Naples & Marco Island Fly Fishing

The annual Nature Conservancy Red/Snook tournament was a great time this year, my anglers Henly Shotwell and Rich Christians fished really hard this year.  Congratulations on our third place finish, just nine inches from Capt. ken Chambers for second place.  We ran into some good and bad luck and there were some moments that were baffling.The first morning of the two day tournament Rich had a bad case of “Rubber Hooks” loosing 8 or 9 Snook and Redfish that would have really come in handy later.  We managed to fill our Snook tag of 3 which landed us in fourth place after the first day.

On the secound morning we left the dock at 7:00 a.m and by 8:30 Rich had filled his Snook card and added a bonus medium sized Redfish.  The first couple of larger Snook that we hooked that morning were big but they seemed to be shy of the net, and left us with a full but small Snook card.  Then the bad luck started, on tailing redfish ate the fly three times, and we were left staring at a huge wake leaving the flat in dis-believe.  As the fish disappeard off the 6 inch deep flat what happend next will be talked about between us for years.

The enourmous bay which was almost dry looked like the most perfect conditions I could imagine.  A mullet boat that was patrolling the flats decided to run the whole bay driving his boat in and out of each cove that was inches deep, ounce they had made it directly to the spot where I usually see tailing redfish they ran the boat into the mud untill stuck.  Then they proceeded to jump out of the boat and start slamming big wooden oars on the water, it sounded like an AK47 going off, in fact we were all convinced they were shooting a gator or some critter untill we could visually see what they were doing.  They were beating the oars on the water trying to get the mullet schooled up so they could catch them.  Not so good for the fisherman trying to catch ultra spooky tailing Reds and Snook.

After the mullet fisherman left Henly made a perfect cast at a Redfish that was waking and feeding his way down the shoreline.  The Red slammed his fly and then ran directly into a crab trap,  getting off in the barnacled mess of the discarded trap. Ounce again we stared in disbelieve, and left the bay feeling like eventually something has to go our way.Rich and Henly both came through by catching a medium sized Snook which filled our Snook card for the day, and Rich landed a 30 inch Red and lost one that was equally as large.  With one Redfish left to catch and Henly being the angler that had to catch it, the 45 minutes left in the tournament were very stressfull.  We spotted a large red 30 inches or greater and Henly made a great cast,  he stripped the fly and the Red kicked its tail hard trying to catch it, it popped it jaw and got with in an inch of it ready to feed.  The fish then slowly turned away from the fly and slipped away.

It was a great time fishing this tournament and was an awesome experience getting that close to a win with my buddies.  Next year that Red is going to eat!!!!

Click on this link to view tides and information about winter fishing! 

Click here for Winter Fishing!  

Fishing has been good the economy not so good.  Everyone has been feeling the economic down turn in South West Florida and October was beginning to get a bit scary toward the end.  Recently folks have been showing up and business is beginning to pick up.  Fishing has been good and the name of the game has been to get a slam, Snook, Redfish and Tarpon all in the same day.  Its not easy but fall is definitely a good time for anglers seeking the slam, to fulfill this challenge.  There have been many anglers close and some that completed the slam without a camera.  One of the more exciting moments was when Angler Mike Ward caught a nice 25 inch Snook in very shallow water, the boat blocked the exit of another fish that was with the one Mike hooked.  As Mike Ward fought the Snook to the boat Mike Agee the other angler realized that the second Snook was not going to make it by the boat because there was not enough water, Mike Agee proceeded to reach over the side of the boat and catch a 26 inch Snook with his hands.  Nice Work!        Mike and Mike both got slams that week while dealing with the tail end of a cold front.          Tarpon were the name of the game for these Colorado guides who were on a Florida fishing road trip, night or day they were fishing hard.                                                                                                        

Click on this link to learn about why Fall is the best time to fish Florida!  fall-flier-revised.pdf

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Check out this link that will take you too a TV show that has great Tarpon action.  Be patient it takes about 3-5 minutes to load completely.

http://www.cardealerstv.com/thepilot.html  

June has been filled with rain and afternoon thunderstorms,  the fishing has still proved to be be very good.  The Snook angler is  in heaven because they have moved to the beaches and fishing has been great.  Sight-fishing for these fish is awesome and anglers can expect to see large schools of Snook cruising up and down the beach.  A stealthy approach and leading these fish five or so feet like Bonefish, also allows anglers to fool these weary fish.  The vast majority of the Snook found on the beaches range between 18-24″ with the occasional monster, like the one pictured below.  The Snook in the backcountry have been active and red fish in select areas have been tailing, making the fishing in all areas very good.The Tarpon fishing has picked up as well and anglers have had great results in the Back Country.  We have been seeing alott of Tarpon in various sizes all mixed in with each other.  Some groups of fish have Tarpon as small as Ten pounds and as large as eighty pounds.  We have been using 8 weight rods on the small fish and 9 and 10 weight rods on the larger fish.The rains increasingly have made the water dirty so it will be interesting to see if these weather patterns persist.  Sight fishing has been tougher due to the sweet water flowing in to the gulf from the mainland.  The fishing remains good so well see what July has to offer.

The Tarpon this year have come through in waves.  Weather has been the determining factor but thus far the fishing has been good, and a vast improvement from last year.  There are also good number of baby Tarpon around this year, which have provided explosive surface strikes and high flying jumps on a 9 weight rod.
  As weather patterns change from one week to the next the Tarpon have been filtering up and down the coast.  Warm, non-windy, humid days have been best.  For those of you who are booked for June and July, I’m very excited!  The past few weeks have seen good action and more fish moving into the area.  So keep you’re fingers crossed for good weather and swimming Tarpon.  
The Snook and Redfish have been biting on the lower tides as well.  It seems as of late there have been fewer Red’s around but we certainly have been seeing some large Snook.  The Snook have been pushing toward the outside beaches and bays closer to the outside in the past few weeks, so I’m looking forward to great sight fishing on the beaches in the near future.
I am now starting to book for the fall so please let me know if you are interested, because prime days will go fast.  If any of you have pictures please send them to me via email or burn them to a CD, I would appreciate it.  Please look for more pictures in the coming weeks.

Nice work Mary Jane that was an awesome top water eat on fly!

Congratulations to Bill Dinsmore on his first day of five, slamming out Everglades style!

Ralph Merlo with his first Redfish and Evergaldes Slam.  The Tarpon took a stagering 2 hours to land and we estimated that it weighed around 100lbs.  Impressive morning Ralph 10:oo am with a slam to the boat, cogratulations!

                             Fishing this February has been great and Tarpon have been active due to warmer temperatures, making the Ten Thousand Islands a “must fish” for fly fisher’s.  Tarpon in the morning have been rolling in the shallow bays and have allowed clients to hook the silver king during off season conditions.  All we can hope is that these temperatures continue and that the fish continue to enjoy the shallow waters of the backcountry.  This is especially helpful to all of you that came down last season only to find winds between 25 and 35 knots making fishing extremely tough.Tarpon are very active when the water temperature reaches the magic number of 76 degrees.  In no way are these fish the spring time migratory Tarpon that most are accustomed too, they are residents.  Resident Tarpon typically range from 20-80 lbs so they are truly impressive in size.  The resident Tarpon live in large numbers throughout the Everglades and Ten Thousand Islands spending most of the winter in deeper channels and slightly off shore.  When the water temp rises to 76, and the wind cooperates, resident Tarpon seek the warm water and abundant food source of the backcountry.  It is a great feeling when you happen to hit this condition and fool these silver giants into eating a well placed fly.Snook and Redfish have been very active and fishing has been great lately.  This is good news due to our January freeze that killed lots of fish, and the fishery seems to be doing just fine.  The lower tides have been conducive to sight fishing for large Snook and Reds which have been eating smaller patterns.  Shrimp colors when the water is clear and darker patterns (Black/Purple and Brown Puglisi style flies) when the water is high.Most of you know that I purchased a new boat after last season.  My old boat floated in about a foot of water, fully loaded it would only float in 15 inches or so.  It ran shallow but not shallow enough on lower tides.  My new boat floats in 4-5 inches of water and runs extremely shallow.  It has definitely improved my Snook and Redfish catch rate by allowing me to get to places I couldn’t have in the past.  It has taken great length to get the new boat dialed in so that it’s perfect and truly reminds me of something a great client  told me…boats, airplanes, prostitutes….better to rent.I look forward to seeing those of you that are booked for the spring and hope to see the rest of you this summer or fall.

June has finally shaped up with weather that we would have enjoyed months ago.  Great numbers of Tarpon have moved in and the fishing has been fantastic, anglers have enjoyed fifty or more shots per day at laid up fish and moving fish in big schools.  Some schools having fifty or more fish in them actually turn the flat black and most fish can be spotted well over 100 yards. 

Last week anglers landed two fish over the 100 lb mark and a handful of others that ranged from fifty to one hundred pounds.  There are truly some monster Tarpon swimming around and the fishing we have all been waiting for is here now (two months late). 

Snook and Redfish have been heavy to say the least, large numbers of fish have been in the Back Country and also cruising the beach.  Beach fishing has been productive with small baitfish patterns in white and green.  All in all the fishing in June has been excellent day and night.  I’m getting prepared for a shark tournament so im going to leave you with these things to think about.

Some things to think about:  Most of the Tarpon fishing in the Back Country consists of casting to stationary fish (laid up) but fishing the outside points requires other tactics.  Moving or migrating fish that are swimming at various speeds requires the angler to judge how far the cast needs to lead the fish.  The fastest of the swimmers seem almost like they have F16 jets attached to them and you have to cast twenty to thirty feet in front of them.  This might seem like a long way, and it is, these fish very rarely take a swipe at it but it can be done with the correct presentation.

Fish that are swimming at a moderate rate of speed can be lead 10 to fifteen feet comfortably and these fish will normally bite pretty well. These fish are my favorite because they are swimming fast enough that they have to make a decision to eat quicker than a slow moving fish.

Slow moving fish can be caught with a cast that is between five and ten feet in front of the fish depending upon just how slow they are swimming.  Often these fish are rolling and elevated making things even tougher on the mental side of the equation for the angler.

All of these different scenarios fast, medium and slow moving fish and the presentation that needs to be made takes time for the angler to adjust to and is very hard to practice at home.  Experience on the water is best but keep these things in mind while out practicing in the yard (you have been practicing….right).

Fishing ReportMar-Apr-May 2007Tarpon season has been filled with some great and memorable moments. But the main story has been weather and I am starting to think that Montana has followed me down here for the spring. I appreciate all of the clients who have come this year and endured some very challenging windy, wet, cold weather. The weather this season has made Tarpon fishing marginal at best pushing them off shore and making them travel North faster. The wind has also made it very difficult for laid up fish because they don’t seem to want to lay up as high in the chop. Long time guide Capt. Bob Paulson of Sugarloaf Key Florida said that it is the worst weather he has seen in all of his years guiding in the Keys. When the wind blows under 20mph and the temperature gets above 80 degrees the fishing has been fabulous and anglers have landed some great fish.Night fishing with Jason Lozano a sales rep for Scott, Scientific Angler, Ross Reels and Patagonia yielded some huge fish. One Tarpon took the fly, leader, Fly line, backing and well left us standing there with a Nautilus reel and a Scott rod with real stupid looks on our faces. Reports are in that the fish was spotted off the coast of Cuba still swimming south, I hope he gets to where he’s going soon. Jason also landed some great Snook and a nice South Western Florida Redfish.Speaking of great fishing Mike Agee returned to fish with a client and friend Cory Funk from South Lake Tahoe Ca. We spent all day fishing beaches for Snook and then caught a great tide in the evening and smashed the Snook and Redfish. Total we estimated that we landed between 40 and 50 Snook and Redfish on fly that day, it was truly awesome, Great work guys!Also to see some truly amazing video of a Laid up Tarpon eating a fly go to my website www.marcoislandflyfishing.com and click on the link below the picture of the Tarpon jumping. WARNING!!! There is some offensive language in this video, so if you get offended easily don’t watch it or turn off the volume on your computer. The video was shot on one of the very few calm days that we had in April and the angler Mike Kane made a beautiful cast. The fish weighed more than one hundred pounds and was truly one of the best Tarpon eats I have seen to this day, it was just luck to capture it on film.I hope you enjoy the video and pictures and anyone that is willing to come on fairly short notice I have openings in the last two weeks of June.Most of you I will see in Montana some I won’t. If you fished with me this year that week will remain you’re week and if you need to change you’re week please let me know well ahead of time so that I can switch you with someone if they are willing. Hope all is well and look forward to hearing from you soon.