Sunday September 21, 2025

Switching Gears: From Spey to Tarpon Prep

With Coho season behind me, I finally put the Spey rods away and turned my attention to fly tying for tarpon — just three weeks away now. The reports coming in from Alaska sound all too familiar: big flows, low numbers, tough weather. Mike even said the week after we left was slower than ours, which makes me feel like we made the most of a difficult week.

Not every trip can be spectacular, but every tough season seems to have a silver lining. This year’s was reconnecting with Glen Chen. Glen’s recent Swing Magazine article pushed me back over the edge into the world of click-pawl reels, and on the Sapsuk I finally ditched my silent drags in favor of a Green Loop Classic 7/9  (built like a Hardy Cascapedia) and a VR Salar.

That small mechanical click has become addictive. I even reached out to Vlad at VR to see if he could build me a saltwater reel with 20 lbs of sealed drag and a click-pawl. I’m also planning to buy one of Glen’s Hardy Duchess reels for my collection. Hardy is still the king of click-pawl reels, and in my research I stumbled on reviews for the Hardy Fortuna — a large-arbor, fast-pickup reel that looks very tempting. If only it had a clicker, it would be, well… the Perfect.

With the pink now eliminated from the Fly Tying Desk,  its time to tie baby tarpon flies. Im going with he tried and true EP tarpon flies and some shrimp flies that I tied for the lake that are slow sink.  Lee Haskin is leading the trip and I made a last minute decision to fill a spot that was open as a single.    Should be redemtion for my earlier trip this year where I got distracted by a couple grandchildren in Cancun.    Im going to bring the Bad Ass Glass with a click pawl just for kicks.  Should be epic fun or total disaster or both.

---

Back to the Forebay

Yesterday, Ken Oda texted me after fishing the Forebay, saying there were a bunch of small stripers busting around the islands. He had caught only two keepers, but that was all the excuse I needed to get the gear loaded for a morning session.

I also remembered that last year around this time, kayakers reported finding giant redear sunfish at Mederious. So I packed worms and repaired my trolling motor belt over the weekend — riveting it back onto the shaft. Still, I think it might be time to upgrade. My motor keeps blowing fuses if I run it on “10” for more than five minutes, and Vaughn had his share of trolling motor drama too. These things are definitely high-maintenance.

---

On the Water: Hunting for Schools

First stop was livescoping the dock — no schools of fish in deeper water. I ran to the 156 channel where Ken had been fishing, posted up high, and drifted the weed line with 15-mph wind at my back. Nothing.

I checked the flats, the trench, even wind-drifted from 15 feet of water all the way to Mederious. Just a couple dinks. Fish were there, but not chasing. I downsized to smaller flies, lighter leaders, and a pulse disc.

At Mederious rock wall I found one decent largemouth, but no stripers. I then switched tactics completely — freelining worms in shallow weed pockets, searching for those giant bluegill. The weeds have really taken over — couldn’t find much gravel bottom.

---

Powerhouse Payoff

Things turned around at the powerhouse. Water was flowing, birds were sitting on the dam, and fish were cruising the weed line. Most of my fish came off the rocks here. Slow strips weren’t working, but once I sped things up, they started eating. The pulse disc seemed to make a difference.

By the end of the day, I landed a little over a dozen fish — about half of them keepers — plus four more largemouth. I’m getting the hang of pulling LMB out of the weeds: short, sharp strips, then a long pause near the boat. They almost always hit on the drop.

I wrapped it up around 3:00 to make a dinner date with friends. Good thing I left when I did — got a flat tire halfway down the pass. After three flats in ten years, I’ve got my pit-stop routine dialed in: lithium impact wrench, scissor jack — quick change and back on the road.

---

Field Test: Meta 2 Smart Glasses

I also tested my new Meta 2 smart glasses on the water today, and I have to say, they’re a game-changer. A quick tap on the temple or “Hey Meta, take a video” and you’re recording crisp 3K ultra-wide footage — perfect for hands-free B-roll and Livescope captures without opening ActiveCaptain. The 32 GB of onboard storage syncs wirelessly to the Meta View app for quick editing and sharing.  Its amazing that it can record up to an hour of 3 minute HD vids in the glasses only.  It might be the perfect camera for fishing.

Even better, you can ask the glasses what you’re looking at, and they’ll snap a photo and process it with AI. The sound quality is surprisingly good — I spent the day fishing while listening to Charlie Kirk’s funeral service. Let’s just say it wasn’t a good day to be a Democrat in my boat.