Mackerel and Bonito - Lemon Bay, Florida

       Back to Lemon Bay for our fall trip - late October and early November. There are usually quite a few options at this time of year - tailing redfish on the flats around low tide, snook along the mangroves and in potholes, trout on the deeper flats. However, fly fishing out in the Gulf is usually limited to pretty calm days, which seem to be pretty rare most of the time, but especially in the fall! One of our favorite fishing activities when it is calm is going out for Spanish Mackerel or Bonitos. Both can be caught on a fly rod and can be a lot of fun, in addition to which the bonito are a real challenge. As a bonus, Spanish mackerel is delicious table fare when properly prepared. The mackerel average 2-4 pounds and are famous for their speed and fighting ability, especially on a 6-8 weight fly rod. Bonito, or little tunny, or false albacore, are quite a bit larger - up to about 20 pounds - and are known for their lightning fast runs. They run in large schools, showing up on the surface with a lot of slashing when feeding on bait, their location given away by circling gulls overhead.

        With this in mind, we went out early one morning and ran out through Stump Pass and north along the beach about two miles, about one mile from shore. It was an incoming tide with just a slight breeze from the north with a few ruffly waves on the surface - another beautiful morning with temperatures in 70s. We saw feeding fish and birds as soon as we got out. Individual splashes indicated feeding mackerel and we were into small schools of them right away. We used 8 weight rods with floating lines, a 9' leader with 12-18" of 30 lb. test shock tippet. My favorite all-purpose fly - a white on white Clouser - closed the deal pretty effectively. The fish were on the smaller side, ranging from 1-2.5 lbs, but took the fly on almost every cast, and we had a couple of double hook-ups. We saved a couple for dinner and then decided to look for more challenging fish.

The bonito are a whole different kettle of fish (so to speak). Even at a distance, we could tell these fish weren't mackerel because although they slash the surface of the water in the same way, the fish are larger and faster, creating a lot more commotion. About two dozen fish moved in tight formation, side by side, creating a phalanx (like the Macedonians), racing first in one direction about 40' and then suddenly pivoting and racing the same distance in the opposite direction. They would keep this zigzag motion up, creating good sized waves. This would keep up for a couple of minutes and then they would disappear beneath the surface, only to reappear a hundred yards further away. Well, we got the boat in good position, trying to anticipate what general direction they were moving and got some good casts in, but their positions changed so quickly it was hard to get the fly going in the right direction. You'd cast ahead of them and then suddenly they turned and the fly was behind them! Talk about frustration! Surrounded by dozens of feeding, slashing fish that were constantly turning their backs on the fly! We both cast like crazy to no avail. Kris finally suggested a different approach- cast the fly behind them, wait for the turn and then start stripping like crazy. They moved with such lightning speed that this was still difficult to accomplish.

                       Finally, however, I did get lucky and one fish took the Clouser. An arm jolting strike followed by 50-75 yards of disappearing backing! The fish then took a 180 degree turn and came right back to the boat! Now this is where a right-handed retrieve for a right-handed person is essential - there's just no way a rightie can retrieve that fast with his left hand. These fish move so fast - not exactly like a bonefish, but pretty snappy. The fish put up a great fight, taking line out a couple of times with strong runs, but I finally got it up to the boat and netted it. A real beauty, weighing about 10 lbs., and then released it. What a great time! The tackle was the same we had used on the mackerel. We chased these guys around a while longer since they kept surfacing, but weren't able to duplicate our luck. We went back the next day when conditions were exactly the same, but you know the old story - not a tunny to be seen! Maybe next time! At least we know they're out there! 

FISHY COMPETITION FOR A FLY

May 25, Lemon Bay, Florida


    My wife and I just returned from a month's vacation in Englewood, Florida, fishing Lemon Bay and the area around Gasparilla. The weather here in Maine has been cold and wet and we were really looking forward to some warm, sunny weather and some good fishing, of any kind. After taking a few days to clean up the place and get some yard work done, we headed out to Lemon Bay to try our luck.

    As usual, when we first go out we don't have a particular plan. We just relax, check out what's going on with the tides, the wind and the weather and try fishing various places, different depths and using different flies. We left the dock around 8 AM. The weather was pretty hot for May - in the low to mid 90's every day - with a Southeast to Southwest wind blowing about 10-15. We fished the first of the incoming tide in the morning, in a couple of usually good locations, but moved on after an hour or so of nothing, not even any fish moving around that we could see. Just those *(#@* mullet everywhere! After a couple of other non-productive spots, since it was getting pretty hot, we decided to take a break and take a swim in Ski Alley.

   Ski Alley is a gorgeous deep, narrow channel, about 100' wide, behind Stump Pass Beach State Park and a bunch of mangrove islands where there are plenty of sandy areas to pull into and swim. There are also some great sandbars at low tide where the locals swim, party and bring their dogs for a little beach time.
Anyway, we had seen some big snook there before, right along the park edge of the channel, just hanging out in the current and thought it might be worth a look to see if anything was happening. We moved along slowly with the trolling motor, peering into the water up near shore. Sure enough, we could see a few big fish lazily swimming, going into the current, in about 3 - 5' of water, within about 10' from shore. The tide was about 1/2 way in, but the current wasn't too quick. We were pretty excited to see them and were getting ready to toss a couple of flies in, but then my wife turned to look up off the bow and shouted, "Oh my God! Look at the fish! There's a whole highway of them up ahead!" Sure enough, the water was dark with what looked like a river of fish coming right down the pike and under the bow of the boat! There must have been hundreds, all swimming in a pretty narrow band of maybe 8' wide, swimming into the current and not in any particular hurry. Well, obviously we got out our flyrods in a hurry and began casting. We tried a white on white Clouser and a black/white Clouser and got a few fish to follow, but no takes. They would follow the fly, make a rush at it, take a good look at it and then turn away. So, maybe something else? Was this frustrating or what? The fish kept coming, although they were starting to decrease in numbers, but still plenty of them left and BIG! They ranged in size all the way up to what looked like about 3-4'!

    I changed my fly to a grey Glass Minnow, size 4. Once again, follows but no takes. However, all of a sudden I had 3 fish rush the fly at once. They had followed the fly a long way until they were only about 15' from the boat and the leader was practically in the tiptop. "Come on, come on", I thought, "someone take it!" Then, strip, strike!, and the fight was on. The fish put on a strong first run, heading right for the mangroves and a fallen tree. I had all I could do with my 8 weight rod to keep him out of that mess, and the fish actually towed the boat in towards shore. He put up a good fight, but after a few minutes we netted the fish and released him back, none the worse for wear. It was a beautiful, heavy, healthy fish, about 9 or 10 lbs. and measuring 30". Gorgeous. What a thrill! Well, you better believe we checked this area out several more times but never saw anything like that again.

    The lesson here is an interesting one, and that is to be persistent and patient and have confidence in your fly. Sometimes we spend too much precious time changing the fly when the fish don't seem interested in what we have to offer. The fish can disappear just as fast as they appear and the chance could be a fleeting one. Just because there are a lot of fish around doesn't mean the fishing will be easy. Most of the fish were interested in our flies, but just weren't taking anything, and maybe no fly would have worked any better than what we had on offer. I think the reason I finally got hooked up is that the game became interesting for them when there was competition for the fly among the three fish, and probably the fly itself was somewhat irrelevant. They were just afraid of losing dinner to their buddies. So sometimes sticking with what you've got is better than wasting a lot of time diddling around with your tackle!

Tight lines!

Hey! Check out our website for a great selection of saltwater flies, leaders and tippet, including the Glass Minnow! http://www.flatsfishingflies.com/

WHITE ON WHITE CLOUSER MINNOW

Cast...strip...strip...strip...BANG! Fish on! The scenario repeated itself over and over again all day long. The season might be different, the sunlight, the wind or the time of day, but the fly didn't change, nor did the results. We caught redfish, as well as sea trout, snook, mangrove snapper, black drum, baby tarpon, bluefish, even Spanish mackerel. All succumbed on our recent trips to Soutwest Florida this year, and all on the same fly......a white on white Clouser minnow, size 2.

We did use other fly patterns and had spotty success with those, but the clear winner, the real go-to fly when things got slow, was the simple Clouser saltwater fly. It was by far the most productive, whether on the beach, in the surf, or on the boat; whether in 6" of water of 10', it was always the first and last fly we would try.

I tie these flies very sparsly using white bucktail, red or yellow lead dumbell eyes and pearl tinsel flash. They don't look like much, but simplicity must be the key because they are the most effective fly I know for all species of fish. I usually add a weed guard when fishing the grass flats.
The retrieve is a quick 6" strip, with a two second pause and then repeat. Strip all the way to the leader connection, since some fish will follow the fly a long way before striking. Fish often take the fly at the end of the pause, so maintain connection with the fly line at all times.

If I could have only one fly to fish with, it would definitely be a white on white #2 Clouser minnow. These are pretty difficult to find since most Clousers come in 2-color combinations, but I tie these myself and they are available at http://www.flatsfishingflies.com/ under the heading "General Purpose Flies". Tight Lines!

Nov. - Dec. Fishing Trip

We recently returned from our Fall fishing trip to Southwest Florida and it was, as usual, another learning curve experience. Some success, some not so success. The weather was a factor since it was generally cooler than normal and pretty cloudy. There was also alot of heavy fog for several mornings in a row, until about 10 AM when it cleared off, and a few afternoons were very windy. No excuses! The tides were pretty good, especially for a few days of late afternoon fishing - higher and lower than normal with presumably a good push of water.  As you know, tides are critical in flats fishing, but trying to figure them out in SW Florida can be a challenge, especially for we New Englanders! They're completely illogical and without a tide chart it would be impossible. Advice: get a tide chart the minute you get anywhere.

Anyway, the most exciting fishing day was when we showed up at a favorite flat around 11 AM - a large, very shallow flat near a deep channel where we had caught several  tailing redfish in the past.  We had gotten there at dead low tide figuring it would give us plenty of time to fish the first of the incoming. The tide was exceptionally low that day, the water was clear and very calm. We pulled up at one end and proceeded to quietly pole our way onto the flat, not expecting to see much for another 1/2 hour or so. But we didn't have long to wait. In fact, almost immediately we saw individual tails all over the flat, at first mostly in the really shallow area and then spreading to the deeper areas as well. We probably could have gotten there an hour earlier and fished right through slack tide, but who knows? We tried that the next day but conditions had changed and there were no fish. There were literally hundreds of redfish tailing and cruising, individually and in groups. Well, we had plenty of great casts, used several kind of flies, including a Spoon Fly which had been successful in the past, but nothing worked. We managed to get the fly right next to the fish without spooking them, had a few follows (some close enough to be spooked by the boat), but no takes. Dang! Go figure! The only thing we might do differently next time is not strip the fly so fast, let it sit on the bottom and just jiggle it now and then and wait for the fish to find it.

We had better luck catching snook along the lee side of a point with mangroves on the last of a rising tide on a really windy late afternoon, mostly cloudy. We tried right along the mangroves with no success, however we did find some snook about 50' from shore at the edge of the channel that runs along the mangroves where it drops from about 3' to 5'. The snook seemed to be cruising right along that drop-off. None were really big, but Kris hooked something enormous. Unfortunately, we never got to see it. She had stripped most of her line in when the fish struck and it took line out so fast that most of the line came up off the deck at once and ended up getting tangled and wrapping around her left hand. She had her rod up trying to keep a tight line but couldn't get her hand free without putting some slack in the line and the fish got off! Bummer! We were both using a #4 Glass Minnow and will definitely try that area and that fly again!

                                                                                                                  Glass Minnow

When things turned slow we went to our go-to activity, fishing for sea trout in deeper grass flats (4-5'). This is usually either very successful or not at all. We caught several  nice trout and the occasional ladyfish is always fun, too. I did manage to catch a nice 3.5 lb. trout. We usually fish for trout at the edges of the flat, up to about 100' from a deep channel. For these fish we used a #1/0 AC All Purpose Baitfish in Blue/White.

Despite the conditions being a little difficult we were pretty pleased with the flats fishing this trip, aside from the obvious disappointment about the redfish. Well, there's always

next time. Even not catching anything is instructive since you learn

so much about the tides, which flats have fish on them and when, weather

variations, etc.

Baitfish fly

   Thanks for reading our blog... please visit us at our on-line flats fishing supply shop at http://www.flatsfishingflies.com/ for an extensive selection of quality, affordable flies especially appropriate for fishing flats species, even cooler water fish such as stripers, bluefish and mackerel, as well as tippet and leaders.

Tight Lines!!

Crazy Charlie Bonefish Fly

Without a doubt the Crazy Charlie is the number one bonefish fly. It is considered to be the "Father of modern bonefish fly designs". It has also been adapted for many other species, including steelhead and salmon. It was originated by Bob Nauheim while fishing with the well-known Bahamian fishing guide, Charlie Smith, on Andros Island in the late 1970s. Charlie was born there in 1936 at Abaco and caught his first bonefish at the age of 6. The fly was so successful that Charlie would say, "Dat fly Nasty!!", so the fly was originally called "Nasty Charlie".

I met Charlie on Pot Cay while fishing for bonefish on South Andros Island at the AIBC in 2006. At 70 years of age he was rebuilding an old set of camps by himself on an isolated island in a style that can only be described as quirky, but which is now open and looking pretty stylish. It is now called The BangBang Club, a name which originates from the '30s when Al Capone is reputed to have used it as a hideout.

The original fly was tied with clear v-rib over silver flashabou, but tan, yellow, gold, brown or pink work well too. It was originally tied to imitate a small baitfish but was soon found to be taken by bonefish as a sand shrimp. It is an excellent choice for any fish that eats shrimp, including permit and redfish. The fly is very light weight and therefore doesn't splash when it hits the water, but because of the bead chain eyes sinks quickly For fishing over a clear sandy bottom, use pink, white or gray. Use brown or tan over grassy bottoms. Small strips work best and sizes 4, 6 and 8 are the most effective. My wife and I used a white Crazy Charlie exclusively on the sand flats of Anegada in the BVI with excellent results. Please see http://www.flatsfishingflies.com/ for a selection of saltwater flats flies. Tight lines!!!

new internet fly store

Welcome:
My wife Kris, and I have developed a new internet fly shop, "flatsfishingflies.com". We are flyfishing enthusiasts with a special interest in saltwater flats fishing. We have developed this store to provide quality flies at a reasonable cost. I will update new products and flies, fishing experiences etc. We welcome any input for this site and our store. We have 25 years experience in fishing the flats of Florida and the Bahamas. Tight lines.

John