Since so many fly fishermen prefer to sight fish, the best time to fly fish these areas is during the lower stages of both the falling and incoming tides. Baitfish crowd into the shallow water, and it is easy for reds to also forage on crustaceans at that time. However, this variety of food choices in extremely shallow, clear water makes fly selection a bit tricky. Mihailoff finds that natural colored Muddlers are top flies here. Deerhair Muddlers hang high in the water, making them excellent over craggy oyster bottom in a foot or so, and will take both cruising and the occasional tailing red. Add a weedguard to a Muddler, or any Bendback streamer that serves you well for reds elsewhere, and you can also cast right into mangrove prop roots or under mangrove branches with confidence.

Everything from spoon flies to crab and shrimp patterns works.

Although redfish are definitely among the hardiest gamefish when it comes to temperature tolerance ranges, they can become as slow to eat a fly as snook when water temperatures are on the slide in the fall or as they hit rock bottom during the winter months. That’s when you have to find the warmest water around. Mihailoff says he enjoys some of the best fishing of the year by sticking to the shallow, muddy corners and coves of the backcountry bays where surface temperatures are the first to warm under bright sunny winter skies.

“It’s no secret that snook don’t like cold water,” he said. “But, many anglers don’t realize that reds will flock to warm water, too, if given a choice. I find reds sunning in the same dark-bottomed shallows where I find snook during periods of cold weather.”

Mihailoff’s 16-foot skiff allows him to pole in water just deep enough to float a canoe, and, believe it or not, that’s where the majority of the big fish can be found when water temperatures plummet into the 60s. Shallow water is the most affected by changes in air temperature, but it’s also the fastest to warm up. Mihailoff looks for lee shorelines with clean water, lots of structure and soft, muddy bottom. Areas like these, especially those with dark, muddy bottoms, and grass or oysters, tend to hold warmer temperatures, which, in turn, hold more bait, which, in turn, draws fish to the area to feed. It’s just common sense, really.

In the backcountry bays south of Chokoloskee Island, Mihailoff fishes natural colored flies (brown mostly) but at times, brighter, more visible colors really seem to do the trick. White-and-red, black-and-purple, yellow-and-orange and chartreuse seem to fool both reds and snook in the dark tannic water.

“Sight fishing is really the key to successful winter fishing,” says Mihailoff. “If you’re looking to catch redfish in the Everglades in cold weather, just look for the warmest water and you’ll find ’em.”

Speaking of warmer water, there’s little debate that veteran Everglades anglers look forward to spring more than any other season. Not only is this the time of year when tarpon show up and the snook start smashing topwater plugs and poppers, but it’s also when you might see the occasional 20-pound red cruising the banks inside Lostmans River.

“I don’t know where they come from and I don’t know where they go,” said Mihailoff. “I just know that I always see a couple of monster reds in really shallow water every spring, and in general, spring is a great time of year for fishing the Glades, no matter the species. There’s fish on the outside, there’s fish in the back and everywhere in between.”

As is the case in summer, reds tend to stick to a little deeper water during the later spring months, which makes them a little tougher to target with conventional fly patterns. For that reason, it’s best to fish rivermouths and deeper shorelines with weighted flies such as Clousers and Deceivers, and specialty patterns like Tom Shadley’s Redfish Candy. Fishing a variety of subsurface and weighted or sinking flies like these makes it possible to cover the entire water column when searching for redfish in blind-casting situations. When sight fishing during the spring months, Mihailoff says size is a key factor in a fly’s appeal, and spring is when reds tend to eat a bigger fly best, especially in shallow water.

For these applications, Mihailoff likes 9-weight rods to handle a variety of flies. He rigs with 40-pound butt sections, and ties on 40-pound bite tippets in part because of sharp oyster bottom. His favorite big flies include deerhair sliders, woolhead mullet and any of a variety of patterns with rabbit hair strips, commonly referred to as zonker strips. Use them to blind-cast shallow, oyster-strewn edges and points, and when sight fishing in the skinny stuff.

By early summer, expect redfish to be most prevalent in rivers and deep channels, along deeper, current-swept shorelines and on the outside points of the barrier islands. Though not the easiest setups for fly fishing, baitfish pattern flies fished with intermediate and sinking lines can account for a few fish. And that is when good boat position is key. Mihailoff likes to put his boat in an area where reds will gather, such as an eddy, a deep hole or a shallow flat outside of a current rip.

“More often than not,” Mihailoff explained, “redfish will show up in areas like these at some point during the incoming tide. Sometimes you just have to wait a little while. But, I’ve found that, with a little extra effort, and by covering some ground through the course of the day, I’m able to find and catch redfish year-round in the Everglades.”

FS