Posted: Tue 03/10/09 2:36 pm Post subject: Naples, Florida Fishing Trip: Tips, Info & Help?
Hello all! My name is Blake...I live in Vail, CO and am taking a trip to Naples, FL April 5-11. I'll be fishing with a friend who's a guide in Key Largo on the 7th and maybe the 8th, but will be fishing the Naples area on all my other days. I've already got some decent general saltwater advice from friends and guides down in the Keys, but am looking for more specific info on the Naples area and places I haven't heard about...specifically the passes and inland waterways and canals.
I'm a fly fishing guide and shop Manager here in Vail and am well versed in the fly fishing game...but obviously, only for freshwater trout! I'm looking for anyone with experience fishing in/around Naples who would either want to meet up and fish with me for a day, or just simply give me tips on what type of water to look for and what flies to throw...hot colors, tides, etc. I'd like to tie a few patterns that are "Neccessities" before I come...any ideas on these? I've already got some clousers, bitters, have heard crazy charlies will work well in the passes and from the beach...any other suggestions?
I know the general area somewhat well as I've been going there since I was little but haven't been there in 6 years and have never fly fished there...only bait/spin fished.
I'm staying on Vanderbilt Beach and will mainly be fishing Wiggins Pass and Clam Pass and trying for anything that will tug on my line from the beach. I also REALLY want to get more info/tips on fishing for Snook at night as I plan to do that almost every night! I would love to chase some speckled trout...what type of water do they frequent the most? Any help with tides/time of day and all the other stuff I mentioned would be greatly appreciated!?
I look forward to hearing your suggestions...Thanks for your time!
Posted: Tue 03/10/09 9:42 pm Post subject: Sounds like
Hi,
There are lots of guys on here from the Naples area .. and lots guys who, if they don't live there, have fished there. Others know much more than me and others are full time guides or fly shop owners or whatever ... I am just a fly fisherman and can tell ya what I know .. here goes ..
1. The beaches and passes were good to me early in the morning and in the evening .. especially in the morning though. I would often see cruising snook or feeding snook or big Jacks ripping acrross the surface in the calm morning waters. For the snook .. it depended what kind of bait they were on .. but on the beach I always did pretty good with black/purple EP peanut bunker flies, gurglers or other type poppers (gurglers and poppers mostly for the jacks) .. EP and other similar type baitfish patterns for snook.
2. Wind is the biggest enemy down there - as it always seems to blow - so on the beaches .. take advantage of low wind days or early morning/evening when wind dies.
3. Inside the passes near the rocks and mangroves etc.. I would find a lot of the usual suspects sea trout, snook, jacks, lady fish and things like that .. clousers or similar type things worked great .. and the EP worked there too.
4. Night snooking. Pretty "simple" really. Find docks in any of the bays with "snook lights" and you will find snook - basically a "snook light" is any light that points right down in the the water .. the more powerful the light the better. Finding the lights is key .. the problem is (as you probably know) the naples area is a very private environment with lots of gated communities .. so access to the docks is TOUGH to say the least .. your best bet would be having a kayak or canoe .. or finding a guide to take you out and bomb around the different lights.
5. There is a guy on this site "Marcel" - he is from the Netherlands -- but has been going to Naples for YEARS for 30 days at a whack every year .. he knows the foot and wading game pretty well .. and I am sure he can offer you some solid advice from one fly fisherman to another .. I don't think he will want to give you his exact spots .. but it sounds like you already have a good idea of locations .. and just looking for some tips on flies etc.. I'm sure he will be able to give you more detail than I have given you .. he's spent a lot of time on the beaches, passes, breakwalls etc.. on foot .. doing exactly what you want to do.
6. One more thing -- for the snook lights .. try some smaller flies like GLASS MINNOWS .. the snook will be in the light and also waiting on the perimeter of the light ring .. cast out into the darkness and then strip the fly through the light .. try to emulate a minnow or a shrimp or whatever coming naturally through the light with the tide .. and make sure to use some shock/bite tippet for the snook (6" of 40 lb fluoro) .. as the snook have super sharp gill plates and will cut you off pretty quick if you don't have the shock tippet .. JOE-M is the master (out of all the guys I know) of snook fishing the lights .. he lives down there .. and helped me catch my first snook ever and helped me to understand "snookin' at night"
Below a link to my trip reports from Naples - lots of older stuff
since the last time I was there was in 2007.
Allthough things have changed I suspect fishing will still be the
same.
http://home.hetnet.nl/~shimanto15/Trips.htm
The passes are always good places to fish.
I have caught my fair share of Jacks and Snook in those passes,
even Tarpon will cruise by from time to time.
The stone jetties always have Snook, you will notice when things are happening with bait exploding along the shore and flocks of egrets at the bank.
Don't forget about the State and County parks also.
I would skip Wiggins pass at least from the Vanderbilt side and hop
over to Bonita Beach rd. and enter Barefoot Beach County park
(southern side of Wiggins pass).
More room to fish and an interesting sandbar in front.
Lots of Snook there when I visited that spot be it in Fall.
Another location would be Lovers Key park, especially the northern pass
was a very worthwhile location.
The parks get busy at the weekends and then I would opt for more secluded places to fish, I can not stomach beerdrinkers listening to Gator FM that long
The Snook on the Beach in Naples have always been very tough on me.
Lots of people on those beaches so the fish are very, very wary.
Sometimes all things work out though and you can do battle with those terrific gamefish.
Early morning wave action is usual minimal so you can spot the Snook moving along the shore and you can make a better presentation.
Off course the Snook will also have a better look at you.
Around sunset is too a good time and I even fished with Gurglers in the pitch black at night with succses too.
Night time Snooking is very much fun but locations on foot are very scarce. I had the opportunity to fish at Joe-M's dock and had a blast - untill the complaints from the tennants came.
The condo police is in full presence in Naples so for some proper night time Snooking you have to fish from the water by boat or kayak.
Posted: Tue 03/17/09 4:45 pm Post subject: Fly Fishing Naples
I have two suggestions for your trip. First, there is a place on Isle of Capri ( turn off is just before bridge to Marco ) where you can rent a kayak for a few hours. $30 for three hours and they really don't time you that carefully, if you are within an hour they never say a thing. It is a very low key operation at the Capri Fish House and they have several sit on top fishing kayaks with rod holders, etc. Good fishing very close by and a lot of fun. Second, there is a guy in Everglades City, Capt Charles Wright who will take you out into 10,000 Islands and launch a kayak out there for a days fishing. Charles Wright has a web site, I think it is called Yak Attack or just google Charles wright and kayak fishing it should pop up. Cost is $300 and it is a great trip. I went with him last year and we did some snook, lots of trout, and I was lucky enough to jump about a 150 lb tarpon that pulled me around for a Nantucket Sleigh ride in the kayak for about twenty minutes before he decided to break off.
Posted: Tue 12/15/09 5:25 pm Post subject: Naples Xmas Trip and follow up from last March...
Hey there guys...I'll start by apologizing for my lack of participation in my own thread since you had been ever so kind in providing me advice for my last trip to Naples in March.
Now, I'm heading back in a few days (Dec. 24th) for a week (until the 31st) to "hang out with the family" for the holidays (aka. to fish my brains out every chance I get).
A follow up from my last trip: Thanks to Marcel and the others for your input...I did actually follow your advice and had some success from the beach...mostly around wiggins pass tossing clousers and EP flies. I caught a few snook and a few ladyfish and hooked something massive that broke me off about 20 seconds into the fight?? The highlight of my trip was my 2 days flats fishing near Key Largo with my buddy who guides down there for the Ocean Reef Club. I choked and got the shakes when casting at those bigass tarpon and got a few shots at bonefish...what a humbling experience it was, but I did manage to hook and land a 60+ lb Cobia on the fly...which was an amazing catch for me!! I'll try posting a few pictures if I figure out how to do it...?
As for my upcoming trip, I'm curious if I should focus my attention elsewhere because of the fact that it's January. I'm planning to fish more of the beach South of the pier at Vanderbilt beach, closer to clam pass this time as I focused much more on the Wiggins Pass area last trip. I'll fish every morning at sunrise for at least a few hours. Are ther any other places that are hot during this time of year that any of you could suggest? Any backcountry spots that are semi-easy to access by foot where I could chase baby tarpon or ?? Is the beach fishing still productive this time of year or should I focus my energy inland?
Also, my buddy will be pulling his flats boat down from Tampa to spend a few days fishing with me. Since neither of us live there or are familiar with the water around there, can anyone reccommend a semi-easy access point to the backcountry near Ft. Myers or Naples where we won't get lost or stuck at low tide...we will have GPS?
Of course I wouldn't expect anyone to give up their honey holes...Again, any tips or info would be greatly appreciated....Thanks guys!
Blake whats shakin? havent seen ya in the shop lately....there are lots of fishing opportunities in Naples. Don't over look the snook under the lights late night. Always a good time. bring your glass minnows. I think they arein the bargin bin at your shop. Have fun. see ya around town.
I live on the Front Range and will be heading down to Naples for the first time Dec. 30 - Jan. 5 to visit the wife's family. I've checked out lots of old posts about the region and am planning to fish the beaches/passes as much as I can given the "family" nature of the trip. Any tips you can give to a fellow fly angler from CO for his first shot in the salt would be appreciated. I'm thinking clam pass as a starting point but am pretty open to suggestions. Also, I have an 8wt setup which I think should work well, but I've seen tippet recommendations ranging from 6lb-20lb....some help on whats a good choice for shore/wade fishing would be awesome.
JOE -- I didn't know you were on here...I'll have to hit up my bargain bin and grab those, thanks for the tip. I've been fishing a lot believe it or not...the Blue has been great!
I wanted to hit up the snook at night during my last trip but quickly realized the need for a boat or kayak...I'll definitely take advantage of having a boat for a few days this time and git after it. Anyone having luck on poppers at night or do you typically stick to subsurface?
Ken - Last time I was there, I used a normal saltwater leader, usually around 12-15lbs...but be sure to add a few feet of 30 or 40lb shock tippet to the end of your leader...those gill plates on the snook can cut through your tippet if it's anything less. That's what I did...maybe some of the other seasoned vets who actually fish there every day have some better advice for you? I just threw all different colors of clousers and EP flies and stripped them like you would fishing streamers on the Colorado. I tried to fish the passes like I would a river, finding the structure in the current...the fish are usually facing into the current and waiting for food to pass them by...I had the best luck on the "downstream" side of sandbars and other structure.
Looking forward to spending a few days in the heat and sighfishing the beaches...
i live in summit county too and heading down to stay with my grandparents and do some fishing..ive done a little bit of fishing down there and i find if you just go to work and treat the troughs and canals like a stream against the tide as you would up here in our rivers you can pull out some nice fish...
i got a question for you tho. i have only gone light snooking once before and had no luck. any good docks that you keep going back to?
don't rule out the freshwater opportunities. If your on foot, and you overlook the ponds that are everywhere, you'll be missing out on some great fishing for bass, snook, and tarpon.
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Have fun. see ya around town.