Mikey D Fishing Heads North to God's Country

Mikey D Fishing Heads North to God's Country

After basking in Florida breezes, Mikey D Fishing took advantage of unseasonably warm weather, and the abundance of trout fishing and hospitality at the Felker compound in Roulette, PA.  Potter County is aptly called "God's Country" with outdoor activities and natural beauty all around.  The morning fishing there certainly did not disappoint.  CC dropped 2nd lt Salt Life and yours truly off at a deep water pool on Fishing Creek.  The creek borders the Felker Cabin property.  Salt Life and I meandered downstream from there in view of the cabin.  The evidence of all manner of critters was everywhere, particularly beavers, with small trees and limbs recently brought down by the ever industrious vermin near the stream in several spots.

Salt Life used a 4wt rod with a black bead headed wooly bugger, while I employed a 10 foot leader with 2 foot section of hi visibility flourocarbon and another 4 foot section of tippet.  The long leader was an attempt to try some of the nymphing techniques that I recently discovered.  At the business end of the tippet I tied a black bead headed wooly bugger with flash and a bead head frenchie dropper.

I picked up a two small brook trout on the frenchie and one on the wooly bugger in a tailout section of the stream.  Soon after, 2nd lt Salt Life hooked into a very nice 14" rainbow (as depicted below) by stripping the fly in small twitches upstream.  Under the tutelage of CC, Salt Life cleaned and grilled the trout for lunch---- from stream to table!!!

CC's knowledge of every twist, turn, and pool in the stream led us to a pool about 6 feet deep with a overhanging underwater bank, perfect for holding large trout.  A few casts into the pool hooked me into my first Golden Trout!  A beautiful and sizable fish caught on the Frenchie dropper.

The stream is loaded with a variety of trout and provides the angler with an opportunity to practice some small stream technical tactics.  The property is beautiful and if it weren't for the stream demanding your attention, the wildlife all around could easily distract you.  One of the home grounds for Mikey D Fishing, it is no wonder why the Felker Cabin lies in the heart of God's Country

19-21 November: Mikey D Fishing Heads South

Just because the Mikey D bay fishing season is over, it doesn't mean that Mikey D fishing goes on hiatus.  We just look for other opportunities.  So when Curt Toomer invited C.C. to spend a little time in Jacksonville looking for redfish and trout, Mikey D Fishing headed south for warmer climes and the chance to catch big fish.

Arrived in JAX on Thursday evening.  After a delicious dinner (THANKS Michele!) and some post dinner bourbons, the game plan was on.  We spent Friday through Sunday exploring the back creeks along the intracoastal waterway from the I-10 bridge up to Mayport.  Weather and tides were about as good as you could expect; temps in the 70s, sunny skies, too breezy to throw the fly rod.  A front that moved through Saturday chased us off the water a little early, but it blew through by Sunday morning, offering plenty of time to finish up the trip in style.

We fished out of Curt's new 18' Maverick, about as beautiful a flats boat as you're going to find.  The boat was perfect for getting into the back creeks, with plenty of room to move around.  It's truly a fisherman's boat.

Friday and Saturday were pretty similar; about two dozen sea trout and a handful of schoolie redfish each day. Saturday's highlight was my successful North Florida Slam: a red, sea trout, and a 16 inch flounder that I picked up on a gulp bait at the point of a creek mouth.  We fished both days with either live shrimp hooked on to jig heads, or soft plastic (gulps, etc.) baitfish and shrimp imitations.

C.C.'s rule of fishing trips is that you have to schedule three days of fishing to ensure that you get at least one day that isn't messed up by weather.  Except for the breeze, Friday was near perfect. We had to leave the water early due to incoming weather, but still caught a good deal of fish.  But Sunday on the front moved through fast enough to get us on the water by about 1000.  Since it was still breezy, we anchored up on a cut formed by a little island on the intracoastal, just north of the Atlantic Boulevard bridge.  A perfect spot, with a couple of channels that wash back and forth with the tides, and with it baitfish and predators.  

We immediately started tying into trout; over the ensuing three hours we boated at least 30-40, along with a dozen or so small Mangrove Snapper.  What made this last day of fishing special, though, was watching Curt fight and land a 36 inch bull redfish.  Earlier Curt had caught a small pinfish, and decided to hook him up on a fish finder rig and throw him behind the boat.  We went back to catching trout, when Curt had a huge strike on his shrimp rig and the fight was on.  You could tell that it was a big fish, and Curt took his time fighting the red.  After about 7-8 minutes of watching Curt fight his fish, I glanced up to the rig with the pinfish to see that rod bending over.  What to do?  It's a good problem to have.  The answer?  "You're on your own," I shouted and headed to the bent-over rod.  Five minuted later I landed and released a nice 24 inch red, just in time to watch Curt pull his bull red out of the water.  Since words can't describe that moment, I'll let the photo do the talking.

I've been fishing with Curt for almost twenty years now, and even on those trips that didn't produce a lot of fish, have had a great time.  A great angler, squadron mate, and friend.  Thanks Curt!  And thanks to Michele for the hospitality.  

Tight lines,

MikeyDFishing