Justin Witt
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Yeah, that’s funny. Pretty much the same thing happened to me with the biggest one I ever got. Was out with my Mom’s husband fishing bluegill right at dusk from the boat with a 5wt and little white/black popper, and a carp took it off the surface. Thirty minutes into the fight I still had no idea what the hell we had on, but when I finally did put it in the boat it’s lips were at my hip and it’s tail laying on the deck, which made it longer than my legs I (and I’m six four and a half). No clue really what that fish weighed but I would guess he was fifty or so. But in terms of the ones I am usually sight fishing too up there in the coves/flats they probably average about twenty pounds.
Hey Zach,
Awesome post, and awesome boat! I have a question though:
My Mom lives on a pretty decent size lake and I always fish for these things whenever I am up in the states and visiting her. Lots of days I would say they are one of my absolute favorite species of fish. Super spooky, super hard to figure out what they are going to eat and not eat any given day, and friggin’ huge (not to mention strong). What I am wondering though, is what are they? To me they look different than the carp in your photos above. I believe they are grass carp, but have never really been sure of my guess. Headed up there in July though (after Roosters in Baja!) and looking forward to wading the flats again. Let me know what you think these are and then plan on coming up to have a look at them yourself if you have time over the summer.
Justin Witt
Patagonia Unlimited
Skype ID = justin.c.witt
USA Office 1-404-783-2114
Argentina Office 011-549-2945686798 (dialed from the United States)
(02945) 15 686798 (dialed from within Argentina)
http://www.patagoniaunlimited.net
http://www.justanotherdayinpatagonia.comAttachments:
Hey Guys – I finally got the post done! Here’s the link: http://justanotherdayinpatagonia.com/
Will be posting stuff from our season down here in Argentina soon too,
Justin Witt
Patagonia Unlimited
Skype ID = justin.c.witt
USA Office 1-404-783-2114
Argentina Office 011-549-2945686798 (dialed from the United States)
(02945) 15 686798 (dialed from within Argentina)
http://www.patagoniaunlimited.net
http://www.justanotherdayinpatagonia.comHey Zach,
Yes, I am behind on this! Actually had your earlier email flagged and just yesterday started to get that list pared down to something halfway manageable. This is what happens though when I am running around all over the place, the correspondence starts to back-log. I truth as I type this now I am back home in Argentina, having just arrived from the Peruvian Amazon which is where I went when I left India, and so far none of that has made it even to the blog! I’ll catch up though.
Mahseer are friggin’ amazing fish. And strong. Even the five pounders can and will take you into backing. Sometimes they are super spooky and selective; sometimes they charge anything that comes near em’. A lot of the time I was sight fishing too and that was awesome. Here’s some pics to tide you over – I hope to have the blog post up soon and will make a post with a link to that.
Man – when are you coming down here to fish?
Hey Zach,
It’s both. I have some other things I need to do here too, but am totally stoked about the mahseer. Just flew in to Delhi last night and will be headed north into the himalaya on Sunday. Mahseer are supposed to be like a cross between grass carp and bonefish, except huge, and predatory. We’ll see! Look for an update soon.
I guess that’s one way to put it. I’m definitely looking forward to getting back to Patagonia, even if it will be a while and a lot of passport stamps between here and there. It looks like you get around as well though; I loved your New Zealand trip report!
Keep in touch,
Justin Witt
Patagonia Unlimited
Skype ID = justin.c.witt
USA Office 1-404-783-2114
Argentina Office 011-549-2945686798 (dialed from the United States)
(02945) 15 686798 (dialed from within Argentina)
http://www.patagoniaunlimited.net
http://www.justanotherdayinpatagonia.comThis is second-hand, but one of the guides I was with up in Russia told me he had done all last season in one of these boats and loved it. Oddly enough, he’s not even in the thing due to access issues, but says he liked the way it rowed in comparison to his rigid hull boat.
I’ll be really interested to hear what you think in the event that you make the switch. Might be an option for us down in Argentina too since we don’t pull trailers.
Justin Witt
Patagonia Unlimited
Skype ID = justin.c.witt
USA Office 1-404-783-2114
Argentina Office 011-549-2945686798 (dialed from the United States)
(02945) 15 686798 (dialed from within Argentina)
http://www.patagoniaunlimited.net
http://www.justanotherdayinpatagonia.comFor duck hunting in Georgia I believe you just have to kind of think outside the box. In other words, consider tactics and places that others don’t. For instance, I floated the Toccoa several years ago with a buddy in winter, and we had great fishing, plus shot our limit of mallards. Several of the rivers we commonly fished have great float trip duck hunting on them in winter, but nobody does it, because they just don’t associate those locations with the idea of hunting. I also used to shoot Canadas and ducks on several farm ponds all over the place, including one that actually bordered Kennesaw National Park. I have no idea whether or not it is legal or you can get away with these days discharging shotguns in suburban Cobb County, but back then it was awesome, and if you check out the laws my guess is there is still nothing specifically that prevents it as long as you are nowhere near a road or subdivision. Plenty of wood ducks around too if you know where to look for them. Just my thoughts!
You really aught to come down here and hunt with me sometime Zach. I grew up hunting Georgia with a trip to Iowa for Pheasants every year at Christmas, but I also grew up thinking that Granddad’s stories of “the way it used to be” we likely exaggerated. Then I moved to Patagonia. And the first time I flushed a covey of something like two hundred plus wild quail I just about messed my drawers. I talked to Granddad about it on my last trip up North there, apologized for having taken his stories for granted, and thanked my lucky stars that the population density of humans where I live now has the ratio it enjoys with the population density of birds. Most of my days throughout each winter are mixed bag affairs, with quail and snipe being my primary targets, but ducks and geese thrown into the mix to whatever degree I feel like that day, along with the occasional European hare. It’s not that the waterfowl and hares are scarce; in fact it’s the opposite, there are so many that shooting them just ends up feeling more like a meat-collection chore than it does hunting! So I focus on the little game birds, and have a hell of a lot of fun in the process. Looks like this year I’ll miss out on more or less the whole season though, since I’m slated to guide the Bahamas and then Kamchatka, not getting back down here until at least October by the time I stick around anchorage for a bit of spey casting with a cousin I haven’t seen in years. But when you get a chance let’s make some plans. You can even bring that awesome dog of yours down and we’ll let Negra show her the local ropes!
Justin Witt
Patagonia Unlimited
Skype ID = justin.c.witt
USA Office 1-404-783-2114
Argentina Office 011-549-2945686798 (dialed from the United States)
(02945) 15 686798 (dialed from within Argentina)
http://www.patagoniaunlimited.net
http://www.justanotherdayinpatagonia.comAttachments:
Hi Zach,
There is tons of Gheenoe friendly water out of Hopedale. A couple of different boat launches as well, but we are hitting the one just down the road from a place we are renting a camper from a guy named (yes I am serious) – “Captain Dude”. Standard Mapping makes a map they call the fast fold, and #304 (Shell Beach) is the one you want. They are available at any tackle shop in New Orleans. It is also quite helpful to have a GPS though with some downloaded maps on it. The boat ramps generally charge like $10 per launch, but they’ve also got ice and a small selection of supplies so you aren’t constantly running back in to the city. I’ll be back in Georgia in a week or so, and between then and the 19th when I head to the Bahamas I’d be happy to look at specific spots with you if you want, just give me a call.
Justin Witt
Patagonia Unlimited
Skype ID = justin.c.witt
USA Office 1-404-783-2114
Argentina Office 011-549-2945686798 (dialed from the United States)
(02945) 15 686798 (dialed from within Argentina)
http://www.patagoniaunlimited.net
http://www.justanotherdayinpatagonia.comExcellent how-to writing Zach, and thanks for the link. I do have a few of those already in my box down here actually, and use them, but you can see the reaction they get from locals; this is Paulino Arias, the Godfather of fly fishing in my area of Chubut province, laughing so hard he can’t even keep his eyes open. I’ll pack em’ up for New Orleans though for sure!
Attachments:
Where were you fishing these for reds?
Justin Witt
Patagonia Unlimited
Skype ID = justin.c.witt
USA Office 1-404-783-2114
Argentina Office 011-549-2945686798 (dialed from the United States)
(02945) 15 686798 (dialed from within Argentina)
http://www.patagoniaunlimited.net
http://www.justanotherdayinpatagonia.comYeah, the Etowah rocks. Too bad its been through so much down below though. National Geographic actually did a piece many years ago about the rivers of North America, and the Etowah was listed as the most bio-diverse river in North America. Makes sense I guess, given that it drains basically the southern end of the oldest mountain range in the world. I’ve heard there’s been a big sturgeon reintroduction down below Alatoona; might be interesting to see how that is going and if they can be caught on flies from a canoe…
Awesome post Zach. Have you ever shot the tunnel? Do you know about it? Back in the day I actually ran the Etowah all the way from its headwaters to its confluence with the Ustanala (sp?) where the Coosa forms in Rome, and then even from there on down to the border. Before all the houses went in there was excellent deer and duck hunting between Cartersville and Rome in the winter, and I think you already know about the striper run in the spring. But that upper stretch is really cool, and still really wild. Anyway the tunnel, which I think is probably not too many miles downstream of where you guys took out, is friggin’ awesome. It’s where this gold mining company a long time ago bored a hole through an entire mountain, with air shafts going all the way to the top, and then for some reason diverted like half the river to flow through it. You’ve got to take a look before you run it to make sure no log jams have formed inside, but its a hell of a ride, losing quite a bit of elevation as you shoot the drops inside in the dark.
Man, what a friggin’ shame. Like my buddy Mauricio always says though, “People’s nuts man, people’s nuts.”
Hi Steve,
Great to hear from you, and glad you enjoyed the blog. Oddly enough “On the Spine of Time” is sitting in my lap here at the airport this morning in Iquitos! I guess us Appalachian boys stick together no matter where we are in the world.
~Justin
<cite> @jonconner said:</cite>
Is what they’re doing even legal?
JCWhy wouldn’t it be?
