Flies for Pompano

By Brenton Roberts

Every winter, as the weather and water temperature cools down, many anglers have pompano on the brain. Not only for a delicious dinner, but also the great fight these fish offer. To make the fight even better, anglers will often target them with a "redfish" fly outfit. But, with so many patterns and variations of flies, what do you throw at these "Cadillac Jack"? Forum member greenie-slayer posed this question to fellow pompano fly anglers on the FS Fly Fishing Forum.

When targeting these fish, whether on the flats or channels and holes, you're going to want something on or close to bottom. The majority of the time pompano are foraging on crustaceans such as shrimp and crabs. Weight is key; dumbbell or bead chain eyes, depending on the depth you are fishing, are a must. Also, getting that fly down most of the time requires an intermediate or sinking line, again variant to depth.

Many of today's pompano jigs are tied using the traditional pink, white and chartreuse colors. They have been proving to entice great strikes from pompano. Don't shy away from the natural colors though! Browns and tans are always great, especially when the fish are finicky and are being targeted heavily. Natural shrimp patterns can even out fish bright "eye popping" colors on certain occasions. When fishing clear water, natural colors are often chosen over the fluorescent colors, but don't be scared to change it up if a fly is not producing.

Remember, working the fly in short brisk strips, hopping it off the bottom, creating small puffs of sand or mud is the best bet for getting strike on fly from these tasty gamefish.

See what other forum members had to say about this topic, here.