Tag Archives: Saltwater

Green Turtle Cay, Abaco, Bahamas

April 21, 2013 Nick

Jess and I have been in Green Turtle Cay (GTC) for about two weeks now. This place is amazing. The people are welcoming and friendly. The food is delicious. We have nothing but smiles from ear to ear everyday we wake up. GTC is an outer island of Abaco in the Bahamas. GTC is about 4 miles long and 1/2 mile at its widest. The preferred method around the island is by supped up golf carts. There are about 500 residents on the island and all are somewhat related to each other.

The beaches are pristine and gorgeous. There are three accessible flats for DIY bonefishing around the island as well as some uninhabited islands in the area with expansive bonefish territory. The GTC bonefish are not the smaller, stupid bonefish you see throughout most of the Bahamas. These bones are large, dark ocean bones that come in from the Atlantic cruising flats for shrimp and crabs. The average bonefish down here ranges from 7-10lbs. I have become friends with Ronnie Sawyer, the local bonefish guide, and he keeps telling me that these are the hardest bones in the Bahamas to catch.

Paying my Dues

I am still looking for my first bone on the fly. Zach visited us and landed a nice sized bone on spinning gear, but I want it on the fly. Call me a purist, but I don’t care. First and foremost, let me say this is the most difficult fly fishing I have ever experienced, and on top of that, the weather down here has also not been the most optimal for bonefishing. Two or three bones landed with a guide down here is a great day. To say the least, the DIY wading bone fisherman has the deck stacked against him. There is no mercy and no room for mistakes.

Most people, including myself, start fly fishing for trout and then transition down the road into the salt. The biggest difference between salt and fresh water fly fishing is the casting. An experienced trout angler will make the majority of their casts in the 10-20 foot range. Flats fly fishing requires 40-60 foot casts in windy conditions to a moving target. Practiced and perfected double hauls are required. One to two false casts is the ideal load time.

My 9wt Orvis Helios paired with Rio’s Bonefish line makes the difficult casts a bit easier

I have had small victories that keep me motivated. Multiple follows and subsequent refusals. I stalked a tailing fish the other day, laid a nice cast down, got the fishes attention, and hooked up. The bone immediately headed toward the Atlantic and ripped off plenty of line. Then came that all too familiar feeling of the line going slack…fish broken off. After inspecting my leader, the culprit was a poorly tied tippet knot. Just paying my dues. I keep reminding myself that it took about a year after I started saltwater fly fishing to land my first striped bass, and now I feel extremely confident anywhere on the Northeast Coast chasing stripers. I have only been targeting bonefish now for two weeks.

To keep my sanity, I have also been stalking barracuda on the flats with much success. They cruise the flats in good numbers, are extremely aggressive, and put up a solid fight. A mylar tube articulated needlefish fly has been doing the trick. Also, our neighbors took us out on their boat for some reef trolling. Zach, Jess, and I all hooked up with some nice size fish.

Barracudas cut down needlefish right in the middle

Even with no bonefish landed, I am still addicting to this type of fishing. Trout are an awesome game fish. Stripers are a blast. But flats angling is a real test of all your fly fishing skills. I will keep hitting the flats and I know I will have a nice pic of a bone soon!

Favorite Patterns, Saltwater

Norm’s Crystal Schminnow

April 12, 2013 Christopher Kuhn 2 Comments

Part 1: Sanibel Island Diaries

Mark Beardmore introduced us (MKFF) to Sanibel Island in 2012 for his thirtieth birthday celebrations. These days, the twenties are merely an extension of your teen years with money and more alcohol. As opposed to the twenty-first birthday, the thirtieth is the true adult milestone. That being said, we are gearing up to fish and party island style at the end of April.

Norm Zeigler has popularized Fly Fishing for Snook with his ground breaking book, “Snook on a Fly: Tackle, Tactics, and Tips for Catching the Great Saltwater Gamefish.” The Schminnow is his own creation, developed to mimic the small silvery white baitfish, that live off of the beautiful subtropical beaches of Sanibel Island.

Snook can be sight fished off of the beach while in season; this requires an “ocean style” delicate presentation. Using a heavier fly like the Clouser will splash and risk spooking your prey. The Schminnow will catch the sunlight and float high in the water, enticing predator fish to attack!

Materials

Mustad Signature S71SZ-34007
White Danville Flat Wax Nylon
Black Mono Eyes – Medium
Estaz Opalescent White
White Marabou

The fly is relatively simple to tie and finishes strong out on the Gulf Coast of Florida. It is a general attractor pattern, not mimicking any specific baitfish and necessary in any Fly Fisherman’s arsenal. Norm designated it the Schminnow to indicate the pattern is part shrimp and part minnow. Another variation of this fly is with dumbbell eyes, the weight allows it to pursue species that live deeper in the water column.

Step 1:

Place the hook in your vice. Attach the thread behind the hook eye; try not to crowd the eye. Build a smooth base as you wrap down the hook shank. I stop just at the barn in order to tie in the White Marabou tail.

Start the thread and evenly wrap back to the barb.

Step 2:

Tie in the Marabou tail, use four or five wraps of thread, and leave about ¼ inch more than a hook shank’s length of tail. In a later step we will clip the tail. The clipping of the tail to length allows the life like breathing and flexing, during strip retrieve, which truly appears as a wounded baitfish to Snook.

Step 3:

Clip off the excess Marabou stem forward on the hook shank, at an angle, allowing you to evenly wrap it down with thread. Now wrap back to the barb, tie in the tag end of a five-inch length of Estaz. Wrap your thread forward to the tie in point behind the hook eye.

Clip of excess Marabou stem, tie in Estaz, wrap thread forward.

Step 4:

Create a small thread bump about an eye’s length behind your tie in point. Attach the mono eyes with a series of cross wraps, circle wrap under the eyes in order to stabilize the structure. Add a few turns in front and back for good measure; check that the eyes are stable before moving onto the next step.

Step 5:

Evenly wrap the Estaz around the shank, creating body, until you stop just behind the eyes. Tie off the Estaz and cut off excess. Whip finish in front of the eyes.

Wrap Estaz evenly forward, tie down running end.

Step 6:

Using a good pair of scissors, grasp the excess Marabou (over a shank length) in your hand and trim off the excess.

Norm's Crystal Schminnow — Norm’s Crystal Schminnow

Look for more of our Sanibel Island Diaries series.

Part 2 – Double Haul

Part 3 – Dock Lighting for Snook

Favorite Patterns, Fly Tying, Saltwater

Surf Candy

March 24, 2013 Nick

This is Bob Popovics’s latest addition to his fly fishing resume. Bob is a renowned saltwater fly fisherman and tier. This is the newest version of the Surf Candy. Bob has designed a holographic sticker called “Fleye Foils” that adds great detail to this fly. Surf Candies can be tied up to mimic any small baitfish for fresh or saltwater; however, they were designed for the bait that is most important to saltwater fly fishers on the Northeast Coast: bay anchovies, silversides, and sand eels. These baitfish are the staples of any striped bass’s diet.

At the last Fly Fishing Convention in Somerset, NJ, Bob was giving a demonstration and stated something that drives his fly tying. For larger bait, such as peanut bunker, silhouette is more important than detail. If you look at his Hollow Fleyes, it is pretty apparent that bigger is better. But for small bait, such as sand eels, the detail of the fly is the most important feature of the fly. Fleye Foils add this dimension that other fly patterns cannot achieve.

The most popular combinations are tan and white for Bay Anchovies, olive and white for Sand Eels, and grey and white for Silversides. However, you are only limited by your own imagination.

Hook: 4-8

Thread: White 210 Danville

Body: Bucktail or your favorite synthetic material ( I used EP Fibers)

Flash: Krystal Flash, Flashabou, or your favorite material ( I used Flashabou)

Head: Fleye Foils with a head of epoxy or light-cured acrylic

Step 1:

Lay down a thread base down the hook shank.

Step 2:

Turn the entire hook upside down and tie in the bottom body of your Surf Candy using the material you have chosen.

Step 3:

Rotate the hook back to right side up and tie in your flash material.

Step 4:

Tie in the material for the top of the fly. Use a color that will contrast with the bottom body color.

Step 5:

Tie in your adhesive Fleye Foils.

Step 6:

Use your epoxy or light-cured acrylic to create a slender profile for your Surf Candy. Apply the epoxy or acrylic to almost the end of the adhesive Fleye Foil.

Tips: If you are using epoxy take your time, you can apply the epoxy in two settings. Clear Cure Goo is optimal for this fly. Also, keep the material sparse for this fly.

Moose Knuckle Fly Fishing

Tag Archives: Saltwater

Green Turtle Cay, Abaco, Bahamas

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Norm’s Crystal Schminnow

Part 1: Sanibel Island Diaries