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Winter Redfish     We kicked off 2023 with a great winter Redfish season. January, February and March gave us crystal clear water, big schools of fish, and lots of hookups and happy anglers. I can remember having some large schools of 100 to 300 fish floating around in 12" of water, and watching fish eat flies 30 or 40ft off our bow. We had lots of opportunities to change flies, presentations and stripping speeds, learning what the fish wanted, by watching how they would react. One of my favorite memories from early 2023 was accidentally bumping into a school of well over 500 upper-slot fish stretched over a hundred yards of sand flat and proceeding to get successful shot after shot at them.  Although I usually get sucked into chasing slot Redfish in the shallows January through March, we also took a few days to go look for their parents out along the beaches. Not only did we find some big schools of Bull Reds, but we also found a bunch of winter False Albacore. You never know what you'll find running out there in the "big pond", even in the dead of winter. Early Spring Shad on the Roanoke River     Although I grew up an hour down the road from Weldon, I didn't start fishing the Roanoke there until 2007. I still remember that first trip and how much fun I had catching Hickory Shad that day. I've been back chasing the shad on personal fishing trips almost every year for the last 17 years. This year I finally started running shad charters up there and we had a blast. I stayed for 5 days running trips and I couldn't tell you how many fish we caught. Using 4wt fly rods and ultra-light spinning rods, we couldn't stop smiling. As an adult I absolutely love catching these fish, but these fish are also a wonderful fish for kids to practice the sport of fishing on, due to the high chances for success. For 2024, I'll be back up there late March-early April and I'd love to fill a full week of charters. I'll start advertising for it soon, but feel free to contact me if you want to talk about doing a shad trip. Spring Nearshore - Bonito and More!      After coming back home from the Roanoke River, we jumped in the Parker and went looking for Atlantic Bonito, along with Bluefish, Albies Spanish Mackerel, and Grey Trout. This mostly consisted of running out to the nearshore wrecks at first light and getting in on some Bonito surface action and then fishing for them below the surface once the sun gets up. I'm mostly a catch and release focused guide, but I absolutely love keeping a few Atlantic Bonito as sushi, ceviche, or seared on the grill. On several of our Spring nearshore trips we were able to go find some schools of big Bull Redfish after the Bonito bite died off. Some of my favorite memories of 2023 include following and casting to a 100-yard-long school of giant pumpkins floating in aqua green water somewhere out in the middle of the Atlantic. For 2024 we will absolutely be back out there targeting Bonito, spring Albies, Spanish, Blues and hopefully finding some more jumbo Redfish. New Fly Shop in Town  
Our little circle of friends has talked about opening a fly shop for years. We had this mental picture of not just a fly shop, but a hangout, a hub for all the fly-fishing activities on the Crystal Coast. The stars finally aligned for my buddy Perry McDougald in 2022 and he purchased a building on the waterfront, that with a lot of hard work, became an amazing fly shop as of April 2023. Perry is doing a great job serving local anglers, keeping exactly what you need in stock, and providing a cool hangout spot for us fly geeks. I wish him continued success in 2024! www.soundsideoutfittersnc.com Back on the Roanoke chasing Striped Bass      Right after the opening of Sound Side Outfitters, I packed the Toyota and the Fury up and made my way back up to Weldon. I spent the last few days of April through the 10th of May on the Roanoke taking my anglers out targeting Striped Bass on the Roanoke. Just like Shad fishing, I also love the laid-back vibe of drifting down the river casting flies and plastics to Stripers. The Roanoke has long held the title of "Rockfish Capital of the World", due to the numbers of fish that pack into that stretch of river to spawn each spring. Last year, the first half of my Roanoke mini season didn't quite live up to the Rockfish Capital name. For whatever reason (low flows, temps, etc.), the fish were late to the party last year and we struggled the first week to see the types of trips I had hoped for. By early May, the fish finally started stacking up in the river and we started having the days that bring me back up there year after year. The problem with the Roanoke is that it's advertised for its 100 fish days, so you can easily get disappointed with a 10 or 20 fish day, depending on your expectations. If you come with the expectation of having fun no matter the number of fish, you will fall in love with this fishery and the scenery and wildlife that comes along with it. There are a handful of trips up there from 2023 that are etched in my memory with piles of fish spawning on the surface, owls and cicadas calling across the river, and top water plugs getting crushed by hungry Striped Bass. I'm looking forward to getting back up there again this coming May and enjoying all of the things that make the Roanoke Spring Striper season so special. I hope you can join me on the river. Hatch Reels Partnership  I made the switch to Hatch Fly Reels back in 2017 and they have continually provided a solid fish catching experience for me from my light 4wt rigs all the way up to battling bruisers offshore on my 12wts. On top of being a great tool, I've been a big fan of Hatch's mission and their family like atmosphere. This past summer, I was invited to join their Pro Staff and continue to build my relationship with their brand while fishing their latest and best gear. I'm honored to be a part of their team and I can't wait to see where we can take it in 2024. Hatch Outdoors | Pro Staff John Mauser – Hatch Outdoors, INC Summer in the Marsh - Crawling and Tailing Reds, Flounder and Trout       Redfish have always been the backbone of my guiding business. And although I've branched out in several other directions, I still spend a lot of my yearly total guiding days in the pursuit of shallow water Redfish. Even though we fish for them 12 months a year, summer is still the most sought out time for anglers to come fish for them. We spent a lot of time out there from May through September this year. Low tide crawlers. High tide fish on top waters. Flood tide tailers in the grass. Fish in creeks, bays, and on big open flats. We did it all. I have to be honest with you, I struggled a bit this summer as a sight fishing guide. We had two major factors that made life hard last summer. Hot water and dirty water. It was one of the hottest summers I can remember and the water temps up on the flats could easily hit 90 to 95 degrees by noon. That pushed a lot of the fish off of those shallow flats we like to fish, as they searched for cooler more oxygenated water. On top of that, the wind and rain we dealt with last summer kept the water pretty dirty. I worked as hard as I could to turn slow days into good days, and good days into great days. Although the peak of summer was tough, the book-end months to summer, June and September, were much better. And high tide fishing with top waters was really good this summer, as those fish were extremely aggressive in 2-4ft of water and the water clarity didn't matter. We were also blessed with a couple large schools of Redfish in certain spots this summer, which is abnormal but very much appreciated. I'm looking forward to flip flops, board shorts and tailing and crawling Redfish in the summer of 2024. I hope you can spend some time on the bow with me casting to them next summer. Summertime Nearshore and Wreck Fishing       Although I found myself in the East Cape a lot of last summer, I also spent a good deal of time on the Parker fishing the nearshore and offshore waters of the Crystal Coast. I'm a big fan of being ready for anything when fishing in the ocean, and several trips this summer started off as Spanish Mackerel trips along the beach, but somehow ended with us 20 miles offshore jigging Amberjack. I love doing that kind of stuff. My anglers caught everything from Mackerel and Blues to Cobia and Amberjacks, and even Sharks on both fly and spin. We'll be back out there again this coming summer and I'm looking forward to trying some new techniques like slow pitch jigging on some of these fish. Saltwater Fly Fishing School    We put on two Saltwater Fly Fishing Schools again this year in the Spring and Fall. Us instructors love sharing our knowledge and experiences with anyone who is interested in becoming a better fly angler. During our schools we covered everything from equipment selection, to fly choices, to rigging, to presenting flies to fish, to mastering the double haul. We'll be back in 2024 with more classes, so stay tuned for updates on that. CAROLINA FLY FISHING ACADEMY - Home Albie Season Begins!        I'm always looking forward to Albie Season. Especially in the heat of the summer, you start really getting amped about going after fish that don't give you the middle finger. There's something special about a big school of angry mini tuna, foaming on the surface, and knowing that you are going to get an eat as soon as your fly touches the water. I am so appreciative of all the anglers that kept me booked every single day this past fall. Albies have become a big part of my business, and I couldn't do it without all of you. Our season kicked off in late September and went on for two months straight. Although we had some killer days with the Albies around for hours at a time, we also had some days that they played hard to get. Some days they showed up with their knife and fork and bib on, and some days they ghosted us even though there were epic proportions of bait around. Fortunately, Albies were not the only thing available to us on those slower days...and that's what I love about the Crystal Coast.        Bluefish, Spanish Mackerel, Bull Redfish, Amberjack, Cobia and Sharks offered a ton of pullage if you were willing to look for them. Bull Reds are one of my favorite targets in the nearshore waters, there's something special about those big old orange fish. I saw more of them this fall than I've ever seen, and I definitely wasn't mad about that! Some days we had acres of Bluefish under birds, and not just little 1-2lbers...we caught all the 5lbers you could want and had some pushing 10lbs. Some days we had big groups of Sharks on bait balls mixed in with jumbo Albies. And some days everything merged, and we had a mosh pit of big Blues, Sharks and Albies in the top half of the water column, with a 10ft wall of Bull Reds underneath. Goodluck getting your lure or fly past the mayhem and down to the Reds. We had several days where we lost $200 in tackle in a few hours of fishing. The tackle shops really loved me this fall! And you want to talk about chaos? See what happens when you hook a 5lb Bluefish or a 40lb Redfish with big hungry sharks around. Just keep your hands out of the water... If the weather was nice, we often took the option to ride offshore to some shipwrecks and look for Amberjack and other predators. You never know what you'll connect to when you drop a fly or a jig down in 100ft of water over structure. Can't say it enough, variety is the spice of life, and you have plenty of it on the Crystal Coast.  We finished out the end of November with the Albies returning and playing nice. My last trip of the season had us fishing in hard west winds and rough seas, but we had Albies busting all around the boat for a few hours. I'm not sure the total number of Albies we caught in 2023, but we did tag 78 of them for the Albie Project with the American Saltwater Guides Association. I'm honored to be helping them out with their mission to get more scientific data on species like Albies, Redfish and Striped Bass. There is even more in the works for the Albie Project in 2024. Stay tuned. The Albie Project – American Saltwater Guides Association A New Coat for the Fury!   While I was living in the Parker for 2 months, my beloved little skiff was getting a makeover. 9 years of being poled over sand and oysters had her looking pretty rough. Rough, as in, you could see bare fiberglass all over the bottom. With the help of a trusted friend, I was able to connect with a local NC shop to have the Fury sanded, patched, re-gelcoated and buffed to perfection. She looks good! Like brand new good. I'm going to make a separate post this winter detailing the whole thing and giving props to the excellent work done by Rojo Marine Performance in Washington NC. A Much-Needed Getaway!  After Albie Season ended, we made the trip to Louisiana for our annual guy's getaway. During those 5 days in Louisiana, I probably spend more time with a fly rod in hand on the front of a boat than all the other days of the year in NC combined. This trip is my little gift to myself for a long year of guiding. It was a great trip, and I will post a full report with a bunch of pics soon. Stay tuned. Back after those Winter Reds!  And here we are right back where we started, poling to schools of winter Redfish in clear shallow water. It's only December, but all signs say we are going to have a really great winter Redfish season coming into 2024. If you get a pretty day on the long term forecast and want to go sight cast Reds, give me a call or email. 2023 was without a doubt, my best year in 12 years of guiding, and it's all because of my anglers. As we stand right on the edge of 2024, I can't wait to make the coming year my new best year ever...I hope you can be a part of it. I wish you nothing but happines, health and success in the coming year!
1 Comment
Eric Lied
1/6/2024 12:38:31 pm
Awesome photos and cool to spend time reflecting on the year. A photo can take you back to a time and place so powerfully! Leave a Reply. |
