photo courtesy of Larry Acord

Our good friend and local angler, Larry Acord had a great day flyfishing off the beach this past Saturday, just north of Ventura by landing three corbina on fly in 59 degree water. The fish were apparently cruising in deep water, way off the beach. Two of the three fish were caught on a Qs Beach Bug which is a good early season attractor pattern. What is really cool, is that we have been practicing our casting almost every week. Most of the time we work on short accurate casts which really are the money cast, but lately we have been practicing long shots of 80 plus feet, well it paid off for Larry. WTG dude!

“Saturday: 7 wt NRX Loomis…..8/9 Nautilus reel…8wt Rio Beach/Surf….using the bigger set up because there were so many sharks……Had to use everything I had to get this fish.  Only had 5 or 6 wraps of flyline on the reel….YES!!  90+ foot cast at a 45 degree angle to the shore to get past the point.  2 strips and watched him take it…..10-12 minute fight… put him on the rock for a quick pic and got him back in the water to revive him.  Wanted to thank all you guys for the help and advice and especially Al Q and Jim Solomon for getting me in the Fly Zone and being able to make that cast.” – Larry Acord

Jimmy with a awesome blue trevally that feel for a cuban crab fly.

Jimmy Kimmel with a beautiful Tahitian bonefish, DIY style, caught on a gotcha.

These two photos were emailed to me over this past weekend by my fly fishing buddy and late night guru, Jimmy Kimmel. Jimmy was recently fly fishing in a beautiful isolated Pacific atoll called Tetiaroa, once the home of Marlon Brando. He sight fished that beautiful bonefish using a gotcha fly, DIY style. The trevally was landed on a cuban crab fly. WTG bro! It doesn’t get better than that!

Tetiaroa is located 33 miles north of Tahiti. I was fortunate to sail from Tahiti to Tetiaroa for a day trip back in 1986 and it was one of the most beautiful places I ever set foot on. I remember we threw the anchor just outside the atoll in 150 feet of water and it was sitting on the bottom as clear as a bell. I jumped off the sail boat with my snorkel and i felt like I was suspended in space, the water was so clear, all the beautiful reef fish swaying in the current along side the outside atoll walls, it was absolutely surreal. The island is as tall as a palm tree with approximately 13 interior motus or small islands within it’s protected barrier ring. I remember one of the motus having many sea birds nesting on it, too bad for me, I didn’t have my fly rod packed with me back then…

the island of Tetiaroa

March 14th, 2018

Today, is a very sad day for thousands of people including myself. Today, I lost my friend and mentor, Lefty Bernard Kreh, one of he greatest flyfisherman to have ever graced the face of our planet. If you were fortunate to know him you were blessed. He was a kind southern gentleman, always had a great story or joke and made you feel you were the center of the universe. I met Lefty up on Hot Creek in the early nineties and we spent three days together, he taught me how to throw a long line, how to skip a fly across the surface of a stream and was just a great teacher, of all things in life. We remained friends since. There will be a million stories and articles written about Lefty, now that he is has passed, but I personally want to remember Lefty as the person with that sparkle in his eye, his contagious laugh and million dollar smile. He came from a lost generation, a generation that saw war, depression and experienced the American dream and her bountiful resources. He along with Joe Brooks opened our imaginations to a new world with fly rods blazing. They allowed us all to dream and explore far away places through their adventures in fishing. Lefty relentlessly gave us his knowledge through television shows, books, countless videos and fly show demos through the course of his life. He was the best! Dan Blanton has a great saying which I love and totally describes Lefty’s stature. Greatness whispers it never shouts! Lefty never had to prove anything, he just did it effortlessly and changed our worlds through fly fishing. God Bless ya Lefty! We will all miss ya pal.

Our good friend Trevor Tanner getting is done in Louisiana. Trevor was so excited about this recent trip and the opportunity to catch his first redfish and sheepshead on the fly. Trevor is one hell of a carp flyfisher and is responsible for the foam-tail trouser fly he developed using hole-punched craft foam threaded on mono for a tail. Deadly pattern! So happy he accomplished his goal, I knew he would!

The foam tail trouser fly created by Trevor Tanner!

photo courtesy of Alejandro Hernandez, Owner/guide of Campeche Tarpon

Date: August 11th through 18th, 2018
Let’s fish baby tarpon together! Me, Enrico Puglisi and Alejandro Hernandez of Campeche Tarpon are hosting a fun week of fly fishing the mangroves for baby tarpon in Campeche, Mexico.

From Left: Enrico Puglisi, Alejandro Hernandez, and Al Q

We encourage you to bring your vise and fly tying tools because, the master, Enrico Puglisi and myself will be demonstrating various, deadly tarpon patterns every night before dinner. Enrico will be furnishing fly tying materials for all of us to use.
I am trying to keep this week to a group of 8 anglers. Two anglers/one guide per boat.
We have some spots available. If you are interested, please email me directly @     alq@tornadocreative.com and i will provide a pdf with the details of the trip.  A fun trip for those starting out in saltwater fly fishing. Really looking forward to this one. Tight lines

-Al Q

photos courtesy of Alejandro Hernandez of Campeche Tarpon