By Bruce Buttler
[dropcap]W[/dropcap]elcome back ‘yak fans, and let’s hear it for the start of spring! Here we are in the fourth month of 2014 and I’ve already achieved two personal bests: that snook bite, and a ginormous trout (more on that later). If this trend continues, this is going to be a great year to net some great catches. Not one, but two fishing stories this month! First is a recent trip with two great young people: Rosie Geren, a park ranger at Weeki Wachee Springs, and Jeffery Feczko, a fly fishing ambassador for Cheeky Reels and a salmon fish culturist in Alaska. I know, I wondered the same thing. How do you teach culture to a fish, they don’t even use forks!
We set out that morning with two goals: Rosie had never caught a red so we’d have to check that off the list, and Jeff, who has fly fished all over the northern and southern hemispheres and hadn’t used a spinning reel in years, wanted to target black drum. As we talked pre-launch he showed me pictures of monster fish he’d caught on the fly in South America. I’m thinking, “oh great, no pressure here” and then Rosie lets me know the trip we’re about to embark on is his birthday present. Perfect! The Chaz Reserve area bite had been sporadic due to the fronts so now I’m getting just a bit nervous.
But since God loves Irishmen and fools, and I qualify on both counts, we had a great day.
Rosie picked up a 26” red on one of her first casts with that Savage Gear shrimp I talked about last month and Jeff caught his limit of black drum. A fun day was had with great people and a memory to last a life time.
For the second part of my report I’d like to cover Brasher Park in Port Richey. On the southern end of the salt springs reserve by Double Branch Creek was an area I hadn’t fished in a while so to stay current I decided to check it out. Ok, that’s a bit of a lie. I actually heard that the snook were all over the place down there so an old friend Greg Baulknight and I hit the road and saw what we could find. I’d forgotten how nice the terrain is here as the great flats stretch wide, oyster bars grow long, and many cuts and creeks are seemingly made for the ‘yaks.
Brasher offers a primitive launch site (no motors) and is a worthwhile destination. It is a good spot for reds, flounder, snook, and trout. I never did find the snook on this outing but did pick up a huge 26.5″ trout on cut pinfish with Greg hot on my heels with a 25″ beauty as well. I may have to add some more memories from here again soon.
Til’ next time, Bruce
“The Stumbling Gypsy”
(352) 428-5347
Bruce@IndianBayOutfitters.com
Web:www.IndianBayOutfitters.com