Fly Fishing

jeremy · Location: Portland, Maine

Fisherboy and Fishking - you have asked me about tips for your upcoming trip to naples florida. i am not an expert down there but have fly fished alot down there with good success. here are my thoughts. maybe others going to florida can benefit from this info too.

1. 9 weight rod
2. floating or intermediate line
3. stripping basket - the rocks are coral and it is a pain - your line gets cut up and constantly tangled
4. any deceivers, clousers, shrimp patterns and ep minnow patterns. if your blind casting you can't go wrong with decievers
5. Get up EARLY first light and go to the beaches - you will see fish breaking on top - most likely jacks - chase them - they move fast and constantly be looking for them. may pick up a crusing snook or two.
6. during the day - go on rte 41 (alligator alley) any of the canals on either side hold tarpon, snook and GATORS - be very careful of the gators and don't go stepping in the water or anything - fish the shoreline carefully. use sound judgement.
7. NIGHTIME! - find the docks in the bays with lights on them - look under the lights you will see fish stockpiled under there jacks, snook etc.. this is when you will catch lots of fish - be quite - some of these docks are private property - so proceede with caution.
8. Guided trips - can be expensive - but worth the trip for a day or two - they can put you on the flats where the big tarpon are - however fly boats have onlyenough room for the guide and 2 fisherman. one guy fishes from the bow at a time - rotate in a timely fashion so that each guy gets equal shots at catching fish - visit http://www.evergladesangler.com

PS - don't bother with tapperedd leeaders - just get a spool of 20 pound flurocarbon and run that right from the flyline to the fly - 7 or 8 feet is fine.

PPS - practice your casts - casting far is beneficial and double hauling is key - the less false casts the better.

Austin · Posted: Thu 03/03/05 9:56 pm Post subject:

Howdy!
Question- I will be staying in the Sarasota area. Should I use these tips for there too? I'm assuming yes because it is not to far from Naples. Thanks. Tight lines

Austin

Fish_King_7 · Posted: Thu 03/03/05 10:38 pm Post subject:

Thats awesome Jeremy thanks a lot! What color decievers work the best? I usually do them in olive for around here. Also, What is the smallest wt. you would reccomend for using on Tarpon? I have an 8/9, wil that do the trick? Also, I have two rods, one is an 8wt, and the other an 8/9wt, should I buy 9wt line or just keep it 8wt. I will using these rods mostly for stripers, and bluefish, with the occasion trip to florida for snook, jack, and maybe tarpon

Caleb

jeremy · Location: Portland, Maine

keep it simple

Deciever typ patterns like this in white - purple/black should do - various sizes as well.

Shrimp Patterns Are a must for under the lights.

Here is a streaming media video example of how to tie A crafty shrimp. Compliments of Curtis Grant at Everglades angler.

[url]http://www.evergladesangler.com/portal/craftyshrimphi.wmv[/url]

Pete · Location: New York, NY

If you're going to be in Sarasota, I'd recommend driving over the bridge to Lido Key and try wade fishing around South Lido Park. You can fish the Gulf side and along the mouth of Big Sarasota Pass--get there at first light before the beach bums show up--for ladyfish, jacks, and the occassional snook and tarpon cruising the beach. I last fished there in June and there were tarpon running the beaches (of course way out of casting range.) Don't know if the snook and tarpon will be there in March, though.

If you walk back along the bay side of the park, there are a few spots where you can catch trout and maybe redfish.

I've heard there's been a bad red tide down there though, so I'd check in on that before you decide where to fish. I'd check out the forums on www.floridasportsman.com They'll give you some good local feedback.

Austin · Posted: Fri 03/04/05 4:43 pm Post subject:

Howdy!
Oh boy, Sarasota has red tide real bad. This sucks big time. My mom is flipping out over here and starting to reconsider the hole trip.
There is a map on one of the web sites I looked at.... All the towns on the west coast are fine, just not Sarasota...they got hit real bad. Thanks for all the help. Tight lines

Austin

Marcel_Karssies · Location: Enschede - The Netherlands

Naples might not be a bad choice. You could always venture into freshwater or the mix of fresh- and salt on US41.
Those Snook and Tarpon also seem to frequent the freshwater.
It would also be fun to catch those imported fish species like Oscars, Mayan Cichlids and god knows what they have dumped in the lakes and canals down there.
At Wiggins pass in Naples a river empties in the Gulf, I suspect that the impact of red tide there will be less.
Hope you catch some fish down there and will not have to content with the red tide