Recent fly fishing reports from all around the state.
Breaking in the New Rod
Florida Sportsman member: SpaceCoast Slayer
Fished closer to home a few days ago bringing only the fly rod and found the flats covered up with tarpon. I put at least 20 in the air and landed 7 or 8 altogether, plus a bonus red and black drum.
Vero Variety
Florida Sportsman member: Ditchrat
Up around Sebastian Inlet we found a flat with great current moving across it, along with it we found a steady stream of Bonnetheads cruising back and forth. After a couple hooked up pitching rubber shrimp, we started fly fishing for them. Found out that they eat a larger shrimp pattern pretty well.
Beach Surprise
Florida Sportsman member: snookslayer772
She ate two feet off of the sand and immediately went to clear my line. As this was happening, my line knotted up on my cork, and would not allow any line out, so into the water I went after this fish, to luckily get it unwrapped and really start the fight.
Personal Best Snook
Florida Sportsman member: randyrichter
Despite a lot of wind, and dirty water, had already put eight snook on the beach. Made a long cast, took one strip, and got crushed. A guy standing up on the rocks yelled, “Dude, that's a big fish.” Fish went into the backing, and then powered down the beach about a 150 yards, despite the fact that I was putting a lot of heat on it.
Tripletail on Fly
Florida Sportsman member: SLW Urocane
Went out early on Saturday with my brother. We worked a few spots, and found tripletail both north and south of Fort Pierce. All but one 17 inches was under slot and released. We caught 9. We used a brown shrimp pattern fly from Bass Pro.
Beach Walk Success
Florida Sportsman member: pazozausf
Decided to go mess around with the seven weight and see if I could put a hook into some of the small snook in the surf. Hooked into this girl, she was a little bigger than I was expecting.
10,000 Islands Fly Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass
We spent the first five hours in the backcountry but we did not see many Snook, we did however see a good number of Redfish and had a lot of good shots at them. We also saw a good number of Tarpon and jumped four but came up empty. They are impressive fish, I can see why people become addicted to them.
Solo Mission
Florida Sportsman member: RG Air
The current was ripping and the fly is swept into the grass line outside the creek. Second cast is placed further upstream and halfway through the slower paced retrieval, the fly is hammered. Set the hook, raise the rod tip and the fish takes off down current and immediately deep into the backing.
Sanibel Action
Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass
The next fish was a big girl cruising up the beach and I watched it eat the fly. I was lucky to have two people from the UK walking the beach who were nice enough to take this picture. This fish was hook solid in the corner of the mouth, it measured 38 inches.
Beachside Black Drum
Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass
I had a really good day on Sanibel with some black drum. Walking the beach we spotted a very large mud that was a very long cast away. It could be reached but when the school moved in then it was a much better hookup ratio, going four for eight.
Ding Darling Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass
I decide to give Ding Darling a try before the rain came in the afternoon. It was the first morning we had early cloud cover and i was finally able to find a few small tarpon up and feeding.
Sanibel Beach Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass
It was a very interesting day, I had two fish on that were similar in size to the one my friend caught, the first one was on 20 seconds before we parted ways the second one 20 minutes ending with the same results, a lost fish.
Charlotte Harbor Reds
Florida Sportsman member: E-type
Forum member E-type and friends have been on the redfish in Charlotte Harbor. Wading seems to be the ticket for these fish. Awesome!
Hitting the Sweet Water
Florida Sportsman member: FowlMouth824
Almost immediately I was seeing strikes on the surface around the thicker vegetation. After a few missed strikes, and avoiding the small alligators that were also interested in my offering, I was finally able to connect and land a decent sized bass.
March Action
Florida Sportsman member: ethankiburz
Fly fishing for tarpon is only going to get better and better as the temperatures rise into the mid to upper 70′s. Our resident tarpon will stage up and feed in preparation for their annual migration. They can be targeted in our area at night or during the day using flies that push water. This is especially critical as our water clarity diminishes with the algae bloom in the warmer water temperatures.
Foolin' the Reds
Florida Sportsman member: RG Air
My third cast to the previously populated redfish oyster bed did the trick. It was sweet victory on the early side of my day. The cherry on top was she ate my own tie.
Big Bend Fly Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: Shallow Sightings
An inshore slam can likely be caught in under 20 inches of water. It doesn't get much better than that. Almost all winter I've been throwing crab and shrimp patterns but i just started to throw a baitfish pattern more often(pictured below).
Slam on Fly
Florida Sportsman member: SUPER D
This time things were a little better, although no big fish, I did get a slam of snook, trout, and a red all on a brown bend back with gold and dark green flash. Ended the day with three trout to 21″, two snook to 23″, one dink red, one little mangrove snappy, and a bait size lady fish.
Palm Valley Fun
Florida Sportsman member: Black Clouser
It turned out to be a beautiful morning once the sun came up. Calm as could be and 65 glorious degrees. Poled a couple of miles back in a remote creek I haven't hit in a while and was greeted by quite a few happy reds showing themselves.
Hiding from the Wind
Florida Sportsman member: Snookslayer772
Went and hid from the wind yesterday around Wabasso and found a few fish. Ended up running into a bunch of baby tarpon and ended up playing with them until we had enough. Caught a bunch of snook and a redfish while casting at the tarpon, which was a nice surprise.
A Trip to the Lagoon
Florida Sportsman member: irlyriser
When it was my turn to fish, we saw something a little strange swimming down a prop scar. Turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. A nice trout, made more special by catching it on a 5 weight I had brought more as an afterthought.
Getting in on the Action
Florida Sportsman member: Black Clouser
Forum member Black Clouser has got in on the shad action the St. Johns has to offer. “These fish are a real hoot on the 5 weight.”
Shad on the Fly
Florida Sportsman member: Docked Wages
We got on the spot around 10:00am to find no crowd and no one fishing, surprising for a Saturday. This enabled us to drift versus anchor up and each drift we picked up a fish.
Good Luck in the Valley
Florida Sportsman member: Black Clouser
Had some sick fly fishing lately down my neck of the woods in Palm Valley. Last several trips have been true sight fishing bliss with double digit catching with some crazy good takes on the trusty seven weight.
Chassahowitzka on the Fly
Florida Sportsman member: Shallow Sightings
his is my favorite time of year to target red drum and gator trout. The east winds and low/weak winter tides create a perfect scenario for fly fishing. Two things happen, it compacts the fish and the tides are so minimal it allows the sediments to sink and the water to get crystal clear.
RedFly Results
Florida Sportsman member: Shadowcast
RedFly #10 is in the books and it was a huge success. We had more participants than ever and raised $1100 for CCA Florida.
Banana River Fly Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: Snookslayer772
The wind was a little more than expected, but we still got it done. Was able to catch snook, trout, redfish and tarpon, majority being sight fished. Highlight for me was I ended up cane poling a redfish (leader still in my guides) four feet from the boat that was belly crawling in the mud with his back out.
A Fly Weekend
Florida Sportsman member: Black Clouser
Sunday was just plain Insane, we had fish backing, tailing and coming down the bank one school after another. I would tell you how many were caught but you may not believe me.
Sheepshead on Fly
Florida Sportsman member: E-type
Was trying out a new spoonful pattern I tied. I was casting under the mangroves and had caught a few little snook. Then this guy grabbed it and wanted to go deep for the mangrove roots.
Breaking the Curse
Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass
It has been four years since I caught a Redfish on Sanibel and I think if you're going to break the redfish drought it is always good to do it with a 31 inch red. This fish ate a size 2 white deceiver.
Taking a Walk
Florida Sportsman member: Black Clouser
I decided to fish the flood grass up north this morning and what a beautiful fall wake up it was. The flood lasted a manageable 2 and a half hours and I was able to land three, two of which were epic takes.
Sanibel on Fly
Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass
After my trout I was able to hook and get one great jump out of a snook that just tossed the fly, The fish had to be an easy 30 inches or better, It was fun while it lasted for the five seconds.
Tailers in the Grass
Florida Sportsman member: Black Clouser
We had huge tides to begin with and that coupled with screaming North East winds turned the flood grass into a Lake real quick. Got out Sunday and the water was still a little high for me but nothing like it had been. Saw quite a few quick tails, some slurpers and one hard tailing fish. Managed to get a few small guys and enjoyed every minute of it.
Albies from the Beach
Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass
It has been a long time, 8 years I believe since I was able to get an albie from Shore. This year has been a good one and in the last 2 weeks I was able to land 16 with my best day being yesterday when I went 8 for 10.
Reds in the Grass
Florida Sportsman member: FlyFishJax
Forum member FlyFishJax shared a recent video he put together of the flood tide fishing in Jacksonville. Stealthy approaches and accurate casts often pay off with a red in hand. Nice work!
Fishing the Floods
Florida Sportsman member: Black Clouser
My trusty BC Critter Fly has always worked well for me in the flood grass and I also do equally well spoon feeding them with the Dupree Spoon. Lately I've been changing it up a little and throwing a small topwater Slurpee Gurgler in the mix. Pretty cool watching them take topwater in the grass.
Tangling with Tripletail
Florida Sportsman member: ifitswims
Never seen fish come up and kiss the bait, sometimes pressing their closed mouth to the fly for several seconds. Of course sometimes they scream over and bite immediately. The bigger fish were more wary for sure and a few I could not get to react.
First Tarpon on Fly
Florida Sportsman member: FlatsFrenzy
I stripped it twice, he took a swipe at it and missed, I stripped it again and he inhaled it, I felt weight and crossed his eyes with a hard strip strike. Hilarity ensued for the next 30 seconds as I tried to clear my line and keep him hooked up until I had him on the reel and could fight him. As I was doing this, my partner on the poling platform was screaming “Strip it! Set it!”.
It's all About Speed
Florida Sportsman member: Beto_Matheus
Found a couple of peacocks sitting in the shallows in a canal in Boca and had a chance to pass three different flies by them. The same fly on a slow strip did nothing. Exact same cast but moved the fly as fast as I could and it got pounded.
Close Call
Florida Sportsman member: E-type
Forum member E-type got some awesome footage of juvie tarpon action on the fly, with a close call, almost losing part of the fly rod.
A Trip to Mexico
Florida Sportsman member: Carl Blackledge
he next day we maybe got a dozen each, the second to the last day we landed over 25, and the last day we only landed eight. The best trick was to spot or hook a dorado, get a sardine in front of the new group and your fly at the same time, and when everything lined up, you caught lots of dorado.
Snook in the Surf
Florida Sportsman member: Shadowcast
A little action from the beach today. I saw hundreds today shadowing bait pods. Most were males in the 20-30 inch class. I saw a few big girls but no takers.
Juvies on the Fly
Florida Sportsman member: Snookslayer772
The juvie tarpon fishing around the treasure coast has been the best i've seen it in years. With most fish holding in deeper bays and residential canals. I have found a few bigger fish hanging around channel edges though. My go to fly has been a white bunny strip tail with 5 or so wraps of orange palmering chenille up front.
Sanibel Snookin'
Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass
My friends and I spent a week at Sanibel and even with the wind and murky water we had very good week. In addition to these we had a fair amount of smaller fish all on the fly.
Buggy Whip Blackfin
Florida Sportsman member: Capt. Scott
Went out solo in the late afternoon after day trip finished and the result was this. Surprised I was able to pull this off solo, especially the landing/boating part. Easily bottomed out my 30 poind Boga Grip.
Snapper on the Fly
Florida Sportsman member: mrl0004
I was totally unprepared for how hard these fish fight. I was using a 12wt, and I thought that fish was going to snap it in two. We had snapper and triggers swimming around, and after I caught several snapper, I tried to get one of the triggers to bite. I had to actually start snatching the fly away from snapper to give the triggers a chance.
First Snook on Fly
Florida Sportsman member: RG Air
Hadn't seen many fish but it was only a matter of time as the setup was legit. First cast was directed to the dock's southernmost pillar, couple of strips, water wallows and battle began. Few minutes later and I had my first snook on fly.
Night Time Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: sparse grey
It was high tide around 9P.M. at a local bridge. We could not hear or see much action due to the wind but I went 1 for 2 & John P. caught his first. Great privilege to help with this.
Biscayne Bay Permit
Florida Sportsman member: jnrosenthal
Forum member jnrosenthal caught and released this beautiful Biscayne Bay permit, fishing with captain Joe Gonzalez. His next goal is to take one of these fish on fly from his kayak.
A First on Fly
Florida Sportsman member: westpalmspearo
I ended up finding some monster reds after throwing at them at least 12 times with not even a look I headed home completely frustrated with plans to comeback asap. two days later I was back and still couldn't get the reds to eat but did manage my first 3 bones.
Beach Side Snookin'
Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass
Forum member Tgrass recently had some good success fishing the beaches of Sanibel for snook. Clear water means light leader and accurate presentations are necessary to fool these linesiders. “The Snook fishing on the beach although difficult can be very rewarding”, says Tgrass.
Sight Fished Bruiser
Florida Sportsman member: snookslayer
Forum member snookslayer sight fished this 40 inch snook recently with the fly rod. This fish was caught in Indian River Lagoon.
Brackish Water Fun
Florida Sportsman member: dogman58
I have been using small baitfish patterns and topwater foam flies. On the light fly rods this is a great fishery, catching swordspine, tarpon, fat and common snook.
Peacock Bass on the Fly
Florida Sportsman member: Prhea36
Forum member Prhea36 put together an awesome video of peacock bass on the fly. “When the weather is not optimal we grab the 6wt's and do some good ole bank hopping.”
A Different Type of Flats
Florida Sportsman member: remo_5_0
Found a nice “flat” at Flaming Gorge reservoir, got tight with some nice Rainbows while stripping egg sucking leech patterns on a fast sinking line.
Brackish Water Snookin'
Florida Sportsman member: freshfromthesalt
The snook are chewing baitfish patterns well in local upriver spots. Lots of short fish, but a few photo worthy fish in the mix.
Fresh and Salt with the Fly
Florida Sportsman member: Snookslayer772
Fishing a size 8 minnow I was able to fool a few. With how spooky these fish are around beds, it can be pretty frustrating. I have noticed though, stay as low as possible and keep your shadow to a minimum, I try to hide in a tree's shadow or some type of cover.
Fly Fishing the Glades
Florida Sportsman member: Native21
I was anticipating light winds in the morning so I took my light 6 weight out for some sporty action in the backcountry. I had some nice shots and landed quite a few before the winds picked up in the afternoon.
Offshore with the Fly
Florida Sportsman member: Slamaholic
As soon as we got to the spots we had around 30 amberjack all around us. With a little chumming and throwing a chugger with a spinning rod we had the fish in a frenzy. Hook ups, doubles, triples, you name it. All fish were over 30 pounds some in the mid 40′s on a fly rod, we even chummed the American red snapper up enough to catch those on the fly rods as well, by vertically jigging massive clousers.
First on the Fly
Florida Sportsman member: NSByak
I finally stuck my first Mosquito Lagoon red last weekend. What a great feeling, Of course it would happen the day I left the gopro at home, so I could only grab some cell phone shots. Watching it eat was incredible.
Sinking a Fly
Florida Sportsman member: Capt. Scott
I had a client using a five weight at the same place yesterday, throwing at 1 to 4 pound barjacks, when what had to be a fifty pound amberjack inhaled and departed with the barjack he was fighting. Not much to do except watch the line melt off his reel, right down to the knot.
Backwater Poons
Florida Sportsman member: Snookslayer772
A heavily weighted size 2 white shminnow has been the go to fly for these fish, presenting it with long and slow strips. I have jumped fish to 10 pounds or so and have seen a few 20 pounders roll, but have yet to get a hook in them.
North Florida Reds on Fly
Florida Sportsman member: lost1317
Went out for a few hours the other day. Seems like every creek you look into has a school of fish. Found this school and caught a few off it, 3 on fly.
Jacksonville Reds on Fly
Florida Sportsman member: FlyFishJax
Forum member FlyFishJax shared some videos he put together of some great wintertime redfishing with the long rod.
Backcountry Tarpon
Florida Sportsman member: heavychevy15
Carlos then got into another Tarpon right after the first one. This one put up a hell of a fight. Being that he was fighting it from land, i thought he might not land it when it started making its run up the canal. He was able to turn the fish though and get him back towards us.
Cold Weather Trout
Florida Sportsman member: SUPER D
When I launched, the water temperature was 55 degrees. I found a lot of nice trout sitting in a foot of water. I caught a nice 22 inch trout on a white bend back, and a Nice 25 inch trout on a white shrimp fly.
Tripletail on Fly
Florida Sportsman member: OutdoorAddict
Forum member OutdoorAddict got into some tripletail on fly recently. He went 3 for 5 on these fish, throwing a tan shrimp fly.
A Trip to the Lowcountry
Florida Sportsman member: greenie-slayer
It took Capt. Chris about 45 seconds to find a couple big schools of redfish. In short order he had me on the bow landing the first fish. Landed a bunch of nice sized redfish during the day and some even came up to eat gurglers which was surprising.
Making it Happen
Florida Sportsman member: SUPER D
I switched to 2/0 bend backs, white/gray with dark green and blue flash, brown with dark green and gold flash. I ended the day with nineteen Snook from 17 to 22 inches, and one small tarpon. They chewed up six flies. The water temp never got over 62 degrees, but the fish were spunky and strong, lots of fun on 8 pound tippet.
Hitting the Lights
Florida Sportsman member: Snookslayer772
Went out on my buddy's Jon boat yesterday evening to “test and tune” his new motor. brought the fly rods along, as we figured we might as well hit some dock lights once the sun dropped. The front pushing through really kicked up the wind once it got dark, but we were able to get tight on a few.
False Albacore and More on Fly
Florida Sportsman member: freshfromthesalt
We came across about an acre of bull reds. My buddy was quick on the gun and got his fly into these monsters first and got an immediate hookup. He was taken deep into his backing and again. I chose to skip the easy double header in order to help him land his fish. Good thing because this 23 pound behemoth snapped his 9 weight fly rod like a twig boat-side just before I got the boga grip on him.
Tampa Bay Fly Fishing
Florida Sportsman member: Shadowcast
Visibility was at a minimum and we had to deal with wind and rain showers early on. Conditions improved throughout the morning and we managed a few reds on 6 and 8 weight gear. Using a Monic clear floating line helped out as we could not see the fish at any real distance.
Hitting the Streams
Florida Sportsman member: remo_5_0
Got out in the river today with a buddy, fishing was decent but had a steady 20 mile per hour wind gusting to 30′s. I caught some decent ones, he got a few bigger ones, this week we will be hunting Big Brown trout.
Personal Best
Florida Sportsman member: E-type
I was slowly drifting in water so shallow I had to pick up my trolling motor and I saw a group of fish coming at me. Not being that experienced at telling the difference between mullet and redfish, I could only hope. They were moving with a purpose. Then about 70 feet away a few stopped and tails came up!
Freshwater Action on Fly
Florida Sportsman member: chasinfins
Forum member chasinfins shared some of his recent freshwater catches on fly. All the fish were caught on flies he tied.
First Tailer of the Season
Florida Sportsman member: E-type
Forum member E-type posted his first tailing redfish of the fall. It's hard to beat catching skinny water reds on the long rod. Tight work!
First Redfish on Fly
Florida Sportsman member: staysalty
Forum member staysalty scored his first redfish on fly. This fish ate a small white minnow fly out of a docklight near Siesta Key. Congrats!
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