Polarized Sun Glasses, Mandatory fishing equipment!
No matter what kind of fish you like to pursue, if you’re going to be on the water you need some sun glasses over those eyes! This is not just for eye protection, which is important in its own right but to gain an advantage of actually being able to see through the glare on the waters surface to what resides below. Not only this but a long day on the water with the glare being reflected to your eyes will make for a miserable days fishing.
If you are new to fishing you may not know much about polarized lenses but without this treatment, when you look out over the water, all you are going to see is a shinny glare on the water’s surface. With a pair of polarized shades, you will be able to actually see through the surface where the fish are. This is a super advantage, especially if you are sight fishing and need to be able to see the fish you will be trying to present a bait or lure to.
What really got me on this subject was a friend that I fished a couple days ago. We were going after beach tarpon that were feeding on schooling pogies. We we met up at the beach that morning, the first thing I asked him was had be brought some polarized sun glasses! He had sun glasses but not polarized ones! Boy was he at a disadvantage! He could see the bait when they would flip out of the water or make out the school when it was swimming on top and rippling the surface but when they were just below the surface…..He was %!#$!%! outa luck!
Additionally, as we drove along the beach scouting for schools of bait, out behind the breakers, he just couldn’t see them. When the bait is schooled up it creates a dark cloud looking shape in the water. Without polarized glasses to cut the glare off the surface, it’s almost impossible to see unless the sun is just right.
Personally, I do not own a pair of sun glasses that are not polarized. I am around water so much it just does not pay to own a pair that aren’t. Tuesday found me on the 10th floor of a Condo inspecting some repair work and I took full advantage of the view to scout for bait.
Like anything else there are a pile of sun glass manufacturers that produce polarized glasses and a number of them make them specifically with the fisherman in mind. Everyone has heard of Costa del Mar glasses and they are great glasses, I own a pair my self. However, they come at a hefty price that ranges from $130 to about $300!!!
If that’s your cup of tea then I can recommend you a couple I prefer which are the; “Zane”, “Brine” and “Howler”.
Lens color is a personal preference but I prefer the amber lenses my self.
From my perspective, the problem with spending $200 on a pair of sunglasses is that they tend to take a bit of a beating and I can’t stand a pair that has a scratch or blemish on the lens. For me this happens all to often and then they are trash at that point.
This led me to seek out a pair of reasonably priced glasses that I wouldn’t want to shoot myself over if they got damaged. I eventually found the flying Fisherman brand of sunglasses and I have been fishing with them for 3 years now. I love em’! They do exactly what they are supposed to and look good doing it. When one of my early pair began to show some delamination of the lenses I sent them in to the manuf. and they sent me a brand new pair, no questions asked! You can’t ask for more than that.
The great part is you can get outfitted with a pair of these from the “Action Angler Series” for $15-$20!!! A price that most any of us can afford!
I wear “San Jose” most of the time but also have and like the “Sundance” model. You just can’t beat the quality for this price.
Flying Fisherman’s “Sundance” Sunglasses
Mosquito Lagoon Redfish
If you want to spend a little more but not as much as you would for the Costa’s you can look at Flying Fisherman’s Master Angler Series in both Glass and Polycarbonate Lenses. For under $60 bucks you can pick up one of their poly models and I would recommend the “Panama” model. I am not really a fan of bulky frames.
Amazon has great prices on all of these glasses that are really hard to beat. If you are looking for a pair click on one of the links and you can get all the details.
See you on the water,
Best Cast Net Throwing Technique! Throw Like A Pro!
To tell you the truth, when I’m fising from a Kayak I really prefer to just stick with artificial’s. My favorite fishing is top water plugging for Trout, Redfish, Snook, Jacks, etc.
However, There are very few situations where artificials will out fish natural of live bait. If you are going to fish with live bait very much you need to own a bait net or you will be spending a small fortune at the bait shop. Also, the bait shop is not always open or stocked in bait you need. A small 5-7′ monofilament net can be had for under $50 bucks and will more than pay for itself in just a few fishing trips.
Of course you are going to need to learn a technique for actually throwing the thing and not ending up with a bananna shaped mess. Recently a friend of mine asked me to post a short video of the method I use for casting a net that he could link to for his surf fishing site and in his surf fishing book, “Surf Fishing, The Quick Start Guide To This Exciting Sport”. If you are also interested in some quality info on surf fishing, I would recommend you pick up a copy of this.
A couple of the Best features of this Cast Net Technique is that it is realitively simple and you do not need to get the net all over you and end up all wet and muddy. This technique will work on any length cast net.
Here’s my short video on throwing a cast net.
I would be glad to hear how it works out for you! Send me some photo’s of fish you caught with live bait and I’ll include them in the “Readers Corner”
Good Luck,
Larry Stephens
Best Florida Sportsman’s Article Ever!
Well, I’ve been waiting for this day, It’s finally out on the shelf!
The highly anticipated July issue of the Florida Sportsman Magazine just arrived in my mail box today and I could hardly wait to see it because one of my articles is supposed to be in it!
By the way Ricky….I still haven’t forgiven you for that!
Thanks to Jeff Weakly, Editor of Florida Sportsman Mag. for working with me and including my photographs in both projects.
Tight lines,
New Camera Equipment Added To My Kayak Gear!
I have been wanting to upgrade the camera I use while kayak fishing. The big issue is that it must be waterproof and take a real quality picture. Recently I was approached by the editor of Sport fishing magazine regarding some photo’s I had taken of a big tarpon I caught from my kayak in the surf. Unfortunately, he later related that they could not use the photo for the magazine as they could not use jpeg format? He related they needed “raw” format. That sounded a little odd to me so I decided to contact Florida Sportsman Magazine and see if they were interested in the pic’s and story. They had no issue with the “jpeg” format and they should be published in the upcoming May or June issue.
This set me on a course to see what other cameras might suite my needs and hopefully give me “raw” capability and better quality. The camera I have been using is an Olympus Stylus 300 digital camera. It takes really good photo’s. In fact, all of the photo’s on this site were taken with this camera. It is only 3.2 mp but does a great job and is waterproof. I have had them submersed in the ocean numerous times and still work great. I is important to clean it after a saltwater trip but that’s about it. The best feature of the camera is tha it has a remote for taking shots by your self. I have the camera mounted on a deployable arm on the front of the yak and use the remote once I am ready for the shot. It works great!
Well, after a lot of investigation, I decided to go with the Canon s90 camera. It is referred to as a “pocket professional” as it is as flexible as any DSLR. It is an awesome little camera and takes great photo’s. It can shoot and save pics in “jpeg” & “raw” at the same time. It has a 10mp sensor and full manual controls as well as full auto.
Then comes the waterproof issue! I decided to go with a polycarbonate housing to protect it from the water. I was able to get this one on Ebay for a little over $100. It does add some bulk though. Another minor issue is, though all the functions can be adjusted even while in the housing, you can’t actually see the button function designation on the back of the camera so you need to memorize what button does what. I guess you can’t have everything.
The S90 also has a great macro function for detailed, up-close photo’s and that has really come in handy while collecting pictures of turkey sign for my hunting blog. If you would like to have a look at some of the pictures this camera takes, here is the link to my hunting blog….. http://www.trophy-hunting.blogspot.com/ .
This year I am also going to have on board video! I have already selected may camera. I went with the Sony Handycam HDR CX-560V. I have to get a waterproof housing for that as well. I am really looking forward to having some exciting tarpon footage this year to post. I will add a new post on the video camera when I figure out how I am going to mount it on the yak.
It’s almost time for the Tarpon to show up on the beach! I can’t waite
Good Luck,
Larry S.
The S90 is still available but there are newer models available, the S95 & S100. Here are some links to amazon where you can get more info.
Len's Black Drum Daytona Beach, Fl.
This book covers everything you need to know about kayak fishing. The best part is....I'M IN IT! Check out page 180-183 on Tarpon fishing.
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