Let us know what happens and what worked.
It was a very successful day!! We started out at 8 am and headed up the Indian River to a spot just outside of Manatee Cove Park, on Merritt Island. There were dolphins and manatees there, and the boat was spooking the manatees, so we headed into the cove... which was full of juvenile tarpon. I hooked a total of four, and while we only got one into the boat, I got the leader to my rod tip with all three of the others. Those were caught on a purple tarpon bunny using my 8 wt BVK with TFO LA 340 and SA Summer Redfish WF9F. That rod is fun to cast, and overlining it seems to work best. Being able to cast lefty or righty worked out very well, as we were inside a rectangular cove with tarpon rolling all along the perimeter, so I was able to drop a fly wherever we saw them.
After the sun got a little higher, we headed north toward Titusville, and the guide poled the boat along the shore on the east side of the KSC.... where I caught my first black drum ever. The water was high and still pretty dirty from the hurricane, but I learned how to spot drums and redfish. The drum was caught on a dark crab pattern using the guide's Loomis NRX (9-wt, 1 pc) with a Nautilus reel and Cortland Liquid Crystal Guide Taper. The fly was heavy and a PITA to cast, but the water was dark and I was throwing to fish less than 20 feet away. It was more like flinging than casting. The strip was a slow stop-and-start crawl along the bottom.
We started spotting redfish as we moved north, so switched over to a dark shrimp pattern with a little less weight. I finally got a redfish to eat it, but it took me casting to him three times before he took it. The strip was a short fast bump bump bump, but I didn't keep the fly moving enough, and he kept losing interest when it stopped. I finally got him to eat the fly, but didn't have enough pressure on and he threw the hook just as I got him to the boat.
So... I caught my first baby tarpon, first black drum, and first redfish, and got photos of two out of the three. The photos of the tarpon and drum are in the Warmwater Pics section.
I also learned how to spot tarpon, redfish and black drums, and the different ways to strip the fly for each species. It was interesting the way the drum only ate the crab fly when it stopped moving, while the redfish lost interest when the shrimp pattern stopped, and only went for it when it was moving.
The drum was the biggest fish I've caught, but the tarpon were the best fighters. Now I am obsessed with catching more tarpon.. this time on my own flies.
I start tying them tomorrow!
When the weather gets cooler, I'm going back up to try Mosquito Lagoon.
If you are ever in the Melbourne (FL not AU) area, and want a good guide, look up Capt Willy Le @ Native Fly Charters.
---------- Post added at 09:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:39 PM ----------
MJ, in addition to the flies you pictured above, you may want to incluse something with little to no flash. I have seen them refuse, turn away from a flashy fly, and then take a drab fly, especially in really clear water.
The one thing we don't have right now is really clear water. Too much junk washed into the high water from the hurricane. That said, we caught tarpon on a purple fly with no flash, but the drum and redfish both ate flies with some flash. I tied those specifically because the guide told me that the water was dark and the fish were hitting dark flies with some flash. However, I never used my own flies, just the ones he tied on.
---------- Post added at 10:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:43 PM ----------
Both look greatl! Do you have a pattern or recipe.
They are both tied on 1/0 Gamakatsu SL12 saltwater hooks.
The first one is a brown marabou tail, with copper UV Polar Chenille (palmered) body, clear fish mask head, and 3D eyes. If you've never tried those fish mask heads, they make a nice tight finish and a good base for gluing on the 3D eyes.
The second one is a *******ized Kinky Muddler. (FYI, I did not put in the *******. The site did that. I wrote *******ized.
)
Okay, fine! If I can't name it the *******ized Kinky Muddler, I will name it the Kind-Sorta Kinky Muddler.
The tail is two white saddle hackles tied on @ 45 degree angles, then two layers of two olive saddle hackles tied on top of the white at the same angle. Then a couple pieces of copper crystal flash. The body is EP fiber (olive over gray) tied on in EP baitfish style but rolled around the hook shank to make it "poof" out. Finished with 3D eyes and trimmed to shape.
