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the flyzone…

the-fly-zone_LOGO_FINAL

The Fly Zone is a custom program design for individuals or groups to better their all around skills as anglers. It includes casting, tackle, outfitting and techniques for any environment or circumstance. Contact Al or Jim for more info: al@tornadodesign.la /jim@iticorp.net

This past Saturday, Jim Solomon and myself had the opportunity to complete a two day “fly fishing the beach” Fly Zone course with some of the fine folks at the Pasadena Fly Club.

We started at the casting pond and went over the casting stroke and learning to cast and manage a sinking shooting head, knots, tackle, flies and techniques which included a slide presentation. This past Saturday, we all met down at the beach to practice some of the skills we covered which included casting and reading water. Learning the proper skills and techniques necessary to be a successful angler on the beach is something that will make every angler better when they return back to a creek, lake or river.

Jim showing the proper hand position for casting. Photo by Al Q

Jim showing the proper hand position for casting. Photo by Al Q

photo by Al Q

photo by Al Q

photo by Al Q

photo by Al Q

Photo by Al Q

Photo by Al Q

Getting first hand experience. Photo by Al Q

Getting first hand experience. Photo by Al Q

A great group of anglers. Photo by Al Q

A great group of anglers. Photo by Al Q

 

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yt on the rocks…

ytonrocks

This El Nino continues to amaze me. This monster yellowtail was landed by Jarred Davidson off the Mission Bay jetty in San Diego last Monday, September 14th. Way to go dude! Read the full report!

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pic of the day….

A beautiful Hawaiian bonefish landed by Denny Kaneoka in Oahu. This fish was weighed on a boga grip at 10.5 pounds. Photo courtesy of Peter Koga.

A beautiful Hawaiian bonefish landed by Denny Kaneoka in Oahu. This fish was weighed on a boga grip at 10.5 pounds. This was Denny’s fourth fish, 10 pounds or better in less than a week. Photo courtesy of Peter Koga.

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yucatan adventure…

Local angler and fishing buddy, John Whitaker lands a nice baby tarpon on one of my new Pinched Crab prototypes a few weeks ago in the southern Yucatan.

Local angler and fishing buddy, John Whitaker lands a nice baby tarpon on one of my new Pinche crab prototypes a few weeks ago in the southern Yucatan. Seemed like this tarpon liked it. Click to enlarge. Photo courtesy  of John Whitaker.

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As soon as I am comfortable with how this fly swims I will post a step by step. Still working out the kinks… 🙂

Categories: Crab flies, Q Flies, Uncategorized | Tags: | 2 Comments

outside the box…

Photo by Alex Ramirez

Photo by Alex Ramirez

A olive sculpin designed for freshwater is one of Alex's go to corbina patterns.

A olive sculpin designed for freshwater is one of Alex’s go to corbina patterns.

It’s really nice to see some beans coming to hand. This is a great week of early minus low tides to give it your best shot. Our good friend and Sage, Smith and Rio rep, Alex Ramirez with one of two corbina landed this morning (somewhere in San Diego? LOL) on a olive sculpin pattern. Alex was fishing the new Sage Salt series fly rod.  Way to go brother! I casted these Salt rods and they are awesome casting and fighting tools, perfect for inshore and beach fishing. I personally fish the older Sage 7wt ZAxis with a custom t-8 (approx 27 feet) attached to an Airflo intermediate running line. This morning I went zero for two, I had one really good take, which peeled drag as the fish raced across the shallow flat like it was water skiing then unbuttoned, the second take happened just as I was going to lift my rod to make another cast, the fish stopped the line in an inch of water then popped off. oh yeah, that is corbina fishing, not corbina catching. You must embrace the pain and move forward, tomorrow is another day. 🙂

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overcast bean…

photo by Al Quattrocchi

photo by al quattrocchi

 

half and half merkin. photo by al quattrocchi

half and half merkin. photo by al quattrocchi

After willing myself to an early rise I found a small group of finicky feeding Corbina this morning. The overcast, poor lighting conditions made positioning the fly a little more challenging since it was hard to see fish until they were literally on the doorstep. This is when you need to be way back on the beach to make a good cast. The corbina were right where I thought they would be, feeding right at the end of the wave foam, sliding over a small crab bed in inches of water. After three solid bumps and a few choice words I finally got one to stick. Glad I sharpened the hooks last night. At first I thought this fish was fouled by the way it fought, I couldn’t turn him. He fought especially hard in shallow water and never ran long, dogging me every time I got him in close. After around ten minutes I surfed him onto the sand and saw my fly under his lip. He was revived and released to fight another battle on another beach. This is the best time to try for corbina with a fly. It is my favorite time of the year…

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photo love…

Original Photo by Wade Yoshi

Original Photo by Wade Yoshi

Color Corrected photo by Al Q

Color Corrected photo by Al Q

Taking the time to save that great shot is well worth the effort when you have the right tools of the trade. I like to straight horizon lines and bring back as much information in a digital shot as I can get away with, without sacrificing the original intent of the photographer. In other words try not to push it too much or it looks fake. For me saving these memories are just as cool as landing these great fish. This before and after is just an example of what I like to achieve. I like to do this for all my fishing friends whenever I get photos like the one above… My program of preference for post production is adobe lightroom, it is pretty easy to use, there are lots of tutorials on you tube as well… enjoy!

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hello summer…

A nice corbina landed by fellow angler Regan Kline last weekend on a pink merkin tied by me. LOL Photo by Regan Kline.

A nice corbina landed by fellow angler Regan Kline last weekend on a pink merkin . Way to go bro. Photo by Regan Kline.

Al Q and Louie the Fish chatting it up last Tuesday morning in Santa Monica. Photo by Al Q

Al Q and Louie the Fish chatting it up last Tuesday morning in Santa Monica. Photo by Al Q

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blue devils…

 

Blue Devils video by Chris Fabiano

Blue Devils video by Chris Fabiano courtesy of AngryfishTV

Click Here! It that time of the year when the massive bluefish schools are herding helpless bunker in shallow water and beating the crap out of them. Its gang warfare. The stripers will always be the glamor fish on the east coast but the bluefish in my opinion are still the bad boys that will always have attitude and never disappoint you when hooked. They pull hard and will bite off a finger if they have the opportunity. I have had days using poppers when me and my buddy Lance caught and released 100+ on bangers. Here’s some cool footage recently taken by Chris Fabiano off New Jersey shore on June 15th. There’s some really sweet slo-mo footage of hookless poppers getting hammered. enjoy!

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fishing from the sky…

photo courtesy of skypropmedia

photo courtesy of skypropmedia

Click here to view this spectacular drone footage of surfcasters fishing for stripers off Gloucester, MA.

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