were full of mosquitos, so I tied on a small Adams dry fly, then rigged Bear's rod with one and we went to work.
I can tell you that in the hour we fished (we had to hoof it out of there as the rest of our party had already left), I landed seven and Bear landed five, all but one of which were on dry flies (one of mine took my dropper nymph before I cut it off). How many I missed, I can't tell. Let's just say it was a lot - probably 30-40 fish.
Anyhow, we ran most of the 6.4 miles out and my knees and hips are feeling it today! (Is age starting to show its ugly head?)
On our drive out, we stopped by the bridge overlooking Quartz Creek and watched some of the reds (sockeyes) in a deep pool. Man were they red. Very cool.
All-in-all, it was an awesome day, though! Here are some photos - I'll put up some underwater video of the fish feeding in the next day or two...
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Alaska - Days 2 and 3
Alaska is still rocking! Yesterday we went to Seward and took a boat into the bay and fished for silver salmon - My friend Bear and I took our limit (it's funny - I'm pretty strict catch-and-release back home, but knowing that all of these fish are going to die anyway... and the fact that they're so dang tasty all smoked up... makes me feel fine about keeping a few), then went on a massive hike up a mountain with no trails and lots of moose poop - pretty intimidating!
Today is our only day that we don't have a charter trip booked, so we walked across the street to the Kenai and caught some sockeye. I had already caught quite a few, so I picked up my FIVE weight and put on a fresh 1X leader with FIVE split shot (I felt like DURNIAK!) and a big salmon fly.
+
+
____________________
=
I only enticed one to eat with this set up (unless you count the CARCASS I snagged - somebody practiced a little fillet-and-release!), but it was in the 12-15-pound range... and in a raging river! It was a tough battle to say the least - I think it would have been tough on my eight weight, so this was definitely a stretch!
Anyhow, this place is unbelievable! I could definitely live here during the summer. I wonder if there's a way to make that happen... Alaska in the summer, Belize or the Bahamas in the winter... spring and fall back in good ol' Georgia... man, that sounds nice!
Today is our only day that we don't have a charter trip booked, so we walked across the street to the Kenai and caught some sockeye. I had already caught quite a few, so I picked up my FIVE weight and put on a fresh 1X leader with FIVE split shot (I felt like DURNIAK!) and a big salmon fly.
+
+
____________________
=
I only enticed one to eat with this set up (unless you count the CARCASS I snagged - somebody practiced a little fillet-and-release!), but it was in the 12-15-pound range... and in a raging river! It was a tough battle to say the least - I think it would have been tough on my eight weight, so this was definitely a stretch!
Anyhow, this place is unbelievable! I could definitely live here during the summer. I wonder if there's a way to make that happen... Alaska in the summer, Belize or the Bahamas in the winter... spring and fall back in good ol' Georgia... man, that sounds nice!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Alaska Trip Blog: Day 1
So far, I really like it here and think I may stay. Stephanie, buy a one-way ticket for yourself.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
The Curse of The Red and The Cajun Cure
Some of you may have heard of the anguish I've gone through over the past three years regarding redfish. I've fished Steinhatchee, Destin, and Pensacola in Florida for them, Mobile Bay in Alabama for them and four different days along the Georgia coast for them... and still have never caught one! In fact, I've never even had a bite! I went to Belize last year and landed well into the double-digits of bonefish my first day there, but still couldn't catch a redfish in any of these places to save my life.
It got to the point where I started having a string of nightmares about reds. One involved me spotting a tailing fish in a drainage ditch alongside I-285 in Atlanta, pulling over grab the fly rod out of the back of my truck so that I could cast to it and finding nothing but the butt sections of fly rods in my rod bag.
The next nightmare had my brother-in-law and I driving around the Florida pan-handle in a white work van. He was driving and I was, where else, on top of the van like Teen Wolf ready to cast as there were tailing reds everywhere! In golf course ponds, canals that ran under the streets and even those pink stucco fountains in the middle of shopping outlet centers... all of them held reds. But, each time I would get ready to shoot my line, my brother-in-law would peel out like B.A. Barracus from the A-Team, laughing as we sped away.
The last nightmare was the most disturbing. I was fishing with Scott Owens - a very good guide on the Georgia coast - and he put me on this HUGE red. It must've been 40 inches. I somehow made the perfect cast, it's tail turned on it and tipped up and I felt a tug. I tugged back and the fight was on! After several minutes of the most real dream I've ever had - complete with screaming drag sounds of fly line cutting through the water - the fish was landed. At this point, I realized that I was dreaming. But, it didn't even matter to me. If I couldn't land a fish in real life - or in any of my dreams up to that point - then this one would do just fine. In a show of victory, I hoisted the giant red over my held and let out a big "WHHAAA-WHOOOOO!" But, as I brought the fish back down to eye-level, I realized that something wasn't right. A small zipper handle dangled just behind the fish's gill plate and curiousity got the best of me. I should've just woken up right then - heck, I knew I was dreaming, so I could've stopped all this madness - but I had to see what was going on. I set the fish down on the deck of the boat and started pulling the zipper back towards the tail. To my horror, this was no redfish. It was a striped bass wearing a redfish costume!
Do I need psychological help? Probably.
But instead, I decided to capitalize on a planned trip to New Orleans over the 4th of July this year with my wife and a few friends. As anyone who fishes salt knows, the Louisiana coastal area is the best in the world for redfishing. So I called up the best guide in the area, Gary Taylor (GoForItCharters.com), and booked a half-day with him. To draw a parallel, booking a trip with Gary Taylor for redfishing is like calling on Chef Paul Prudhomme to help you cook a redfish or artist Mark Susinno to help you draw a redfish. It simply doesn't get any better.
He told me it was going to be really hot and that we may not land anything. I told him that I expected nothing less as I was cursed, but that I had to keep trying. I told him about my nightmares and, as he laughed, said, "Alright, we've got to get you on a redfish!"
So on the morning of Saturday, July 4th, I met Gary at his boat with heavy clouds overhead and a stiff wind blowing - not exactly prime conditions for redfishing. "That's about right," I thought.
I strung up my rod, hopped in the boat and we were off. Now let me tell you, if we didn't catch a fish all day, I still would've had a great time. Gary is about 60 years old now, but was formerly a professional dirt-bike racer. This comes through as he hastily navigates his 17-foot Hell's Bay through the marshes he's been fishing for decades. The boat ride itself was just as fun as the fishing!
Gary almost immediately got me on fish and on one of my first casts - a ROLL CAST TO A RED ABOUT 20 FEET FROM THE BOAT - a fish ate and the fight was on. A few minutes later and the red was landed and the curse was dead!
Over the course of the next couple of hours, I landed several more reds up to 7.5 pounds, a black drum and a gar.
What a fun trip - and all of this during a time of year that is far from prime for this area. Gary said that the winter was the best time to be there and that you could catch about as many reds as you could ever want to catch on a day that time of year. Funny - the day seemed prime to me. And so far, no more red nightmares.
It got to the point where I started having a string of nightmares about reds. One involved me spotting a tailing fish in a drainage ditch alongside I-285 in Atlanta, pulling over grab the fly rod out of the back of my truck so that I could cast to it and finding nothing but the butt sections of fly rods in my rod bag.
The next nightmare had my brother-in-law and I driving around the Florida pan-handle in a white work van. He was driving and I was, where else, on top of the van like Teen Wolf ready to cast as there were tailing reds everywhere! In golf course ponds, canals that ran under the streets and even those pink stucco fountains in the middle of shopping outlet centers... all of them held reds. But, each time I would get ready to shoot my line, my brother-in-law would peel out like B.A. Barracus from the A-Team, laughing as we sped away.
The last nightmare was the most disturbing. I was fishing with Scott Owens - a very good guide on the Georgia coast - and he put me on this HUGE red. It must've been 40 inches. I somehow made the perfect cast, it's tail turned on it and tipped up and I felt a tug. I tugged back and the fight was on! After several minutes of the most real dream I've ever had - complete with screaming drag sounds of fly line cutting through the water - the fish was landed. At this point, I realized that I was dreaming. But, it didn't even matter to me. If I couldn't land a fish in real life - or in any of my dreams up to that point - then this one would do just fine. In a show of victory, I hoisted the giant red over my held and let out a big "WHHAAA-WHOOOOO!" But, as I brought the fish back down to eye-level, I realized that something wasn't right. A small zipper handle dangled just behind the fish's gill plate and curiousity got the best of me. I should've just woken up right then - heck, I knew I was dreaming, so I could've stopped all this madness - but I had to see what was going on. I set the fish down on the deck of the boat and started pulling the zipper back towards the tail. To my horror, this was no redfish. It was a striped bass wearing a redfish costume!Do I need psychological help? Probably.
But instead, I decided to capitalize on a planned trip to New Orleans over the 4th of July this year with my wife and a few friends. As anyone who fishes salt knows, the Louisiana coastal area is the best in the world for redfishing. So I called up the best guide in the area, Gary Taylor (GoForItCharters.com), and booked a half-day with him. To draw a parallel, booking a trip with Gary Taylor for redfishing is like calling on Chef Paul Prudhomme to help you cook a redfish or artist Mark Susinno to help you draw a redfish. It simply doesn't get any better.He told me it was going to be really hot and that we may not land anything. I told him that I expected nothing less as I was cursed, but that I had to keep trying. I told him about my nightmares and, as he laughed, said, "Alright, we've got to get you on a redfish!"
So on the morning of Saturday, July 4th, I met Gary at his boat with heavy clouds overhead and a stiff wind blowing - not exactly prime conditions for redfishing. "That's about right," I thought.
I strung up my rod, hopped in the boat and we were off. Now let me tell you, if we didn't catch a fish all day, I still would've had a great time. Gary is about 60 years old now, but was formerly a professional dirt-bike racer. This comes through as he hastily navigates his 17-foot Hell's Bay through the marshes he's been fishing for decades. The boat ride itself was just as fun as the fishing!
Gary almost immediately got me on fish and on one of my first casts - a ROLL CAST TO A RED ABOUT 20 FEET FROM THE BOAT - a fish ate and the fight was on. A few minutes later and the red was landed and the curse was dead!Over the course of the next couple of hours, I landed several more reds up to 7.5 pounds, a black drum and a gar.
What a fun trip - and all of this during a time of year that is far from prime for this area. Gary said that the winter was the best time to be there and that you could catch about as many reds as you could ever want to catch on a day that time of year. Funny - the day seemed prime to me. And so far, no more red nightmares.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
In praise of diversity.
The last several weeks have seen me fishing quite a bit. This is good. I write and shoot photos for a newspaper and some magazines and the majority of my content revolves around fishing. People automatically assume that, because of this, I spend a lot of time on the water. I wish this assumption were more true. I do spend a fair amount of time on streams, lakes, rivers, farm ponds - anywhere there are fish, really - but if I had my druthers, I'd be knee deep somewhere every single day.
River North with Mike Burns, Taylor Allen, Guide Ron and Owner Eddie Michael.
Where should I begin? Let's start with my a trip to River North on the Soque River about three weeks ago. I went with young Taylor Allen and his mentor Mike Burns of Wells Fargo Financial Advisors - both of Athens. Taylor loves to hunt and fish, but had never caught a trout before. Let me tell you that anywhere on the Soque is a good place to get into your first trout... or any number trout for that matter. Well, Taylor did exactly that by landing his first and it was a doozie! It went about 20 inches and he caught it on the fly. Nice job, Taylor!
The first fish that Taylor hooked ended up getting the best of him... but it was a very large fish and Taylor wasn't used to playing such a big fish on such light tippet. While the fish was flipping its lid, Taylor put the death grip on his fly line and that was all she wrote.
The next fish hit and Taylor, with the help of our great guide for the day, Ron, was ready this time. He let the fish run when it wanted to and put the rod to it and reeled when he could and eventually won the tug-of-war.
He and Mike got together and shared yet another photo of Mike and one of Taylor's firsts. Good memories for everyone.
Mike has helped Taylor get his first deer, turkey, trout and who knows what else. It's mentoring like this that needs to happen more often. Kids don't know anything about the outdoors now and nothing will change unless those of us who know how much fun the outdoors offer get out there and show kids first-hand why being on the water, in the field or in the woods are so much more adventurous than sitting on the couch with a controller in their hands. Hats off to Mike.
And of course, a big thanks to our host for the day and one funny guy, Eddie "Don't Call Me Michaels" Michael. Learn more about his awesome place at RiverNorthFlyFishing.com.
I Like My Fishies Just a Little on the Trashy Side
After a couple of trips chasing carp on the fly rod, I had it in my head that this could possibly be the pickiest fish on the planet. A June 13th trip with friend, FFF Certified Master Casting Instructor and great Georgia guide Rex Gudgel and his fishing-addict-of-a-friend Buck Ernst basically just reinforced those notions. But... BUT... we did catch a few on the fly rod and it was a BLAST!
We hopped in Rex's flats skiff early that Saturday morning and launched it from a ramp on the Savannah River just downstream of the Hartwell Dam. A couple of hours later found us being poled around by Rex in water about a foot deep in seach of the wary, wiley carp. If you've ever been bonefishing or redfishing, this is EXACTLY the same experience... just a heck of a lot cheaper and a heck of a lot LESS CROWDED! I mean, what crazy person would want to waste their time fishing for a nasty ol' carp? Well... I guess Rex, Buck and I would.
We spotted some fish sucking food off the surface of the river and Buck capitalized on an opportunity to hook one of them while they were in that mode. A few minutes later and he had boated a 4-5 pound carp. "Wait 'til we get into a big one," Buck said. That's what I'm talking about.
Buck handed me the rod and directed me to the front of the boat. Minutes later a GIANT carp came up from the main river channel and onto the flat. My first cast to him went about 15 feet TOO FAR and my fly line went right over his head. As soon as he had showed up. so he went back below. That one would haunt me for a while. Who am I kidding? It's still haunting me right now!
Anyhow, I ended up landing a carp about an hour later and it was great. It was about the same size as Buck's and, let me tell you, these fish know how to fight! (WARNING: White trash grip-n-grin approaching!)
It was great to finally land my first carp. Now my only problem is finding time to go after them again.
River North with Mike Burns, Taylor Allen, Guide Ron and Owner Eddie Michael.
Where should I begin? Let's start with my a trip to River North on the Soque River about three weeks ago. I went with young Taylor Allen and his mentor Mike Burns of Wells Fargo Financial Advisors - both of Athens. Taylor loves to hunt and fish, but had never caught a trout before. Let me tell you that anywhere on the Soque is a good place to get into your first trout... or any number trout for that matter. Well, Taylor did exactly that by landing his first and it was a doozie! It went about 20 inches and he caught it on the fly. Nice job, Taylor!
The first fish that Taylor hooked ended up getting the best of him... but it was a very large fish and Taylor wasn't used to playing such a big fish on such light tippet. While the fish was flipping its lid, Taylor put the death grip on his fly line and that was all she wrote.The next fish hit and Taylor, with the help of our great guide for the day, Ron, was ready this time. He let the fish run when it wanted to and put the rod to it and reeled when he could and eventually won the tug-of-war.
He and Mike got together and shared yet another photo of Mike and one of Taylor's firsts. Good memories for everyone.Mike has helped Taylor get his first deer, turkey, trout and who knows what else. It's mentoring like this that needs to happen more often. Kids don't know anything about the outdoors now and nothing will change unless those of us who know how much fun the outdoors offer get out there and show kids first-hand why being on the water, in the field or in the woods are so much more adventurous than sitting on the couch with a controller in their hands. Hats off to Mike.
And of course, a big thanks to our host for the day and one funny guy, Eddie "Don't Call Me Michaels" Michael. Learn more about his awesome place at RiverNorthFlyFishing.com.
I Like My Fishies Just a Little on the Trashy Side
After a couple of trips chasing carp on the fly rod, I had it in my head that this could possibly be the pickiest fish on the planet. A June 13th trip with friend, FFF Certified Master Casting Instructor and great Georgia guide Rex Gudgel and his fishing-addict-of-a-friend Buck Ernst basically just reinforced those notions. But... BUT... we did catch a few on the fly rod and it was a BLAST!We hopped in Rex's flats skiff early that Saturday morning and launched it from a ramp on the Savannah River just downstream of the Hartwell Dam. A couple of hours later found us being poled around by Rex in water about a foot deep in seach of the wary, wiley carp. If you've ever been bonefishing or redfishing, this is EXACTLY the same experience... just a heck of a lot cheaper and a heck of a lot LESS CROWDED! I mean, what crazy person would want to waste their time fishing for a nasty ol' carp? Well... I guess Rex, Buck and I would.
We spotted some fish sucking food off the surface of the river and Buck capitalized on an opportunity to hook one of them while they were in that mode. A few minutes later and he had boated a 4-5 pound carp. "Wait 'til we get into a big one," Buck said. That's what I'm talking about.Buck handed me the rod and directed me to the front of the boat. Minutes later a GIANT carp came up from the main river channel and onto the flat. My first cast to him went about 15 feet TOO FAR and my fly line went right over his head. As soon as he had showed up. so he went back below. That one would haunt me for a while. Who am I kidding? It's still haunting me right now!
Anyhow, I ended up landing a carp about an hour later and it was great. It was about the same size as Buck's and, let me tell you, these fish know how to fight! (WARNING: White trash grip-n-grin approaching!)
It was great to finally land my first carp. Now my only problem is finding time to go after them again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Cannon
Here's a dandy of a striper (16 lbs) I caught while fly fishing with Henry Cowen on Lake Lanier.