Fly Fishing

bigpopper · Location: Middle Tennessee

I arrived in Destin FL on Saturday 9-4, and with all the checking in and running to the stores to pick up the weeks supplies, i didn't get to wet my line that day.The plan was to get up at 6:00 and be on the water as close to that time as possible. So Sunday morning was here and we hit the beach right at about 6:15, the temp was cool and the sun wasn't up yet. And then, BAM! Schools of Blues and Ladyfish were bustin bait just 20 to 30 feet out. There was a hitch, the water was full of "june grass" clumps and seaweed, big problem for stipping in line. Wading out to the sandbars that early was also a problem because big sharks had been spotted 10-15 feet off shore on Saturday early in the morning hours, hence this is there feeding times. So I just casted out as far as I could in shin deep water. There was 1-2 foot waves as well which caused my leader and tippett to tangle even though I was stripping in line as fast as I could. Needless to say no fish on the fly.
Flyfished again Tuesday, out at about 7:00 headed to Choctawhatchee Bay. Found some docks/small piers on a scouting trip Monday evening. My friend caught 2 stingrays and a catfish on some shrimp using a spinning rod. Not much action, so around 10:00 I busted out the fly rod tied on a #2 Chart/white clouser and started fishing the docks edges. Then after about ten minutes I got a huge strike! I hooked an 11 inch Lizard fish, ugliest thing I have ever hooked with a fly. It pulled like a train!Got it on the dock, took a couple quick pics and tossed it back. This was the only fish I took on a fly while down there. The conditions in the surf and not having boat access really limited me to access of some good flyfishing.
Wedensday's water condition was the same as Monday's in the surf so I didn't get out the flyrod. Thursday was my last attempt to fly fish in the surf, no bait was being busted so I tried my best to guess as to where fish might be holding. I still was having the issue of the waves and the seaweed tangling up my leader and tippett.
All in all it was great time, I landed one fish and got lots of relaxtion and sun. It was deffinitly a learning experience, I did make a future contact for my next trip down there.

Just a few pics:

Lizard fish on #2 Clouser

Sunrise

The Bay

East jetties

[/img]

Marcel_Karssies · Location: Enschede - The Netherlands

Looks very nice down there.
The lizardfish are indeed very greedy critters with a voracious appetite,
just be happy they do not get big Smile

From the pictures the water looks very clean, was there a storm or windy weather prior to your visit ?
When I fished the Gulf after strong Westerly winds (= tons of seaweed) I would try and fish the inner bays or the estuary / river mouth at outgoing tide.

bigpopper · Location: Middle Tennessee

stuckinmemphis · Location: TN

Something you might want to try, the next time you go, is walking out to the end of the jetty. It can be a difficult walk, but there are times when I've gotten out there and hooked a blue on every cast. Also caught a monster red one time. The rocks are high, so the visibility is good. And you'll normally have the place to yourself.

I've always taken spinners out there, but I'm a recent convert to fly fishing and plan on getting myself a nice 8wt outfit to take out there the next time I go.