Lacey Kelly is one of the most badass guides we have ever had the pleasure of spending time with. Lacey is a full-time fishing and hunting guide out of Crystal River, Florida, which some may say is the last remaining area of “Old Florida”. We had the privilege to spend a day on the bow of her skiff in the historic waters of Homosassa to chase big tarpon and most importantly learn more about what makes her tick.
After a fun day on the water, we sat down with Lacey to ask her about herself, her fishery, conservation issues she is passionate about, and her rig!
Flylords: When did you first pick up a fly rod? (any backstory into getting into fishing too)Â
Lacey: Growing up in a family that didn’t push traditional sports. Instead, we were spearfishing and fishing every weekend. My parents threw me in the boat when I was 6 months old in my car seat! It was my entire childhood, it didn’t matter what age I was, it was a family thing for us. I eventually chose in my adulthood to spend my days guiding and investing in fishing and hunting full time.Â
For fly fishing, I was in my 20s when I first picked up a fly rod. At the time I was a full-time conventional/gear bait guide in the Sanibel area of Florida and was looking for the next challenge on the water.Â
Flylords: What was your journey to becoming a guide?Â
Lacey: I grew up mainly underwater and in the woods. My dad commercial spearfished my entire life and still does some to this day so we spent nearly every weekend on the water spearfishing and fishing. When I graduated high school I went to college for Hospitality & Tourism Management but I knew that wasn’t my calling or what I was intended to do as a career. I definitely wasn’t cut out for office life or a 9-5, I’ve tried briefly for a few short stints and I have always known that being a guide was my calling. I spent all of my 20s guiding in the Sanibel, Captiva, and Pine Island Sound areas. Fishing was my main gig but I also ran sightseeing and shelling trips. I got into fly fishing and realized that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my guide life! I found my so-called purpose and never looked back.
Flylords: You spend almost every day either in the woods or on the water. What does your daily routine look like?
Lacey: My daily routine changes by the said season.
Tarpon season: up at 4:30 am, coffee, shower, emails & client reservations, etc, load the boat down with ice, gas, and gear. Pickup around 7 am in Homosassa at the dock, guide for the poon all day, one old fashioned at the Florida Cracker Monkey Bar with the clients, wash the boat, supper, emails and bed!
Turkey season: up at 4 am, coffee, shower, emails & client reservations, etc, load truck with turkey vest, calls, decoys, client chair, pickup client by 5:30 am at the lodge, hunt till lunch, regroup, head back out, roost a bird, dinner with clients, emails and bed!
General year-round fishing I’m up at 6:30 am, all the same as tarpon season but location changes, fish all the way from Homosassa North to Cedar Key.
Flylords: From spending a day on the water with you, you and some of the other guides like to heckle but also help each other. How would you describe the guide culture around Homosassa?Â
Lacey: The guide culture in Homosassa is the epitome of “Old Florida†still to this day. It’s the only place in Florida that I know of that keeps it to fly only during tarpon season on the tarpon flats. It’s a difficult area to break into a guiding as outsiders are not kindly welcomed.  I have been fortunate enough to become friends with a lot of the OG guides in the area that I’ve looked up to for years. It’s a small fishery and there really isn’t room for new guides until some of the older guides retire and they do their very best to protect it.
Flylords: Most people who fly fish, specifically for Tarpon, know about Homosassa from the days of record chasing in the 80s and 90s. What has it been like calling those waters home?Â
Lacey: I wish I could’ve been a fly on a boat back in the 80s and 90s just to see it once. One thing I love about sitting at the Lorelei in Islamorada is being able to hear the stories of Old Homosassa from the OG Key’s guides firsthand. The tales may be tall like all fish stories but they still make me appreciate how fortunate I am to call this fishery home nowadays. I’m not sure if I really believe that tarpon eat scallops like Capt. Billy Knowles claimed one salty afternoon, but I have learned a ton about what the fishery once was and what we need to do to continue to protect it.
Flylords: Following up on that question… What conservation issues are you passionate about? Are there any organizations you see making a difference in your fishery?Â
Lacey: Keeping Florida, Florida. We have massive issues in our state mainly due to an influx of people moving to Florida on a daily basis. I’m 5th generation Floridian and it breaks my heart to see all the development that is occurring in the last decade. We are singly handily responsible for the state of Emergency that we have put our fisheries and our land into right now. Organizations like my friends at Captains For Clean Water and Bonefish Tarpon Trust are doing their best to not only research how to better protect our water and our fisheries but they are also bringing awareness to our residents as well as to the new folks moving to Florida which is huge. I truly believe that most folks that are moving here look around and think it’s amazing the fishing is great but what they don’t know is how much it’s changed and declined.
Flylords: Tell me a little bit about your Rig!Â
Lacey: My daily driver is a 2017 Ford F-150. It is essential to what I do every day whether it is hunting or fishing season. To stay organized I have a DECKED drawer system in the bed to keep all my essentials for a successful guide trip organized. Behind my truck, I tow a 2020 Hellsbay Professional that is rigged out with a 70hp and bench seat made for client comfort. I can fish up to two anglers and myself. Tricked out with Gloomis Fly rods, Hatch reels, YETI coolers everything on my skiff is there for a reason and has an ultimate purpose!
Flylords: Do you set up your truck differently for turkey season vs. tarpon season?Â
Lacey: It’s just a swap of the gear really. Tarpon season I’ve got cleaning supplies, boat brushes, towels, etc. The DECKED toolboxes are great for keeping all the boat essentials organized. Turkey season I’m loaded down with decoys, gobbler chairs, turkey vest and calls, shotguns, etc. I am a big fan of the DECKED Piecekeepers for hunting season to keep my shotguns and rifles locked away safely when I am traveling.
Flylords: Why did you choose a DECKED System for your Truck?Â
Lacey: My lifestyle and traveling. Most of the gear I travel with is valuable and making sure it is locked up, away from anyone, is the best place for it. I previously had a truck topper, but the issue with it was it was impossible to see the boat trailer when I was backing down the ramp at 5 in the morning. With the DECKED system, I get all of my gear organized and safe while also being able to see through my rear view mirror.
Flylords: What is next for Lacey?Â
Lacey: I can tell you after I’m done rehabbing my knee due to 3 surgeries and guiding full time. It’s been a struggle getting back to poling and doing a ton of physical therapy but hopefully, in the next year, it will be better than ever! I am excited to be back on the water every day!
Thank you to Lacey for having us out for an incredible time! If you are looking to get your own rig dialed in and organized like Lacey make sure to check out the DECKED systems for yourself HERE.
In this week’s “How to Tie†video feature, Charlie Craven ties a fly that should be no secret to any fly fisher, the Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Hare’s Ear nymphs may be some of the most common patterns in fly boxes, and for good reason. These flies imitate a wide array of subsurface insects, which makes them extremely effective. From stoneflies to mayflies and even caddis, Hare’s Ear nymphs will do it all. The Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear pattern is a natural material nymph that will produce fish year round.
Tying this Hare’s Ear requires minimal skill and is attainable for every level of tyer. This is a fly that can be “messed up” on the vise and still produce fish due to its overall buggy profile. Without a bead or weight on this fly, using split shot to get it down or a heavier point fly will be necessary if fishing more than a foot or two of water. For advanced tyers, using a dubbing loop is one way to make this fly a bit more buggy in profile.
Regardless of the time of year, this Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear will produce on the end of your line. During summer, using this as a dropper in a dry dropper rig will make for exciting small stream fishing. On bigger rivers, this could be used in a double nymph rig on any watershed. The versatility of this Hare’s Ear is exceptional and there is a reason why guides will fish this pattern with the utmost confidence. Tie the Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear onto your line and watch the action unfold!
Ingredients:
Hook: TMC 5262 #8-18
Thread: 70 Denier, dark brown
Tail: India Hen Back Fibers
Rib: Fine Gold Wire or Gold Oval Tinsel
Abdomen: Natural Hare’s Mask Dubbing
Wingcase: Mottled Turkey Tail
Thorax: Natural Hare’s Mask Dubbing, Picked Out
Now you know how to tie the Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear!
On Wednesday, June 8th, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis officially vetoed Senate Bill 2508. This bill was the subject of nearly five months of intense grassroots advocacy for the folks at Captains for Clean Water and Floridians who value healthy coastal communities. Back in February, SB 2508 was suspiciously filed as a “budget-conforming bill,” circumventing the traditional public engagement and committee procedures. Further, it was riddled with provisions harmful to Florida’s estuarine habitats and restoration efforts. Thanks to a dedicated and motivated group of fishing guides and stakeholders who traveled to the State Capitol House to demonstrate the strong opposition to SB 2508, the Senate withdrew the bill’s worst provisions.  The Governor’s veto today ends the SB 2508 fight and removes all question about how this bill could have harmed Florida’s waters or threatened Everglades restoration.
“Thank you Governor DeSantis for standing firm in your commitment to protect Florida’s waterways by vetoing Senate Bill 2508—the bad water policy that would have reversed years of Everglades restoration and water quality progress, elimination of Lake Okeechobee discharges, and equitable distribution of water use, all in favor of Big Sugar. Our organization and others worked hard to weaken 2508 and this veto is the final nail in the coffin,” said Capt. Daniel Andrews, Executive Director of Captains For Clean Water.
This is a great win for Florida’s water and fisheries, those who depend on healthy coastal ecosystems, the folks at Captains for Clean Water, and grassroots advocacy efforts all around the country. Today, it’s abundantly clear that if you round up enough passionate individuals–even a bunch of scraggly fishing guides–you can influence positive change.
Great news for Wyoming anglers, the Bureau of Land Management just acquired 35,670 acres of private land located to the southwest of Casper, WY that also includes 8.8 miles of shoreline on the North Platte River. Even more impressive than the fishing access is the effect this purchase will have on public land access in the state.
According to the Casper Star Tribune, “Federal ownership of the property also creates a 118-square-mile block of contiguous public land that connects 40,000 acres of formerly unreachable state and federal lands.”
The purchase is considered a part of President Biden’s America the Beautiful Initiative, also known as “30×30”, a program to conserve 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030.
“This acquisition marks a big step forward for improving public access,†and is a “unique opportunity to conserve crucial wildlife habitat at a landscape scale,†BLM High Plains district manager Kevin Christensen said in a statement.
No, the state of California doesn’t actually believe that bees are indeed fish, but via a loophole in the state’s laws, there’s an opening to list other species as fish, in order to get them listed as a protected species.
Back in 2019, the California Fish and Game Commission determined that four species of bees were eligible for endangered and threatened species protections. However, recently a group of agricultural interest groups sued the state to challenge the four species’ status in order to continue the use of certain pesticides and the effects of monoculture farming practices. They argued that “the [California Endangered Species Act] does not allow the Commission to designate any insects as endangered, threatened, or candidate species because insects are not included in the statute’s enumerated categories of wildlife entitled to such legal protections,” according to the legal blog Law & Crime.
Ultimately the courts ruled that the four species could indeed be considered “fish” and maintain their respective listings as one of the state’s endangered and threatened species. The case against them is well worth a read if only for the humor of listening to lawyers argue about what the legal definition of a fish is.
Airflo, a leading fly fishing brand has released a fully recycled fly line spool. The first-ever fully recycled spool is made from recycled polypropylene. The common plastic is not only recycled plastic but is also widely recyclable across the world. Polypropylene is chemically inert with a low impact on the environment, no toxic waste, no emissions, no fluorocarbons, and no halogens.Â
Gareth Jones, Director of Sales at Airflo mentions, “We created these new spools due to Airflo’s commitment to the planet, the new spools will result in less plastic waste, and anglers and fly shops will be able to recycle the spools easily in normal curbside recycling bins. In the past, we have used plant-based plastics for our spools but found they would deteriorate in humid conditions, and there was a shelf life to them. The new polypropylene spools are rigid and have a locking mechanism. Along with texture on the inner spool making it easier to spool up fly line.â€Â
The new spools are currently replacing all of the old line spools. Airflo has already incorporated these new spools into production, anglers should already be seeing these new recycled fly line spools. More info on Airflo’s website.Â
With summertime on the horizon, we can’t help but get excited about the longer days, warmer temps, and exploring some of our favorite cold water fisheries! In honor of our favorite time of the year, we will be breaking down for you everything you need to know to make your summertime fly fishing trip a success. From apparel to responsible fish handling, this is your guide to having the best summertime fishing experiences this year!Â
Whether this is your first time picking up a fly rod or if you are an experienced angler, planning ahead of your summertime fly fishing trip is a must to have the best day on the water. Trust me, don’t be the person who is frantically looking at google maps the morning of. I have been there along with many others, it makes your day significantly less fun. We want you to have fun, so here are a few important things to keep in mind when planning your summertime fly fishing trip.Â
Know where you want to go:Â
There are a handful of factors going into this decision such as target species, water temperature, the distance you are willing to travel, etc. Generally speaking, going up to higher elevations or fishing tailwaters (cold water below dams) is going to be your best bet to find cold water in the summer. If you are far away from a trout stream, then maybe you seek out a new river for some bass! Knowing where you want to go will help you with all the other steps below.
Go to your local Fly Shop:Â
Your local fly shop is going to be your best source for current information on the local fisheries. They will be able to help you dial in any big details you might be missing about the water you are looking to fish. The best tip is to bring in a 6 pack for the shop staff, they work hard to make sure you are taken care of for your trip so take care of them!
Check the local regulations where you are Fishing:Â
Make sure to purchase a fishing license for the state you will be fishing in. Fishing license sales go directly to help conserve the places we love to fish year-round! Some states may also require you to purchase “stamps” to add to your license for certain species.
Additionally, due to warmer temperatures and drought conditions across the Western United States. Many fisheries go into hoot owl restrictions or even river closures during the heat of summer. When these regulations are in place it might be a good time to chase some warm-water species such as bass and carp!
What to Bring?
Footwear:
Sandals:Â
I personally never take off my Chacos during the summer. Even when I take them off, you can see strong evidence of a “Chaco Tan” etched into my feet. They are by and far my favorite footwear for any summertime fly fishing adventure.
There are a lot of advantages to Chacos due to their versatility. Your feet are secured by the adjustable straps and you have confidence in the river or trail on their rubber soles (some areas only allow rubber-soled shoes in the river to protect from invasive species). Let’s not forget the water running on your feet to keep you cool on those hot summer days.
Boots:Â
If you are going to be heading anywhere you might need a little extra support, wading boots paired with some wet wading socks are always a great option. If you are doing any sketchy hiking to get into your secret spots, ankle protection is always helpful.
Clothing:Â
A light jacket: In the mountains, the mornings and evenings are cooler. Make sure you have a good lightweight jacket to keep you comfortable in the early hours.
Lightweight Sun Shirt
Lightweight pants: This is super important if you want to avoid cuts from any bushwhacking you might encounter.
Sunglasses: Nobody wants a hook in their eye!
Your favorite hat
Fishing Gear of Course!Â
Fly Rod
Flies
Leader
Tippet
Nippers
Good Pack
Thermometer (to check water temps)
Other Essentials: Sunscreen, buff, frosty beverages.
You can’t forget your furry friends too!
Tactics
Once again this is going to change depending on what you are fishing for. If you are fishing for trout, small rods and dry flies are the game. For your warm-water species, poppers can provoke incredible eats! If you would like to dive deeper into some specific tactics, here are some amazing resources.Â
It is of the utmost importance we are proactively taking steps to preserve the fish and the places they live. This way we have many more summers to come where we can romp around creeks and rivers fishing to our hearts’ content. Here are the top things to consider to help protect the fish.
Graphic Courtesy of Trouts Fly Fishing
Water Temps: When summertime fly fishing, water temps are the biggest factor to consider for fish health. When it gets too hot, the fish are venerable to mortality from disease and stress. Make sure to check water temps in those hotter months and have a backup plan if your Plan A is too hot. You can even keep a thermometer with you!
Fight Fish Fast: Fighting fish fast reduces the stress on the fish. In warmer water, the fish have less oxygen and energy, to begin with, so the longer you fight the fish, the quicker it becomes stressed.Â
Keep em’ wet: How would you feel if someone held you underwater for an extended period of time? Our fish need to be in the water to breathe, as well as dry environments, can pull off any protective slime on the fish itself.Â
Here are some more resources for being a responsible angler on your summertime fly fishing mission.
Do you really think we are going to give away our secret spots!?Â
The best part about summertime fly fishing is getting out there and adventuring! Whether you find yourself on the local pond fishing for panfish, or at a high alpine lake this summer we hope you discover your own special places to escape the heat! We hope these tips encourage you to get out and have a summertime fly fishing adventure of your own.Â
Thank you to Chaco for making this article possible! If you love trout just as much as we do, and love to protect them, their Thomas Rhett Collectionsupports our friends at Trout Unlimited. You can check out the collectionHERE.
“John Kelley (@johnkelley_) and I (@danny.eiden) were fishing in Idaho and came across a Caddis hatch of epic proportions. Throwing size 20 midges to sipping trout through the Montana winter can only satisfy you so much. This was the first great dry fly action we’ve had in quite sometime, and we did our best to make the most out of it.”
From Florida’s east coast all the way up to the Chesapeake Bay, redfish or red drum, depending where you’re from, offer anglers action-packed and diverse angling opportunities. So, don’t be surprised when you hear that they are one of the most recreationally targeted species in the South Atlantic region. Heck, redfish is the state fish of Georgia. Today, however, many anglers and guides are seeing a declining redfish population on Georgia’s coast and are hoping to encourage the Department of Natural Resources to acknowledge the problem and sustainably manage the fishery.
Measured in a straight line, Georgia’s coast is some 90 miles, and the estuarine habitats–which support juvenile redfish and so many other species of fish and wildlife–within that 90 miles of coastline is exponentially greater. Unlike other regions, Georgia’s coast still has immense fields of marsh or Spartina grass. Yet Georgia’s redfish are on the decline, particularly the over-slot (greater than 23″) fish. Captain Chad DuBose is the President of the Georgia Saltwater Anglers Association and owns and operates Tall Tides Charters; he attributes much of this local decline with an explosion of fishing effort coupled with no real management change.
When your average fishermen hears about fishing for redfish, they think Florida or Louisiana or South Carolina. Most do not think about Georgia, yet the fact remains Georgia boasts a great fishery. However, more and more people are discovering this fishery. In the last 30 years, fishing effort has skyrocketed–there has been a 550 percent increase in fishing license sales, fishing guides, and boat registrations. While this is undoubtedly a positive for these coastal communities and guides, it places tremendous strain on the resource and challenges the fishery management process.
In the case of Georgia’s redfish management, there hasn’t really been any change to the recreational management measures (bag, size, and season limits) in three decades despite the increased effort. And that is the crux of the Georgia Saltwater Anglers Association’s message. A 500 percent increase in effort should spur change in management to ensure the fishery remains sustainable. That isn’t happening…yet.
Also, when you look at the rest of the region, Georgia’s regs stand out as being comparatively liberal.
“It’s simple math really: when you have the same Redfish regulations in place with no significant change in the past 30 years plus a 550% increased pressure on our fishery during that same time, there will be less Redfish,” said Jared DiVincent, Vice President of GSAA and Co-Owner of On The Fly Outfitters, a Georgia coast fly shop.
“Increased fishing pressure has been exacerbated by the recent pandemic and “work remote culture†and we’re seeing this decline first hand on the water each year. Both  qualitative and quantitative data show a decline in the Redfish population and Redfish fishing satisfaction along Georgia’s coastal waters. We have an unprecedented urgency to ensure our fishery is sustainable for future generations to enjoy.”
GSAA’s primary goal at this point is to show Georgia’s DNR that there are a lot of anglers who agree that there is a problem with how redfish are being managed. So, they’re hoping to get a large showing at two upcoming Georgia DNR Town Halls, which will focus on redfish.
“The town halls are slated for 6 p.m. Monday, June 6, at Georgia Southern University, Armstrong Center Room 151, 13040 Abercorn St., Savannah, GA 31419 and 6 p.m. Thursday, June 9, at the Brunswick Library, 208 Gloucester St., Brunswick, GA 31520. The meetings will include a presentation on the survey’s findings followed by a question-and-answer session with marine biologists and staffers from DNR’s Coastal Resources Division (CRD), which commissioned the survey.”
In the heart of the aquatic insect world, there are one species that stands out above the rest due to its massive size and intimidating appearance. Its full name is Pteronarcys californica, but as anglers, we simply refer to it as the Salmonfly.
In the early Spring of 2020 Phil Tuttle, Chris Cutler, and I began planning a trip around the upcoming salmonfly hatch. For weeks we anticipated not only catching fish on large dry flies, but as filmmakers we also hoped for the opportunity to film their emergence; the exact moment when the adult salmonfly breaks free from its exoskeleton as a winged adult ready to take its first flight. Finding the leading edge of the hatch was our goal, and after driving 400 miles to fish this hatch for only two days our fingers were crossed that we would be able to find both fast fishing action, and emerging salmonflies to film.
It’s important to note that as with all other river-dwelling insects that emerge, the hatch begins in the lower stretches of the river and progresses upstream over a period of weeks as temperatures in the river system increase. In other words, if you’re off by a mile you could miss the hatch completely. Here are a few other interesting life-history characteristics of salmonflies that are good to keep in mind when planning a trip to fish a salmonfly hatch.
Salmonfly Life-History
Salmonfly Nymphs:
Salmonfly nymphs live the majority of their lives on the stream bottom. Here they make a living by wandering around scraping and consuming detritus from the riverbed, growing ever larger with each year that passes. They remain as nymphs in this underwater state for up to four years before it’s time for them to advance into adulthood.
Salmonfly Emergence:
Every year in the late spring to early summer these nymphs experience a change which prompts them to migrate to the edge of the riverbank in preparation for emergence. Typically, in the late afternoon salmonfly nymphs crawl out of the river and anchor themselves to nearby rocks, trees, or any other solid surface where they then proceed to emerge. This is when they leave behind their aquatic life for good.
Adult Salmonfly:
Now, in their terrestrial form salmonflies have one main item on their agenda, and that’s to reproduce. After reproduction has occurred the egg-ladened females return to the water’s surface to deposit their eggs. Both males and females are clumsy fliers and are oftentimes knocked or blown onto the water’s surface. Hungry trout await the opportunity to gorge themselves on the less fortunate salmonflies that end up drifting helplessly on the water’s surface. As anglers, this is where we come into the picture. Tossing extra large dry flies to eager trout, that for the time being have lost all fear of surrounding threats.
During the first day of our trip there were adult salmonflies lining the foliage up and down the river. Just the sight we were hoping to find, giant bugs EVERYWHERE! However, we were finding the occasional engorged fish willing to eat our dry flies, but the action was a bit slow and it felt like we were at least a few days, and a few miles behind the hatch on this stretch of river. As the night drew to an end we still hadn’t found the leading edge where the salmonflies were currently metamorphosing into adults. We knew we were close, but with the clock ticking on our trip, we needed to find it fast if we were going to film their emergence.
The next morning we decided to relocate miles upstream from where we were the day before. As we systematically worked our way upstream not only searching for fish, but also checking every shadow on the backside of each large boulder for the signs of emerging salmonflies, it began to feel hopeless as the hours passed by. Mile after mile we continued fishing and hoping, but as the afternoon began to fade we knew our opportunity was slipping by.
But in reality we really didn’t have anything to complain about. We had been finding quality fish that were more and more willing to eat our dry flies the further we worked upstream, and the scenery was second to none. But the hopes of filming emerging salmonflies was looking more and more bleak as we neared the end of our final day. Although we didn’t have the crowning shots we were hoping for, we still had enough good footage to tell a compelling story of these amazing insects and the hatch event that they bring to pass each year. Before our trip was even over, we were already planning for next year when we’d once again try to find and film their emergence.
However, as the afternoon was fading and our time was nearly up, we noticed on the backside of a decent size boulder half in, half out of the water, a clustered up emerging frenzy with dozens of salmonflies working their way into adulthood. We couldn’t believe it! There were salmonflies in all stages of the hatch, nymphs crawling out of the water, others slowly protruding from their exoskeletons, and still others drying their new wings before taking their first flight. With so little time left we had found what we had been hoping for. We quickly grabbed our cameras and began recording.
The evening ended without casting another fly. We found what we had come for, both the fish and the insects had complied with our desires and the river had left us with nothing more to desire. Watch the full film below:
Article, videos, and photos byGilbert Rowley, follow his YouTube channelHERE. Additional photos and videos by Phil Tuttle.Â
