South Florida in January

[fatbillybob]

Gent's,

I got 2 days free from racing in Florida. I got one day booked to fish the Glades out of Florida city.

I have an additional day to fish. I'm thinking around Marathon or Islamorada or Everglades city side of the Glades or north to 10,000 islands. Please help me decide and post up your favorite guide for the location.

Thanks!

 

[ra2bach]

you might want to look at soe of the replies I got to a recent similar thread -- Naples FL fly fishing guide service?

 

[wwpool]

Fished for sails out of mathison hammock park... Charter boat fishing with Captain Mark Houghtaling was the guide...great trip ...

 

[wwpool]

If memory is correct caught several tuna as well as the sails

 

[fatbillybob]

Well had a great last week in the glades and 10k islands. One day I had nearly a 100 fish day all on the fly out of 10,000 islands. Nothing bigger than 22" but the fish were just aggressive. I caught a bunch of species mostly snook and reds. I also caught a catfish and a grouper which the guide says rarely hit flys. Fish were down deeper so blind casting a streamer. We tried to sight fish but were not successful that day. Other days were more typical a 20 fish day still nothing big.

 

[karstopo]

Nice day you had! I like to fly fish structure and sign when sight casting conditions aren’t favorable. What depth of water were y’all fishing in? Any particular fly patterns that were getting it done?

I get a few gafftopsail catfish, mostly on shrimp flies and borski sliders. Gafftops are normally good fighters, but slime up the leader something terrible. Hardhead catfish have been harder to get on the fly. Hardheads are a little less predatory than gafftops.

Fishing structure like oyster reef margins and drop offs can really be productive and result in a wide variety of fish. Often, one can stay stationary and keep casting into a narrow zone with several fish seemingly coming from the exact same spot.

 

[fatbillybob]

Nice day you had! I like to fly fish structure and sign when sight casting conditions aren’t favorable. What depth of water were y’all fishing in? Any particular fly patterns that were getting it done?

I get a few gafftopsail catfish, mostly on shrimp flies and borski sliders. Gafftops are normally good fighters, but slime up the leader something terrible.
Fishing structure like oyster reef margins and drop offs can really be productive and result in a wide variety of fish. Often, one can stay stationary and keep casting into a narrow zone with several fish seemingly coming from the exact same spot.

In all the years of my flyfishing I have had only 2 hundred fish days. This was an amazing day indeed. You nailed it. That solitary cat I caught was a slimer. I used 1 shrimp pattern all day. By the end it was falling apart but still caught fish. We were doing exactly that, fishing oyster bed drop offs and seams of moving water with the tide change. I fish western rivers and streams. Getting to Florida is a rare treat for me only made possible this time due to my car racing schedule. This day was the 1st time I saw the saltwater like a river and I started to really understand the structure. That improved my catch because my fly placement wasn't the guide saying cast over there. Even in the dropoffs and the seams you could read where the fish would be and you still had to put your fly there. Being able to catch so many fish really drilled reading the structure. A foot left or right as no fish. Cast on the dot there was a fish just like in a river. I learned a lot that day and next time I'm in Florida I hope will help me onto bigger fish.

The day before in the glades I only had a few chances to sight fish. In my excitement by casting failed me. The few shots I had put the fly right on top of the fish resulting in no take. I really have to calm down and figure out how to place that fly to a cruising fish. My only success that day was a 20 fish day putting a fly right up into the mangroves and stripping another less realistic shrimp pattern. The only inshore species I did not catch was a bone, tarpon, or seat trout. Of Course the guide said you should have been here last week...one day over a dozen shots to small tarpon.

 

[driftless22]

Unfortunately, we do not have Bonefish on the Gulf side of the peninsula. I've been told that the reason for this is that much of our water is brackish.

 

[karstopo]

I've been sight fishing a long time now, the last several years with a fly rod. Casting to sighted fish isn't anything like automatic even though I think it often should be on any particular shot. It's still very easy for me to get flustered at times messing up my casting rhythm. I've gotten "buck fever" shakes repeatedly trying to lay in a good cast to moving big redfish, snook and jacks, shakes so bad I've had to take a break from fishing for a few minutes. If I didn't get worked up once in a while, it would probably mean I need to find some other hobby.

What you describe about the pinpoint nature of structure fishing in the saltwater is just what I've experienced. The fish orient in very specific small zones in the structure and current and a bunch of fish can be compressed into the narrow zone. The presentation has to be spot on and at a specific speed and depth.

Thanks for sharing your report.

 

[fatbillybob]

Unfortunately, we do not have Bonefish on the Gulf side of the peninsula. I've been told that the reason for this is that much of our water is brackish.

I don't know about the gulf side vs. the atlantic side but I thought the bone population has really moved out of Florida because of the die off of the seagrass?

 

[driftless22]

As far as I know, there has never been a population of Bonefish in that part of the Gulf coast that I am familiar with - Everglades City & Chokoloskee. I’ve heard that Bonefish numbers have decreased over in Florida Bay and the upper Keys, due to environmental changes, but I've never fished over there.