Just had the pleasure of meeting Stan Vanderburg during the Fred Hall Show in Longbeach California. Stan and I had a conversation that brought us together and put us both on the same page. Stan and his brother Ken own the insurance company http://www.800bassboat.com and offer the "Best Coverage for Bass Boats on the Market".  We all become mates during the show and as we were directly opposite each other the guys got to see some of the fishing we have available in Australia. Anyway to cut a long story short Stan is a very well respected angler and is involved in many aspects of the industry including a radio fishing show called Rod and Reel Radio. Stan invited me as a quick surprise guest on the show and the guys gave me the opportunity to plug my business to their large audience. I really appreciated that and I would like to let all of our regular readers around the world that you can listen to this show live and via podcast!
The short interview I did is found here Sunday March 7th 6.00 pm just click the links to download or play.
The velvet voiced crew consists of "Big Tuna" Bill Ghiselin, John "Hop a Long" Cassidy, Wendy Tochihara and of course  Stan Vanderburg. I've just listened to a couple of podcasts and think it is a good listen, enjoy!

Good mate Nassim Joaquin has reportedly caught 12 Atlantic sailfish on fly in one day (Feb 1st 2010) fishing with Captain Anthony Mendillo  at Isla Mujeres. This breaks a record held by Joe Zimmerman whom caught 10 in a day   some years ago.
"Joe Zimmer of Berlin, Maryland, broke the one-day record for Atlantic sailfish on the fly earlier this year. Fishing out of Isla Mujeres, Mexico, aboard the Prime Time, Zimmer was led by Captain Butch Cox to ten Atlantic sailfish on 20-pound tippet and abided by IGFA fly-fishing rules for billfish."

Nassim has been trying to get this record and his best day before his record breaking day was seven fish. There have been reports at these links Saltwatersportsman & Inthebite.com in regard to this news and I will post more here once Nassim gives us the full story. Congratulations Nassim !

Nassim in action 2008

Want to make underwater videos yourself go to the official store here Official GoPro® Store

My left arm and hand were beginning to cramp and I thought to myself, "Wow,  this fish is kicking my butt!! Why in the hell did I take the last year off from the gym? How much longer is this going to take?" These types of whining thoughts were not the norm for me, particularly not when chasing a first of a species on fly, but this Striped Marlin now duking it out with me was another in string of fish that I may just lose.

Who can ever forget Jack fly fishing from a inflatable Giraffe!  We will miss you.....

Fly fishing for permit, snook, bonefish and tarpon at Cozumel and Isla Blanca on the Yucatan Peninsular , Mexico. This trip was celebrating our 11th wedding anniversary and of course we did what we love to do, fly fish! This footage was shot exclusively with GoPro.comcameras and a modified REI hiking stick.

The fish stopped dead in it's wildly zig zagging track.  Its golden tail gently popped out of the water vertically swaying gently like a circus acrobat recovering from brief over rotation from flip to hand stand. With the sandy sediment clouding the water around the business end of the fish it was impossible to see what the big blubbery lips attached to the protrusible jaws were pumping out from the bottom of the flats, however, we knew the safe answer was yabbies or nippers. Yabbies or nippers are the local name for small  burrowing Ghost shrimp that live on the sand and mud flats of Hervey Bay. These soft bodied crustaceans are a staple food of the Golden Trevally on the flats around Fraser Island although they also eat small baitfish and many other shrimp and crabs. Fooling these fish with an artificial when they are focused on pumping the burrows of yabbies is extremely difficult which confirms (1) that Yabbies must taste really good and (2) your casting has to be in the zone. Not just "on the money" accuracy, you better be in Olympic casting form to have a chance to get this gold in hand. My guide Paul said "wait"... The fishes tail slashed in excitement and then dropped beneath the water before continuing on a search and devour swim pattern. The first fish was followed closely by a second and they seemed to be working together in a patterned swim down the flat. Maybe one was picking off bait fish disoriented by the sediments being puffed up in the current or they were just snarfing critters that one or the other missed. A fisherman always likes to see two fish in competition for food as there is at least 50% more chance one will make a greedy mistake. Chances improve even further when there are more fish in the flats raiding party. Paul quipped "quick, lead him by a few feet" I cast the fly trying my best not to make too much movement at such close range. "Leave it, sit, hold on, now strip it slowly, stop..." Paul said. He followed quickly with "He's got it!! Strip tight!". Now all I had to do was land it. That is never a given with Goldens as often you may have just grabbed a little bit of the fleshy lips and not a deep hold with your hookset. The hard running, thudding fight of a Golden will soon sort out any weakness in the connection from hook to backing. All lines were fairly tied and after a huge initial power run, some solid head bumps and a little surface thrashing,  the fish was brought to glove - covered hand.

Mako sharks on a fly rod! 3 days of summer in July fishing the waters off San Diego for sharks with http://www.ontheflyfishingcharter.com This footage was shot exclusively with GoPro.comCameras and a modified REI hiking stick.



Direct youtube link.

This last trip was awesome with 10 fish released and 5 more that we just did not connect with. 3 of my fish went for air and there is nothing that is more spectacular and sometimes scary when a Mako gets in polaris missile mode. One fish after finishing a round of cartwheels and aerial twists came 180degrees and went under the boat before doing another flip just behind my head. It is most entertaining as is just watching the fish as they arrive boat side  looking for the payoff. Chewing or mouthing on trim tabs, motors, zinc anodes and chum buckets as they search for something to fill the hole is very common. A fish fired up will chomp a fly quickly but not all fish are the same and they do not all eat as they are swimming away which is the preferred direction you want before setting the hook!

Quint: "Sometimes that shark he looks right into ya. Right into your eyes. And, you know, the thing about a shark... he's got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be living... until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then..."



Full story and more photos ... click below

Palolo Worm hatch somewhere in the Florida Keys. The worms are so small and the fish so big it is hard to fathom the relationship and why the tarpon are so focused on them. They must taste good! The fish know when it is going to happen and start to gather and feast well before the hatch. Lots of flyfisherman want to fish this event but the truth is it harder to feed them while they slurp worms. I feel blessed to witness and fish a Palolo worm hatch.