Lessons Learned...OBX

So, I've been wondering since I got back from NC what I did wrong. Why was it I only hooked up once but saw an amazing amount of fish from puppy Red Drum to 5' Houndfish, from Flounder to Speckled Trout. I had all the right reports, all the right flies, all the right equipment. I hit the right spots based on tides and recommendations, listened to seasoned OBX fly fisherman and locals.

Then it dawned on me, I listened to locals. Of the 8 tackle shops I went into, I got reports and recommendations from every person there, but when it came to asking about fly fishing, everyone laughed or snarled. All but one, Ryan, the owner of Hatteras Jack in Rodanthe, about a half mile down the road from our house. He said he had fly fished before and had a Google Maps picture in his head of all the big backcountry holes. Unfortunately, I got this report on our second to last day and actually spent our last day packing and enjoying some family time.

Either way, I had an absolute blast and enjoyed every moment in the Outer Banks. It was a great vacation spent enjoying firsts with my daughter, family, and self. I got to learn a bunch about my new GoPro and even refined my saltwater fly fishing skills. Although I was handed a huge skunk, I have to say a bad day of fishing in OBX is better than a good day of fishing here. The sights, sounds, smells, and simply atmosphere makes one almost want to pack up and find a house down there.

When it comes to redemption, it shall be in the form of a revisit next summer. As for this summer, a lot is ahead for the TLTFF crew. We plan on not only hitting up our honey holes harder than ever, but exploring new waters and giving thorough reports for you guys, but also hooking up with new species on the fly (for us), tossing lines with old and new friends, filming footage never captured by ourselves, and as always, keeping you entertained and hooked making you want to come back for more.

Anyone looking to fish with the TLTFF crew, hit us up at tightlinedtalesofaflyfisherman@gmail.com. Although our schedules get crazy sometimes, we are always willing to work things out and find time to fish. Happy summer everyone, get ready, set, here we gooooo!

Boom...Morgan

Trip Days #5

Yesterday I got my fly line wet for the first time in OBX, felt great. Thanks to some awesome reports and help from the guys at Hatteras Jack I headed over to "New Inlet", an inlet that was courtesy of hurricane Irene and now one of the hottest flounder spots on the entire Outer Banks.

I decided to go back today after getting skunked (but some great footage with the GoPro). The inlet has a great channel that really rips when the tides change. I was in one of the back creek targeting drum and trout when all the sudden, puppy drum start hitting the surface. I there everything from shrimp to crab to what I was told to throw, clousers (in every color). Like I said, no bites, but definitely beautiful. The tides here are pretty crazy, especially in New Inlet. I sent my backpack down on a sand bar to try and get some further casts and before I could blink, water was rising up to my backpack at a rapid rate, I grabbed it just in time to save my phone.

The water clarity is amazing and species availability makes the Bay look like its for rookies. I love it, can't wait to see what decides to bite later in the week. I have a few wading spots I plan on trying out, all within 20 minutes of the house. Cant wait. Till tomorrow I leave you with this...

Boom...Morgan

AllTackle.com-"Your Fishing Tackle Source"

So I just finished a big fly order for AllTackle and thought I'd tell you guys a little bit about them. They have two stores, one in Ocean City, MD and the other in Annapolis, MD. I haven't been to their OC store yet but regularly stop by the Annapolis store not only for the great prices but friendly atmosphere and nice staff. They are easy to get along with there and often will take time to tell you their stories and listen to yours. The Annapolis store just recently started to pick up fly fishing gear and after going in and showing them some of my stuff, they decided to place an order for some flies. They have a great selection of saltwater fishing gear both light tackle and deep sea. If your near one of the stores, feel free to stop in, check 'em out, and give them some business. Here's a little something something from the 'About Us' section of their website:

Our mission is to provide the recreational and professional fisherman a dependable source of high quality fishing tackle and related equipment at reasonable, affordable prices.  We strive to offer the best prices found on the web.  In addition, we provide our visitors with relevant fishing information that is timely, dependable, and accessible.   

Founded in 1999 as an e-commerce web site devoted to fishing enthusiasts, it provides a one-stop resource of gear and information for freshwater and saltwater fishing activities. Currently the site hosts over 2000 pages of content and delivers over 3,000,000 monthly page views to over 200,000 unique visitors. The company's e-commerce storefront offers a wide selection of nationally branded fishing products.

In 2005, alltackle expanded into a 3000 S.F. space which was the internet fulfillment HQ.  This space includes a 2000 S.F. retail showroom.  In 2007, alltackle added a second location in West Ocean City, MD to serve our off shore fishing customers.  Additional east coast locations are planned.

In 2009, Alltackle expanded once again into a 6000 S.F. space with a 4000SF showroom and internet fulfillment center.

Our U.S. and international visitors now have a one stop shop for all types of fishing equipment and information.  We are continuously adding more products to our site and we are on-call to special order any items requested by our users.  Our site is organized for ease of use.  We are able to offer you the best prices by keeping the site simple, without all the costly bells and whistles that can slow a site down.

Alltackle also operates a charter operation.

Here's some pictures of their order...if you want some flies for a good price email me at mkupfer32@gmail.com. 

Tight Lines...Morgan

The Most Recent Fishing Adventures...Trips 2, 3, and 4

So I have been pretty busy lately and keep telling myself to post about the adventures I've taken recently. With the MD DNR now well into their stocking schedule, I have done everything but trout fishing in Maryland since the first stockings on March 6th. I explored Allen's Pond in Bowie, MD only to go without a fish and get odd looks from the locals because I was using a fly rod. I went on a nice day hike with the wife at Patapsco State Park and had the opportunity to fish some of the beautiful streams that run through it. I also fished in Bethany Beach, DE with my cousin on his big bass pond as well as a new pond never fished by us and possibly get onto his new website Backwoods Productions which will be full of many adventures from fishing to hunting to surfing (will be going live shortly and the link will be provided).

I'll start with Allen's Pond...a nice little pond tucked right into the middle of Bowie, MD. This pond is stocked by the Maryland State DNR and holds a variety of species from Brown and Rainbow Trout to Largemouth Bass and Catfish. It is generally pretty busy because it is also a State Park and holds a lot of potential for fisherman trying to fill the pan. I went on a rather nice day during the pre-stocking and came up empty but had to opportunity to talk to one of the locals who was on his 5th fish and claimed he saw a man "catch 10 quick, send them back into the pond, and head out." Crazy to these guys apparently because they primarily catch to keep. I had 2 rises from trout on a midge pattern (only due to the fact that it was a nice 70 degree day and thats all that was hatching). Heres some pictures:

The next place, Patapsco State Park is possibly the most beautiful park I've been to in Maryland. The Upper Patapsco River is absolutely stunning. With its rapids, small waterfalls, little beaches, and ideal runs/eddies, it has so much potential. Again, on this trip I only had 1 rise and a few looks on terrestrial (unseasonal) flies only because of the fact I tried everything else. Its easy to sight fish here and there are more places that hold fish than the Yellow Breeches I was used to. I plan on returning soon, especially since the Spring will be in full bloom soon enough and the stocking has started up there. Its a Catch-and-Release area, which I love, and isn't too bad of a trip for me. Heres some pictures:

And finally, the most successful and best of my latest adventures...the trip for an unofficial Spring Break with the wife to my parents beach house. Bethany Beach, DE is amazing, I've grown up spending a lot of weekends down there with the family. I have a good amount of family members that live down there, one of which loves fishing as much as I do. My cousin, Colin Herlihy, co-founder of Backwoods Productions, lives on a 2.5 acre bass pond that holds some of Bethany's finest and largest. Some of the species it holds are Largemouth Bass, Mud Catfish, Eels, White Perch, Spot, Herrring, and thats just a few. The saltwater/brackish species have made their way through tax ditches to his pond. We always have a blast on it and if your lucky enough, and have a good day, you can get yourself on his Wall of Fame. I think I have one or two pics on there. We fished the shoreline and went out in his dingy and got quite a few bass. I ended the weekend with 6 bass total, one on the fly (which is also the first caught in the pond on the fly). Colin put me to shame with something like 20 fish in one day. We went and explored through a few corn fields and found a nice new spot neither of us had fished and pulled quite a few bass out and one White Perch. Colin pulled the largest which was somewhere around 2.5 lbs. Back at the main pond, Colin's buddy Critter pulled a nice fat bass looking like it had already started the pre-spawn. It was probably somewhere around 2.5-3 lbs as well. The best part about Bethany and the surrouding areas is there are plenty of bait and tackle shops that have fresh and saltwater tackle and many if not all have fly fishing gear/flies/tackle...awesome. I'm sure plenty more stories will be posted about the adventures on the pond so keep your eyes on the blog. Heres some pics form this weekend and a few form the past:

I'll do my best to keep everyone updated and stop procrastinating and I'll fill everyone in when Backwoods Productions goes live...get out and catch some fish, send some pics and I'll post them for you!

Tight Lines...Morgan