Tag Archives: fly fishing

Fly Tying – Texas Poppin Shrimp

Fly Tying Steps for the Redfish Popping Shrimp

This Texas shrimp pattern is inspired by several flies and I bet you can name a few that are similar. It is easy to admit that I am not a hermit, therefore in my 20 years of fly fishing and fly tying experience, I have laid my eyes upon thousands and thousands of fly patterns. I don’t particularly consider any fly tied to be original, although if the hook is the canvas, and materials are the paint, and having applied it in any number of ways, then each fly is a work of art and unique in its own right.

redfish flies, trout flies, fly fishing, texas, guide, recipe,

Texas Poppin Shrimp Fly

What initiated the development of this pattern you ask? I was stalking fish on a nearby flat late one evening and loosing sunlight fast and worried out of my mind that the numerous stingrays that I had previously passed on the way out were lying in wait for my dark and sightless return. Then, suddenly a school of broad shouldered fish began chasing bait completely out of the water and pushing wakes that traveled for 50 yards across the flat. I moved closer and determined that small grass shrimp were on the menu. Problem was that these shrimp were buried in loose and deep piles of widgeon grass which was beginning to float to the surface the more the fish worked the shrimp.Needless to say many flies were thrown at these fish drawing only one strike which failed to hook the fish.

From this experience, I wanted to develop a topwater shrimp pattern that doesn’t require a weedguard but is weedless. So I decided to use the bushy hackle and rubber legs combination, tied a little long which seem to suffice when pulling over the subtle widgeon grass and other floating debris. The tail of the fly is what intrigues me, it has some attractive facets that I cant wrap my mind around, but the fish LOVE it when tied with this material and secured in this manner. Many thanks to my comrade Austin for letting me toy with the method. One could have used many different threads/wires for this technique but I like the copper wire because it causes the tail to hang at a slight downward angle. I hope that you find the tying steps below useful, feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. -Capt Ken ([email protected])

Step 1: Apply thread base to Gamakatsu SC15 sz 2

Fly Tying Step 1 – Thread Base

Step 2: Take 20-30 strands of superhair, fold and cut in half. Keep halves separate, as each half length will tie 1 fly. Tie onto hook as shown in picture.

Fly Tying Step 2 – Brown Super Hair

Step 3: Fold superhair back and secure

Fly Tying Step 3 – Fold back super hair

Step 4: Apply small amount of dubbing to cover thread wraps securing the superhair.

Fly Tying Step 4 – add golden brown dubbing

Step 5: Tie in hackle by the tip. Be sure that hackle fibers are 1-2 times the length of the hook gap.

Fly Tying Step 5 – add hackle tie in at tip

Step 6: Take 3 strands of rubber legs and tie in middle facing forward and back on bottom of the shank of the hook. The rubber legs should be 2 times the length of the hook gap, slightly longer than the hackle fibers.

Fly Tying Step 6 - add 3 sili legs to underside of hook shank

Fly Tying Step 6 – add 3 rubber legs to underside of hook shank

Step 7: Apply more dubbing behind, in between, and in front of legs.

Fly Tying Step 7 – dub behind, between and in front of legs

Step 8: Palmer hackle behind, in between, and in front of legs. Trim tips of hackle from top of the shank. Leave enough room behind the eye to secure the foam later shown in next step.

Fly Tying Step 8 – palmer hackle forward, behind, between and in front of legs

Step 9: Secure foam in front as shown in the picture.

Fly Tying Step 9 – add foam, tie in front

Step 10: Secure foam in back as shown in the picture.

Fly Tying Step 10 – tie down foam in back

Step 11: Finally, apply 3 wraps of copper wire to tail to secure superhair. Use a small drop of glue to keep the wire from sliding off the end of the tail. A small drop can also be applied to both tie in points on the foam. I prefer using softex or similar so that the superhair and foam doesn’t turn white when it dries.

Fly Tying Step 11 – add 3 wraps of copper wire

TIP: I do use a smidgeon of zap-a-gap (it dries fast and bonds with EVA foam well. Apply a small amount on the underside of the back of the foam (pointy end) and press against the superhair tail while holding straight.

This serves two purposes; 1. to keep the superhair from fouling around the hook bend when casting and popping, and 2. it keeps the foam flat across the back because it wants to stick up when the thread is used to secure the foam to the shank of the hook.

Remember to keep your hooks sharp! -Captain Ken Jones

The calm before the storm

Waking up this morning, Austin of Salt396 and I start to chat and scratch our heads wondering what to do today. We’ve got 4 hours before punishing winds start gusting from the north… Its now or never… Well, at least for the next day or two until this short Norther passes through. OK, back on track, the clock is ticking. Tick, tock, tick, tock… The boat is loaded with safety gear in a heartbeat. Now, what fly rods to bring? Well, we’ve only got 4 hours, so we’ll keep the arsenal down to 2 rods. Hooked up boat and trailer to the truck and within 8 minutes we are fueled up and the boat is dockside while the truck and trailer are being parked.

Within another 5 minutes, we are outside of Port Aransas Harbor and up on plane heading towards an infamous spot where jack crevalle are known to frequent. On the second drift the fish appear crushing large baitfish on the surface at speeds upwards of what seems to be a racing 10kts spraying baitfish in all directions.

Hmmm, no strikes from these fish! Suddenly, we back out of the drift into safer waters where a fly change can be made with less stress, circle back and start another drift through the area. There! Cast! Cast! Cast! Oh damn! Why didn’t they eat?

saltwater fly fishing, jacks, texas, coastal bend

There! 9 O’Clock! Cast! Cast! Cast!

We switch to a topwater popper, make another drift and again, the jack crevalle don’t seem interested in our offerings. We switch flies again, to a prototype which is yet to be named and has evolved several times in the last week, the tail secret of this fly is what has me confident that our next drift will finally produce the jack fish we have been seeking. With the off-color water and sea grasses stirred up, I mention that we are going to start the drift a little further up-current in hopes to intercept a cruising jack, one that isn’t in an ambush mode and more likely to feed at anything that passes nearby. Sure enough, with a well placed cast, the line goes tight as if the fly were hung on a rock that moves. I throw the boat in reverse to help clear the line from the deck and to prevent the current from pushing us into the rocks, we get tight on the reel with the fish while jack runs circles deep below the skiff. Keeping the rod tip in the water, never bringing the butt section above the horizontal plane, intense pressure is put on the fish.

jack, crevalle, crevelle, fly, fishing, mullet, baitfish, texas, coastal bend, port aransas

That’s a dandy!

Within a few more minutes, the dandy jack surfaces and is boated quickly for a photo shoot and then safe release. It is a Dandy Fish! INDEED.

With only 1.5 hours remaining before the horrific & frigid North winds blow upwards of 30mph, we race off to nearby flats, slide into polling position and start scanning the water’s edge for signs of redfish. Within a few minutes, a tail is spotted and Kenjo Fly slips into casting position. One. Two. Three, the ginger-pop flies into a hole and instantly gets a strong follow.

redfish, red drum, fly fishing, texas, port aransas

And the Release!

Cast again I say, there is another fish in there, and once again, the fly gets attention from an even heftier fish and slurps the ginger-pop down. A short tug-o-war ensues, and a colorful redfish is slid back into its watery home, just in time to seek shelter before the looming storm loosens its fury on the air stricken world.

tiller extension, kenjo fly, fly fishing

Capt Ken at the helm

Turning tail, we jump the skiff up on top and under full power we haul ass off the flat sliding back into the channel, then into the safe harbor of Port Aransas Marina. Safe and sound and only a little wet from the wild ride in, we load up the boat and head to the house to dry off and go get the meal we had waited for all morning. Its chow time for the humans and hard earned nonetheless!

Port Aransas South Texas Jetty Fly Fishing

South Texas Fly Fishing is heating up as expected…

While I await the arrival of my new flats boat from Ankona on April 12th, the fly fishing action at the jetty in Port Aransas is getting the blood pumping from the fantastic fly fishing action!

Colorful Critter

No need for spin gear and it is not necessary to carry loads of gear with you out there. When the jack crevelle show, they are in close to the rocks and any 9/10wt intermediate line with 2-3inch sink rate will be more than sufficient. Fly selection should be fairly large, in the 4-7 inch range as these powerful jack’s are feeding predominately on finger mullet and shad. The main factor in a successful day on the jetty is that the water must be clean, not stirred up with sediment from the bay if it is an outgoing tide and windy.

jack attack, sea habit fly, port aransas south jetty

Got color!

While this fish was not cast to nor hooked from the location shown on these rocks, Korkers are essential and mandatory for safely getting into a good landing position so that unnecessary injury to yourself and to the fish can be avoided. On this particular day the surf was low and wave sets relatively even and constant. Take note that very little time is spent down low on these rocks even during good conditions. At any given time a larger than average wave could roll in and knock a person off their feet. Keeping a vigilant watch and timing is crucial requiring excellent judgement of the wave sets is critical to staying safe. If you don’t feel comfortable in a particular moment, then that is the best indicator to get to higher ground and safety immediately.

fly fishing, texas, port aransas, jetty, jack, crevale, king, spanish, mackerel,

On Point

Scouting from higher vantage points gives the safety needed and sight advantage to determine where along the low underwater rock ledges these fish are cruising and chasing bait. Locate a good casting rock, preferably one that is fairly level and where the waves are not breaking over the rock and usually it can be a rewarding perch for a fly angler with keen eyesight.

Having gone through many different fly patterns in the last week trying to figure out which fly these fish simply cannot resist, I decided to tie up some of Trey Combs’ Sea Habits using yak hair in a 5inch size range.

sea habit, trey combs, kenjo flies, yak hair

Sea Habit tied by Capt Kenjo

Color schemes include the ever popular chartreuse over white, red over white, and green over white. Many other patterns are effective such as 4 inch grey over white mullet patterns which can be found in most local fly shops.

jack crevelle, port aransas, south jetty, fly fishing, texas

Persistence pays off with a large jack crevalle

Finally, if the conditions don’t seem good and you are especially hungry to eat some fish, the Spanish mackerel are great table fare in limited quantities and especially feisty on the fly. They will eat any Clouser thrown in front of them and will continue to hit it even after it has been shredded by their gnarly and razor sharp teeth. Be sure to use at least twelve inches of 50-lb bite tippet when attaching the fly because they will certainly chew through anything smaller before you can get them to hand.

Beating the Drum

On Guard!

While it has been a long time since I sat behind the musical instrument know as a drum set, it was refreshing to hear the beats that the black drum can make.

The black drum can produce loud drum-like beats which is how it got its name and surprisingly can make these sounds a a quick pace and repeating intervals.

badaboom!

These fish were hungry today and put on a good strong fight but due to higher winds and slightly deeper water conditions (knee deep) a more heavily weighted fly was necessary to stay in touch with the fly during the retrieve and made the strikes of these drum more easily detected. At one point the silversides were feeding on the back of my leg and the ghost shrimp are also starting to appear more frequently and can be seen flipping about like a single drop of water landing on the surface of the water.

heavily weighted flies turn tricks

Since the water’s surface was choppy from the steady wind with overcast skies it made sighting fish nearly impossible it was important to continue to slowly work the area making short casts in a fan-like pattern gradually increasing distance and angle with each cast and it showed that this technique can be used as a searching pattern and produced many more black drum before the day ended. The fishing is hot and only getting hotter with each day that passes so give Capt Ken a call or shoot him an email to book your trip!

Keeping the hooks sharp,

Captain Ken Jones

361-500-2552

[email protected]

Grateful Redfish

Kissed by a redfish…

Upon arrival it was soon discovered that the saltwater flat was almost drained dry making the normal redfish haunts obsolete and more than skinny. So much for depending on the accuracy of the printed tide tables.At least the wind was down and made for more dependable sight casting.

Without hesitation, the angler suits up for what proves to be a gorgeous day with blue bird skies and light and variable winds from the West. Wading out beyond the normal terrain, eyes are peeled back as if they were stuck open with toothpicks looking for anything that moved. Before to long, a large spot tail appears about 50 yards away and the pace is quickened to close the distance. With care, so as not to spook the finned creature from the skinny water lagoon, the distance is closed in a matter of minutes and once within casting range the fly is presented carefully and lands with a soft plop. The redfish turns and follows for a few feet then is distracted by the real deal and turns away to eat a live crab nearby. Another presentation is made just off the right shoulder of the hefty redfish and not more than 3 feet ahead. “Gotchya now” a voice is heard… Then WHAM! The fish eats the fly and with two good strip strikes the fish lets loose and clears the angler’s line as if it were on a power driven motor and with a few more kicks of its powerful tail the backing appears on his 8wt.

Strong 28-inch red drum in skinny water

After a brilliant tug-o-war the fish succumbs to its challenger and is posed for a quick portrait of a beauty of a 28-inch redfish. “There you go, swim free my pretty. Your game was great and more than fair.”he Lone Red Ranger swims a few feet away freely, then turns 180 degrees and comes back and kisses the anglers boot. A gentle nudge with his hand guides the grateful redfish away and a moment is taken in silence to consider that the redfish came back to thank the sportsman for his fair fight and safe release.

what the h3!!?

Bad Weather Fly Fishing

A very intimidating weather forecast…

Port Aransas Weather Forecast – POOR CONDITIONS

…accompanied by high winds and dense cloud cover lasting over a week and a half, only the dauntless are crazy enough to find these types of weather conditions just another extreme fly fishing challenge! In a true fly fisherman’s heart, visions and dreams of wicked redfish on the flats with an 8wt mingle and party hard. Venturing out into the wild grey yonder, the events that unfolded for 3 days straight warrant a play by play account of what happened a hundred times during this stint of pure craziness. Maybe being hard-headed is the key, otherwise you will end up tucking tail and running for shelter, or never leaving the couch in the first place. I consider these kinds of conditions to make one a true “fly man”.

rum, hard core, fly fishing, red fish, flats, port aransas

Dark and Stormy – Dreaming of Rum

You take the good with the bad. If you’re a true Flyman dedicate, these shitty conditions are good conditions too.

“11’Oclock, 30 feet and closing FAST!!! He yells to himself realizing he was very much alone miles from the shelter of his trusty pickup truck. Instantly a smile grazes his weathered and somehow sunburned face. “CAST man! CAST!” Into the wind a 30ft cast to a distance-closing redfish estimated around 30 inches will even make a seasoned angler’s knees knock. Especially since in only seconds, that 30 feet is now only 20 feet, and the wind driven currents are causing a tremendous amount of line slack.

The angler thinks to himself, “Even if this fish eats, good luck seeing or feeling the take.” And suddenly a blue tail with a distinct black spot appears 15 feet in front of him signaling that the fish ate the rough offering. “SET! SET! SET!”, comes another barked command held silent in his head. He strip strikes with all the length his seemingly short-ass arm can muster yet feels nothing but more slack in the line and with the motion and movement of his body the red fish heads for the depths of the black lagoon. “DAMMIT! NOT AGAIN!” …a good time for lunch he thinks out loud as if his fishing partner were nearby.

Sea Shell Bar a great place for lunch break

Once he crossed the deep gut that separated wet mushiness from a dry spit of seashell crusted land, the gear was ripped off his tired and sweaty person and a nice ham sandwich emerges. It of course is scarfed down faster than a redfish can eat a crab as he knows the tide continues to rise and it is about time that the primary flat in this area which is normally ankle deep should now be shin to knee deep and has potential to harbor more red fish. So off he goes, renewed with energy from the miniscule hamwich and determined to dislocate another redfish, or at least attempt to do so, even if some may consider his attempts to be unsuccessful, the hard-headed angler once again sees another opportunity to dance with a marvelous redfish in close proximity. Wading back, a lone boat with big outboard motor and two helpless dogs impede withing 50 yards and cut his wading path short. Blowing the flat and sending all red fish within 150 yards into hiding, the fly fisherman whistles and motions to the guy to be silent but he knows it is too late and continues wading away from the boat that just dropped anchor in the area he had planned to fish. One thousand yards further and 30 minutes later, the fly man is now setting up to work another grassy bank almost out of sight of the boatman with the honking wind in his “favor”. Thinking to himself, “the water is too deep (at the knees) to see any tailing reds”, he strategically sets up in position approximately 50 feet from the grass edges and shuffles slowly parallel to the shoreline, casting gently and as quietly as possible up into the grass edges, but not more than a foot into the grass so as not to spook anything further back in the grass.

A flood tide can push redfish deep in the grass banks

The small brown creature fly sits for a moment after a decent cast lands in a small nook between thicker grass patches while a small knot is removed from the running line. Wonder races through the fly man’s fatigued mind and his strained eyes begin to see a mirage. “A wake, coming straight at me!” Tick tick, the fly is moved with two short strips and suddenly it is realized that this is no mirage but a redfish coming out from deep in the grass to inspect whatever had just plopped down in the water. The 30 second pause after the cast must have been just enough time for the red fish to move from its previous position over to where the fly had landed in the water. “Perfect, I got him now” I say to myself out loud, then a small tap is felt in the line and in the same instant a strip strike is deployed only to feel what? You guessed it, nothing.

The water then explodes as the human’s body movement tips off the wily creature and send him away swimming as if the redfish’s life depended on it. And it does. You can’t argue with natural instinct, and if anything was learned during the last 3 days of hard-core fly fishing the flats of Port Aransas, it is to let your natural instinct guide you. When you feel the instinct, don’t delay and ask yourself, “Is this my natural instinct?” because only practice makes perfect. Especially in a time where humans are more disconnected from their natural instincts than ever. Let yours guide you, and “GO FISH Flymen and be not deterred!”

Keeping the hooks sharp,

Captain Ken Jones

361-500-2552

[email protected]

wade in wade out

Five out of the last 7 days has been spent wading the flats, at all all hours, morning, afternoon and evening, in all kinds of weather such as winds blowing North at 20-knots or a gentle breeze from the East at 10-knots. As usual the fish behavior and locations along with water levels are certainly different each time. This morning was no exception and as my lower back cried out for relief and a much needed break, I can’t help but wonder when I will have a few hours to spare and go back out to see what kind of no good the fish are up to!

Red fish counts are strong but not in great quantities just yet, some days the balance between number of stingrays and red fish is toppled like just the other day when I only saw one red fish but counted 22 stingrays.

Red Grass Flats Redfish

The Texas Shuffle is a critical maneuver if you want to keep your legs from being pierced by the barb of an old stingray and at this point it is quite the primal instinct for me to glide my feet across the mud and grass flats much like one would glide along while cross country skiing. Same motion of the legs and feet and one other benefit of doing this is to allow the toes of the front foot to feel for the next hidden hole that is ever so slightly filled in with a light smackery of detritus. It seems that most holes I discover are caused by old prop scars as they can be trench-like in shape and size. Others are soft mud pits which you could lay down in if it weren’t for the 12-24″ of water covering it. That’s one bath I don’t really want to take. Onto the next one! Keep your hooks sharp, just in case you run across some big bull redfish busting tiny shrimp just before sunset and you still have a one hour wade just to get back to dry land.

Captain Ken Jones

361-500-2552

Port Aransas, Texas

Hareline Dubbing Mullet Imitator

hareline dubbing, texas, saltwater, tarpon, mullet, fly fishing

Hareline Dubbing Baitfish Emulator Flash makes a great mullet imitator

Having recently discovered Hareline Dubbing’s Baitfish Emulator Flash I instantly knew it would work perfect for tying finger mullet patterns on the big gaped tarpon hooks made by Tiemco (600SP) in 1/0 & 2/0 sizes. These flies are sure to smell like fish. Its only a matter of time. Everybody hurts sometimes.

This particular pattern uses splayed tail hackles (4-6 hackles max) then hand blended some ice dubbing (also by Hareline) for the body using a dubbing loop to build the shoulders of the mullet. The dubbing is tapered in thickness as it is applied to the dubbing loop to give the bulk forward placement on the fly. The emulator flash is then tied in at the front like a collar and palmered in place 3 or 4 wraps then tied off. The bottom fibers can also be trimmed if desired.

Overall I am truly impressed with this material as it is a way to build the body of baitfish patterns with ease and cuts some time from behind the vice which can be a while for me. Over the next few days I will continue playing with this material to see what else can be tossed around.

Keep those hooks sharp,

Captain Ken Jones

Kenjo Fly Fishing Charters

Port Aransas TX

361-500-2552

Tarpon Style

Dreams should jump high. Be ready thru the very last second. You wont regret it. I will be trying to hit’em HARD this spring during the tarpons northerly migration along the South Texas Coastal Bend. You can only fly as high as your dreams take you. Here’s to the month of March!

Big Fly Combat Missions – Fly Line Control required

While average size baits in the 2-5inch range seem to be prolific most of the year, quite a few large gamefish can be caught using a technique which is extremely effective when larger baitfish are present, thus making it possible to use the larger flies which can produce some very large fish. Line control during casting is the most critical key in success and it will most certainly get your heart beating when a huge predatory fish lunges out of the darkness and swallows your 7-9 inch fly in plain sight!

Although the typical approach to fishing these seriously big flies on weighted fly lines is the typical dredging technique where the fly and line is simply laid in the water (not really cast) and allowed to sink as the boat drifts away but this standard big fly technique can be slow-paced and most anglers can find it boring.

The other technique which I call the “rifling method” incorporates more of an extended & intense workout with breaks in between fishing holes… It is a seriously active technique in fly fishing, which requires a good strong casting arm, a mean double-haul and an ability to maintain line control in a way which has the fly line land straight with line tight. This is necessary because this technique draws instinctual bites from huge predatory fish and they will move on it within the first 15 seconds the fly hits the water and explains why it is necessary to have the fly moving back toward yourself as soon as it hits the water. The difficulty is solved by making the cast complete in 1, 2, 3 powerful strokes and distance isn’t a problem with these heavy sinking lines as long as line control is maintained. Casting parallel or at slight angles to these ledges and breaks in terrain is the key.

Big fish regularly prowl the deep & dark edges along shallow sandbars and other hard breaks along underwater terrain. It is on these second and third points of an estuary where large baitfish are ambushed violently.

Sitting in deep water close to the most vertical shoreline with a steep slope yet one that flattens out enough on the top edge to hold a few feet of water is important. This is a perfect location for big fish to sit in the dark shadows down below and look up onto the edge of a carving shelf and when it sees helpless baitfish it races up and grabs the fly and heads back to the deep to reposition its food for better swallowing.

Deploying these tactics can bring a huge rush of adrenaline to the sport and is certainly exciting in locations where big fish roam the oceans, gulfs, bays and estuaries frequently. Give it a try next time the variables are right (location/large forage present) and let me know how it turns out! I can think of a dozen species where this combat technique would produce very large results during several periods throughout the seasons! Give it a whirl and worst case there is nothing wrong with a little strength training!

Kenjo Fly Fishing Charters