Southwest Favorites – Wintertime’s When, Where & Why.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of the large redfish cruising down the oyster-laden bank. I picked a spot that was sparse of obstructions so I could get a lead on the roving fish. The small crab pattern I was throwing was highly effective; one that I was confident would get inhaled the moment the foraging fish detected it. I watched as the methodically-moving red worked his way towards my offering before suddenly doing an about-face and heading in the opposite direction just feet from the artificial morsel. As the event unfolded it reminded me that if there is one thing about wintertime in South Florida’s many inshore waterways is that success for fly-fishermen comes via missed shots and a bit of frustration.

Spanish mackerel – quite possibly the perfect fly-fishing target.

Each year, Spanish mackerel invade Atlantic coastal waters in numbers that truly boggle the mind. While the methods for catching these voracious feeders are almost as numerous as the fish themselves, fly tackle is surely one of the most exciting means for scoring serious numbers of these serrated-tooth speedsters.

The real deal on fly-fishing for elusive tripletail along Florida’s Gulf Coast

Crab buoys, channel markers and floating debris are considered obstacles by many boaters. I, however, like to call them “hotspots.” How many times have you been out fishing and passed right by a row of crab pots or a barnacle-encrusted piece of flotsam? We’ve all done it. I, too, was once guilty of passing by these “fish havens,” but if you take the time and look a little more closely at these objects, like I did, you may come across what I consider, black gold. It doesn’t matter what kind of angler you are, there is no denying the excitement that comes along with sight-fishing, and when it comes to fly-fishing for tripletail, dropping a fly right on the fish’s nose and watching it inhale it in an explosion of whitewater is no exception!

For most of us in the sport fishing community, the attributes that differentiate an exceptional angler from an average one are pretty well established. Patience of a saint, the ability to study and learn from our surroundings and being able to think like a fish are just a few. Here’s one that I think is my personal best; stubbornness! Bull-headed, never- give-up, fly-in-the-face-of-popular-belief stubbornness! If I did not possess this “gift” (believe me, that’s not what my wife calls it) I would have never landed my first South Florida sailfish on fly. I probably would have made a couple half-hearted attempts and eventually called it quits. Worse yet, I would have listened to the advice and opinions of more than just a few who believe, “You can’t catch sailfish on fly in Florida!”

Fly Fisherman’s Workshop

Like professional golfers and major league hitters, avid fly-fishermen are athletes. They understand that remaining at the top of their game, means the fly rod must continue to be a seamless extension of their arm - comfortable and fitting in every way while outputting maximum performance with the greatest level of efficiency. Problem is when purchasing an off-the-rack long stick - even from a leading manufacturer - there is always something that you wish you could adjust. Whether it’s the length of the handle, the feel of the reel seat, the butt section, the number of pieces or maybe it is the color of the blank or the number of guides. There always seems to be one minute factor that just doesn’t feel or look right. Now, obviously anglers can still be quite effective with a less-than-perfect stick. That fact is undeniable. But will you be achieving your absolute full potential? I don’t think so.

Long-stick lessons for surfside linesiders

Roll-casting my crustacean to a large but compact school of cruising fish along a quite stretch of barrier island beach during a recent recon mission, I could only imagine what it would have been like pursuing game fish along this once untamed Gulf Coast region.