What do you get when you add 14 trout fishermen, 20+ bottles of single malt, a campfire, and some store bought cookies?

Depending on where you were sitting around the campfire, either “jumping flames” or a welt on the back of your neck…

C’mon now, that wasn’t too tough a question, was it?

This year we celebrate ten years of the Trout Louts! A decade of brotherhood, laughs, fly fishing for some of the world’s toughest wild trout, fine vittles and vice in the form of - at least mostly - single malt Scotch. It is hard to imagine that a few guys who got together to spend a couple days fishing together would become a veritable movement unto itself in the fly fishing world. Or at least on the West Branch of the Delaware. Here’s looking forward to early May, the Hendrickson hatch, and some fine friends as we celebrate together the end of our first decade.

Using real-time Google-earth imagery, I was able to reveal the secret to both Glenn’s fishing success and the recent kill-off…

If you read my last post about the massive fish kill in Fla. because of the extremely cold weather I have some good news and a story right out of any one of the numerous fishing books I have read.
Yesterday, I was surveying the different fishing locations I have discoverd in the last several weeks. The water has warmed with the more typical Fla. January weather and the fish have turned back on. Last weekend at the Fort Pierce jetty I hooked up with 15 or so bluefish who had trapped massive schools of mullet against the rocks. They were not Jersey size but between 2-4 lbs., great fun on my 7 wt. And last Monday, after getting kicked off of a private lagoon by one of Vero’s finest I waded the flats aroud Bear Island Park and caught 4 Jacks, a nice 25″ trout and a tough 5 lb. blue that almost took me into my backing. But back to yesterday…I was using my new 10 ft., 8 wt. Loomis with my new Orvis large arbor reel which I had just received in the mail. The four spots I had checked were dead so I was not at all optomistic when I pulled into Round Island Park, on the Indian River. This was where I had caught all the snook and my first and only previous redfish, before the cold front did all the damage. As I waded towards my hotspot, to see if any fish had returned to the area, I cast to my right into the boat channel with my small clouser. On the 4th or 5th cast I hooked and landed a nice, 20″ spotted trout. (I now carry a tape measure with me as I don’t get great pictures fishing/wading alone but measurements are easy.) I was still 40-50 ft. away from the bank I was slowly and quietly shuffling my way towards when I saw what appeared to be several large fish, slowly swimming to my left. I froze in place, pulled off some more line and threw a short cast in front of the lead fish. I picked up, stripped off a few more feet and placed a cast of the perfect distance 4 feet in front of the lead fish. When he got close I hopped/short stripped a few times and the fish followed my clouser for several feet but then turned back towards the bank and joined the pack. I picked up and cast again, this time a few feet in front of the next fish. Same strip, hop… hop… and then the fish turned to the fly, accelerated and my line went tight; fish on!! I lifted my rod and felt an enormous weight on the line as the big redfish turned to the bank and then towards a small island to my right. It was all I could do to turn this red at each attempt to break me off and I knew for sure that if he got to the mangroves or the island I was done for. I was really glad I had the larger rod and stronger reel and that I had just put on a new abrasion resistent leader, although I wish it was more than 12# tippet! I took my time and carefully got the fish on the reel after burning/cutting my finger several times by pulling on the fly line and after checking the drag to insure it was not set too tight. No mistakes so far. That red did not tire for what seemed like 20 minutes, (probably 5) and made several more attempts to get into the wood. What I had read about reds was true, though, that when hooked, unless the leader breaks, the hook usually holds in the strong rubbery mouth and that is what happened. I finally pulled him close and trapped him against my leg and measured this brute, 32 inches and so fat around the middle I had to tail him to hold him to get the fly out. I estimate the wt. between 8-10 lbs. After holding him in the water to give us both a breather, he splashed me goodbye with a swipe of his tail with the one huge black spot. Finally, 10 minutes later I hooked about a 14″ snook who jumped twice, the second time right into the mangroves and broke me off on his razor sharp mouth. So close to a grand slam, all within 90 minutes!
So, despite the fact that we lost thousands of quality game fish because of the cold, the fishing is still good down here. If you can break away or are going to be in the area bring your rods and waders and I’ll share some of my spots.
ps. I fished with a neighbor in his boat today- caught a ton of ladyfish and one trout. Came home, ate something and where do you suppose I went? Yes, right back to Round Island, at the same time, 4pm, as today’s weather was similar to yesterday. No reds, no snook but caught 5 small trout. Next- tarpon and bonefish. Tight lines.

I arrived at our home in Vero Beach, Florida on December 21, suffering a bad case of cabin fever, also called, “I need to get out and go fishing”. Spring in the Catskills had been awesome, I fished Utah and Montana with Lee Hartman, I enjoyed some good nymph fishing in Central Pa., the fall had been good to me on the Salmon River, the blues had been hitting really well all summer and the stripers cooperated a bit with me in November or December. All and all a very exciting and adventuresome year to this point.
With all of the obligatory family visits, tons of eating and business to attend to I did not get out fishing till Dec. 27th, before the cold front hit. I typically wade the Indian River in several different spots and I hit a few of those locations picking up a few small sea trout, small jacks and a ladyfish or two. The next day I went out with a guide who I have fished with before and we had a poor day of fishing; I caught two small (12″) trout, one pompano and a salt water catfish. We did spend over an hour and a half trying to get several large, (18″-28″estimated size) trout and redfish to eat anything we threw at them… to no avail.
The next day, with the temperatures slowly but steadily dropping, I drove to Round Island to an area I had discovered and fished, with success, last July. I had consistently caught 8″-12″ snook there, always at least 6, on small Clousers. I was not optomistic because of the cold temps but that changed when on my third cast I hooked and landed the first snook of the day. That was followed during the next two hours by at least a dozen more! The size also was impressive. The 8″-12″ snook were now all over 12″ and up to 18″!!!! Boy, can they pull on a 7 wt. fly rod. The tough thing is that they hang on the mangrove edges and as soon as they feel the steel they try to get into the roots. And because you are casting towards the mangroves and stripping line you never get thse strong speedsters on the reel, you are fighing them by hand. Additionally, in the past I had only found these snook in one small area but on this day as I moved along the shoreline I found what I was seeking- more holding/ambush points. I was in fisherman’s heaven. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better they did. In the midst of this snookfest I caught and released my first ever redfish, one of the other prime, highly prized fish of the coast.
It was the best of times!!!
Then the cold wave hit.. and got worse.. and colder.. and colder. We were in the grips of the coldest and longest cold spell in the history of the area and when I went to Round Island to look at the water and see what was happening to the Manatees because of the cold, I was shocked and DEVASTATED! There were no manatees in the cove but the surface and the bottom of the water were littered with the bodies of dead and dying snook; my snook. I did not know at the time but was told by the other mourners who were there to witness this catastrophe that snook are a tropical fish and are the first to die if the water gets too cold. I saw a many, many small snook, dozens of dead snook that were over 15 inches and I was blown away. I saw several that were over 25″ and saw one, just under the dock in two feet of water, that had a head as big as a small dog, shoulders like a linebacker and was estimated by several of us to be at least 9 pounds!
It was the worst of times.
I do not know how long this fishing will take to rebound but I’ll keep you posted. I had my camera and would have taken and posted a photo of the monster if I could have pulled it onto the shore but we were warned to not even attempt to move or touch these fish as the fine is very heavy and enforced; that is a good thing. I’ll try to get the picture out of my mind.
Finally, before I go I wanted to report that the trip out West was great this year but not long enough. I would love to go out again this year with some Louts so if anyone is interested send me an e-mail. If you are going to be on the east coast of Fla. near Vero, look me up.
Tight lines, Glenn
glenn.kamp@wmtps.org

What’s that old hunter’s saying? Oh yeah, you can’t eat the horns or something like that…

Here’s one of the most horrible looking bucks I’ve ever encountered. After passing up a small buck during my annual PA deer season this year, I came home to hunt NJ for both 6 day shotgun and our 3 day permit shotgun seasons. Our herd on the private land I hunt in Sparta, NJ is over-run with deer, so we need to manage the herd and reduce their numbers. That means that we shoot all small racked-bucks without decent potential to grow large and all does during doe season as well as any trophies if we encounter them. We pass up “basket bucks” like the one I passed in PA.

Opening day of 6 day shotgun brought a first ever for one of my buddies and at first light. I shot a 3 pointer about an hour later, dragged it out and we both checked our deer and climbed back in our stands, this time with my buddy picking up his son. Later that afternoon, his son shot his first ever buck, so that was exciting to be involved with. Father and son first ever deer on the same day! We butchered those 3 bucks a few days later in my garage and I sat out one more morning on the final day, Saturday, but didn’t see another buck that day. The next Wednesday brought the 3 day shotgun permit season and I wanted to kill another deer to lower our herd. At first light a one-horned, older buck came right past the stand never aware of my presence. He appeared to be blind in the one eye as I watched him through my binoculars. I confirmed his blindness by waving my hands and his lack of response confirmed what I had suspected. For unknown reasons, I decided to let him walk. I remained in my stand until shortly after lunch and then headed home to work. The next day I had meetings in the morning, so sat in that same stand until dark. I had decided that if I were to see that same buck, I was going to shoot him because his genetics were poor and he was a larger and older deer than all the others we had taken off the property this year. Sure enough, right at dark he came walking down that very same trail just as he did the morning prior. I shot him at a laughable 15 yards, a veritable chip shot with the 12 ga. rifled slug gun and off he ran straight down the side of the mountain to die. Ugh, what a horrific drag up the mountain that was by myself!

He hanged in my shed for a couple of days to age properly and then was butchered and divvied up with a neighbor, some of which was ground and made into sausages by yours truly and some into venison jerky (which will make Lout Camp in May!). Here’s a photo of the ugliest buck of the season, perhaps of my lifetime…

Awaiting shore lunch...

Fred Lewis with 33 pound monster

Doc's 30 pound beauty

Fred Lewis and I (Doc) just spent an incredible week of fishing on the Taltson River, south of Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. Photos below are of our new PR’s: Fred’s 33 lbs and my 30 lbs. Scotch photo complete with Spring Float Trout Lout cigar is to let the Louts know we missed you guys … join us one year!

Does anyone doubt that this custom-built burled-maple fly-tying desk would make a fine Father’s Day gift?

Rick Axt stakes his claim

A word to the wise: If you’ve never stopped at Dette’s Fly Shop in Roscoe, make a point to do so. Now in her 70’s, Mary’s quite a character, storyteller, sharp wit and authority on what’s hatching along with where and how to fish on any given day. Simply put, this is a living legend and a shop that will take you way back.. If you hit Roscoe on the way to our Lout gathering heading west on Route 17, simply continue on down the main drag (Stewart) after hitting up Orvis or The Little Store, go under 17 and past the ramp (that would head eastbound) and make a left on Cottage. Follow it around the bend to the house on the right, still faded yellow unless a miracle has occured. That’s where Mary lives and ties, sometimes along with her grandson. Get her talking and you may well have experienced the best catch of your trip…

http://www.catskillmtn.org/guide-magazine/articles/2003-09-the-last-original-catskill-fly-tier.html

Given the number of Louts wading Friday in partial reflection of these hard economic times, the 2009 “glass” will have an appropriate theme. Initial working models have proven that magic marker runs when writing on paper cups, but the cups hold scotch long enough to consume at least five or six wee drams. Fear not: Further testing will continue each night until a suitable 2009 solution is found…    Doc