CLUB OUTINGS
For reports on recent Outings by Club Members scroll down below the Calendar of 2008 Outings.


Tony Saviano has gratiously volunteered to help with the Club Outings going forward. Tony will welcome other folks to jump in to help him.

Tony's contact details:
Tony Saviano, Outings Chairman - email: tsaviano@verizon.net, Home phone: 941-727-0501



Here is the planned calender of MCFF Outings for 2008...
April 19 - Emerson Point - 8 AM to 2 PM, Saltwater species - refreshments
May 17 - Venice Recycling Plant - 8 AM to Noon, Freshwater species - refreshments
May 24 - Pine Island - 8 AM to 3 PM, Saltwater species - refreshments
June 16-17 - Homassassa Springs - 8 AM to 3 PM, Saltwater/Freshwater - refreshments
July 12 - Ft. DeSoto Park - 8 AM to 2 PM, Saltwater species - refreshments
August 16 - Longboat Key - 8 AM to 2 PM, Saltwater species - refreshments
Sept. 15-16 - Mosquito Lagoon - 8 AM to 3 PM, Saltwater species - refreshments
October 11 - Sarasota Bay - 8 AM to 2 PM, Saltwater species - refreshments
Oct. 20-21 - Everglades/ Alligator Alley - 8 AM to 3 PM, Freshwater species - refreshments
November 15 - Braden River - 8 AM to 2 PM, Freshwater species - refreshments

For more details, or to sign up for these outings, talk to Tony Saviano at our Monthly Meetings, or contact Tony by email: tsaviano@verizon.net, or phone: 941-727-0501


OUTINGS REPORT - Manatee River Outing A Wet One
Old man weather (or is it now old person weather) didn’t smile on the brave anglers who made the trip to the Manatee River outing. The overcast skies that greeted us when we arrived took a steady turn for the worse, resulting in a very abbreviated event.

Honors for the day went to Joe Desimone who hooked and released (very carefully) what looked like a ten pound Gar, about three feet in length. Tony Saviano, fishing from his kayak, managed a Redfish 2 Ladyfish and a Trout. Preston Jones had 4 Ladyfish. Pat Beckwith caught a catfish but lost a ladyfish.

We’re looking forward to good participation at the Lake Manatee Outing on Saturday, the 12th. Tony is off to a flying start as Outings Chairman, and his ambitious plans for a couple of outings a month, with a good mix of salt and freshwater events, are already creating lots of enthusiasm.

Here’s hoping that MCFFers give these outings, and Tony, the support they so richly deserve.
Bob Wiser
Outings Reporter

MEMBERS FISHING REPORT - GEORGIA TRIP
I went to North Georgia, with my old fishing buddy recently, to fish the private trout streams around Helen. We booked the two day trip with Union Outfitters to fish the Chestatee River at Frog Hollow and the north river access.

A great trip, the stuff dreams are made of. The streams were in good shape and the trout very willing. We caught, in two days, over one hundred trout, all rainbows, between three and four pounds with the largest reaching eight pounds.

Compared to a similar trip last year, the fish averaged smaller but were much more abundant. I changed tactics this year using 1/64 oz jig flies as the dropper fly to avoid the use of split shot and a foam indicator in place of the yarn indicator, a much easier casting setup for me.

The tailing fly was attached to the dropper fly. Last year all the fish I took were on the tailing fly. This year most of the fish took the dropper fly, either my crawfish fly or a black jig woolly bugger. The most telling tailing flies were a pink San Yuan worm, a small stonefly, a small gray hackle or a flashback nymph.

At one point on the Chestatee fishing sans indicator and only the crawfish fly I took enough fish to practice quick releases prior to bringing the fish in. I think most part sinking flies would have worked and had I remained stationary long enough the trout may have started sampling me.

It is a long trip, about nine hours driving but the memories are worth it.
Joe Bursel

PHOTO: The combined SFF, TBFFC and MCFF members at the Don Coleman

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MCFF now has a Boy Scouts of America Fly Fishing Merit Badge program.
To learn more about this new program, click here...

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Outings/Activities Report
Andros, May 26 - 30, 2007

For more photos and this same report, click here...

Lynx Airways Flight 721 maneuvered through the clouds and ‘bumpy’ air to a landing in South Andros. The fact that the flight was 90 minutes late arriving did not seem to bother the ten Mangrove Coasters on-board anxiously awaiting the onset of the 2007 Andros bonefishing excursion. Everyone was too excited to care.

After a short transfer from the airport to our temp home for four days (Andros South Lodge) the group settled in and made preparations for the next three days of flats fishing for Bones. The fact that the wind was blowing 30 to 40 mph, the sky’s overcast with occasional showers and according to our host had been such for two weeks did not appreciably diminish the excitement. All were hopeful the winds would lay and the clouds whisked away.

Hope springs eternal but the fact is Sunday dawned densely overcast, raining and very windy (30 mph). It was a difficult day. Fish were extremely hard to spot and very spooky (due to clouds passing over and noise from the wind). Nonetheless, Bill Lent managed three Bones. His fishing partner Melissa Littlewood hooked a few but as she puts it “they escaped. Given the conditions these were significant feats. For the most part blind optimism was replaced by hope for lower winds and more sun.

The second day dawned with some of the hope assuaged. Less rain, intermittent clouds and sunshine but still lots of wind (25 to 30 mph). However, as the saying goes, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” All Coasters (save one) caught a fish or two or three. There was much joy and spirit at the end of the day. John Freeman, our illustrious President took the prize for the largest fish of the day: nearly five pounds.

Tuesday was a dramatic improvement over the previous two days. White puffy cumulus clouds and abundant sunshine and thankfully MUCH LOWER WINDS (12-20 mph). Still not calm but in comparison to the previous days, heavenly. Like the weather catching improved exponentially. Everybody caught multiple numbers of fish on this last day. Top honors for the most fish went to Roger Williams and his fishing partner who each boated 25 fish ranging up to five and a quarter pounds. Honors for the largest fish; Melissa Littlewood with a Bone a little over six pounds. Fish in the range of four to five and a half pounds were common throughout the day.

I want to personally congratulate Tony Johnson, Tony Ryan, Dennis Kowal, John Freeman, Jr. (the good looking one), John Freeland and those mentioned previously for their perseverance and success under what were not the most ideal fishing conditions. Clearly the guides and lodge host and staff were impressed with your prowess and will remember the Mangrove Coast Fly Fishers and welcome MCFF back. I personally can’t wait to get more land crab, conch, and Bahamian potatoes.

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See the CLUB CALENDAR page for other club events.

To View PAST OUTINGS pages, click here... and here... and here...

LET’S GO FLY FISHING TOGETHER SOON!