Thanks for writing and all the support you guys are showing us! We’re humbled. Another fun story from the Lanphere family:

After another successful trip to Westport salmon fishing, the 1066 (Northwest Premier Guide Series) continues to amaze everyone on our boat. The latest example is the 34 lbs., 6 ounces dressed king caught last week. This salmon hit the pole hard releasing it from the down rigger. I grabbed the pole, set the hook, and the fight was on. When we finally got the fish in the boat, my two friends and I could not believe what we saw. This big king was hooked under the lower jaw through the skin — only a half inch was holding the fish on. If it were not for the action of the 1066, I am sure he would have gotten off. This is my second letter sent to Fetha Styx so I want to make it clear, I am not paid or compensated in any way by Fetha Stxy. Simply put, this rod is at the top of the food chain period. Best rod I have ever owned.

Thanks,
Rock
Rocky & Karen Lanphere

Fished Possession Bar on July 30 and picked up two nice Chinook salmon, one 17 lbs. the other 10 lbs. Used our new Downrigger Rods FS-DRP 965-2 9ft 6in 12-25 lbs. and FS-DRP 934-2 8-20 lbs. The rods are from the CCA Series and work great. Exciting to see the amount of fish coming in from the ocean on their way home to the different hatcheries around the Sound. We also caught a wild 25 lbs. Chinook that we released and sent back on its way to make more. Talking with the fish check people at the boat ramp, they said this is the best fishing they have ever recorded in the Sound to date. If you get a chance even for a couple of hours it is worth it to go out and wet your lines. Doug’s Boats in Woodinville has a full selection of the new Downrigger rods for sale and we just dropped off our new herring rods for the Buoy 10 fishery coming up in August!

Fish with Attitude and tight lines!

Bill Boyce
CEO
Fetha Styx

Fetha Styx CCA Downrigger Fishing Rod

Bill with his two Chinook.

Glenn Hall caught this 60lb king salmon a week ago in Kodiak, AK on Fetha Styx new downrigger rod, the FS-DRP 934-2 which is 9ft 3in and rated 8-18lbs. It took him about 20 to 30 minutes to get the beast to the boat, but he said the rod handled the fight perfectly. These new downrigger rods in the CCA series will be available June 10th here next month!

Glenn and the crew were also fishing the True Hero series 8′ 6″ downrigger — enjoy their photo gallery from Alaska!

The Coastal Conservation Association provides a Gulf Oil Spill media room — a nice supplement to all the other reports and news outlets out there.

The ongoing response and other details are found at the Deepwater Horizon Unified Command site. The following update is from their “Ongoing response timeline“.

To volunteer, or to report oiled shoreline, call (866) 448-5816. Volunteer opportunities can also be found here.

THURSDAY, MAY 13

Secretary Salazar Announces First Steps in MMS Restructuring

As the federal government continues its relentless response to the Deepwater BP Oil Spill and investigates the cause of the explosion and oil spill, Secretary Salazar directed Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget Rhea Suh and Senior Advisor Chris Henderson to oversee a restructuring of the Minerals Management Service that will ensure the independence of the agency’s inspections and enforcement mission.

Secretary Salazar also sent a letter to Congressional leaders asking for their ideas and input on his plan to reform the agency.

Officials Inspect Rig Preparing to Drill Relief Well

National Incident Commander and Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen and Federal On-Scene Coordinator Rear Admiral Mary Landry inspected the Development Driller II, which is set to begin drilling the second relief well shortly to permanently cap the leaking well.

BP’s “Top Hat” Containment System Approaches Completion

MMS reports that BP has approached completion of the “top hat” containment system, and expects an update from BP as early as tomorrow on its operational status.

Community Town Hall Held in Port Sulpher and Dulac, La.

Representatives from the Coast Guard, EPA, NOAA, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Labor, the Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry and BP participated town hall meetings in Port Sulpher and Dulac, La., to provide an update on the response to the oil spill and continue the dialogue with members of the community, local business leaders and other organizations.

Shoreline Cleanup Teams Continue to Assess Impact

Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Teams (SCAT) surveyed 19 miles of Dauphin Island, Ala., and the Jackson County shoreline with minimal tarball findings. An additional five teams were deployed to Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge to recovery tarballs.

The Department of the Interior has deployed 568 total personnel to the affected area to assist in cleanup, wildlife protection and rehabilitation, and shoreline assessment efforts.

Unified Area Command Continues to Build Web and New Media Engagement

The Unified Area Command in Robert, La., continues to grow its public engagement via its website (www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com), which has received more than 19 million hits since it was launched on April 23, as well as Facebook (18,277 users) and Twitter (3,707 followers). These resources contain information about response efforts, jobs, volunteer opportunities, impacts to wildlife and other important public information.

DOD Aircraft Conduct Dispersant Spray Missions

The Department of Defense’s Modular Aerial Spray System (MASS) aircraft flew multiple missions—dispensing the same dispersant chemicals being used by BP and federal responders. These systems are capable of covering up to 250 acres per flight, and flights are coordinated with the EPA and the State of Louisiana to ensure all environmental concerns are addressed. Since MASS flights began on May 1, a total of 47 missions have been flown and nearly 70,000 gallons of dispersant have been applied.

National Guard Support Continues to Build

1,304 National Guard personnel are currently supporting oil response—952 from the Louisiana National Guard are providing Command and Control and sandbagging support to St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes, supporting marina operations and conducting HAZMAT training; 323 from the Alabama National Guard are deploying protective barriers around Dauphin Island and conducting sandbag and security operations; 25 from the Mississippi National Guard personnel are providing helicopter support and liaison officers to aid local officials with emergency response; and four from the Florida National Guard are performing liaison duties in support of the response effort to the Unified Command Center in Alabama and to its own emergency operations center in Tallahassee.

Five Oil Platforms Have Been Evacuated to Ensure Health and Safety

A total of five platforms have been evacuated in order to ensure the safety and health of rig workers. Estimated oil production shut-in is 2,300 barrels a day (0.14 percent of the Gulf ‘s oil production) and approximately 1.2 million cubic feet of gas (0.02 percent of the Gulf’s gas production).

Joint Bird Rescue Operations Are Dispatched

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and the National Parks Services dispatched a joint boat operation to Horn Island, Miss., to recover potentially oiled wildlife and transport them to a wildlife rehabilitation center for treatment. Treatment and rehabilitation operations are also ongoing on Chandeleur Island.

By the Numbers to Date:

• Personnel were quickly deployed and approximately 13,000 are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife.
• More than 520 vessels are responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.
• More than 1.4 million feet of boom (regular and sorbent) have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 1 million feet are available.
• Approximately 5 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.
• Approximately 476,000 gallons of dispersant have been deployed. More than 217,000 gallons are available.
• 14 staging areas have been set up to protect vital shoreline in all potentially affected Gulf Coast states (Biloxi, Miss., Pascagoula, Miss., Pensacola, Fla., Panama City, Fla., Dauphin Island, Ala., Grand Isle, La., Shell Beach, La., Slidell, La., Venice, La., Orange Beach, Ala., Theodore, Ala., Pass Christian, Miss., Amelia, La., and Cocodrie, La.).

One of the things that I love about having a little place down in Florida (besides seeing the family) is the opportunity to get in to some great blue water, warm weather fishing this time of year.  Unfortunately for us this year the weather did not co-operate.  It was eighty degrees two days before I got there and the forecast is for 80 two days after I have come home, but for the week I was there it was low 40′s at night and a high of 50′s to low 60′s during the day.  The north wind that brought that cold weather was blowing offshore and made it just too rough to get out on most days.  Other than a quick and uneventful morning trip to catch some permit, I was relegated to watching the manatee play in the warm springs of Spring Bayou in Tarpon Springs.

A favorite of my wife, the endangered manatee seem to be making a comeback.

Although it wasn’t the three days of fishing that I wanted to get in while I was in town, we did manage to get out for one day of grouper fishing.  I had been hearing that the grouper were really on the chew the week before I got there so I couldn’t wait to get my shot.  We went about 30 miles SW of the house to about 65 ft of water.  We anchored on a little ledge, dropped a chum bag over the side and immediately started catching fish.

The first fish to be caught was a tasty little grunt, followed shortly by a nice keeper-size gag grouper.

My brother-in-law Tim caught some heat for taking so long to land this little grunt.

My dad, Auggie-Doggy put the first keeper on the boat.

My brother Jon caught and released over twenty short grouper, including this half-inch shy gag.

As everyone is well aware, I am constantly amazed at fishery managers’ decisions and when it comes to grouper management it is no different.  For the first time ever, the west coast of Florida will close to grouper fishing for two months in January and February.  In recent years, the bag limit has been reduced and other protections such as gear restrictions have been put in place.  All of these restrictions have been aimed at the recreational community.  If these restrictions have a scientifically based reason for being enacted then great, let’s do what is right for the resource.  That being said, can someone explain to me why a red grouper has to be over 20 inches for a recreational fisherman and just 16 for a commercial?  We must have caught and released over 40 grouper that a commercial fisherman would be able to keep.  Just like gulf red snapper, why are we taking such extreme measures when the resource tells a different story?

Anyway, back to fishing.  Besides battling some grouper, I couldn’t wait to try out some of my new Fetha Styx rods.  When these grouper hit they do it with an attitude and I can’t think of a better test for a rod than getting a big grouper out of the rocks.  I was using a Fetha Styx “Jigger” spinning rod and the new Big Game series 70MH.  The problem I had was deciding which one to use.  They both performed great and I can’t wait to get some albacore on these new Big Game series rods.

This Fetha Styx Jigger had the backbone to lift this keeper red (below) out of the rocks.

I also caught a bonus king while jigging. Although not all that plentiful and a little small this time of year, they are great fighters and a nice catch any time of the year.

Spring and fall are the best times to target big smoker kings.

We had a great day on the water with steady action all day and as always, I am already looking forward to my next trip to Florida.

Dad, "You have to clean all the fish."

Check out Rob at The Outdoor Line.com

Our Fly Fishing Film Tour project is coming down to the wire. We have just shy of 6 weeks left to turn it in, and are getting ready for quite possibly the best two weeks of our lives. Will, the Bear, and a few others are on there way to Everglades City as I type this, to hook up with Jeff and I for our last main shoot of the year. Our plan (what there is of one) is to head out into the everglades and explore deeper than any of us have ever been before. We have a boat for just about every situation we will encounter, and aren’t afraid to use them… If you see a caravan of Hell’s Bay Whiprays or a tiny boat that you don’t recognize (Skate) in the park over the next couple weeks, it’s probably us. Feel free to stop by and see whats going on.

The fishing recently has been nothing short of spectacular. With the warmer than usual weather and light winds, we have had no issues finding fish to throw at. The redfish have been where they should be. Snook have started to move into their backcountry haunts. Tarpon have been laying up on the calmest days. And when the tide has been too high to sightfish, the albie (bonito) bite off the beaches has been on fire.

Dave Teper
WorldANGLING.com

If ever there was a school for permit fishing, and Permit 101 was the first course, the first thing they would teach you about is a man named Del Brown. Del Brown caught the most permit in the world: 513. It took him about 25 years fishing 100 plus days a year. The next thing they would teach you is, if you think you will ever catch that many, you are crazy. The truth is… most of you students will never pass this class. It takes a near total devotion to the pursuit, at least $100,000, tremendous skill, and a weird kind of patience. And that’s just the first hundred! Imagine what it would take to beat Del’s record. For most people Permit fishing is an elective or a class we stumble into looking for something else. Kind of like philosophy, no one actually majors in it. Except Mike Allen…

On monday Mike Allen actually passed Permit 101! We caught number 100 (thankfully not a little rat) in the afternoon and then quickly made sure we wouldn’t get stuck there by catching number 101. We celebrated with some champagne, then finished the flat. Congrats Mike! Keep throwing those pies and catching fish. You never know what might happen.

W

P.S. Does anyone know who might be in second, third, fourth? … Not that it matters.

From the: World Angling Blog