Safeway markets has somehow convinced it suppliers to adjust their catching practices which in turn has lowered the price of tuna in the can. A win, win for everyone! Click here for more…
the great fall migration…
this photo unfortunately lacks sound. © 2012 Al Quattrocchi
Last week I was fortunate enough to spend a few days in Montauk Point, Long Island with my longtime fishing buddy, John Whitaker. This is the magical time of the year when the great fall migration of bait and predators intercept each other and begin their journey along the Atlantic coast towards the Hudson and Chesapeake river systems. It is really neat if you time it right and we luckily did. Living in California, my inner saltwater time clock usually starts to twitch around September only because I have experienced many of these blitzes fishing as a young teenager off the beaches around Breezy Point and Coney Island and I know they are beginning. John had never witnessed this spectacle before and he walked into it with eyes wide open. We had fantastic fishing with numerous slams, (striper, false albacore and bluefish on the fly in the same day) on the boat. The most memorable moment for me, being such an avid surf fisherman, was seeing my buddy John hook up in Turtle Cove under the famous lighthouse on our last day. This was to be John’s first striped bass off the beach on fly and he did a great job amongst the picket fence of montauk spin fisherman. Timing his cast perfectly he threw into the passing blitz. His small rain bait fly was immediately pounded by a nice ten pound bass. It was awesome and will remain a great memory for me! High fives were in order. I personally would take one bass off the beach to ten off a boat any day. It doesn’t get better than that.
©2012 photo by Al Quattrocchi
clean energy from the big blue pond…
Check out these innovative solutions for harnessing the oceans’ raw power into clean energy. Click here for article!
Categories: Uncategorized
Leave a comment
fall is upon us…
as the water temps start to slowly drop, we should see some nice barred surf perch showing up in our local surf, like this one landed this morning by Jim Solomon. Photo by Al Q
more squid…
another squid pattern using a blend of sf and wighair to get the right shades…photo by Al Q.
the road to paradise!
Please join Mike Ward and myself for a fun and casual slide presentation on the southern yucatan at the SouthBay Fly Fishing club in Westchester (near LAX) this Wednesday, September 12th at 7:30 pm.
I will be tying a few flies and Wardo will be telling a few lies, it should be a fun evening…
salt master…motoi yamamoto
Return to the Sea: Saltworks by Motoi Yamamoto September 8 – December 8, 2012, Laband Art Gallery, Loyola Marymount University, LA – Open to general public.
OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, September 8th, 4 – 6PM
Yamamoto will be in residency at the Laband and the public are invited to come watch the artist create his site-specific salt work during these days:
Weds., August 29th, Thurs., August 30th, and Friday, August 31st, 10AM – 4PM
Tues., September 4th, Weds., September 5th, and Thurs., September 6th, 10AM – 4PM
the beauty is in nature…
top: a macro close-up of a squid’s amazing skin looks like a modern abstract painting. below: a calamari fly tied by Al Quattrocchi.
the worm float…
using some craft foam as the end of a tail will can make your worm flies come alive, and float under water. i like to use goop for adhesive. cut a triangle shape, slice the foam with a single edge razor or heat up a bodkin and burn a hole through the foam. for the latter you need to use thin wire to pull the chenille through after coating it liberally with goop. once it sets, then trim the tail to a desired shape. using a weed guard will help with fouling, but the bomb-proof method is you can use heavy mono off the bend of the hook about a half inch past the bend, (burn a ball at the end of the mono before wrapping the chenille) continue to wrap your chenille like the front of the fly, whip finish, allowing the remaining chenille to swing free solve any fouling issues… photos and flies by Al Q
redemption at the beanery
2012 © photos by Al Quattrocchi.
well there are still a lot of corbina around and everything seems to have started late this year. the water was pretty cool through June. it never warmed up into the 70s until mid-July. these warmer water temperatures have seemed to activate these crazy fish. i fished with a buddy on saturday morning at at dark o thirty and we had the perfect incoming low tide and a calm summer sea. if you look at the picture above you can see the channels of sand crabs being washing back with each incoming push. timing your casts and lining up with one of these channels is the place to have your fly when these fish come in tight to plant their foreheads into the sand looking for crabs. we saw many large schools of corbina moving up and down the beach. i was fortunate enough to have hooked two fish on saturday, the first one i landed with my pink merkin stuck to it’s face. the second fish blew up a big group and took off perpendicular to the beach, his metallic side shimmering inside a wave, then unbuttoned. Unfortunately there were many sharks at the same party, mixed in with the corbina. many times i though I got bit by the right kind only to be spoiled by the steady tractor-like pull of the shovel nose sharks. i beached two, and broke off another two that i never saw. good times…
flies, sand & surf 