“Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun,” quoth Noel Coward, and he might well have included Florida fly fishermen.
As high noon approaches and thoughts of central air and frosted mugs dance in your head, be aware that some species of fish will be just starting their engines. In South Florida, the peacock bass heads the list.
Since its introduction over a decade ago the peacock has become the undisputed king of the hill in the canals and lakes of Dade, Broward, and southern Palm Beach counties. This suburban pit bull thrives on heat, bright sun and fast moving flies. Peacocks also keep bankers’ hours–good news for those who like to sleep in. Prime fishing hours are from midmorning until mid-afternoon. For peacocks I like sunny days, preferably with a breeze for personal comfort, and to ruffle the surface, making it tougher for the fish to detect my presence as I walk and cast a canal bank.
You’ll catch fish with poppers and sub-surface streamers on floating lines although a slow- or medium-sinking line will let you work more of the water column. Any brightly colored streamer moving at warp speed will score, but there are a few patterns you need to carry.
On the surface, yellow, chartreuse or orange/yellow Dahlberg Divers and poppers are deadly. Don’t be timid when working them–chug away with long, erratic strips and you’ll be rewarded with vicious strikes. Fished on medium sinking lines, No. 2, No. 1, and No. 1/0 Clouser minnows in chartreuse/ white, or fluorescent orange or pink will take fish along weed beds, or suspended over the dropoffs typically found in lakes and canals.
Avoid using too-light rods and tippets. For starters, casting substantial poppers, deerhair divers and weighted flies becomes labor with anything lighter than a 7-weight, and should you hook a respectable peacock in weedy waters, you’ll need some beef to bring the fish to hand. An 8-weight rod and 12-pound tippet will handle any fly you toss and any peacock you hook.
In the salt, redfish provide plenty of all-day action as well. Out front of Flamingo in Everglades National Park, reds will work the flats during the heat of the day although they’ll tail best in the relative cool of the morning. A low incoming tide at dawn will give you tailing reds early, and cruisers and mudding schools through midday until the water recedes. As always, mullet muds and the numerous stingray muds will serve to concentrate the fish. Unlike the fish of winter and spring, the reds of summer prefer smaller flies–small crab and shrimp patterns are your best bet. Although generally opportunistic at mealtime, Flamingo’s August reds occasionally target tiny crabs exclusively, at which time a lightly weighted No. 4 or No. 2 Merkin, or similar pattern in tan, olive or brown is hard to beat.
Last August, No. 4 olive/tan Merkins with weedguards accounted for 90 percent of the reds I landed. If tossing such small flies tempts you to use ultra-light rods, keep one thing in mind–the water is hot, the oxygen level is low, and a redfish, and any fish for that matter, is easily stressed if allowed to struggle too long. Anything less than a 7-weight stick is overkill, with kill being the operative part of the word.
As was the case in July, baby tarpon will be easy to locate at Flamingo, especially on slick mornings. They’ll roll in the basins, along channel edges and on the flats during high water until mid-morning. For a little diversion, you might want to spar with one of the numerous blacktip and bonnethead sharks on the flats. Many of them will be big so have a 10- or 11-weight rod rigged with a wire shock tippet and either a bushy red/orange No. 3/0 Sea-Ducer, or a hefty chugger to get their attention. If they are reluctant to eat, catch a ladyfish, fillet one side, and hang it over the gunnel on a shark infested flat. It’s a great cure for lockjaw.
An August morning is a great time for the beach–and a fly rod if you’re interested in a little catch-and-release fishing for snook. Any stretch of sand near the major inlets from Melbourne to Miami can be productive, especially on weekdays when boat traffic and swimmers are scarce. Most standard streamers, as long as they are predominantly white, will take fish.
As always, if the fish are actively busting bait, mimic the size, and if possible, the coloration with your fly. Deceivers, Bendbacks, Clouser minnows in blue, green, or gray over white, and mullet patterns on hooks ranging from No. 2 to No. 2/0 should cover most situations. Andy Novak of LMR Tackle works the beach within a quarter mile from an inlet and recommends casting flies parallel to the beach rather than straight out because snook expect baitfish to run along the trough right against the shore.
On typically calm, bright August mornings, schools of baitfish will be easier to spot, and snook and other predators will likely be nearby. Once the sun is high enough, cruising snook will be easier to spot for pure sight casting shots.
On the east coast, to get the sun at your back you have two options: wade out and look back at the beach, or cast from a boat powered by electric motor.
West coast flyfishers from Naples northward prefer beaches adjacent to passes, especially those with submerged rocks and dead trees. The water is normally air-clear in August, and anglers wading the surf line will have the morning sun behind them, making conditions perfect to spot both structure and fish.
Eight-, 9- and 10-weight rods are all suitable for beach casting. Choose one that can comfortably handle the fly you use. If snook are busting bait on top, or are patrolling the edge in the shallowest water, a full floating line will suffice. To present your fly to fish in water waist deep, or when the wind has the surf rolling, a full-sinking or sink-tip line is a better choice. A few beach veterans prefer monocores or intermediate lines with clear sinking tips for extremely clear waters and wary fish.
Novak recommends fly fishing for snook and baby tarpon under the lighted docks along the Intracoastal Waterway from Stuart to Biscayne Bay. Fly fishing under the lights is quite popular statewide and late summer is a great time to do it. Again, predominantly white flies get the nod from experienced practitioners, although Novak prefers a Woolhead mullet pattern if early finger mullet runs occur in Broward County waters during the latter part of the month.
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