Fish Kill Update

I have received several emails asking about the fish kill in Tampa Bay and I found these pictures in the newspaper yesterday. In one retirement community they removed over 8 tons of dead fish… Where I live they also removed a bunch, since I don’t keep up with the goings on around here, I missed the opportunity to participate. Although, when out fishing with a buddy of mine the other day, we picked up two large trash bags full and could have done that many times over, we just collected the ones near the boat ramp.

Sadly many of the fish were snook, but happily the majority were tilapia and salt water catfish and some mullet.

Jim

2010 Yes Bay Guide Staff!

Our Guide staff for 2010 is all set. We had a ton of applicants and were lucky to stay focused and hire only guides with full time guide experience.

Our complete staff from last year is returning with the exception of one - Capt Sean Hagen (Shamrock) will not be returning. You might recall he and his girlfriend Ashton (Our wonderful bartender) went to town one weekend last season and got married. They were engaged before they arrived in Alaska. Well the honeymoon must have worked, because Ashton is due to have a baby in a month or so, which means Sean will be changing diapers instead of fishing in Alaska. Congratulations Sean and Ashton!

Slice returns for his 17th year and Slammer returns for his 11th year, Kicker and I return for our 4th years, Axeman returns for his 3rd year, Batman returns for his 2nd year and we have 5 new guides for 2010.


Capt John Luman - John hails from Oregon and has a ton of Pacific NW fishing experience as well as several years of Alaska fishing, so we are glad to have him. That is a nice King Salmon he has there, we expect many more in 2010!


Capt Guy Hickman will be the youngster of the bunch and hails from the Florida area. Guy runs a guide service out of Vero Beach on the east coast of Florida. For those of you who are not familiar with Florida fish - Guy is in the water with what is known as a Goliath Grouper, formerly called a Jewfish, until someone decided it was not politically correct and changed the name. They are a protected species and must be released. They have been known to weigh up to 700 pounds.



Capt Phil Chieco is another Florida guide and fishes from the east coast of Florida as well. Phil has a real nice dolphin fish (No relation to the Dolphin mammal), very good eating. It is also know as Mahi Mahi on the west coast and in Hawaii.

We have one other new guide - Capt Greg Wickline, no picture yet as he is very busy working running a supply boat between Miami and Haiti to help with the Earthquake relief effort. He can be commended for his service and getting involved. He promises to send a picture when he returns back to home in a week or so.

I will be sure to post it here.

I look forward to fishing with these guys for the 2010 season and beyond. Yes Bay Lodge is proud of the fact that we are always able to secure top quality fishing guides and 2010 promises more of the same.

Capt Jim Lucas
Professor

Cold Weather Damage

It is hard to believe how much damage our cold winter has caused, the fish kill seems to get bigger and bigger everyday. Mostly because the water is warming up and now the dead fish are beginning to float and it is much more obvious the amount of fish that have died. The good news is, the fishing still remains pretty good, the trout and redfish were not affected too much. Seems that the only real sport fish that has been seriously affected is the Snook. A fish we all value and had just made a huge come back from the red tide from several years ago. So hopefully the season closure will help them again regain a strong footing in Tampa Bay.

Agriculture also took a huge hit with the strawberry season cut short, the orange groves have suffered and the vegetable farms got almost entirely wiped out. Another little know industry is the tropical fish farms, they were devastated. Most will be out of business as they had no way to keep their breeding ponds warm and lost their entire crop. So if you have an aquarium, plan on spending more for some of those little tropical fish!

I took my walk yesterday morning at Sunken Gardens, just to see how much damage there and it was depressing. This place is normally very lush and green and the sun barely shines through the canopy of the jungle. Sadly, they will have much planting to do and trimming before the spring wedding season as there are many weddings performed there. I was happy to see the resident flamingos were still in their glory and took a few pictures.





Then it was off to Sawgrass Park for my real walk along the boardwalk for my exercise. It was very dead there as well, but managed to see a nice squirrel and a baby gator, so it made the trip worthwhile...







I have finished hiring all the guides for the 2010 season at Yes Bay Lodge, we will have a great crew again, with all but one guide from last year returning. Sean (Shamrock) Hagen will be changing diapers while we are fishing, he and Ashton are expecting a baby soon and she refused to give him a hall pass to come back to Alaska. We are planning on a full crew for 2010 as bookings are very strong, so if you have yet to make your reservations you better get to phoning Kris. There are some great show specials right now, so make you plans and join me and crew at Yes Bay in 2010!

Capt Jim
Professor.

Tampa Bay Fish Kill

The picture above is from the newspaper.

Here is a nice trout I caught.

I went out fishing yesterday and it was a very slow day. Water temperature is still way low and the fish are not chewing. The water temperature in the bay and along the beaches went down into the low 40’s which has caused a pretty major fish kill in Tampa Bay and in fact in most areas of the state of Florida. So much so that the Fish and Game has decided to extend the block on keeping any Snook this year. There are literally thousands of dead snook floating around the Bay and with the season scheduled to begin on the first of February, they decided to keep it closed for at least the rest of this year and they may extend it for another year after some final research on the total kill.

Jim

Alaska 2009

Here are some pictures that I took on my trip to and from Alaska this year!



Enjoy,

Capt Jim

Christmas Gifts

I decided to do something different for the girls in my life this year and all summer I collected Otoliths (Ear Bones) from the yellow eye snapper which were caught on my boat. Sometimes I passed them on to my guests and sometimes they made it into my collection for the summer, with the plan to have some jewelry made for my sister, my niece and my grand niece.

So now that Christmas is over and the secret is out, I can show you how they turned out!



The Otolith or earbone is particularly large in most bottom fish or reef fish as opposed to swimming species such as the salmon or tuna. They have long been collected as good luck charms and were very popular as jewelry among Native Americans.

I had a local jeweler who makes custom jewelry order in the ear ring stock, then drill a small hole and mount them on the ear ring stock. They are quite striking and certainly unique.



All packaged up in a nice jewelry box they are very nice and made a very unique gift and something that very few people will have or for even know what they are.



All of the ear rings I made this year were from Otoliths from the yellow eye snapper. These are also called Red Snapper in Alaska, very similar to a grouper from Florida although bright orange in color. They are also a VERY tasty meal and a prized catch in Alaska! The largest caught on my boat this year weighed over 11 pounds and there were a couple a little bigger brought in by other boats.

In many cultures these are called "Lucky Stones'., on one side an angled groove forms an "L" or "J" and are said to represent "Love & Joy". They have been found at ancient Indian archaeological sites and were used in commerce and worn for decoration and worn as good luck charms to prevent sickness. Ancients considered them valuable in treating certain diseases.

According to history, Otoliths were known as far back as at least to the time of Aristotle. For centuries Lucky Stones have been used as protective Amulets to ward off evil, made into jewelry and traded into far away lands.

Scientists value the Otolith, because they contain growth rings and can very accurately determine the age of a fish and it's growing cycle.

Enjoy,

Capt Jim

Happy New Years!

Gulf Sunset!



My Good Friends:
Johnny K Marshall (Tramp) and Sandy Strickland (Lady)
Ready for a true Southern Dinner: Fried Chicken, Black eyed peas, rice and gravy, dressing, and of course some collard greens.



Very Cheap entertainment!



The ever watchful Hound Dog at rest!



Florida Wild Pig!


My New Years weekend was an absolute blast! Took off from St Pete Friday afternoon and drove for about 2 1/2 hours North to Crystal River to finally visit some old Yes Bay Lodge friends from the 2007 season. Sandy (Lady) and Johnny K (Tramp). Johhny went back to work as an engineer and has been working for the past 16 months at the Crystal River Nuclear plant, in charge of the rebuild of one of the steam generators. That job is almost complete and he is not sure where he will be heading next, so I figured I better get up there to see them since it had been since end of season 2007 since I had laid eyes on them

Not a bad drive up, got there mid-afternoon and as soon as I arrived, Johhny K was out starting the boat and off we went for a short boat ride and fishing adventure. Cold as hell out, but we still managed to catch a couple trash fish, something he is very good at!

So a wonderful boat ride and a beautiful sunset over the Gulf! Clear skies and very cold weather were on the horizon, but we were going to fish the next day no matter what. Johhny K just had to prove to me he knew where the fish were! He actually gave me a choice, fish, pig hunt or go deer hunting. I chose fishing.

Back at the dock we all headed into the house to warm up and it was Happy Hour! Johnny K had made up some special fish sauce which he put with some salmon before dinner which was fantastic. I will be putting this in the new Yes Bay cookbook which I am working on now!

Sandy had some chicken set out to fry and we were in for a true southern fried chicken dinner, which was wonderful! Add rice and gravy, some collard greens and blackeyed peas and it was a meal to remember! More drinks and some great conversation finished out the evening then off to bed for a good nights rest before heading out on the boat in the morning.

About 4 AM, I awoke to sounds in the kitchen and lo and behold, Johnny K was up working on some recipe he had learned in India for our breakfast. I went back to bed and let him keep experimenting.

Up around 7:30 or so to some great smells from the kitchen, fresh bacon was cooking and Johhny K was still working on getting some crepes to come out right to be filled with the India concoction. Table set and everything ready to go. Good scrambled eggs, bacon and these wonderful crepes with a potato filling that was wonderful.

We drank some coffee after breakfast and waited until the air warmed up a little before heading out for some fishing. Did manage to see some wild pigs on the beach which was fun, guess we should have gone pig hunting! About 10 hours later and after anchoring in about 49 spots and freezing our asses off, it was nearly dark again and I had a grand total of 2 fish on the line...1 ladyfish and 1 very small saltwater catfish. Sandy had manged 2 lady fish and finally at the last stop, Johnny K managed to hook a lady fish! So, Ol Johnny K had once again proved to me that he knew where the trash fish were!

I will give him the benefit of the doubt, the water temperature had fallen down to less than 55 degrees and the fish just were not biting.

Back in the house to warm up again and have some cocktails then a wonderful steak dinner. A little more wonderful conversation catching up and reliving old memories, then time for bed again.

Another early morning wakening to wonderful smells from the kitchen. This time a true southern breakfast. More bacon, some eggs and some cheese grits, cheese toast and fresh coffee and juice. Who could ask for more!

Sadly it was time for me to return home and get back to work, but it was a wonderful way to spend my New Years weekend!

Captain Jim

Behind The Scene's News!

I have received numerous requests for copies of the various pictures which are posted on the blog. For the most part, they are available by right clicking on the photo and saving it. However, these are low resolution versions and are not that good when printing.

So in an effort to remedy this problem, I have upgraded my SmugMug account to allow people to purchase prints of any of the photographs that are on the site. This includes virtually all of the 2009 Catch pictures. They are divided by the months and you can easily find the pictures you want with a little searching and just put them in your shopping cart, when you are in a gallery just click on the thumbnail picture on the left side and a larger version will show up on the right side. Then there is a drop down above the picture that says “BUY” you can either buy that picture or buy pictures from this gallery, I find it easier to just say buy this picture and then select the size you want and the quantity you want. Then return to the gallery and select any additional ones you would like.

The pictures that are uploaded are small versions and some of the larger print sizes will not be available. If you have a particular photo that you would like a larger version of, highlight the photo and hit the “INFO” and get the file name and email it to me and I will find the original picture and upload it within a couple days and will let you know by email that the large size is now available and you can go online and order it.

Feel free to poke around my SmugMug site and in addition to the “Catch” pictures, there are some wonderful pictures of the Lodge and other scenes around Alaska which are all also available for sale.

In the side bar of this page are several slide type shows, all of these will link directly to the SmugMug site or you can click this link to go directly there:

http://captjim.smugmug.com/

Crew – I have heard you and will be gradually adding some more of the crew photos onto SmugMug in case anyone wants prints. I have also put a few of the videos up, thanks to Kenny and Joel. Also, out of spite, I have put the much requested “Living with Ron” video from the 2007 season.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and we all look forward to a fantastic 2010! Make sure you have made your reservations for this upcoming season as the show season starts in a few days and will fill up quickly. Our bookings remain strong for this coming year!

Captain Jim

(Professor)

Wednesday December 30th Fishing Trip

Fish ON!

Nice Over Slot Red Fish

Capt Jim with a nice Red Fish

Beautiful Speckled Sea Trout

White Pelicans

White Pelicans

White Pelicans

Capt Dave Dant - Premier Guide

I have not been fishing in Florida other than from my dock since my return to Florida from Alaska in October, so in an effort to help a good friend and one of the best fishing guides in the Tampa Bay area with some marketing and photography, we took a little trip out to the Boca Ciega Bay and Fort Desoto area of Tampa Bay yesterday and as expected (??) had a great day of fishing and some nice pictures of just a couple of the fish we caught.

Honestly, I was a little surprised at our success although I should not have been, because as I mentioned Dave is one of the premier guides in the Tampa Bay area and he picked the time and place based on tides and previous experience, although I am not too sure he considered the weather.

Yesterday was the coldest day we have experienced thus far this winter. When I arrived at the dock in Gulfport the temperature was a brisk 43 degrees with light winds, cold and clear. We departed right on time at 7:00 am and headed to our first spot less than a 15 minute run away and I managed 3 real nice trout on my first 4 casts. We were looking for redfish, but spotted some nice trout, so why not! In another 30 minutes of searching we spotted some tailing redfish and brought a real nice one to the boat and hooked several more which we didn’t photograph. We tried to avoid taking the stressed fish out of the water, so we only took pictures of a couple of the bigger fish.

After working that area for a while, we decided the tide had come in enough to try the Fort Desoto area and off we went for about a 20 minute run and in no time Dave had us on some more big redfish. As the day progressed the temperature rose an unbelievable 30 degrees and by the afternoon we were fishing in a warm bright sunny Florida winter day at about 73 degrees. It was fantastic.

We made sure to stop by and see the beautiful white pelicans which are winter residents and managed a couple nice photos although they spooked a little too quick for any real close shots, but we managed a couple anyway.

Fishing with Dave is a very unique experience. Dave specializes in what is becoming a lost art, Sight Fishing. Which means stalking the fish and casting to a visible fish, sometimes not always clearly visible by the angler, but Dave’s keen vision tells you 6 boat lengths at 2 o’clock and off you go! Too many guides these days rely on trolling motors and best guess practices to catch fish. Dave works hard up on the poling platform hand poling the boat into the ideal position, very quietly, for the best opportunity to make a great cast to the feeding fish.

His specialty is sight fishing for Tarpon in the summer months and tackling them on fly! There are not many guides left in Florida that can say they specialize in this form of Tarpon fishing.

Visit his website and if you are looking for a unique fishing experience book him for a charter to remember.

I think a true professional guide should have at least the following four qualities.

1. Great equipment

2. Work hard for their customers

3. Be a great conversationalist

4. Catch fish based on his customers abilities.

I can honestly say that Dave exceeds all of these characteristics. I had a great day and we had some great conversation about his tarpon season and his plans for the upcoming season. I just wish I could talk him into coming up to Yes Bay for a season. But he doesn’t feel his girlfriend would appreciate his absence and right now wants to focus on building his business in the Tampa Bay market.

I asked Dave to put together a summary report of this past summer’s fishing and you will see it shortly on his blog, which I created last February, but did not bother to give him detailed instruction on working with uploading pictures and keeping it current, which we will be doing very shortly. So stay tuned for more details on his fishing adventures.

Dave’s website: http://www.sightfishtarpon.com/

Dave’s Fishing Report Blog: http://sightfishtarpon.blogspot.com/

Capt Jim Lucas

My web site: http://www.captainjimlucas.com/

My Fishing Report and Travel Blog: http://captjimtravelblog.blogspot.com/

From St Petersburg, FL

Oh and by the way…I leave tomorrow for another adventure of sorts. I am heading up to Crystal River Florida to visit some old Alaska friends…Lady and Trap from the 2007 season at Yes Bay. They were guides there for the 2007 season. And from what I hear, Tramp has finally caught a fish in Florida!! We’ll see!

Crew 2009 Videos

Here are 4 different really great videos that were prepared by some of the crew this past year.


The infamous group of Kenny Browning who did most of the creation of these wonderful memories and Joel Swanson and PJ Mack - collected from all the crew a bunch of photos and merged it all into a wonderful DVD complete with sound and everything.

I received mine today and decided that is was certainly Blog Worthy and converted them to AVI files and uploaded them to the blog, they were downsampled to reduce the size, but still came out great, so take a few minutes and enjoy some of the highlights from our 2009 season for the crew.

Video number 1 is a great compilation of our 2009 summer!




Video Number 2 highlights some of the crews fishing exploits!




Video Number 3 highlights a little of the scenery and wildlife from 2009!



And finally Video Number 4 is just some great Crew Fun Shots!





Thanks Kendog and Joel for taking the time to collect all the pictures and make them into a wonderful DVD for us all to share with our friends and family!

Now we are looking forward to 2010...make plans to join us.

Capt Jim
(Professor)

BTW - Don't mind some of the misspelled words in the titles...Kendog is only a sophomore in college and the other two morons are college graduates?? Must be a midwest thing! Don't they teach spelling in like elementary school??

The Professor just has to Bust their A%% one more time!

Merry Christmas 2009

I got a wonderful Christmas card from my Niece with the attached photo of my two favorite girls in the world, lovely Nicole and her new baby sister Rachael. Hard to believe 2009 is almost over! Christmas is generally a quiet day around my house in St Petersburg, however, it is a wonderful day and a time to reflect on the year past and the year upcoming.


2010 promises to be a challenge and a time for us all to work hard to contemplate the short comings of our government and work hard to make sure that we elect some new government officials, it just might be nice to find a few that actually follow what their constituents want to have happen and not bow to the graft and corruption which seems to prevail in Washington these days.


Just when I start to worry about what my next project to work on will be, something comes along that directs me in my future endeavors and I can easily see that my focus will be on ending the terms of at least 60 people in the Senate and as many in congress as I can find as well. Thank goodness voting records don’t lie, so it should be easy to decide who goes and who stays. Although, quite frankly finding any worthy of staying will be a challenge.


Well enough of the political crap, I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday season and a joyous and happy New Year with at least several days planned for Yes Bay in 2010.


Merry Christmas,


Capt Jim

Fishing With Captain Jim

Got a really nice Christmas card from one of my Yes Bay Customers today and it had a USBMemory stick with these two really nice videos, as well as a whole bunch of pictures.

I Figured I would share these so everyone can see what the fishing is like at Yes Bay Lodge.

This was taken in September and we were fishing primarily for Silver Salmon. We had a really great time and caught some very nice fish.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year with a trip scheduled to Yes Bay Lodge included!

Capt Jim
Professor

Blog Worthy Barbara!

The wonderful view from the 14th floor - looking West!

The Life Guard stand across the street - Looking East!

The redone kitchen from my last visit - getting ready to change the ceiling light to track lighting!

Damn - What a mess - lots to do!

Gutted bathroom

More work on getting the new sink ready to hook up!

Almost finished - just a towel bar left to go!

Master Bath - new vanity

I have been very busy lately – Made a trip to Miami (I hate Miami), but went down to see an old friend, YES, I do have some friends! She lives in a beautiful condo on Miami Beach and needed some items repaired, so I went down to work for a week and ATTEMPT to empty her job jar! Jesus, the list was long.

Gutted the second bathroom (1/2 bath), total rebuild. New vanity, toilet, ceiling, light, mirror and all the fixtures. Came out very nice, beautiful update. Damn I do good work! Did some tile work on the balcony, put up a new ceiling in the entrance hallway and solved an air conditioning leak. Put up three new track lights, one in the kitchen, which I redid a couple years ago, one in the dining area and one in the master bedroom.

The bathroom came out so good, she decided a new vanity was needed in the master bath as well…of course! So another trip to Home Depot and some more destruction and construction and another days work.

Plus she had a bunch of that furniture that you have to put together and a “closet system” for the master bedroom walk in closet. More destruction and construction and then of course trying to decipher instructions for putting the computer hutch together and two sets of drawers. Trying to find “part A” and determining which screw or fastener they want you to use…what a pain in the ass! All completed and a great time was had by all. Good company, good pay and some fantastic meals!

Went out to my favorite rib place – Tony Romas…and Barbara even bought some wonderful Florida Lobster for one meal and some great gulf shrimp for another meal.

I arrived back in St Pete on Tuesday and unloaded all my tools and got back to getting some work done for the Lodge – still trying to hire a few guides and working on some promotional material for the upcoming Sportsman Shows which begin in early January.

Anyways, just a little update on my activities…

I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday Season

Merry Christmas to all!

Enjoy,

Jim

OH - One other thing - I was finally convinced to open a "Facebook" page - not too sure I really needed something else to keep up with...

But here it is:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?v=wall&id=100000156373287#/home.php?ref=home

The Pirate Flies in 2010

Work is moving right along on the new airplane and the marketing effort for Pirate Airworks is in full swing! The above photos are of the newspaper ad which will be published in the coming weeks in Ketchikan and the poster is the poster prepared for the various trade shows where we attend to promote Yes Bay Lodge as well as now Pirate Airworks. You can click on them and they will open up to read the fine print!

If you are planning on returning to Yes Bay Lodge this next season, you would be wise to make your reservations soon as many of the prime times are already filling up.

Call Kris right away at 800-999-0784 or 907-617-0804 and ask about our latest specials and get your reservations booked now!!

As for me, I have been very busy getting all this artwork completed and working on the Christmas mailing and some more flyers for the show specials. Also continuing to update the web sites for 2010 and interviewing guides for the upcoming season. Looks like we will have a very solid professional crew again for the coming year! All full time fishing guides!

2010 promises to be another great year at Yes Bay – Make plans to join us!

Capt Jim

(Professor)

Pirate Flies Again!!!

Latest News from around the Lodge – October 24^th, 2009

There is a bunch happening at the Lodge during the winter months! Several big projects are underway and Kevin just arrived back in Ketchikan after attending a show in San Diego. Bookings are strong for next year, looks like we will have a strong year, so if you are considering heading back up to Yes Bay Lodge next summer, you better contact Kris and get your reservations in. So far we have over 500 bed nights booked for next season.

Pirate Air Works will be flying again and that is Kevins largest project right now. He has a DeHavilland Beaver completely rebuilt, only thing lacking is a paint job and the interior. It is a total rebuild, with a rebuilt air frame, all new skin, brand new motor and all new or rebuilt electronics. It will be another first class job, paint will be very similar to 87 Charlie (See Picture). Full intercom system with noise reducing head phones and 2 way communication and stereo for the pilot and passengers. Pirate will base the plane at the Lodge and it will be used to fly tours not only from the Lodge for our guests, but will be available for tours originating in town for cruise ship passengers and tourists. I am working on the web site as we speak, look for another email shortly with the new information.

At the Lodge there are several construction projects underway keeping Dewey and Art busy. All new bathroom floors are being installed in the river wing of the Lodge and a new float plane dock is being built on the waterfront. Including a ramp and shed for the airplane since we will be keeping the plane at the Lodge next year.

For those past guests there is a new Customer Testimonial blog where you can leave comments about your experience at Yes Bay Lodge.

Click here: http://ybltestimonials.blogspot.com/

Feel free to leave a comment, we know you had a great time, so let everyone know about it!!

As for me, I am finally back in Florida after an extended trip home, I had a great trip and was able to take some wonderful pictures of the scenery in the Canadian Rockies, Montana, Salt lake City and Ohio.

Check my blog for more details of my trip.

http://captjimtravelblog.blogspot.com/

Enjoy,

Capt Jim

Around My Old Hometown

Tuesday October 6^th, 2009 through Saturday October 10,2009

I have been spending time with family the past few days and will be here until Monday, when I fly home to St Petersburg for the winter.

Today the sun finally came out, although it is getting colder tonight, but at least I could take a drive around the town where I grew up and take a few pictures.

Interesting day, everything seems so much smaller than I remember…

Anyway, enjoy the pictures.

Jim