I have met some of the most amazing people through fly fishing. Paying forward all the knowledge and lessons I have acquired over my life is worth sharing. I continue to learn something new every day on the water. Fishing makes me happy and sharing it with good like-minded people is what it's all about. Life is short, smile each day, and have fun, hopefully near water.
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Here’s a really cool clothing company started by a young man in Michigan named Jackson to help clean and remove plastic in the Great Lakes and repurpose plastic into sustainable recyclable clothing. Make a difference, shop responsibly! More here!
Last week I had the honor to accompany my buddy Bill Matthews back to Hopedale, Louisiana to fish a few days with Capt. Greg Moon. Our main objective was to spread Bill’s late wife Lori Matthew’s ashes out in the marsh for her final farewell. It was here Lori took her last trip with Bill and landed a giant redfish over forty pounds a few years ago before she fell ill. We honored her memory on the second day of our trip back in the marsh by playing a short video of Lori’s finest catches on Bill’s iphone as he sprinkled rose petals and her ashes over the water. It was an emotional moment, the last of the many places Bill fished with Lori and spread her ashes. We did have a fun time together on the first day, the wind was down and we threw surface poppers to giant redfish and jacks. I lucked out with my first sight-fished sheepshead right up against the marsh edge. Our other two buddies Rex Ito and Don Shaul accompanied us on this short but sweet trip and got a few personal bests as well. We all stayed at the historic Dogwood Lodge, a converted US coastguard vessel moored along the bank of Hopedale harbor. I love Louisian, I feel very close to this town visiting it over twenty times while my old roommate live in New Orleans, it feels like my second home. Great food and great people. –Al Q
Photos courtesy of Al Q, Jorge Salas, James Dwyer and Brian Jackson.
Thank you to the Long Beach Casting Club for opening their doors and supporting the Double Haul Ball this year. The DHB is a grassroots effort of like-minded passionate anglers and industry professionals willing to support their addiction of fly fishing and help the community to do good for others. Some of my really good old friends came out to show their support like Nick Curcione, Michael Maloney, Gary Bulla and Conway Bowman. My casting team of John Van Derhoof, Jim Solomon, Bob Middo, and Michael Maloney were the best in the game. Rex Ito from Prime Time Seafood and his beautiful family of Mica, Matt, and Blake from Riviera Seafood Club all donated their time and their delicious seafood to make amazing fish tacos to help support Cast Hope and The May Fly Project, two non-profit organizations dedicated to helping children get into the great outdoors.
Thank you to all the vendors that participated and Industry pros that donated amazing items to the raffle and silent auction: Kevin Krai / Simms, Vaughn Podmore / SaltyFly & Far Bank Pro, Jacob Gorman / Orvis Pasadena, Todd Woods / Costa Sunglasses, John Keenan / Freedom Boats, Larry Acord & Peter Klemens / Bajios Fly Socks, Charlie Bysshe / Patagonia Santa Monica, Gary Bulla / Baja Adventures, Frank & Grace Selby / His & Hers Fly Shop (our only local fly shop), Frank Vargas & Luke Artemis / Artemis, Mike Peters / Long Branch Fly Fishing, and Gary Scott / Wave Chasers Fly Rods.
I have to give kudos to the DHB fly tiers: Dave Valadez, Rick MacKay, Kevin Green, Lino Jubilado, Don Shaul, and Chris Nichols! They always draw a crowd.
Presenters and Volunteers included Tod Suttle/ Tackle Talk, Jim Salazar / Outfitting Your Kayak, Mike Peters / Fly Fishing the Surf, Conway Bowman / Sharks on Fly, Gary Bulla / Baja Adventure Film, Kesley Gallagher & Scott Leon / Traveling the World with a Fly Rod, and a special sneak preview of episode 12 of The History of Sportfishing. Panelists at the outdoor open forum talk sessions, included Wade Yoshi, Jim Solomon, Nick Curcione, Conway Bowman, Paul Cronin, Lino Jubilado, Kevin Green, Alex Cady, James Dywer, Rick Mackay, Colin Sako, Al Q, John Whitaker, Warren Fox, Shirley Shaul, & Bill Matthews. The used Tackle Table was manned by Cal Acord and Eddie.
And last but not least thanks for the check-in and raffle ticket sales help from Janet Chang Quattrocchi and Cece Rubin…you girls rock!
I personally wish we had a bigger turnout but we ended up raising $8,000 which will be split between The May Fly Project Los Angeles and Cast Hope San Diego. Give yourselves a big hand! It takes a village to pull off a great event. Thanks to everyone that came out for such a worthy cause, I really appreciate you all! If I missed anyone please forgive me. Till next time calm seas and tight lines… – Al Q
I am honored to be able to interview / Q&A with my friend, Michael Fowlkes who helped compile and direct this wonderful 12-part documentary on the History of Sportfishing. It will all take place at the Santa Monica Patagonia location of 3rd street promenade. We will screen episode twelve which focuses on conservation and features footage of Yvon Chouinard. Hope to see ya all there –Al Q
I am so sorry to bring terrible news to this blog, but last Monday night my good friend and fly tying mentor, Bob Popovics was hit by a drunk driver in front of Klees Sports Bar in Seaside Heights. He was was helicoptered to the trauma center Monday night. He is currently in the ICU and is heavily sedated. He has had several operations. They removed his spleen. Diaphragm was pushed up into chest, so they worked on that. Understandably, he has some lung issues. Broken left elbow. Broken nose, eyes blackened and swollen. Opened eyes briefly yesterday, was able to wiggle toes. Looks like a long road ahead. Wishing only positive vibes to him and his family! Hold on brother…
I am going to start to sell some cool vintage and fun, fishing gear from my collection. I dig the old fly and fishing gear of the past. Please check out a few of the new items I just put up for sale. I will continually try to update the store, so keep an eye out. I hope some of these items find a new home or a fishing collector where they will be appreciated. Cheers – Al Q
Ok, I have to admit that I did had a premonition this morning. There were a few good reports up and down the coast that fish wearing pajamas were swimming in the local surf. It felt right. The tide on the beach looked good with a .6 ft swell off a full moon. I set my alarm at 5:30am to take advantage of the first half hour of early light, maybe I get lucky? If it was going to happen it was going to be at low light. I was solo, no one out there except yours truly. Back at the parking lot, my friend Tony was jamming on his trumpet as the sun began to rise out over the eastern horizon, he could be heard from a distance. Being on the sand early in the morning always makes me happy. I made a few exploratory casts and decided to move. The water had some salad and I needed to find a cleaner stretch. As the sounds of Tony’s jazzy trumpet echoed across the distant sand, I made a long cast just behind the oncoming set of waves and on the third crank of the reel handle, it was hammered violently and came to a halt. At first thought I said maybe its a big halibut, but after the fish took off I realized it was not a halibut. The beauty of fishing the surf is always that unknown, that anticipation of what it might be? So I am hooked up as the sun is rising, listening to a live jazz soundtrack and it feeling like I’m in a Fellinni movie. After a quick battle the fish was slid onto the wet sand, photographed and released unharmed. What made it even more special was I landed this fish on my dad’s old fiberglass fenwick spinning rod! A classic! I miss fishing with him. Moral of this story is I rallied to fish even though the odds were never in my favor. Stripers are routinely caught up and down our coastline but actually targeting and catching them is built on perseverance, luck and good karma. I used the standard LuckyCraft 110 minnow, I usually customize them by replacing the factory trebles with red EagleClaw #4s and use only a front and rear hook, no middle hook. I used 15# Cortland braided line with a top shot of 15# Maxima mono line. Retrieve was a slow roll. Karma was good, and stoke was high! stay with it –Al Q
TheHistory of Sportfishing takes the audience on an intriguing journey through the sport’s origins, explores periods of rapid research and development, features key figures in its history, and highlights the lessons learned from both successes and failures along the way. This in depth, 12-part series is the vision of its director and creator, Michael Fowlkes. I am honored to call Michael a friend and appreciate him taking on this daunting task of encapsulating The History of Sportfishing into 12 one-hour episodes…this series will serve as a record to the many achievements and innovations this sport has evolved from and to; it will serve generations and go down as a true classic!
flies, sand & surf 