Brian Marz's Fly Fishing Oregon Blog: May 2013

Working at a fly shop, you can get a lot of information about a fishery in a short time. With this time of the year being the stonefly hatch on the Deschutes, I wanted to give a quick update report. The hatch is not over the peak, nor is it even that early this year. Everyone comes in insistently speculating that the hatch is already over the peak, or that the hatch is so early this year that it will end in the next few days. Reality is that it's just getting going as of right now. The first good reports I have heard were just over the last two days. They were the kind of reports that let you know the fish are just starting to key into the big dry flies.

Golden Stonefly and two Salmonflies

It takes a long time for the flies to crawl out, mate, and then fly back to drop their eggs in the water (which golden stones do). More often than not, you will start to see less bugs on the willows when the fish are actually keying onto them. People come into the shop saying how they see flies everywhere, but could not get any fish to come up and eat their offering. When I ask them if they nymphed, I often hear "no".

M's Still Stone took this Deschutes River Rainbow Trout

So if you are wondering what the status of the famous Deschutes stonefly hatch is, you can be confident that you are not fishing past the peak of it yet. It still has not peaked, and the very best dry fly surface action is yet to happen. With that being said, get yourself out there to enjoy one of nature's most awesome spectacles. If you have not ever experienced the Deschutes River's Stonefly hatch, then you need to because watching aggressive hungry rainbows eat your two inch long fly is totally awesome!

Rainbow catching some air on the Deschutes River

Well Nikki and I did it! We got married at Sanibel Island, and it was a totally perfect wedding ceremony and reception. Could not have asked for a better wedding!

Welcoming our new marriage Nikki and Brian Marz

I know it is a fishing blog; so I will spare you all the non-fishing aspects of our trip, and I will get to the fishing side of what we experienced.

I fished right off the bat in the backyard pond at my parents house the first morning before we left for Sanibel Island. The afternoon we arrived was really nasty, and as we landed there was a torrential down pour. Luckily it ended at my parents house outside of Tampa, and we had heard the prediction was to stop raining at Sanibel too. The bass fishing was rather good for the quick session I had in the backyard.

First cast, and first fish of the Florida trip - Signs of good things to come.....

This "Kicker Frog" I tied was about 2 inched long - What a bucket mouth!

Another fine bass taken on the topwater frog pattern


This one was a tad bit smaller, but still very nice....

When we arrived at Sanibel the weather was breaking up, and it was lucky; since our pre-wedding party was about to start, and the wedding was the next day on the beach. Seemed like things were promising. Our party worked out very well, and the food, drink, and company were all wonderful. The next day, all I had to do was wait for the wedding; so Lance (my Father in Law), Randy, and I headed to fish the Blind Pass between Sanibel and Captiva Islands. Fishing was kind of tough because the water was stirred up from the recent weather, and the clarity was lacking. I did manage to get into a few fish, and had a nice snook come all the way to my feet before it swam back off to the mysterious holding water it came from. Spanish Mackeral were running, and even the dinks were scrappy.

Tiny little Spanish Mackerel like this will put a bend into an 8wt fly rod

Blind pass is always good for a few Ladyfish; which is a fun fish to catch while targeting other fish like Snook. They are quite scrappy for how small and skinny they are, and the nice sized ones will really surprise you at times.

Little Ladyfish like this can actually be entertaining on really slow fishing days.

Overall, I have experienced much better fishing at Blind Pass on a previous visit there, but it is always nice standing around in warm water; no matter how slow the fishing is. Plus I was rather excited being that I was going to be married in a few hours.

The wedding was totally amazing, and I can say it was the best moment of my life seeing Nikki walking down the aisle (beach) towards me about to become my wife. Best catch in the whole world for me!!

Nikki walking down the aisle towards me

After the wedding, we hung out at Sanibel for another day, and it was just a relaxing beach type of a day. We did find all sorts of interesting things on the beach, and one was this little monster. This little catfish could really do some damage for anyone wanting to impale themselves onto its pectoral fin. Its fin would grip extremely even just rubbing it along my finger. I thought of what a predator may feel trying to eat this fish.

Nice reverse barbs on the pectoral fins of this catfish......

One of the best parts of Sanibel Island is how the beaches are loaded with the most magical shells you could possibly fathom. The magical beaches were one of the reasons Nikki and I liked it so much there, and the place had a strong influence on where we wanted to get married.

Shells are like this just about everywhere at Sanibel


You can find the any shell you are seeking at Sanibel

We then took off to the east coast of Florida for a different change of pace for a day. We wanted to eat some awesome food and see some culture.....

The Best Pizza is at Rocco's!

A Southeast Florida beach scene is quite contrary to Oregon's

We then woke up early Monday morning to drive to the keys. We got there about 8am, and our first stop was at the famous Robbie's to feed the tarpon. It was as awesome as I always pictured it to be, but even cooler to see all of these huge fish waiting for you to feed them. Under them is a layer of huge jacks waiting to get the scraps that escape the tarpon.

Robbie's at Islamorada

They look at you with the "feed me" expression......

Some seriously large tarpon within hand feeding distance....

We then checked into the awesome place we scored to stay at for the week, and it was better than we anticipated it to be. The owner of the house was super nice and accommodating, and he told us where to find all of the good eats and drinks in Islamorada.

The dock with the palapa to hang out on and fish off of....

Life is too rough having to watch sunsets like this while having a beer....

View of the house from the dock.....what a pad! Wish we could live here!

We basically relaxed, fished, ate the freshest seafood, had good drinks, checked out Key West, went on a couple of guided trips, kayaked, and had toooooooooo much fun. I can write about our trip for days; so I will spare all of you from that. I can tell you that the Florida Keys are a totally amazing place to check out. The fishing is off the charts, and the scenery is dazzling. It is the only place I have been where you cannot tell the horizon from the water half of the time when the winds are calm. It is a like a desert oceanic oasis, but it is tropical. A super laid back attitude exists there, and I felt the similar attitude when I have had my visits to Hawaii. We will be back to the Florida Keys!!!

Click on Video Below to See Tarpon Trip Highlight:

Below are some pictures from our fun times at Islamorada. Too many to put up; so I just put a bunch up to show you all the general idea of what we got to experience.