CAPTAIN BRUCE CHARDS FLY FISHING BLOG!

2010-07-20T20:05:00.000-07:00

SUPER TANKER!

My good buddy and fellow Ross Worldwide Advisory Staff member Jeff Hickman took a break from his busy steelheading guide business on the Deshuttes river in Oregan to take his chances in the Keys for some poon tagles. Well he got some tangles alright with this gager poon!

2010-07-18T19:49:00.000-07:00

150 PLUS!

This Giant Circus Fatty fell for a perfectly presented Palolo worm fly! Pushing over 150 pounds this big female put up a battle ro remember!

2010-07-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

DOUBLE TROUBLE - WHAT PALOLO WORMS CAN DO TO YA!

Doubling up on huge tarpon in the world famous Palolo worm hatch is hard to beat. Literally really really hard! Photo by Mike Sobr.

2010-07-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

POON SPANKAGE AT DUSK!

World Renowned fly fishing photographer Jeff Edvalds puts down the camera long enough to get railed by a huge tarpon.

About this time Jeff is on his knees praying for mercy! Are you sure you want to do battle with Mr Silver King? Jeff is thinking twice about it right about now.
BRING IT!

2010-07-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

BOW TO THE SILVER KING!

2010-07-09T07:39:00.000-07:00

BRING IT!

Wish you where is this guys shoes? Well This Pic says it all. Wake Up call at Bahia Honda baby!

2010-07-07T11:10:00.000-07:00

Check it out! Cover shot #8 baby! You never know there could be more to come soon.

2010-04-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

THE FAMOUS CONCH HOUSE - ANDROS SOUTH LODGE - BAHAMAS!

This is the famous Conch House located at Andros South Bonefish Lodge in the Bahamas. This is my favorite place to stay for the house is actually made of concrete and real conch shells built into the concrete walls. So when the wind blows the walls whitsle. Its a great sound. Only in the Bahamas.

WWW.BRUCECHARD.COM

2010-04-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

COLD WEATHER BONEFISHING!

Man oh man! This picture was takin on what I think was the coldest day of bonefishing I have ever experienced. This photo was taken in the Bahamas at Andros South Bonefish Lodge. Even though the air temperatures where the coldest that any local Bahamian has ever seen, the bonefish were still around. I had on a long sleeve underwear shirt and pants with a long sleeve fishing shirt, a Simms polar fleece wind stopper vest, and a Simms rain jacket on. I also had polar fleece pants on with Simms pac light rain pants and wading booties. WOW! OH and we still cought fish! I love the Bahamas.

Photo above by Louis Cahill - http://www.louiscahill.com/androssouth/

WWW.BRUCECHARD.COM

2010-04-17T06:46:00.000-07:00

CHECK OUT THESE KILLER FLY FISHING PHOTOS! - THESE SHOTS ARE UNREAL!

Louis Cahill is a good friend of mine and is a long time professional photographer. Louis had the chance to come with me to the Bahamas last January and take some pictures at my Bonefish School thats held at Andros South Bonefish Lodge. Take a second to check out some the sweetest fly fishing photos I have ever seen.

http://www.louiscahill.com/androssouth/

2010-01-07T21:02:00.000-08:00

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Understanding how important it is to practice your fly casting before you head out on your next saltwater fly fishing adventure can help you take advantage of a high percentage of your opportunities. In most cases I notice anglers that have multiple day trips end up casting there best on the last day of there trip. You get out of it what you put into it, and if you don't practice you will not increase your odds of catching fish period. You only have yourself to blame.

- Keep a rod strong up ready to go by the back door. Have a rubber band wrapped around the fighting butt so you can tuck the tippit in the rubber band. This will help secure your line while being strung on the rod. Then all you have to do is strip line off the reel in the back yard and cast for 5-10 minutes a day. You will be surprised how much that helps. The double bonefish photo above would not have been possible with out plenty of practice!

captpermit@aol.com - www.brucechard.com

2009-11-01T20:20:00.000-08:00

BONEFISH ON THE BRAIN!

Check out this really neat flyfishing for bonefish blog!

http://bonefishonthebrain.wordpress.com/

CAPTPERMIT@AOL.COM - WWW.BRUCECHARD.COM

2009-10-28T14:29:00.000-07:00

ANGLER'S TONIC - A SWEET FLY FISHING ARTICLE AND INFORMATION WEBSITE!

Greg Thomas has been my fly fishing buddy for over 18 years now. We first met in the Keys when I was working in the Faro Blanco Fly shop in Marathon. We have fished together in the Keys and all over the Rockies for huge trout. Greg has writen 5 fly fishing books and is the publisher for the above web site called Angler's Tonic. Last and not least Greg is also the editor for Fly Rod and Reel magazine. Check out this cool site! It makes you want to go fishing right now!

http://www.anglerstonic.com/dev/

2009-10-23T16:07:00.000-07:00

BASIC TIPS ON TAKING GOOD FISHING PHOTOS!

Taking even ok fishing photos on you next trip out on the water can be challenging to say the least. But just knowing a couple of small tactics about basic photography, and hot to hold a fish for a photo can make a ok shot a great one.Here are a number of pointers that I think make a big difference.
- Try to hold the camera so the lens is at the same height as the eye of the fish. This gives a clear focusing point for the camera since having the fishes eye in the picture in focus is a well know photography rule
- Fill the frame! Today's cameras allow you to actually see the photo you are going to take on a LCD screen on the back of the digital camera. This will allow you to fill in all the free space (or open air) that no one wants in the photo. The photo is about you and the fish, or just the fish its self. So try to keep the the subject very close to the sides of the frame. This way you don't get one of those photos with the subject so small in the middle of the photo you cant even see it.
- Try not to stand to far away from the subject for many points and shoot cameras made today have a very wide angle lens on it allows you to get very close to help get that close up cover shot look. This makes for great hero shots with fish.
- The rule of thirds is also pretty important. Try not to place the eye of the fish directly in the center of the photo. Keep it off centered both up and down and side to side.
- If you think you close - get closer. 99% of all fish shots I see taken from my customers and friends are shot to far away. Fill, that frame and you can get some killer photos to hang on your wall!
More photo tips will come soon! Thanks for following!

CAPTPERMIT@AOL.COM - WWW.BRUCECHARD.COM

2009-10-16T20:39:00.000-07:00

BLACK DRUM OR SEMI TRUCK?

A 9wt Ross World Wide Essence Rod, with a Chardy 9wt Floating Permit Taper fly line, and a chardy custom tied crab fly presented right on top of the head of this beautiful Black Drum - It doesn't get any better then this! A beautiful sunny day made it difficult for this 25 pound drum to hide. It didn't help him much that he had his huge tail in the air and a large mud slick everywhere he decided to dig up some grub from the muddy bottom. These fish are common this size and much larger believe it or not on the flats south of New Orleans. These drums have little whiskers that they use to sense food buried in the muddy bottoms, much like cat fish! I love catching these fish but you have to have a well presented fly to get one to even see your fly. But they are excited to eat your fly if they see it! NICE!!

www.brucechard.com - captpermit@aol.com

2009-10-08T12:46:00.000-07:00

THE ULTIMATE BONFISH SCHOOL

SOUTH ANDROS - BAHAMAS

If you need more reasons then this photo to be convinced that Capt Bruce Chards Fly Fishing for Bonefish School is a great idea then you have had one to many Kaliks. But having one to many Kaliks is not a bad problem to have compared to the problem you can have when casting in the wind if your loops are not tight. Tight loops are one of the main focuses of Bruce's first class casting instruction during the bonefish school held on the beach at Andros South Lodge. Being one of the few with a FFF Master fly casting instructors licence Bruce focuses on both basic and advanced saltwater casting techniques that dramatically help anglers of all levels become much better anglers. Loops size, loop control, and line speed are just a few of the many casting topics that are covered in depth at the Bonefish school. Learning first class casting techniques in a great atmosphere while digging your toes in the beautiful white sand beach is pretty hard to beat. After a great day of learning about fly fishing for bonefish you can then take the rest of the week and apply what you have learned while stalking the flats for the elusive grey ghost of the flats!

Dates for this years schools are November 14th-21st with 3 rods open, and January 9th-16th with 2 rods open. For more info check out Capt Bruce Chards web page - http://www.brucechard.com/flyfishingschools/theultimatebonefishschool.html

captpermit@aol.com - www.brucechard.com

2009-10-01T16:43:00.000-07:00

GIANT SHEEPSHEAD ON FLY! WOW!

Ever seen a giant sheepshead like this? If so you probably fished where I did. Deep into the oyster bed loaded flats of Southern New Orleans! There was a ton of sheepshead this size mixed in with HUGE 15-50 pound Black Drum, and equal sized redfish all tailing by the way! These fish all feed on the plentiful fiddler crabs, and shellfish that live in the mud. Sight fishing for these pigs was a hoot! More pics from this trip to come so stay tuned! NICE!!!!!

captpermit@aol.com - www.brucechard.com

2009-09-23T20:13:00.000-07:00

BIG RED!

Its big red time, and I don't mean pass me a piece of gum! This 25 lber was tailing in 3ft of water and ate a huge tarpon fly! NICE!! In the winter months the shallow bays and flats of the north gulf of Mexico near LA, and AL fill up with big schools of HUGE redfish! These fish look like copper submarines on the flats. When they open there mouth you can almost fit you head inside. Unreal! The numbers of these huge fish can be high at times but I was happy with getting this one, big, single redfish on my 3 day fishing trip! My buddy I was fishing with landed 3 of them. I hooked a couple others myself as well but didn't land them. You can fish for giant tailing black drum, huge sheepshead and these big reds all in the same area. This fishery is KILLER!

captpermit@aol.com - www.brucechard.com

2009-09-16T12:07:00.000-07:00

CHARDY'S CHOAKER CRAB FLY!

Here is the long awaited recipe for the famous Chardy Choaker Crab Fly! This fly is a proven killer for permit and bone fish around the world from Mexico, Belize, and the Florida Keys! Don't ask me why but they gotta have baby!

Ingrediance

size 2/0 Gamakatzu SC15 Hook
Natural deer hair
tan select craft fur
pumpkin seed sili legs
cree or variant feathers
hot orange or peach cactus chenille
17 pound Rio saltwater hard mono for weed guard
med size lead eyes
chartreuse 3/0 Danvills flat waxed thread
sally Hansens hard as nails for glue
and last but not least the one and only - awesome Regal vise

Instructions

- Tie lead eye on bottom of hook shank (hook point down in the vise) about 1/4 inch behind eye
- wrap thread back to bend of hook
- wrap on med sized chunk of tan craft fur making the fur about 1 1/2-2 inches long
- palmer about 4.5 wraps of hot orange cactus chenille and make a small ball at base where you tied on the craft fur
- then marrie 2 separate sets of thick salt water sized cree or variant feathers and then splay the to sets out opposite each other using the ball of chenille as a spacer to help spread
- then flip over fly so the hook is up and tie in 4 strands of pumpkin seed sili legs so they extend over the back of the craft fur
- next take a small to medium sized swatch of natural deer hair and pinch on hook just behind the lead eyes (note - behind the lead eyes but on the opposite side of the hook). Make sure that the fine tips of the hair are facing the back of the fly and make 3 loose thread wraps and cinch down on the deer hair to flair it out. Do not let the deer hair spin though. We are not spinning deer hair. Just hold against hook tight while you cinch with the thread to flair it out
- trim front part if deer hair so just the fine tips are left. Leave a nice shape body.
- next move forward of the lead eyes and finish by adding a double weedguard by doubling over a single piece of 17 pound Rio Saltwater Hard mono. Trim, and leave about 1/2 inch above hook point.
- whip finish and coat thread with Sally Hansen hard as nails

Any questions please ask!

www.brucechard.com - captpermit@aol.com

2009-09-15T09:16:00.000-07:00

TAILING BONES ARE THE BEST!

Bonefish have become one of the favorite saltwater fish to target on fly by many experienced fly anglers, and novices. They live in super shallow areas and in certain places with mega numbers. This along with there lightning speedy runs makes them a fav to fish for. I believe that the Bahamas hold some of the world best bonefishing. That is why I host my Ultimate Fly Fishing Bonefish School in South Andros Bahamas at the Andros South Boenfish Lodge! The bone in the pic above is feeding in about 4-5 inches of water, and was taken in South Andros. You can see this in plentiful numbers in South Andros. Bones love to go as shallow as they can to get to the little crabs and shrimp that live and take cover in the mangrove tree roots. This fish is belly draggin he is so shallow! This sight makes for great fun, for when the bones are this shallow they are extra spooky and call for a much stealthier presentation. So I like to make a very wide loop when casting to shallow talliers and have very even power all the way through the wide loop. This will allow the fly to land very softly thus not spooking the fish! On the other hand when the bones are this shallow with there tails out of the water the only reason their are exposing themselves so much is to feed aggressively. So with that the bones are usually very apt to run over to eat your fly IF you can get it near them with out spooking them! Much more to come on this subject. Thanks!

2009-09-14T19:29:00.000-07:00

From the makers of the fly fishing movie "DRIFT" - Confluence Films has produced yet another sweet fly fishing film called "RISE". The trailer was debuted on a large screen at the Simms party at the Fly Fishing Retailer show in Denver Last Friday night. The trailer is awesome starring Capt Bruce Chard himself. Watch the "RISE" trailer here -

http://www.confluencefilms.tv/films.php

captpermit@aol.com - www.brucechard.com

2009-09-10T08:18:00.000-07:00

WHAT DRAWS TARPON TO THE FLORIDA KEYS MORE THEN ANY OTHER PLACE IN THE WORLD?

This is is a cool pic of some rolling tarpon in the Florida Keys! Why do such large numbers of tarpon in all sizes travel so far to come to the Florida Keys? I think its food, and warmth! Just like all of us humans we search out warm areas during winter month even if its for a short time. If we can afford it we make any excuse we can to travel south in the winter time. I think that tarpon think a lot like us humans do. Much more then we think!

We don't really know a lot about tarpon. We are learning more about tarpon and there habits everyday with the help of the BTU (Bonefish-Tarpon Unlimited). I am going to share with you why I believe so many tarpon travel to the Keys! I mentioned above I think food and temperatures are what make these fish come to the Keys in such large numbers. The Keys have such a vast amount of shallow water flats intertwined with deep water channels that enable the water temperatures to increase quickly in the winter time on sunny days making this area a great place for bait fish to grow and live. This in returns draws the large amounts of tarpon into large pre spawning staging areas as early as Christmas time! The tarpon will then stay in these areas till the water temps reach near 80 degrees (usually mid March - Mid April) then they will move to there migrating routes and start to travel almost on a daily basis. The Palolo Worm hatch is also a huge source of food and or excitement for the tarpon every year! Palolo worms like to hatch in late May till late June and often create feeding frenzies like no other! I notice that the tarpon like to move a lot more after the worms hatch is over which I think means the worms have a lot to do with why the tarpon are in the Keys in the first place. I am not sure if we will ever know the truth about this but that's what makes it so fun!

2009-09-06T06:15:00.000-07:00

PERMIT HAVE HUGE LIPS!

NOT JUST FOR KISSING CRABS!!!

These big white lips are the last things that many little Crabbies want to come across in there lifetime. Usually with the sight of these big juicy white lips comes a quite strong sucking feeling much like a hoover vacuum! Then poof, the crab is nothing but a pile of crushed shells being flushed back into the water. A number of points about these big white lips are worth talking about in the fly fishing world. I think learning about the actual fish and its anatomy, lifestyle and habits are VERY important to upping your catch ratio. So how does knowing about these big puffy lips help us catch more fish? Well they are BIG WHITE PUFFY LIPS to put a fine point on it. When hunting for permit on the shallow flats it has been a common know that you can usually see the large, black, forked tail of the permit before you can see the slim profile of the permit body. But what about on a darker cloudy day? Then throw in some darker bottom as well. UGG! It can be hard to spot that DARK BLACK tail in the limited light and on the darker bottom. Guess what then sticks out more then anything! YES THE LIPS! These big, white, rubbery permit lips make it easier to see a permit on darker days for sure! Sometime from a great distance if the light is just right! The white color of the lips against the dark bottom in the lower light will show up like a lite up christmas tree. Use this tip to help yourself identify a possible permit in some darker conditions.

The photo above can also show the angler how thick the permits lips and mouth really are! Anglers can then learn that a good stout hook set is needed even with the laser sharpened hooks that we have on the market today. This will all be covered on future blog posts, along with hook gaps, hook sizes, fly size, material on the flies and how that effects the fly movement and much more so stay tuned! If you have not subscribed to my blog, and wish to learn more please do so on the top right email entree. Thanks!

www.brucechard.com

2009-09-03T09:27:00.000-07:00

CHARDY IS FEATURED IN THE BEST FLY FISHING MOVIE EVER PRODUCED!

"RISE"

WOW! The new fly fishing movie "RISE" is going to be KILLER! Filmed by the unbelievable, 3 time EMMY award winning cinematographer Chris Patterson (Warren Miller Ski Films), and produced by one of the top minds in the fly fishing industry, Yellow Dog Fly Fishing Adventures' start up man, Jim Klug! Together, Chris and Jim started Confluence Films and produced the world famous 2008 fly fishing movie "DRIFT". Then creating yet another magical fly fishing masterpiece this year, Confluence Films looks to have produced what could be the best fly fishing movie ever made. Loaded with off the chart fly fishing porn, "RISE" is 70 minutes long and was shot on professional 16mm movie film, and then digitally mastered in HD! Los Roques, Florida Keys, Idahos - Henry's Fork, Alaska, New Orleans, and Patagonia wrap up all the destinations in this stellar fly flick! My buddy Capt Joel Dickey and I are hosting and fishing the Florida Keys Tarpon segment of this movie, and I have heard that this could be the best tarpon footage ever captured on film. "HINT" - You might even see some palolo worms if you're lucky! I can't wait to see it myself! For those of you that will be attending the Fly Tackle Retailer Show in Denver next week, be sure to come to the Simms party to see a special preview! "RISE" will be available for purchase on

November 1, 2009 @ www.confluencefilms.tv Check it out!!

www.brucechard.com - captpermit@aol.com

2009-09-01T14:46:00.000-07:00

WORLD CLASS TARPON NUMBERS!

A PROSPECTIVE PHOTO!

If you look at the photo above very closely you will see a HUGE school of mature, migrating tarpon bumping off the defined shallow water edge, moving to the left! I took this photo from an airplane a number of years ago. The Florida Keys offers the absolute BEST tarpon fly fishing in the world! Fly anglers can expect to see these huge schools of tarpon on a daily basis during certain times of the year. The extreme size of the tarpon (50-160 pounds) swimming in an average shallow water depth of only 4-5ft is an increadible sight to behold to say the least. Endless gallons of gin clear water covering miles of sandbars, grass flats, deep water cuts, and channels are some of the reasons most fly anglers have been returning for decades. To get an up close and personal look at over 200 giant tarpon swimming within 100 ft of you is enough to give even the most poised fly anglers buck fever. The school above is one of those schools, for there is over 200 fish in the above school, and the string of tarpon is over 100yds long! SWEET!

captpermit@aol.com - www.brucechard.com

2009-08-31T05:30:00.000-07:00

PERMIT ARE GOOD SMELLERS!

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH FLY FISHING?

Did you know that permit actually have 4 nostril's? Hummm! Dat make dem good smellers I think! I think this is just one of the many features that permit have that help them to become one of the most difficult fish to trick into eating your fly! There has been a lot of talk for ever about how head cement on freshly tied permit flies can let off an oder that the permit can smell, thus making the permit turn away and not eat the fly. I have found this to possibly be true but in my observations being a guide I find myself tying flies up on a daily basis and many of them 5 minutes before i leave the house to fish in the morning - FRESH with head cement on them. Then catching permit on them that same day! So with that info I believe that the flies action in the water is what triggers them to eat the fly. If you give the permit to much time to look and smell at your fly in the first place then maybe they can smell the head cement but in the larger scheme of things I would say the smell is less common of an accuse then in the past!

Now I have heard that some fly fisherman like to dip there flies into crab juice to give the fly an actual crab smell. I personally don't believe this to be a factor also. WHY? Well when you take a live crab that is wiggling and swims like crazy when you drop him in the water in front of the permit, the fish comes out of his shorts to run over and pound the lively little crab! Now, if you take live crab and thump it in the head and knock it out, then cast it right away to a permit the fish will not eat it 95 out of 100 times. Why not? It looks like a crab (because it is a real CRAB), and it SMELLS like a crab (because it is a REAL crab). Whats up with that? NO MOVEMENT to stimulate the fish to attack! Personally with that I think you can throw out all thoughts on weather the fish can smell your fly or not. I have and not looked back! Any questions on this let me know! Thanks!

2009-08-24T16:10:00.000-07:00

Check it out! Cover #6 baby! I am very excited! What a KILLER photo taken by Jeff Edvalds! Jeff Rocks!

2009-07-27T17:22:00.000-07:00

This site is killer to learn about all kinds of fly fishing around the world from the top professionals in the fly fishing industry! This site offers live pod casts all the time and then saves them for future listeners. So if you missed the live pod cast no worries just go back and click on podcast you want to listen to and have at it! Check out the names on the home page of this site to see the large array of fly fishing talent that Roger at Ask About Fly Fishing has accumulated. I have done a bone fish show and a permit show and you can listen to them both on this site page. Check it out! I talk about a ton of different tips, and methods of fly fishing for permit and bone fish from the Florida Keys, Bahamas, Belize , and Mexico! SWEET!

http://www.askaboutflyfishing.com/speakers/bruce-chard/bruce-chard.cfm

2009-07-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

FLY CASTING TIP - THE BENEFITS OF OFF SHOULDER CASTING!

The off shoulder cast is an imperative cast to have in your fly casting arsenal! This cast benefits you in so many ways, and I am going to tell you how!

If you are a right handed caster and the wind is blowing on your right side, angling the tip of your rod over your head down-wind off your left side (like in the picture above) - NOT CROSSING YOUR CASTING HAND IN FRONT OF YOUR CHEST OFF THE LEFT SHOULDER - is a great way to get your cast off in a hurry to right side of the flats skiff without having to take your eyes off the fish. I personally like to present my back cast at this time, but for most, it's tough to put the fly where they want without keeping an eye on the fish at the same time. This cast is great for just making a cast without giving the wind a chance to blow your line in the air into yourself while presenting the fly to the fish and then missing the fish. It does actually take some practice, but what cast doesn't! You can use this cast anytime you need to present your back cast -- like when you're casting perpendicular tight to the mangrove trees, or off the front right side of a drift boat fishing the right bank.

You want to make sure that you don't cross your casting hand over your chest while false casting. The reason for this is that your casting stroke length is dramatically hindered by your body being in the way. If you just turn the rod tip to the left side of your head and cast on your right side just like you normally would, you will just move the rod tip at a different angle and be able to keep your normal casting stoke length and not be forced to shorten your stroke length. Plus you are able to keep your casting strength high and not use muscle that has not built any memory for this type of cast since it's a different casting stroke than what is normal. Stay tuned for more killer casting tips!

2009-07-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

GUIDE TIP - BEING AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS!

Just when you think you have a great shot at a tailing permit, you lift your rod to make a cast, and 100 cormorants that were sunning themselves on the exposed low tide bank just behind your tailing fish get spooked, and take off slapping their feet on the water as they try to get up enough speed to take off! This in return spooks your permit that you just waded and chased for the last 10 minutes! UGG! Usually there is nothing you can do about it, BUT if you learn to constantly notice all your surroundings, and then plan accordingly, you might be able to avoid such problems. Example - I have learned the hard way, that if I see a group of birds like this near where I am fishing, I will then simply fish away from the birds not giving the birds a chance to come into play at all. BUT, if I do find myself chasing a fish in the area close to shallow water birds, I now know to take the cast much lower and slower if possible while trying to keep an extra low profile and not move too quickly, and try to create a shot as soon as possible, not allowing the fish to get much closer to the birds, or to add the utmost patience and see if the fish will help things by moving farther away from the birds. Sometimes patience pays off big time in this sport! As if this game isn't hard enough already, now we have to look out for birds also! BUT - Just knowing that the birds are there in the first place, and knowing that they could be a potential problem is enough to possibly create an opportunity to catch that

fish of a lifetime!

HUGE BONEFISH IN THE FLORIDA KEYS!

2009-07-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

Bonefish run big in the Florida Keys! Many think that the Keys are the best BIG bone fishery in the world - bar none! The average size is 6-9 pounds, world records are being caught every year from 14-15 lbs and up! That dwarfs most other bone fisheries in the world! The reason for this is the ample amount of large shrimp and crab that are available to them to eat. The Keys are loaded with HUGE sweeping turtle grass flats. That provides a killer estuary for all small living creatures to hide and grow big! In the picture above, look at how thick the grass is. This offers shrimp and crab protection from their predators and then in return they live longer having the opportunity to grow big! SO when fish eat lots of big food, they grow faster and bigger themselves.

I'll take huge bones any day mon!

2009-05-17T19:27:00.000-07:00

CHARDYS KILLER HOSTED ALASKA TRIP @ ALASKA WEST LODGE!

Join Capt Bruce and friends on a huge top water silver salmon & giant leopard rainbow trout slam session of a life time. Chardy's hosted Alaska trip will be held at the world famous Alaska West Camp located on the Beautiful Kenektok River in Quinihawk, Alaska! Big toothed, streamer crushing Dog salmon, monsterous surface mouse-pounding Dolly Vardens, mega-aggressive gigantor Grayling, and sly Sokeye Salmon flood every crack and crevasse in the entire Kenektok River making Alaska West Lodge one of the best fly fishing lodges in all of Alaska -- bar none! An unbelievable staff of the most professional guides helps to make your fishing experince like no other. For dates, rates, and more information on this most nessessary fly fishing trip, please check out the endless slide shows and photos on my website page.

Click here: Capt Bruce Chard

2009-04-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

KEY WEST AND THE FLORIDA KEYS AWESOME

"BRAND NEW" FLY SHOP!

CHECK IT OUT!

At the end of January of 2009, The Angling Company of Key West will open it's doors. Since our website will be under construction during the interim and I'm working full time towards our grand opening, the least I can do is provide some information about The Angling Company: our goals and how we intend to accomplish them. My biggest hope is that this shop contributes positively to the sport fishing community in Key West. The Angling Company will be a comprehensive fly shop/outfitter, ready to accommodate every angler visiting Key West with the very best in apparel, tackle, accessories and solid advice. In addition to a strong relationship with the best guides the lower keys have to offer, we wish to preserve this fishery and the sport of fishing in it.
Sincerely,
-Nathaniel C. Linville, Owner

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, DIRECTIONS, AND HOURS PLEASE CALL DIRECT AT 305-292-6306, OR EMAIL AT info@theanglingcompany.com

2009-04-07T18:59:00.000-07:00

For over 35 years, Ross Reels has been one of the leading fly reel companies in all the fly fishing industry! Check out this link on the Ross Reel page that shows the brand new "KILLER" Momentum LT fly reel! They are SWEEEET!!!! This reel won many awards in last years' Fly Tackel Retailer show in Denver, and has won many anglers over on my skiff and at my Bonefish Schools in the Bahamas!

http://www.rossreels.com/products/fly-fishing-reels/momentumlt/momentum-lt-fly-reels.cfm

2009-03-19T18:02:00.000-07:00

Jacks are some of the most aggressive sport fish on the saltwater flats. This nice 10 pound fell for a fast stripped fly! NICE!

2009-03-10T19:14:00.000-07:00

A nice Cuda on the fly is hard to beat! These under rated sport fish prowl the flats of the tropics ready to pounce and attack any bait fish that might swim by!

2009-03-09T19:12:00.000-07:00

Tarpon flats in the Florida Keys are some of the most beautiful sights in the world! The Keys offers the BEST fly rodding for tarpon in the world bar none! "BIG DADDY" owner of Mission Lodge in Alaska is an avid tarpon fly rodder! WWW.BRUCECHARD.COM

2009-03-09T18:56:00.000-07:00

The Marquesas Keys 17 miles west of Key West is considered by man yas permatopia! Surrounded by deep water the shallow flats offer a killer opertunity for permit to come up and grub in the shallows then fall right back to the saftey of the deeper water! Late July - Late November offer the best times of the year with hardly any fishing pressure and many tailing fish as far as you can see! For more info please email me at captpermit@aol.com

2009-03-05T18:14:00.000-08:00

The Florida Keys has some of the best permit fishing the world has to offer, but another permit hot spot is in the beautiful country of Belize! Join Capt Bruce as he hosts The Permit School, a Fly Fishing for permit School at the Garbutts Permit Lodge, a brand new permit fishing lodge in the south Belize city of Punta Gorda. Check out Capt Bruce Chards website for more info on the permit school and what it includes! WWW.BRUCECHARD.COM

2009-03-05T07:13:00.000-08:00

The Ultimate Bonfish School hosted by Capt Bruce 2 times a year anually at teh famous Andros South Boefishing Lodge located on the southern end of Andros Island in the Bahamas. This school is the best way to learn about the sprot of fly fishing for bonefish and gain an increadible amount of experience in a short time. The Sweet bonefish above is held by the owner of Andros South Bonefish Lodge, and Deneki Outdoors - Andrew Bennet! Check out more info about the Bonfish school at WWW.BRUCECHARD.COM

2009-03-05T05:17:00.000-08:00

ABOUT CAPTAIN BRUCE! Captain Bruce is a full time Florida Keys Flats guide. For over 16 years now he has guided many anglers to their catch of a lifetime. As a Federation of Fly Fishers MASTER Certified Fly Casting Instructor, Capt Bruce has conducted, and taught many of his own personal fly fishing schools internationally in the Bahamas, Guatemala, Belize, and all over the U.S. As a paid speaker at sportsman shows around the U.S., Bruce has had the opportunity to establish a working relationship with many of the largest companies in the fly fishing industry, leading to the development of the Capt Bruce Chard - Jim Teeny Professional Grand Slam Series of fly lines - The Chard Permit Fly Line, Chard Tarpon fly line, and Chard Redfish-Bonefish fly line, by Jim Teeny Co. (a leader in the development of the most specialized fly lines in the world). New this year is the release of a full line up of Captain Bruce Chard - Jim Teeny Professional series premium hand tied saltwater leaders. These hand tied to perfection leaders cover all the angles from special tapered permit leaders to extra stealthy bonefish leaders, and easy to use barracuda/shark wire tippit leaders to super strong tarpon leaders in both traditional and Kick butt designs. These superb saltwater leaders are some of the best saltwater leaders on the market today. Bruce is an elite member of the Ross World Wide Professional Staff , and the Simms Ambassador program where he helps extensivley in the design , promotion, and testing of future fly fishing products. Capt Chard is also a top pro staff member with a number of other well know fly fishing companies like Ross Reels USA, Jim Teeny Fly Line Company, Cliff Boxes, Gamakatsu Hooks, Buff Headwear,Seaguar, Whiting Farms, and Yellow Dog Fly Fishing Adventures. Bruce has also been featured in many major fly fishing catalogs with Ross Reels, G-Loomis Rods, Thomas and Thomas Rod Company, Riverborn Fly Company, Jim Teeny Fly Line Company, and Yellow Dog Fly Fishing Adventures. Ross Reels and Ross World Wide has used Bruce extensivly in their advertising in over 8 different fly fishing magazines and online websites. You can find Capt Bruce on the cover of 5 major fly fishing magazines, numerous fly fishing articles, and televised fly fishing shows. As a new innovative fly designer, some of Capt Chard's flies are being sold world wide trough the Riverborn Fly Company. Chard has over 27 Fly Patterns available through Riverborn Fly Company, ranging from Bonefish, Permit and Tarpon Flies. Many more flies are being added to the Chard collection through Riverborn every year. Look for more exciting things to come from Capt Bruce in near future. Check out Capt Bruce Chards website WWW.BRUCECHARD.COM

2009-03-05T04:42:00.000-08:00

Thanks for checking out Capt Bruce Chards fly fishing blog! This fly fishing blog will be like no other, filled with endless fly casting and fly fishing tips to help you become a great fly ANGLER! Also enjoy Super sweet fly fishing photos, fly casting tips, fishing reports from around the world, entries from some of the best know fly fishers in the world and much more! Enjoy!