This spring I’ve been incredibly fortunate to do quite a bit of traveling in a short time. It all started towards the end of April when my girlfriend I met up with my brother and some of his friends for a double birthday and fishing extravaganza in Florida. See my brothers blog for his tales of the trip to Sanibel Island. I had never done any Saltwater fly fishing prior to this journey so I didn’t really know what to expect…it was unbelievable. Every fish we pulled out, I had no idea what it was, but they put up a hell of a fight.
Dave feeding a bird some bait fish
The flies we used were way less intricate then some of the trout flies that I normally tie, but all you really needed down there was the schwminnow and a glass fish. Our first day Jourdan ripped the most fish out of the Gulf and I struggled a bit to read the water. What I learned was there is a lot of waiting for the birds and tides during the day time or just hire a guide and they will take you to where the fishing is on fire.
Celebrating Jourdan’s BDAYJourdan with a Sea TroutSunset on a boatRipping snook up after dark
Flying back to SLC
Once Jourdan and I arrived back in Salt Lake I had the opportunity to drive the delivery van for the ski shop back to Colorado for the summer. I brought my fishing and snowboard gear along for the ride. The snowboarding did not work out, but the fishing did.
Sometimes when you have to drive 500 miles in a day you have to set out at 4 AM to get a half a day of fishing inTraffic jam in route to the fishing
The “Gold Ribbon” stretch of the Frying Pan
Fishing in Colorado is way different than fishing in Utah. Stream access is not nearly as good. There are some assholes in Utah trying to ruin our stream access, but that’s a whole different story. I stopped by Taylor Creek Flies for some advice before hitting the stream.
Their knowledge worked. There are a ton of fish in that river, but also a ton of people.
After some nymphing and some midge dry fly action I had to pack up and continue on Frisco.
The road to A Basin
The next morning I woke up and dressed to go snowboarding up at Arapahoe Basin. However, my pass that was lined up for me fell through so I had to fall back on my back up play to do some more fishing before catching my ride to Denver International to get back to Salt Lake.
Another small Colorado stream with some snow still lingeringHowever, there were some nice fish to be caught.
Once home, Ted and I went to some more familiar territory for me.
A moose spyTed with a healthy RainbowTala and Jefe enjoying the beautiful weatherHealthy TroutThis adventure comes to a close, but there will be more. Fishing and the sites you see is awesome
Following the lessons with Joe Mahler and watching Snook cruise the beach everyday, we were rightfully anxious to hook into one. The Gulf remained choppy throughout our entire trip making it near impossible to sight fish for the monsters.
Fighting fish in the backwater.
Both Norm Zeigler and Joe Mahler recommended we go out with Captain Daniel Andrews; he is a young guide, ready to help you work the water to produce Sea Trout and Snook. According to Captain Andrews, there are several highly productive means to catch fish on the Fly Rod in Florida. Dock light fishing is the most productive Fly Fishing experience you will discover in Florida. Waterside illumination is a bait attractors and predators like the Snook seek out the bait.
Brenton with a Lady Fish, treating her right.
We met Captain Andrews at 3PM on the Punta Rassa Boat Ramp for an evening of Rippin’ Lips, he advised us first we would hit the backwaters for Sea Trout, at dusk the plan was to move over to a good dock light with a plethora of bait. To add adventure to the trip, there were thunderstorms off in the distance. We would need to avoid them if they started to head towards us. (In Florida, it seems, there are always thunderclouds in the distance.)
Jourdan’s first Sea Trout.
Captain Andrews made it a quick ride into the backwaters, taking us out to some Mangrove islands to cast. Saltwater fishing is a whole new Fly Fishing experience; there is an incredible amount of wildlife seeking fish(food) while you are out there. At certain points Osprey, Pelicans, Cormorants and Dolphins surrounded us all looking for their next meal. As we casted out the Schminnow hundreds of greedy eyes looked on with jealousy.
The First Snook
The afternoon started out very slow, we all discovered that saltwater fishing is very tide dependent. You can either wait for the tide to change or head out in search of fish. The seach will require a lot of casting. We did a bit of both; Captain Andrews took us around, in the boat, seeking hungry fish. Brenton, Jourdan and I hooked into Ladyfish, Sea Trout and Mackerel, all the while, out running ominous thunderclouds. The afternoon was progressing nicely, that is until the Dolphins surfaced. The presence of top-level predators does wonders to make fish hide. Anyway, it was about dusk and the slowdown was an excuse to seek out a perfect dock light.
Chris’ first Sea Trout on the fly.
Not all dock lights are created equal, if you want to catch fish by the light; it pays to go out with a guide. Captain Andrews anchored us, in a heavy current as a result of the tide, placing Brenton and I within casting range of our target.
Measuring a Snook.
Captain Andrews advised us that we could cast but waiting until the moment the sun went down would be more productive. Right on queue, the sun disappeared over the Gulf and the fish went nuts. The shrimp were literally jumping out of the water to get away from the predators all around them. Everywhere you heard the tell tale pop of Snook eating juicy shrimp.
Chris’ 20+ inch Sea Trout.
Brenton was up first on the casting platform, he double hauled his Schminnow out at the head of the dock structure. As instructed, he then pointed the road down towards the current direction and stripped line in one-foot increments. Pointing the rod down the current prevents the Schminnow from experiencing drag. Drag, of course, tips the fish off to the fakeness of your bait. A few strips and Brenton had a Sea Trout; quickly, he threw the Schminnow back out there and Snook on!
Chris’ first Snook on the fly.
After that first Snook, we did not have a break until we left around 11PM. Cast after cast; a beauty was hauled out of the water. A short cast yielded Sea Trout; a perfect cast would haul out a Snook. On the far side of our boat, the Dolphins were frolicking.
Chris’ last Snook of the night.
Unfortunately, the next afternoon we all had planes to catch…until the fall Sanibel Island.
The spring in New Jersey has been one of the coldest on record, we did not get the ice conditions I had hoped but once spring hit, the thermometer did not rise. Heading down to Florida for some saltwater action seemed just the cure for my post winter malaise. This is our second trip down to Sanibel Island, last year we headed down to celebrate Mark’s 30th, this year it is a party for Mark and Jourdan. On the debut trip I was able to hook a Gulf Toad Fish on the fly and some nice fish on bait, this year I committed to Fly Fishing only.
Joe is an excellent and patient instructor, he worked with Brenton on his double haul, Jourdan and I on our rod death grips. To achieve long casts, I had fallen victim to the fallacy that you need to exert your whole body. In reality, letting the rod do the work does the trick for a perfect shooting cast. These lessons set us up nicely for dock light fishing a few nights later.
Casting Practice
After half an hour casting in the grass, we were anxious to follow the rest of the guys out on to the beach. For perfect conditions on the Gulf of Mexico, you need very little to no waves; something akin to glass is perfect. According to Mark, Beach fishing is generally better towards the summer and peaks in October. That being said, we wanted to taste salt and Joe indicated, though conditions were not perfect, tourists had caught some large Saltwater Fish by braving the choppy seas.
Jourdan gets the skunk out!
Fish cruising the beach will be located in the trough which runs along the beach in between the first sand bar or on the sand bar’s far side drop off. The perfect cast will land in front of an incoming wave, that wave will not be so large as to develop a white froth. Joe discusses keeping your fly “in the zone” in this very informative article http://www.joemahler.com/#!__surf-sand-and-snook.
The Largest Stickleback Ever
The beach cruising fish prefer flies that mimic the Glass Minnow and other small, semi-translucent bait-fish living in the trough. A good way to locate bait-fish is to follow the birds. Mark is very helpful by carrying his cast net everywhere along the beach. Throw the net out real quick and you get an immediate picture of the subsurface bait-fish school’s size and coloration.
Mark and Dave Cast Netting
The day ended well, a quick lesson and all the newly minted Saltwater Fly Fisher people caught a fish. Mine was a Stickleback but a large one. I later found out, like most Ocean fish, they have terrible spikes. Do not touch them or get stung…
Sanibel Gulf Shore Moonrise
Don’t worry, the big feesh are coming out to play…
You must be logged in to post a comment.