(Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – 9^th March 2009) I am convalescing on the flattest, calmest piece of Pacific Bay I have ever seen. I am convalescing from a fantastic week on the water in Texas. Okay, maybe “convalescing” is not the appropriate verbage. How about: “Rehabilitating”? Nay… the constant stream of Rum Punches being brought to my beachside chase lounge makes “rehabilitation” most disingenuous.  Ahhh, mobsters…. Here it is… I am refueling. Yep, filling a drained tank after a glorious week of fishing, filming, and, friends.

Jim Sammons, the king of west coast kayak fishing and the infamous videographer extraordinaire Will Richardson (the coolest Canadian this side of the Cobham River) came to Texas at the close of February. Texas was scheduled to be the first stop for Game On Part 2, and we planned to fish the Hurricane Ike -battered but unbowed -upper Texas Coast.

We set up camp at Pointe West Resort, on Galveston Island. A great home base for various fishing options on and around Galveston, and we were definitely going to need options. February weather is so unpredictable in Texas, that targeting a specific species is dubious at best. In planning for the film I had multiple locations mapped and at the ready for whatever Ma Nature threw in our direction.

The crew:

 

 

My best bet for good fishing was putting the crew, which included Perry Trial from TPWD, on to big trout. However with a week of unseasonably warm weather, I had a hunch that the trout would be dispersed and instead that red fish may be skittering about the shallow marshes. The water was warm enough for sure, and if the bait fish were around at all, I knew the reds would be too.

On day one of our fishing I went with my gut and took the crew over to a Christmas Bay canal and salt marsh. We choose our location well because everyone whacked good fish the first day. Reds of all sizes were caught. There were plenty of undersized “rats”, as well as some nice slot redfish between 23 and 25 inches netted for the cameras. As a bonus, some very respectable flounder were brought to hand too. The big flounder were unexpected as usually you only catch juveniles this time of year. All in all it was a great start to the trip.

Jim with a great flounder (I say it was the lucky Lendal hat!):

Perry with a nice red:

On day two we rolled the dice and went to a deep water spot to see if any trout were still hanging around. Jim had a red and a flounder under his belt, and I felt duty bound to get him on a speckled trout so he could complete a proper “Texas Slam”. (Texas Slam = Red, Trout, and Flounder.)

How’s that old adage go? “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”  Well, our road was unpaved/destroyed by Hurricane Ike, and getting everyone to the trout launch spot was a time consuming affair. Poor Jim and Will were basically 4 wheeling in a Chrysler rental car that was so low to the ground yellow stripes in the road were trying to duck and cover. Alas, we all made it to the launch and set out for fishing. We grinded for a few hours, but with a late start and unseasonably warm waters, the trout hole was a swing and a miss.

Bird on the move:

-Pardon. My drink has been long empty and our waitress Elda has seemingly vanished? I must find my sandals and make way to the beach bar for refills. More soon on our Texas Fishing Adventure, after proper refreshments have been secured….

—Bueno Amigos… mas aventura de pesca Tejas…

On the afternoon of day two Jim and I headed back to Christmas Bay for more marsh fishing, while Perry and Will went to meet a pilot for shooting some aerial footage.  Our pilot was no ordinary prop jockey. Nay my good friends, we secured the services of Walker - kayaker, fisherman, pilot, privateer (seriously, it’s on his business card), and just a genuinely cool dude. Walker flew half the crew over Galveston Island, Follett’s Island, and Bolivar Island while Jim and I fished. We each caught some reds, but it wasn’t as hot and heavy as the day before. Regardless, we had quite a time watching Walker fly low circles over us sans passenger doors. Perched precariously, Will hung out the door by his safety belt to shoot video. Cool stuff indeed.

Return your seat backs to their upright and locked position:

Whose shooting who?:

shoot2

 

 

 

 

On day 3, we shook off the cobwebs from  a night of trading fish stories and drinks. As the big winds were increasing steadily, everyone decided marsh fishing was again the first-best option. Fishing was marginal with no big fish caught and an inconsistent bite. But, everyone went bendo a few times, albeit no bragging rights were cemented. 

Wind and Waves:

After breaking for lunch we headed for another spot in the lee of the wind. I still needed to find some trout and figured this particular spot in West Bay would produce. Bah, the wind started humming to 20mph and we fought it and a bigger than expected tide. No joy, no luck. As the sun started to go down though, I suggested we blind cast a marsh on the way back to the launch. With the grinding potential of our blind casting we were finally rewarded with a speckled trout to complete Jim’s slam. It wasn’t a monster sow trout, but it was a respectable keeper caught as the sun was setting. How can you not like that? It was a cool moment. A genuine moment. A moment when potential and opportunity combine into a worthy flash of Experience (capitalization intended). For me, that’s fishing, mobsters…. Not the fish, but the potential of the fishing, the potential of the trip, the potential of the next cast, the potential of experience.

 

 

-       The sun has set here in old Mexico. The battery on the lap top is almost drained along with my drink. I am back on the rod and reel tomorrow…. My better half Angee and I have secured a panga and the services of Captain Jose for a morning of trolling for bonitos, spanish mackerels, and jacks.

 

The recounting of the Texas trip was only half over when I stopped above. It was a great experience already, and it was about to become even richer. Hell, it become profoundly richer and the actual fishing was terrible by professional angling terms. However, it turned out to be some of the best “fishing” I’ve ever had the privilege to participate in.

 

Next time: Heroes on the Water. Fishing with wounded veterans at the Manske Ranch in Vanderbilt Texas.

 

Bueno!

 

Bird

Hey folks. Just want you all to know that after a crazy year of shooting all over the world, and the fastest 3 months of post production ever…

The film is finished and out there! Big thanks to all our anglers, families and friends for helping us put together what we hope is the greatest fishing film ever! 

Now for the even better news… We have started production on the next installment. This season we promise crazier people, wilder locations and .. hopefully.. even bigger fish… all from a kayak! Look forward to Flats fishing in Texas, Offshore fishing in the wilds of Panama, fishing fly in Montana, Extreme white water on the virgin Petawawa river in Canada, Urban assault fishing in New York City and finally we will be visiting Jim’s stomping ground; San Diego Bay and Northern Baja for even bigger Billfish!

Keep your eye on the Blog for updates from the crew and the anglers as we head to each location!

See you on the water!

Will Richardson

Director “Game On: The Hunt For The Big Hit”

The Chesapeake bay striper fishery at the concrete ships and off of Kiptopeke state park is real water temperature sensitive, so planning the movie shoot week was sketchy. In the past few years the second week of December has been typically the best chance to run into the migrating stripers. Last year it was the week when three of us landed 50lber’s. the two weeks before the guys flew in I landed a 49lber. I committed to the second week of Dec and secured one of the awesome Kiptopeke state park lodge. The park as five of these cozy lodges that can sleep fourteen. 

This winter we had been having strong cold front blasting through every few days. This brings in hard north west winds that blow the cold river waters down from the upper part of the bay. When the water temps drop to 42 degrees the striper either cut off or move out, but if the water warms up and stabilizes they turn back on.

The day Jim, Will and Jock flew in a cold front hit and dropped the temps to the dreaded 42 degrees. 

 The first morning was cold and the water temp was low and my confidence in hooking up to a striper was even lower. 

 The forecast for the rest of the week was cloudy and rainy, so I know that this was going to be the only clear crisp day for Will and Jock to get some good scenery shots. There was still a small shot in finding a cold hungry striper. So we fished. 

 As usual in the Chesapeake bay, the wind shifted around hard from the south the next day and we only got a couple of hours on the water before we got blown off. With the warmer south winds the water would slowly warm up and the hope to turn on the big stripers slowly rose with the temps. 

 The next day we paddled out into a heavy fog. The water temp was a good 44 degrees and we fished our butts off, and didn’t have a run. I had gotten a report from the southside of the bay, about stripers in the 30″ class. With the wind forecasted to be south at 15 mph, we headed across the bridge to troll in the lee of the southern shore. 

 We began to troll artificials inside of Cape Henry into scattered working birds. It looked real fishy and I was real surprised we didn’t wack’em. I think there were small ones around, I had a 20″er that got off. I don’t think he was hooked just holding on the tail if my swimming shad. 

 We chased the birds out with the tide to the edge of the ocean. Jim and I both knew this was a bad idea but it looked so good I was expecting to see fish rolling on the water. The problem with running with the current is having to paddle back into it. It was a strong full moon current which basically stopped us in our paddling tracks. It was a Chesapeake bay treadmill, at one point we went 200 yards in a half hour. 

 Facing a skunk for the entire week and with a short last day, we went for smaller fish, just to catch something. Jim had never caught a striper or redfish. If I couldn’t get him on a striper, I might be able to get him on his first red. 

 We headed for Rudee inlet, a small protected from the wind body of water which was likely to have late migrating reds. We paddled directly to a spot that was likely to hold reds and began casting. It wasn’t long before we found them, and I have never been more happy to see 16 to 18 inch reds. We all caught a few and got some fish for the shoot. 

 The forecast for the next night was looking good and wish the guys could have stayed. Because the next night the water temps leveled off at 46 degrees and the fish turned on, big time.  

 

I lost one big striper and landed five that night, from 42 to 48 inches.

Fishing partner Lee landed a 42 and a 45 incher.

What should have been the best week of striper fishing in the Chesapeake bay, ended up being the very worst week because of a strong cold front. The front dropped the water temps, then it warmed up to fast, only to get right a day after Jim, Will and Jock were already gone. We did what we could with the winds and water temps for the week. At least we caught some reds

 

Kevin

The Florida shoot was amazing, don’t ever doubt that. But Alaska really blew the doors off what I thought adventure was like. Maybe not the ten hours of flights and airports it took to get there, but from the moment I set foot to ground, I felt deep down that I had come home. A place where I could really breath.

As you can see.. the only problem was… the view was terrible. Awful.. I mean what is it with all these darn trees?

I hooked up with Jim Sammons and Jock Bradley in Seattle and took an Alaskan Airlines FLight out to Ketchican. We hit the ground at about 5 pm alaska time and the sun was still high in the sky. Our host and guide Howard McKim was pretty easy to spot in a crowd.. as he stands about 30 feet tall and weighs about 80 lbs. Howard drove us down to where he keeps his kayaks and normally takes out his tours. Mainly just to show Jim his new ‘yak fishin trailer.

I Think Jim decided he needed one of these in La Jolla. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has one on the way.

No rest for the wicked. We piled in to a little Bush plane and flew out to the amazing, stupendous, absolutely incredible ‘Rocky Bay Lodge’

This is rocky bay from high overhead. This flyover shot of the unassuming barge doesn’t really do justice to the incredible wonderland the Munhovin family has set up here.

The bay they have tucked in to is glassy calm 99% of the time. Even with strong winds out on the ocean only a short paddle away.

Every night they had cold beer waiting on ice and every morning a hearty breakfast. I think we all gained 5 pounds from this trip from gorging on the amazing vittles. Check out the ‘Lounge’. This is one of the best places in the world to tell big fish stories and in our case… drink rums and build new lures to catch bigger ‘buts.

We set out as early as we could every morning (which is about 3:30 in the morning if you want to see a sunrise) and could have caught our limit every single day. It’s hard to describe how increadible the fishing really is here. To quote Jim… “My arms are getting sore… not from paddling, but from catching all these fricken fish.” 

If you look closely you will see something hardly ever seen on Jim’s face… exhaustion. Granted, this is a shot of his 100th halibut. Each one about 20 lbs… You try hauling that much weight 80-200 feet over and over again off the bottom of the ocean!

Jim’s goal on this trip was to catch something in the 100-200 lb range. Sadly I must report that the big ones eluded us. However. Can’t reach all your goals the first time out. Just gives us an excuse to head back. Besides… we ain’t complaining. We caught more fish in one day than I have caught my whole lifetime of fishing.

This is a tiger rockfish. Probably the most incredible looking fish Jim hooked. The striped marking was really stunning.

Ling Cod are tasty, toothy and a wonderful fight to land. The gills have been cut on this one because he just became dinner!

Howard shows off the first Yellow-Eye. This monster makes great eating. They live a very long time- this one is about 70 years old. Not much fight, but the color makes for a great photo. The limit for rockfish in Alaska is three per day, between these and Big black bass, I can’t imagine how anyone could starve in Alaska… they pretty much just jump on your hook!

This one was caught using Shimano’s ‘Butterfly Jig.’ Jim really put the jig through it’s paces and is happy to report that it was a winner with the big fat yellow-eyes

Two big fat yelloweye

This is why they call it a ‘Yellow-eye’… i think.. at least thats what Howard told me.

     

Halibut on the other hand are a pretty hard fish to haul up. Even the smaller ones feel like they weigh a million pounds, and since they are right on the bottom, it’s always a long haul getting em to the surface.

Once you do as soon as their heads are out of the water they thrash like crazy. As you can see.. so do the Ling Cod.

Ling cod are great big toothy critters. They fight hard and take you for an awesome sleigh ride. Even though we came to Alaska for the Halibut. I think we all want to go back to fight the Lings.

Jim rocked the lings and the halibuts with a Shimano ‘Lucanus’ Jig and rig. This lure had no problem catching every single fish Alaska had to offer.

When the fishing got hard, Howard would pass off some of his ‘Secret Bait’ these monster rubbers that, as you can see, fish were so excited about they brought friends.

Finally… out of late nights and a few rums comes our Alaskan experimental lure. The fishing is so good here that they will even jump for three bottlecaps attached to a hook. Shimano has nothing to worry about though… the lure broke after only three fish.. letting a monster get away.

Howard Mckim is an amazing guy. He knows where the fish are and he knows exactly how to catch them. Ling cod is his favorite to catch and eat, and brother.. I can understand why.

Getting the damn things OFF the hook is your biggest issue. Ignore the bloody mess dripping off Jim’s yak… the boy fought a lot of fish.

This man does have one achilles heel though. If the weather starts getting rough and his tiny ship gets tossed.. he can get a little green around the gills. Don’t tell him I told you.

After 14 hours solid of hauling up fish. Howard took us to a spot just off the lodge to show us how to clean a few halibut.. and more importantly.. how to eat it.

Done the right way a 20 lb halibut will yield 4 huge fillets. More than enough to feed 6 hungry dudes.

The highlight of this trip for me though.. the earthshattering moment that made me weak in the knees and want to live in this amazing place forever.. well .. before I show you I gotta tell you a story.

On the flight in, Jock and I made a list of ‘Dream Shots.’ Impossible shots that would never happen in a million years. Things like… bear on the beach on his hind legs roaring at Jim… the two guys hauling a 300 pound salmon shark on to the kayak… An eagle diving only inches away to grab baitfish from Howards waiting hand… and an orca whale breaching only a few feet away from our kayaks…

So.. sometimes you don’t get everything you want… but when a moment like this happens.. you cease to care. No photoshopping here. This happened. I even managed to get the video rolling in time to prove it.

Just before we left, our hosts boiled us up some fresh spot prawn.. just about 6 pounds or so of em.. enough to tide us over on the flight home.

The sea is bountiful!

So we crammed our fat buts back in to the sea plane and headed for our next adventure!

See you on the Ottawa River. 

Will

p.s.

A big thanks to Jock and Jim for taking all the great shots!