April Fly Fishing Report

April is Ladyfish month! They're not the most sought-after fish in Northeast Florida but are fun on a 6-8 weight fly rod! We also call them a poor man's Tarpon! They provide great action during there springtime migration while wade fishing the flats that I go and best  accessible by kayak. They generally run between 18" to 22" long and have a Nascar attitude of zipping your fly line around you 360 degrees. There a very aggressive fish  once hooked that doesn't know how to give up! If you like fast action and jumping fish I highly recommend them for some fun. You can also expect to s mix of Sea Trout, Jack Crevalle up to 4 lbs. and Bluefish up to 18"  and Redfish during this spring time run. This is just another way of some fun fishing here in NE Florida!

March Fly Fishing Report

WOW! What a month! Shad, Redfish, Sea Trout, Bluefish, Flounder and more! March certainly proved to be a month of  diverse fish catches in several different ecosystems that NE Florida has to offer. From Amelia Island to Jacksonville to St. Augustine and all the way to some Central Florida cow pastures near the headwaters of the St. Johns River. Here is a recap of of what happened in a few of the trips…

In early March we closed out the American Shad fishing season on the upper St. Johns River with longtime client and friend Bob M. from Jacksonville. This was his 1st time trying for them. We fished 8 hours on the water near Christmas, Florida and could not find them until the last 1-1/2 hour of our trip right before sunset. They were holding deep in 8-10 feet of water so sinking fly lines plus heavier flies did the trick. He ended up catching 7 Shad up to 19" on a 6wt. fly rods making a successful trip! We also got some Red Belly Bream that are magnificent to see with their colors. Amazingly along the way we encountered probably upwards of over 30 Alligators as big as 12 feet long sunning themselves on the banks. Overall it was a tough year to find the Shad due to the higher than normal water level and to many cold fronts shutting them down. We did get in a few good trips and will be back at it next year starting in late December.

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Mid-March brought some big Redfish to Wayne B. from Orange Park, FL and catching his 1st two Redfish's ever on a fly under beautiful weather conditions. Initially things looked very quiet on the mud flats but we remained patient for a while just hunting for any signs of life. As I quietly poled the skiff we came across some big laid up schools of Redfish around the Oysters mounds holding in about 12 " of water. They would end spooking and then swimming away from us. We poled after them and the sight fishing game was on! Once located Wayne would randomly cast into them and hook up! He got a real beauty that went 9 lbs. at about 29" long on my HD Clouser fly. Be sure to check out the video that captured the trip on my YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/oYNnOtyvYlA
                                                     
                                                   

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End of March Peter W. from Santé Fe, New Mexico called me to do a 2 day guide trip to catch his 1st saltwater fishes on fly. Peter was more accustom to using 4 and 5 wt. fly rods in small streams for 8"-12" long Trout. So his casting style was mostly doing roll casts of about 25 - 30 ft. After giving him a few casting lessons he quickly learned what it would take to catch his 1st salty fish! The weather conditions were not in his favor either! So I figured our best bet was to head down to the St. Augustine inlet area to try and get some Bluefish which are loaded down there this time of the year. Peter did better than expected and ended up catching a variety of fish including over 20 Bluefish up to 17" on 6wt. fly rod rigged with a sink tip fly line and my HD Clouser fly. His list of new species caught is Bluefish, Spanish Mackerel, Flounder and Sea Trout.  He kept telling me this is like casting a 357 Magnum Gun and catching Grizzles!

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3/29/15- Last but not least I took Dale M. and his 17 year old Daughter Kerri out from Manitoba, Canada. They drove up from there St. Augustine hotel to fish the Timucuan Persevere because they said that goggle earth made it seem more pristine in NE Jax with less traffic. I agreed! An unusual big

cold front came down for this time year and had to bring back out some winter clothes again. I believe this certainly put the Sea Trout bite on as Dale ended up catching 7 slot sized Trout up to almost 22" on my HD Clouser Fly pictured below. Plus 5 Redfish between Father  & Daughter up to 22". All the fish caught were primarily sitting in deeper holes and not active on the flats. 

Shad Fishing, William Bartram & George Washington

I'm happy to share this new and educational video produced by the St. Johns River Alliance group on Shad fishing and was honored that they contacted me for some of my video footage  to help them make it. Check it out its a great intro and eye opener to the upper St. Johns River freshwater fishery. Well worth sharing!

Tips for Catching your 1st Redfish

 I wanted share something here that might help out a fly fisher that's planning to fish the Jax or St. Augustine salt marshes for there first time or a local beginner just trying to figure out how to go about catching a Redfish on fly. When ready you will most likely be quietly poled around in a flats skiff hunting and sight fishing for the Reds in the skinniest waters around low tide. I recall my experiences from doing many guide trips over the years with newbies turned out to be an interesting challenge for most and ending with a great new learning experience that they well remember. So this may be somewhat of a big learning curve to consider for some of you if you don't know what to expect! 

So here's something to think about when your getting ready to sight fish and catch your first Redfish on fly...

Tip 1:Being able to see and identify a Redfish moving in the shallow water either by tailing, backing,
          belly crawling, pushing wakes and spraying bait up. This could be the slightest movement to big
          obvious hints.
Tip 2:Dropping the fly close to the fish without lining over its back and spooking the fish.
Tip 3:Casting with accuracy and knowing the direction the fish is working and knowing where your
          fly is at all times keeping it in front of the fish.
Tip 4:Having your line ready and getting the cast off quickly before the fish disappears in the stained
          water.
Tip 5:Making short quick casts of 20-50 feet. At times they just appear very close to you.
Tip 6:Being able to shoot a cast at different angles, meaning 360 degrees of the position that you are
          standing in. This of course depends on where the fish comes up.
Tip 7: Being stealthy by not creating a wake on the water, remaining cool and calm and not being
           loud. 

What I'd like to also recommend is practicing casting in your backyard, etc. by placing some halu-hoops around at different lengths and trying to drop your fly in them. The short cast can be more challenging than the long casts. Good luck!

Fly Fishing NE Florida-Wintertime Forecast

As wintertime approaches here in NE Florida I'm very happy to say that the fishing opportunities continue with a welcomed change to our fishing scenario that I really look forward to! Being a former Yankee from NY who appreciates this, let me tell you it's a privilege just to be able to fish during the winter compared to the rest of our country. What comes into mind now is big Sea Trout, schooling Redfish in the marsh and American Shad in the lower St. John's River freshwater's.

As our water temperatures drop it becomes more clear creating  comfortable conditions for Sea
Trout to show up. Best times to fish is in middle of the moving tides around structure casting into deeper holes. There is no doubt that this is the best time of year to get a Gator Sea Trout on fly and I have the perfect fly for it! 
                                          

On the other hand you can find large schools of active Redfish looking for a meal mainly in the

 afternoon as the water temperatures have risen through the day primarily around the low tide period. This especially happens a couple days after the cold fronts come through and right before the next front during the warming period. It happens to be that there really isn't much bait around during the winter so a well placed fly put in front of a backing Redfish is welcomed treat!

 

                                                                Backing School of Redfish                                                   

Finally the American Shad run is something really special that takes place in NE Central Florida starting about mid December through February around the upper headwaters of the St. Johns River. Prime time is January 15th - Feb. 23rd and recommend booking a trip early to reserve the best times. If you have not experienced this fishery you can expect to catch over 10-15 Shad during the prime time running up to 20" long and 4 lbs. on 5 and 6 weight fly rods. These fish are relatives of the Tarpon and will trill you to no end with a great battle and are less than a 2 hours drive away. Be sure to check out the video.

Fly Fishing Essentials

                                           Set-up for fly fishing Northeast Florida
                         Here's some technical rigging information mostly for new 
                                               fly fishers wanting to know how to set up a fly rod.

                                                          Standard Marsh Fly Fishing Set-up
                                                                  (fly lines, tippet and Flies)

                                                        Flood Tide Grass Fly Fishing Set-up
                                                                        (fly lines, tippet and flies)



                                       For the complete leader construction check out this video:

                      

The Fast and Furious Little Tunny on Fly

There called Albies in New York. There also known as Little Tuna, False Albacore and in Florida most call them a Bonito(not to confused with the Northern Bonito). All these fish names happen to be the same fish. One thing that we can all agree on is that these torpedo shaped speedsters have the endurance of a marathon runner and will take you deep into your backing with several bursts of speed! This fish can pull! They will stretch your fly line and bend your rod testing your gear and knots to the maximum! I recommend a minimum 10wt. fly rod set up with 200-250 yards of backing to muscle them in.




Fly selection should be made depending on what there feeding on. As they say you will need to "match the hatch" as these fish are known to be finicky. In most cases a glass minnow pattern works best with a full intermediate sinking fly line and minimum 20 lb. tippet. 25 lb. is better.


They are pelagic fish that are constantly on the move looking for food and never stop swimming. So you can image the calorie intake they might need. They are mostly late spring and summer time visitors to our near shore waters here in NE Florida but have also been occasionally caught in the other months. You can find them in a feeding frenzy attacking large bait pods by looking for diving birds over erupting water. They generally run 8-12lbs. (recorded 36.5 lbs). My largest ever caught came in at 16 lbs. This fish deserves to be on a fly rodders bucket-list! Be sure to check out the video located on my websites home page.  

Click on images to enlarge

         

                   St. Augustine Fly Fishing 10 Lb. Little Tunny 

                   (caught on a Temple Fork Outfitters BVK Rod/Natilus NV 10/11 Fly Reel)

Jacksonville's very own Salt Marsh

Did you know that the Timucuan(Timucua:early American Indian)preserve is the only natural preserve that exsists within the boundaries of a city limit in the whole county? You bet! Well I must say that it's certainly a nice back yard to have indeed and only a few minutes drive away! While I once lived some long time ago in south Florida we always had a minimum 2 hour drive to get ourselves into the wilds of saltwater fishing. Now life is easier! 20 minutes away nestled in the northeast corner of Jacksonville just inside off the Atlantic Ocean and up into the St. Johns River is this huge back water estuary that's loaded with a wide variety of fish, birds, mammals and some reptiles that will make you feel like your deep into the wilderness. When I first saw the waters of the Timucuan  preserve I asked myself which way do I go and how do I not get lost?

    It  is approx. 65 square miles of salt marsh measuring approx. 7 x 9 miles big! That equals
   46,000-acre area of tidal creeks, mud flats and spartina grass and wide variety of wildlife.

Fishing the backwater maze of creeks in the saltwater tidal marshes Timucuan Preserve. This photo was taken at low tide in NE Jacksonville. The area happens to have to biggest tides in the whole state of Florida averaging approx. 5-6 ft. of water, moving in the 6-hour tide swing which really concentrates the fish for better fish catching.

Dock Light Fly Fishing

Want to beat the summertime heat? With day time temperatures getting up in the 90s and likely afternoon thunderstorms do you sometimes wish you could go somewhere else to fish? Well luckily we have a much more comfortable alternative right here in our own backyard! Next question.. so have you ever heard of fly fishing at night? Sounds crazy right? That's a given if go dock light fly fishing! With perfect nightime air temps. running in the 70s, no boat traffic and the serenity of the night might sound like a more relaxing and interesting way for you to fish during the hottest time of year.

Another question you might ask is... isn’t it to dark to fish? The answer is no... thanks to a line up of million dollar waterfront homes. You’re casting into a shoreline with big backyards and sophisticated boat docks and piling that have plenty of structure surrounded by either green underwater lights or your typical hanging lights that attract and hold baitfish. Well you might already know that baitfish yields predators!

Fish swimming over green underwater lights

You ever heard of sight fishing at night? Well now you have! Casting a 5 or 6 weight fly rod rigged with a floating line at lights that have swimming fish around them that you can actually see! This is like casting into a fish tank! There's no doubt that your casting skills will be put to the test for accuracy around the docks and really learning the feel of what a fly rod does. It's a fun challenge and experience for all!

 

Casting to a pair of hanging dock lights at dawn

Our trips generally begin either starting at dusk into the night time or starting in the middle of the  night going into the dawn hours depending on fishing the right tide conditions. The added bonus here is that the dawn and dusk periods have some of the best opportunities for a top water fly bite that will really get your adrenaline pumping! The primary targeted species are Spotted Sea Trout and Snook. Other species occasionally include Mangrove Snapper, Jack Cravelle, Bluefish, Ladyfish and Redfish.

You can bet that this kind of fishing is one of the most certain ways of catching your 1st salty fish on fly with the smallest fly rod! It's just another way to get out fly fishing on our extensive menu of fly fishing opportunities here in NE Florida!

 

 Happy client with 1st fish in fly

 Happy fishing faces with 1st fish on fly

Some Fly fishing Scenario's with Capt. Rich Santos