Three New Fly Ties and a Giveaway

November 10, 2020 By Florida Sportsman

Recent fly fishing reports from all around the state.

Three New Fly Ties and a Giveaway

Florida Sportsman member: CWFlies

A finished Tarpon Toad SBS is good for many inshore flats species.

With all the wind and rain lately it seemed fitting to refill some tarpon boxes after a great summer of tarpon fishing. Doing some toads for a tarpon specific box. I personally don't fish alot of toads but gotta have them when chasing silver kings.

This Tarpon Toad SBS is a great fly for fishing tarpon in the keys. It's also very good for redfish, snook, and other flats species.

Materials

https://youtu.be/_cLS8Knkl14

This Christmas Island Special Fly is a great pattern for bonefish, if needing something small and sparse. This one is a very easy fly to tie. Great for beginners just getting into tying or into the saltwater game.

Materials

CWFlies also recently announced a giveaway he is arranging, where you can win this fly box full of flies. You just need to follow CW Flies on Instagram and YouTube and comment on this giveaway post on Instagram. There are plenty of goodies in this box for just about anything you'd want to target on the flats. The winner will be picked when he reaches 650 subscribers on YouTube.

Click here to respond to the Tarpon Toad SBS forum report.

Click here to see the CWFlies giveaway post.

Click here to offer CWFlies advice on his popperhead post.

See more reports or ask your own questions on our forum here.

Avalon Crab Fly

Florida Sportsman member: CWFlies

The Avalon is a swimming crab that is tied lightly for cruising permit in both shallow and deep water. You can keep them light with a bead chain or brass. One of the most productive permit flies to use in the Caribbean. This fly also works very good on bonefish and should be a staple in your box if heading to Cuba, Mexico, Belize, or Honduras. If you don't like tying your own flies, his can be purchased on CW-flies.com

https://youtu.be/La13dxF7-oE

Materials Used:

Click here to respond to his forum report.

See more reports or ask your own questions on our forum here.

Tailing Reds Big Pine Key

Florida Sportsman member: kayakerinkeywest

When a love of fishing and a passion for video production intersect, you get Steve A.K.A kayakerinkeywest, pictured here with his self-titled "Catch of the Year."

I moved out of Key West so I could have better access for reds, seatrout, and snook. Being in Marathon made the Everglades within range of day trips. I figured that would be my best shot during the hot summer. I've been prospecting the Big Pine Key areas and started running into a few redfish. That was a nice surprise, but I had wanted to find some bonefish and permit spots since it was low tide. I kinda got stuck on a flat and was just waiting to see if I could spot some permit tails anywhere. I started seeing some dark backed fish with their backs out of the water, zig-zagging through the exposed weeds and slime. I walked up to one thinking it was a baby nurse shark.

https://youtu.be/zJiiys9Hj_Y

I wanted to show my viewers what a tailing fish was like and what I look for. It allowed me to walk within ten feet and I noticed it was a redfish. I could see the spot on the tail and everything. I was so shocked, I didn't even go back for my pole, I just stayed there and filmed it. After seeing that, I bet on the fact that there would be more, so I rigged up my fly rod with a crab imitation and just started looking. That's when I saw a much bigger dark back cutting through the shallows. This was perfect, as even if I couldn't catch it, I at least verified that the spot was good. This whole redfish chase has been a back drop for a new shirt I was releasing which features a tailing redfish and the blue fringed tail. So it was important to me to try and catch one on the flats. I had thought I would have to drive 2.5 hours to Flamingo to accomplish that. Then this one showed up and cooperated and became the catch of my year.

Click here to read the full forum report.

Crafty Crab Flies

Florida Sportsman member: CWFlies

I got a few requests to do a more traditional strong arm with the chenille claw and not the rabbit claw I like. Still good, minus everyone keeps telling me the tips of the claw need to be blue and not red. I also made a darker flexo in black and purple for those dirty water redfish. I had to make the hard choice between green or pink eyes. I can't wait to toss this little guy at some redfish the next time I'm back up in Jacksonville.

Click here to read the full forum report.

More Fly Tying Videos

Florida Sportsman member: CWFlies

CWFlies is still at it, bringing you some really impressive fly patterns and demos. Recently, he has been working on a mantis shrimp (pictured), some gurglers and a kwan fly. Hop over to his YouTube channel and subscribe if you are interested in learning the more precise in's and out's of Florida fly tying. He also sells his flies on his website https://www.cw-flies.com/.

Click here to see his mantis shrimp fly.

Click here to see his kwan tutorial.

Click here to see his version of a gurgler fly.

Step-by-Step Fly Tying Videos

Florida Sportsman member: CWFlies

CWFlies has been steadily uploading his unique fly ties, and we've gotta say, we're impressed. Since launching his YouTube channel just a month ago, he has produced seven videos of impressively clean tying skills. He describes and shows his step-by-step process, gives a detailed list of materials used and provides tips and tricks along the way that can be used to improve your tying practice all around. In this time we are all finding our hands on, it might be the time to "get hands-on," and do some new ties of your own. Hop over to his YouTube channel and subscribe if you are interested in learning the more precise in's and out's of Florida fly tying. He also sells his flies on his website https://www.cw-flies.com/.

Click here to see his Strong Arm Merkin report.

Click here to see his Silverside Surf Candy report.

Click here to see him put his flies to work on some exotics.

Click here to see his Bonefish Gotcha report.

Click here to see his Redfish Critter report.

Click here to see his Finger Mullet report.

Click here to see his Flexo Crab report.

Click here to see his Bonefish Gotcha variation video.

Whitewater Bay

Florida Sportsman member: Rizangler

We were able to find some active small snook in one of the rivers. We stayed out the center of the bay to avoid the heavy winds and seas. It's not called Whitewater for nothing. The trout were mostly found along the southern part of Oyster Bay, except for one rather large snook. We made it back along John's river, which was smooth as glass compared to the rough water in the main bay. All fish were caught on jigs, DOA, Z-man and MirrOlure paddle tails.

Click here to read the full forum report.

Last Day in the Amazon

Florida Sportsman member: Randy Richter

It's what happened next that stood out. At the entrance to the lagoon, our casts were greeted by swarms of butterfly peacocks in the two to four pound range. Every cast, you would immediately hook a fish. And as you played it, there was a swirling kaleidoscope of color behind it, as dozens of butterflies followed it. Chris and I caught them two at a time for about fifteen minutes. It's not that there weren't larger fish out there. We could see them. They just simply, for the most part, couldn't get to the fly before they were beaten out by their smaller cousins.

Click here to read the full forum report.

Tampa Bay Fly Fishing

Florida Sportsman member: ethankiburz

Jack Crevalle have been an amazing bonus this winter during the "warming trends" we get all winter. After a few days of warmth, they have been coming out of the power plants and deep water canal systems to come out and feed. Which targeting redfish, it's a great bonus to catch one of these speedsters.

Click here to read the full forum report.

Amazing Trip to the Amazon

Florida Sportsman member: Randy Richter

We wormed our way into a remote lagoon. Once there, hit a couple of dozen butterfly peacocks from two to four pounds. Good, but not quite what I was looking for. Instead of exiting the lagoon to the main river, we went down another creek and fished a lagoon behind that one. I've never seen anything quite like it. It was teeming with giant fish. Last year, in a week, I landed eight fish of ten pounds or better. In that lagoon, I landed a fifteen, three twelve pound fish, and right at the end, hooked up a giant, that weighed in at a little over 17. Finished the day fishing the light sand flats of the main river, and sight fished an eleven and a ten pound fish. Unbelieveable.

Click here to read the full forum report.

Jacks on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: remo_5_0

The plan was to fish the flats for some redfish and trout that we got into last week. My buddy got a nice red early in the morning. Sadly, there were no more reds after that one. We made a move and found a school of jacks that we fished for a few hours. It was a lot of fun and we took a quick video of a few of the ones we caught. My buddy is new to fly fishing and still learning the ropes. He hooked and landed about four. It's safe to say, I think he is hooked.

Click here to read the full forum report.

Tarpon Off The Beach

Florida Sportsman member: kayakerinkeywest

Here is one of my afternoon spots where I can wet a line if I have a hour or so. The bite is during the magic hour right at sunset so pretty predictable. This is a great option for the Key West visitor who wants to chase a tarpon without a guide or after your guided trip, but still want to put some time in chasing a money fish (...) You can see the tarpon rolling, but they will also jump out of the water like a trout. Find an active fish and just keep throwing it in front of their face. I also like to fish the end of the jetty as the wind will create current which creates an ambush point for the tarpon. I ended up catching a couple of these babies. Super fun on the 7wt.

Click here to read the full forum report.

A Pricey Permit

Florida Sportsman member: sunflower

It was a miserable day, raining and cloudy all morning. I caught it on a flat west of Key West, facing straight onto the ocean. Mixed bottom, mostly sand. Funny, I saw them first, I probably cast to them about 30 feet away. In truth, the cast was no better than any of the hundred I have made that didn't catch a permit.

Click here to read the full forum report.

Flying Florida for Ten Days

Florida Sportsman member: Randy Richter

I was fortunate enough to spend ten days in one of my favorite places on earth. I decided upon four guided days, two offshore of Jupiter, two in the Everglades out of Flamingo, two days offshore with friends on their boats, and four days fishing the beach. There were a ton of highlights. I got a 300 pound shark on a 16 weight in 120 feet of water, a bunch of false albacore, some nice jacks from the beach, a bunch of small dolphin and a nice bar jack, seven stacked up triple tail, and some hard earned beach snook. Also I had my first time fishing for tailing redfish, a red hot couple hours of baby tarpon fishing, and a couple hour session where every lemon shark that swam by the boat in the Everglades crushed the fly. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Click here to read the full forum report.

Flying Key West

Florida Sportsman member: tarpon41

The itinerary was early morning tarpon, then top of the tide bonefish and falling tide permit. For three days, we had outstanding tarpon action, mostly 15-40 pounds, but two or three were 60-70 plus. We started with sub-surface, but then switched to floating crabs and gurglers. One gurgler foul hooked a 60-70 pounder which took him almost to the spool. For tarpon, we had consistent action for the morning bite, mostly casting to rolling fish. However, there were occasions when we would cast a floater to a fish holding in the current, clearly visible, but not quite a laid up fish. More like a trout holding in a spot.

Click here to read the full forum report.

Flying the Floods

Florida Sportsman member: rummya87

Flood tide redfishing is looking pretty good right about now in the northeast. On fly too boot?! Sign me up. Check out rummya87's colorful photography here.

Click here to read the full forum report.

Mosquito Lagoon Reds

Florida Sportsman member: brad

It was a great weekend out on the lagoon. Albeit, it was already 100 degrees just past 10am, but there were tailing fish to be found. We launched both mornings on the NSB side around 6 am and ran down to the middle lagoon. There's still plenty of early morning tailers to be had if you can find the grass. We each managed fun fish, one on a 7wt the other on an 8wt.

Click here to read the full forum report.

Backcountry Tarpon On Fly

Florida Sportsman member: kayakerinkeywest

I took my buddy and his flats boat out back to test out my juvenile tarpon spot. This is a key spot for accomplishing the Grand Slam, as I can fairly reliably pick up a tarpon on the quick. A good test is to have someone catch one as well, which will ensure it is a consistent spot. Chuck is a fly guy, so that worked well. I love the juvenile tarpon for their acrobatics and not so much sense.

Click here to read the full forum report.

Bonefish on the Fly, Permit on Crab

Florida Sportsman member: kayakerinkeywest

Finally, I got a cooperative school of bonefish which aggressively bit my Brown/Creme Clouser on my 7 wt. Soon after, I found a spot where permit kept running the edge of a channel and got a bite on a big Pass crab I had scooped up in the channel. It was a fun fight on an Esky Ultralight rod. With two out of the three completed, I went back to chasing the tarpon. Unfortunately, it was a negative tide and I got trapped in a channel for about two hours into the dark and was not able to get to the neighboring islands where my tarpon spots are.

Click here to read the full forum report.

Tied Up For Tarpon

Florida Sportsman member: greenie-slayer

I tied up some flies and got back out on some tarpon. I checked a few spots I haven't been to in a while to escape some of the weekend crowds. There were plenty of fish, but not really the size I was looking for. I should have brought the 5wt instead of the 8wt. I manged a bunch of snook in the 15-24" range on some docklights, but sadly, I couldn't find a trout.

Click here to read the full report from the southeast region.

Click here to read the other variation of this report posted in the fly fishing section.

Flood Tide Redfish

Florida Sportsman member: rummya87

Check out this flood tide redfish video for your weekly dose of fly fishing inspiration.

Click here to read the full forum report.

Bones on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: kayakerinkeywest

I already got a bonefish using a jig and shrimp, but I wanted to get some fly footage. Three out of five flats areas I drifted had bonefish. I found one spot that caught my attention because of a permit cruising around. While stalking that fish, I found that it was hanging out with a school of bonefish. I was able to pull a couple of bonefish and had a few shots at cruising permit. I only had one crab that I caught earlier, so was holding on to it until the magic hour just before sunset.

Click here to read the full forum report.

DIY Fly Line Management

Florida Sportsman member: kayakerinkeywest

Here is a cheap, easy, and effective fly line mat for a kayak. I use a basket when I use my platform, and a blanket when just throwing off the base of the kayak. Even then, because the line piles up in the cockpit, it still causes knotting issue. With the spikes, it keeps the line layered so no more tangles.

Click here to read the full forum report.

Brazilian Bass and More

Florida Sportsman member: Randy Richter

Just spent seven days at Agua Boa Lodge in Brazil. I went there last year for my once in a lifetime trip, and was fortunate to go back this year. I hardly know what to say without seeming overly effusive. We didn't count fish, but I'm sure my wife and I caught at least 500 peacocks in the seven days. The weather was beautiful, the guides were skilled, and I just can't wait to get back to the jungle. It was exactly what fishing is supposed to be, just crazy fun.

Click here to read the full forum report.

Click here to read Randy's full blog post.

Jacks on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: remo_5_0

I launched at the Courtney Campbell boat ramp and fished Safety Harbor today. I ended up with two nice jacks that fought like trains. We also got into some fairly large ladyfish. What a nice day to be out!

Click here to see the full forum report.

Bahamas Triggers on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Docked Wages

I took a quick break from wahoo fishing and diving during my West End trip and went wading with the long pole. I managed to pick up a few fat triggers on the whip.

Click here to see the full forum report.

North Florida Red on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: dudewheresmyplug

I caught my first redfish on the fly here around the big bend area. Dealing with scallopers and an east wind made it a little more difficult, but with that size school coming through it was just a matter of time before we got an eat. I'm sure you could tell how pumped my buddy Jay is!

Click here to see the full forum report.

Surf Snookin' on the Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Randy Richter

At 37 inches, she was a ways from my biggest on fly, but maybe the hardest pulling snook I've experienced! I had so much fun chasing these guys for nine days in Jupiter. Already missing it!

Click here to see the full forum report.

Fly Fishing Biscayne and Everglades

Florida Sportsman member: lemaymiami

We switched over to fly fishing gear this week and found a few fish on each outing. Early in the week I had Benjamin Vial aboard to fish for tarpon at night locally in Biscayne Bay. We used a 9wt each night, sight-fishing tarpon up to and a bit over 40lbs under the bridges that connect Miami and Miami Beach. His first night, the fish had it all their way - he hooked up but the fish just took us to school, jumping off, breaking off, and just plain being tarpon. Fortunately, the second night was the charm and Benjamin brought three fish to the skiff - a 20, a 30, and his last - a 50lb fish. Yesterday we switched up and fished a day trip out of Flamingo with retired doctor Nate Mayl, a skilled local fly angler who's been fishing with me for some years. The highlight of the trip was Nate hand-reeling this snook to the boat after the spool popped off!

Click here to see the full forum report.

Sharks on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Ol'DirtyCaster

It's not really fair to call these guys by-catch, I absolutely love them. I'm driving an hour to fish every day, so if the snook and tarpon decide not to make an appearance, I have to find other ways to keep myself entertained. The sharks seem to prefer crabs, though I've caught them on shrimp and glass minnow patterns with 20-25lb flourocarbon. So far it hasn't seemed like wire is necessary.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Amazon Adventure

Florida Sportsman member: Randy Richter

My girlfriend and I traveled to Agua Boa Lodge, a fly fishing only lodge on a small, clearwater tributary of the Amazon. Seven full days of fishing. Fantastic action. If you wanted numbers, 100 fish days were no problems. Lots of quality fish. We landed fish of ten pounds or better every day except one, and plenty of diversity. I'm one of those nerdy guys that keeps a life list of species landed on a fly rod, added 13 this trip. Got home over three weeks ago, and still can't stop thinking about it, it was that great. Got to do plenty of sight casting to fish busting bait or just cruising sand flats, and even got to do some wading.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Personal Best Trout on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: hooknsnook

Forum member hooknsnook has confirmed that the trout bite is in full swing. He even landed a new personal best on fly!

Click here to see the full forum report.

Pine Island Fly Action

Florida Sportsman member: TimGleason

There were lots of slot and overslot snook, crazy amounts of good sized jacks, assorted tailing redfish, and decent sized trout. I wish the fishing was like this more often. We caught all our fish in various northern Matlacha Pass spots, on the west side of Pine Island. I even broke my personal best snook and jack on fly to boot.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Baby Turnpike Tarpon

Florida Sportsman member: thflyingclouser

I've bee having a blast lately targeting these little guys along-side the turnpike all over south Miami. I first noticed these baby silver kings while peacock fishing on my lunch break. As luck would have it, I'm blessed with an excellent canal down the street from my shop. One baby 'poon revealed itself by making a hard strike while fishing a clouser minnow. After a few failed attempts, I quickly realized I needed a better fly for the job. The very next day I was eager for 12pm to hit, I couldn't wait to try out the new fly. Once I arrived, it didn't take more than two casts before I was on! This little guy gave a great fight and was safely released afterwards.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Tarpon on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Dardude6

I have spent a lot of time targeting these fish and most of the times they show you who's in charge. One was caught on an EP fly I whipped up. The other was caught on a white DT with a chartruese head. Both of these tarpon were in freshwater. So far I am 3/13. I definitely think being able to use unweighted flies while flyfishing helps tremendously in the way tarpon can't shake it easier. Usually while spinfishing they toss the jigheads I use on my swimbaits with ease.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Plugs for Largemouths

Florida Sportsman member: Fly Inspired

I had a chance to pull some flies through southwestern Florida waters a few weeks ago, before Irma tore through. Unfortunately, I didnt lock into any monsters, but I still had a blast getting crushed on topwater!

Click here to see the full forum report.

North Florida Redfish

Florida Sportsman member: reddrumregalia

I went out fishing Saturday with a buddy who doesn't fly fish, so we were throwing mullet and slamming reds in this one tight area. The tide was coming in fast. I eventually grew bored and decided to whip the fly a couple times, and within three casts had a good one on. He ate a grey and white clouser. It was back to back for about 45 minutes, and we released seven fat redfish.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Keys Tarpon and Bonefish

Florida Sportsman member: RG Air

We found these fish in no time and had multiple shots at both species. They were being a bit fickle, but we managed one of each. Big props to Capt John Sheehan for giving me and my wife the long talked about experience.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Reds on Oyster Beds

Florida Sportsman member: reddrumregalia

I got out around 7:00 and found a school of juvenile tarpon rolling around. One tapped the fly, but none hooked. I moved around to a close flat and pitched at some good size redfish, but no takers. The wind started to pick up around 10:00 and I moved to a bank lined with big submerged oyster beds. I pitched around the beds and ending up picking up a couple rat reds. All in all a good day on the water and back before noon.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Fly Fishing the Flats

Florida Sportsman member: RG Air

I hit three flats and got three fish. I was so hyped to get them all. They were giving me some really cool eats and it was awesome to see. I was throwing flies with small chartreuse eyes, a purple ep head and chartreuse finn raccoon tail with a weed guard.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Lowtide Red on a SUP

Florida Sportsman member: RG Air

Here's one from the paddleboard. This red was caught on a 1.5 ep purple brush head, eyes stuck with loctite gel and a magnum black rabbit tail. I caught a ladyfish earlier that night and I should have checked the tippet after, because a decent redfish had no problem hitting, breaking and running.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Lowtide Fly Fishing Redfish

Florida Sportsman member: RG Air

While retying some tippet, I could hear them smashing. I parked on a bank and make a cast, connecting to this little fella. It was bitter sweet, as its been a long, frustrating, time with the fly. I should've connected to more, as there were countless spooks till dark. I put myself in great position on a belly crawler, only to pick up the rod and have the fly wrap the rod about a dozen times.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Fly Fishing for Redfish

Florida Sportsman member: Black Clouser

I tied up a few critter flies and walked in to some favorite, close to home, grass flats. I had about an hour or so to fish a late evening flood tide, before the lights went out. It was very windy conditions, which didn't help much, but still managed to see a few quick tails. On the way back, I spotted this guy tailing hard in the thick stuff. On the second cast he just crushed the new critter fly.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Keys Bonefishing

Florida Sportsman member: HeartNShoal

I'm having a productive trip down here in the lower keys. I got my first solo bonefish today off Cudjoe Key. The waters were slick and calm, with great conditions. I poled the skiff backwards and found a happy school of 20+ bonefish.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Redfish on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: RG Air

We worked hard on a negative low incoming tide to get a buddy on a red. We rounded a bend and heard fish bust. After setting up, soon after we saw two reds with backs out, belly crawling. Two cast later he was hooked up.

Click here to see the full forum report.

Mixed Bag on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Guanagator

The pogies are thick with small pods everywhere and a few big ones, if you look long enough. We netted some up and tossed knocker rigs and free lines out the back while we fly fished off the bow. Lots of sharks on the live bait and caught a few spanish and a monster jack on fly. I saw some tarpon in the pods, but couldn't get an eat. Earlier last week, I got out one evening and caugh the flood tide at sunset. I managed to get one nice red saw a bunch more tailing. Overall, a great holiday weekend and a good start to the summer beach fishing.

Click Here to read the full forum report

Tarpon on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: E-type

The wind was howling, but at least I had sun and the wind was blowing in the right direction. The tarpon just about kissed my fly yesterday, but refused it. So if chartreuse was no use, I switched to a smaller dark fly that has worked for me before.

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Jumping Juvie Spring Tarpon

Florida Sportsman member: E-type

Spring tarpon are on the way, more reports are flooding in every day. Time to play hookey and battle some nice tarpon!

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Fly Fishing Redfish

Florida Sportsman member: RG Air

I saw six fish that day. Good shots at three of them in heavy winds. Had two eats. Landed one of them which was a 25.6 inch red with eight spots. Ended the day with a beatiful sunset. Good stuff.

Click Here to read the full forum report

I sight fished for reds, caught a few crawlers on a 1/16oz sureset jig zman paddlerz combo and the mirrodine. Biggest red was on the mirrodine. Most of the reds were in less than a foot of water and chasing the remaining mullet in the creeks or around the oysters chasing mud minnows.

For Full Report Click Here

Key West Kayak Fishing on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: kayakerinkeywest

I'm not much of a fly guy, but I knew this spot was action packed because at the moment the flats are packed full of glass minnows and pilchards. Any spot where the current running over the flats dumps into a channel, there will be fish waiting.

For Full Report Click Here

Fall Redfish on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: StandOutI2

While I was throwing my fly line back out to put it back in the bucket, go figure, a fish comes up and slams my fly and takes me for a ride. Never had that happen, but I wasn't complaining!

For Full Report Click Here

Jacksonville Flounder on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: TieOneOn

The only flounder I've boated in the past few weeks actually ate a small fly. Nice fish but he wasn't willing to tell me where all his friends were hiding. Found him way back in a creek on the beginning of the incoming tide.

For Full Report Click Here

Keys Kayak Sharks on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: kayakerinkeywest

Towed my buddy out to the Lower Keys Backcountry to do some fly fishing for Sharks. October has been a brutally windy month, so we had to take advantage of the one day dip in the wind. Turned out to be a fun day.

For Full Report Click Here

Bull Reds on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: HeartNShoal

Caught over 20 reds on fly, two 30 pounders. As a novice fly angler it was really exciting to get so many shots and practice playing the fish.

For Full Report Click Here

Flood Tide Fun

Florida Sportsman member: Black Clouser

We had some pretty high flood tides and calm conditions today and it was a perfect time to get out in the grass. The highs for this morning was the great surface slurpee bite on gurglers just awesome takes.

For Full Report Click Here

A Walk in the Grass

Florida Sportsman member: Black Clouser

I got to walk in on foot and fish the flood grass this evening with good friends Captain Rich Santos and Captain Tim Boothe. Beautiful flood but there was a constant wind that we believe kept most of the Reds from getting up on the flats. That being said I was lucky enough to get two thanks to Tim putting me on them. Both Tim and Rich got in on the action also.

For Full Report Click Here

A Trip to the Lagoon

Florida Sportsman member: Snookslayer772

Highlight of the day was my buddy catching a 30 inch trout, three feet from the boat. Poling through a back creek, he spotted the tail of the fish sticking out of the grass under water, dropped the fly and boom!

For Full Report Click Here

Breaking in the New Rod

Florida Sportsman member: SpaceCoast Slayer

Fished closer to home a few days ago bringing only the fly rod and found the flats covered up with tarpon. I put at least 20 in the air and landed 7 or 8 altogether, plus a bonus red and black drum.

For Full Report Click Here

Vero Variety

Florida Sportsman member: Ditchrat

Up around Sebastian Inlet we found a flat with great current moving across it, along with it we found a steady stream of Bonnetheads cruising back and forth. After a couple hooked up pitching rubber shrimp, we started fly fishing for them. Found out that they eat a larger shrimp pattern pretty well.

For Full Report Click Here

Beach Surprise

Florida Sportsman member: snookslayer772

She ate two feet off of the sand and immediately went to clear my line. As this was happening, my line knotted up on my cork, and would not allow any line out, so into the water I went after this fish, to luckily get it unwrapped and really start the fight.

For Full Report Click Here

Personal Best Snook

Florida Sportsman member: randyrichter

Despite a lot of wind, and dirty water, had already put eight snook on the beach. Made a long cast, took one strip, and got crushed. A guy standing up on the rocks yelled, "Dude, that's a big fish." Fish went into the backing, and then powered down the beach about a 150 yards, despite the fact that I was putting a lot of heat on it.

For Full Report Click Here

Tripletail on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: SLW Urocane

Went out early on Saturday with my brother. We worked a few spots, and found tripletail both north and south of Fort Pierce. All but one 17 inches was under slot and released. We caught 9. We used a brown shrimp pattern fly from Bass Pro.

For Full Report Click Here

Beach Walk Success

Florida Sportsman member: pazozausf

Decided to go mess around with the seven weight and see if I could put a hook into some of the small snook in the surf. Hooked into this girl, she was a little bigger than I was expecting.

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10,000 Islands Fly Fishing

Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass

We spent the first five hours in the backcountry but we did not see many Snook, we did however see a good number of Redfish and had a lot of good shots at them. We also saw a good number of Tarpon and jumped four but came up empty. They are impressive fish, I can see why people become addicted to them.

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Solo Mission

Florida Sportsman member: RG Air

The current was ripping and the fly is swept into the grass line outside the creek. Second cast is placed further upstream and halfway through the slower paced retrieval, the fly is hammered. Set the hook, raise the rod tip and the fish takes off down current and immediately deep into the backing.

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Sanibel Action

Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass

The next fish was a big girl cruising up the beach and I watched it eat the fly. I was lucky to have two people from the UK walking the beach who were nice enough to take this picture. This fish was hook solid in the corner of the mouth, it measured 38 inches.

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Beachside Black Drum

Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass

I had a really good day on Sanibel with some black drum. Walking the beach we spotted a very large mud that was a very long cast away. It could be reached but when the school moved in then it was a much better hookup ratio, going four for eight.

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Ding Darling Tarpon

Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass

I decide to give Ding Darling a try before the rain came in the afternoon. It was the first morning we had early cloud cover and i was finally able to find a few small tarpon up and feeding.

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Sanibel Beach Fishing

Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass

It was a very interesting day, I had two fish on that were similar in size to the one my friend caught, the first one was on 20 seconds before we parted ways the second one 20 minutes ending with the same results, a lost fish.

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Charlotte Harbor Reds

Florida Sportsman member: E-type

Forum member E-type and friends have been on the redfish in Charlotte Harbor. Wading seems to be the ticket for these fish. Awesome!

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Hitting the Sweet Water

Florida Sportsman member: FowlMouth824

Almost immediately I was seeing strikes on the surface around the thicker vegetation. After a few missed strikes, and avoiding the small alligators that were also interested in my offering, I was finally able to connect and land a decent sized bass.

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March Action

Florida Sportsman member: ethankiburz

Fly fishing for tarpon is only going to get better and better as the temperatures rise into the mid to upper 70's. Our resident tarpon will stage up and feed in preparation for their annual migration. They can be targeted in our area at night or during the day using flies that push water. This is especially critical as our water clarity diminishes with the algae bloom in the warmer water temperatures.

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Foolin' the Reds

Florida Sportsman member: RG Air

My third cast to the previously populated redfish oyster bed did the trick. It was sweet victory on the early side of my day. The cherry on top was she ate my own tie.

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Big Bend Fly Fishing

Florida Sportsman member: Shallow Sightings

An inshore slam can likely be caught in under 20 inches of water. It doesn't get much better than that. Almost all winter I've been throwing crab and shrimp patterns but i just started to throw a baitfish pattern more often(pictured below).

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Slam on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: SUPER D

This time things were a little better, although no big fish, I did get a slam of snook, trout, and a red all on a brown bend back with gold and dark green flash. Ended the day with three trout to 21", two snook to 23", one dink red, one little mangrove snappy, and a bait size lady fish.

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Palm Valley Fun

Florida Sportsman member: Black Clouser

It turned out to be a beautiful morning once the sun came up. Calm as could be and 65 glorious degrees. Poled a couple of miles back in a remote creek I haven't hit in a while and was greeted by quite a few happy reds showing themselves.

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Hiding from the Wind

Florida Sportsman member: Snookslayer772

Went and hid from the wind yesterday around Wabasso and found a few fish. Ended up running into a bunch of baby tarpon and ended up playing with them until we had enough. Caught a bunch of snook and a redfish while casting at the tarpon, which was a nice surprise.

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A Trip to the Lagoon

Florida Sportsman member: irlyriser

When it was my turn to fish, we saw something a little strange swimming down a prop scar. Turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. A nice trout, made more special by catching it on a 5 weight I had brought more as an afterthought.

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Getting in on the Action

Florida Sportsman member: Black Clouser

Forum member Black Clouser has got in on the shad action the St. Johns has to offer. "These fish are a real hoot on the 5 weight."

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Shad on the Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Docked Wages

We got on the spot around 10:00am to find no crowd and no one fishing, surprising for a Saturday. This enabled us to drift versus anchor up and each drift we picked up a fish.

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Good Luck in the Valley

Florida Sportsman member: Black Clouser

Had some sick fly fishing lately down my neck of the woods in Palm Valley. Last several trips have been true sight fishing bliss with double digit catching with some crazy good takes on the trusty seven weight.

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Chassahowitzka on the Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Shallow Sightings

his is my favorite time of year to target red drum and gator trout. The east winds and low/weak winter tides create a perfect scenario for fly fishing. Two things happen, it compacts the fish and the tides are so minimal it allows the sediments to sink and the water to get crystal clear.

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RedFly Results

Florida Sportsman member: Shadowcast

RedFly #10 is in the books and it was a huge success. We had more participants than ever and raised $1100 for CCA Florida.

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Banana River Fly Fishing

Florida Sportsman member: Snookslayer772

The wind was a little more than expected, but we still got it done. Was able to catch snook, trout, redfish and tarpon, majority being sight fished. Highlight for me was I ended up cane poling a redfish (leader still in my guides) four feet from the boat that was belly crawling in the mud with his back out.

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A Fly Weekend

Florida Sportsman member: Black Clouser

Sunday was just plain Insane, we had fish backing, tailing and coming down the bank one school after another. I would tell you how many were caught but you may not believe me.

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Sheepshead on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: E-type

Was trying out a new spoonful pattern I tied. I was casting under the mangroves and had caught a few little snook. Then this guy grabbed it and wanted to go deep for the mangrove roots.

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Breaking the Curse

Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass

It has been four years since I caught a Redfish on Sanibel and I think if you're going to break the redfish drought it is always good to do it with a 31 inch red. This fish ate a size 2 white deceiver.

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Taking a Walk

Florida Sportsman member: Black Clouser

I decided to fish the flood grass up north this morning and what a beautiful fall wake up it was. The flood lasted a manageable 2 and a half hours and I was able to land three, two of which were epic takes.

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Sanibel on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass

After my trout I was able to hook and get one great jump out of a snook that just tossed the fly, The fish had to be an easy 30 inches or better, It was fun while it lasted for the five seconds.

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Tailers in the Grass

Florida Sportsman member: Black Clouser

We had huge tides to begin with and that coupled with screaming North East winds turned the flood grass into a Lake real quick. Got out Sunday and the water was still a little high for me but nothing like it had been. Saw quite a few quick tails, some slurpers and one hard tailing fish. Managed to get a few small guys and enjoyed every minute of it.

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Albies from the Beach

Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass

It has been a long time, 8 years I believe since I was able to get an albie from Shore. This year has been a good one and in the last 2 weeks I was able to land 16 with my best day being yesterday when I went 8 for 10.

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Reds in the Grass

Florida Sportsman member: FlyFishJax

Forum member FlyFishJax shared a recent video he put together of the flood tide fishing in Jacksonville. Stealthy approaches and accurate casts often pay off with a red in hand. Nice work!

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Fishing the Floods

Florida Sportsman member: Black Clouser

My trusty BC Critter Fly has always worked well for me in the flood grass and I also do equally well spoon feeding them with the Dupree Spoon. Lately I've been changing it up a little and throwing a small topwater Slurpee Gurgler in the mix. Pretty cool watching them take topwater in the grass.

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Tangling with Tripletail

Florida Sportsman member: ifitswims

Never seen fish come up and kiss the bait, sometimes pressing their closed mouth to the fly for several seconds. Of course sometimes they scream over and bite immediately. The bigger fish were more wary for sure and a few I could not get to react.

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First Tarpon on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: FlatsFrenzy

I stripped it twice, he took a swipe at it and missed, I stripped it again and he inhaled it, I felt weight and crossed his eyes with a hard strip strike. Hilarity ensued for the next 30 seconds as I tried to clear my line and keep him hooked up until I had him on the reel and could fight him. As I was doing this, my partner on the poling platform was screaming "Strip it! Set it!".

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It's all About Speed

Florida Sportsman member: Beto_Matheus

Found a couple of peacocks sitting in the shallows in a canal in Boca and had a chance to pass three different flies by them. The same fly on a slow strip did nothing. Exact same cast but moved the fly as fast as I could and it got pounded.

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Close Call

Florida Sportsman member: E-type

Forum member E-type got some awesome footage of juvie tarpon action on the fly, with a close call, almost losing part of the fly rod.

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A Trip to Mexico

Florida Sportsman member: Carl Blackledge

he next day we maybe got a dozen each, the second to the last day we landed over 25, and the last day we only landed eight. The best trick was to spot or hook a dorado, get a sardine in front of the new group and your fly at the same time, and when everything lined up, you caught lots of dorado.

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Snook in the Surf

Florida Sportsman member: Shadowcast

A little action from the beach today. I saw hundreds today shadowing bait pods. Most were males in the 20-30 inch class. I saw a few big girls but no takers.

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Juvies on the Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Snookslayer772

The juvie tarpon fishing around the treasure coast has been the best i've seen it in years. With most fish holding in deeper bays and residential canals. I have found a few bigger fish hanging around channel edges though. My go to fly has been a white bunny strip tail with 5 or so wraps of orange palmering chenille up front.

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Sanibel Snookin'

Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass

My friends and I spent a week at Sanibel and even with the wind and murky water we had very good week. In addition to these we had a fair amount of smaller fish all on the fly.

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Buggy Whip Blackfin

Florida Sportsman member: Capt. Scott

Went out solo in the late afternoon after day trip finished and the result was this. Surprised I was able to pull this off solo, especially the landing/boating part. Easily bottomed out my 30 poind Boga Grip.

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Snapper on the Fly

Florida Sportsman member: mrl0004

I was totally unprepared for how hard these fish fight. I was using a 12wt, and I thought that fish was going to snap it in two. We had snapper and triggers swimming around, and after I caught several snapper, I tried to get one of the triggers to bite. I had to actually start snatching the fly away from snapper to give the triggers a chance.

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First Snook on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: RG Air

Hadn't seen many fish but it was only a matter of time as the setup was legit. First cast was directed to the dock's southernmost pillar, couple of strips, water wallows and battle began. Few minutes later and I had my first snook on fly.

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Night Time Tarpon

Florida Sportsman member: sparse grey

It was high tide around 9P.M. at a local bridge. We could not hear or see much action due to the wind but I went 1 for 2 & John P. caught his first. Great privilege to help with this.

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Biscayne Bay Permit

Florida Sportsman member: jnrosenthal

Forum member jnrosenthal caught and released this beautiful Biscayne Bay permit, fishing with captain Joe Gonzalez. His next goal is to take one of these fish on fly from his kayak.

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A First on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: westpalmspearo

I ended up finding some monster reds after throwing at them at least 12 times with not even a look I headed home completely frustrated with plans to comeback asap. two days later I was back and still couldn't get the reds to eat but did manage my first 3 bones.

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Beach Side Snookin'

Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass

Forum member Tgrass recently had some good success fishing the beaches of Sanibel for snook. Clear water means light leader and accurate presentations are necessary to fool these linesiders. "The Snook fishing on the beach although difficult can be very rewarding", says Tgrass.

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Sight Fished Bruiser

Florida Sportsman member: snookslayer

Forum member snookslayer sight fished this 40 inch snook recently with the fly rod. This fish was caught in Indian River Lagoon.

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Brackish Water Fun

Florida Sportsman member: dogman58

I have been using small baitfish patterns and topwater foam flies. On the light fly rods this is a great fishery, catching swordspine, tarpon, fat and common snook.

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Peacock Bass on the Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Prhea36

Forum member Prhea36 put together an awesome video of peacock bass on the fly. "When the weather is not optimal we grab the 6wt's and do some good ole bank hopping."

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A Different Type of Flats

Florida Sportsman member: remo_5_0

Found a nice "flat" at Flaming Gorge reservoir, got tight with some nice Rainbows while stripping egg sucking leech patterns on a fast sinking line.

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Brackish Water Snookin'

Florida Sportsman member: freshfromthesalt

The snook are chewing baitfish patterns well in local upriver spots. Lots of short fish, but a few photo worthy fish in the mix.

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Fresh and Salt with the Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Snookslayer772

Fishing a size 8 minnow I was able to fool a few. With how spooky these fish are around beds, it can be pretty frustrating. I have noticed though, stay as low as possible and keep your shadow to a minimum, I try to hide in a tree's shadow or some type of cover.

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Fly Fishing the Glades

Florida Sportsman member: Native21

I was anticipating light winds in the morning so I took my light 6 weight out for some sporty action in the backcountry. I had some nice shots and landed quite a few before the winds picked up in the afternoon.

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Offshore with the Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Slamaholic

As soon as we got to the spots we had around 30 amberjack all around us. With a little chumming and throwing a chugger with a spinning rod we had the fish in a frenzy. Hook ups, doubles, triples, you name it. All fish were over 30 pounds some in the mid 40's on a fly rod, we even chummed the American red snapper up enough to catch those on the fly rods as well, by vertically jigging massive clousers.

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First on the Fly

Florida Sportsman member: NSByak

I finally stuck my first Mosquito Lagoon red last weekend. What a great feeling, Of course it would happen the day I left the gopro at home, so I could only grab some cell phone shots. Watching it eat was incredible.

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Sinking a Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Capt. Scott

I had a client using a five weight at the same place yesterday, throwing at 1 to 4 pound barjacks, when what had to be a fifty pound amberjack inhaled and departed with the barjack he was fighting. Not much to do except watch the line melt off his reel, right down to the knot.

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Backwater Poons

Florida Sportsman member: Snookslayer772

A heavily weighted size 2 white shminnow has been the go to fly for these fish, presenting it with long and slow strips. I have jumped fish to 10 pounds or so and have seen a few 20 pounders roll, but have yet to get a hook in them.

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North Florida Reds on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: lost1317

Went out for a few hours the other day. Seems like every creek you look into has a school of fish. Found this school and caught a few off it, 3 on fly.

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Jacksonville Reds on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: FlyFishJax

Forum member FlyFishJax shared some videos he put together of some great wintertime redfishing with the long rod.

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Backcountry Tarpon

Florida Sportsman member: heavychevy15

Carlos then got into another Tarpon right after the first one. This one put up a hell of a fight. Being that he was fighting it from land, i thought he might not land it when it started making its run up the canal. He was able to turn the fish though and get him back towards us.

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Cold Weather Trout

Florida Sportsman member: SUPER D

When I launched, the water temperature was 55 degrees. I found a lot of nice trout sitting in a foot of water. I caught a nice 22 inch trout on a white bend back, and a Nice 25 inch trout on a white shrimp fly.

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Tripletail on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: OutdoorAddict

Forum member OutdoorAddict got into some tripletail on fly recently. He went 3 for 5 on these fish, throwing a tan shrimp fly.

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A Trip to the Lowcountry

Florida Sportsman member: greenie-slayer

It took Capt. Chris about 45 seconds to find a couple big schools of redfish. In short order he had me on the bow landing the first fish. Landed a bunch of nice sized redfish during the day and some even came up to eat gurglers which was surprising.

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Making it Happen

Florida Sportsman member: SUPER D

I switched to 2/0 bend backs, white/gray with dark green and blue flash, brown with dark green and gold flash. I ended the day with nineteen Snook from 17 to 22 inches, and one small tarpon. They chewed up six flies. The water temp never got over 62 degrees, but the fish were spunky and strong, lots of fun on 8 pound tippet.

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Hitting the Lights

Florida Sportsman member: Snookslayer772

Went out on my buddy's Jon boat yesterday evening to "test and tune" his new motor. brought the fly rods along, as we figured we might as well hit some dock lights once the sun dropped. The front pushing through really kicked up the wind once it got dark, but we were able to get tight on a few.

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False Albacore and More on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: freshfromthesalt

We came across about an acre of bull reds. My buddy was quick on the gun and got his fly into these monsters first and got an immediate hookup. He was taken deep into his backing and again. I chose to skip the easy double header in order to help him land his fish. Good thing because this 23 pound behemoth snapped his 9 weight fly rod like a twig boat-side just before I got the boga grip on him.

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Tampa Bay Fly Fishing

Florida Sportsman member: Shadowcast

Visibility was at a minimum and we had to deal with wind and rain showers early on. Conditions improved throughout the morning and we managed a few reds on 6 and 8 weight gear. Using a Monic clear floating line helped out as we could not see the fish at any real distance.

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Hitting the Streams

Florida Sportsman member: remo_5_0

Got out in the river today with a buddy, fishing was decent but had a steady 20 mile per hour wind gusting to 30's. I caught some decent ones, he got a few bigger ones, this week we will be hunting Big Brown trout.

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Personal Best

Florida Sportsman member: E-type

I was slowly drifting in water so shallow I had to pick up my trolling motor and I saw a group of fish coming at me. Not being that experienced at telling the difference between mullet and redfish, I could only hope. They were moving with a purpose. Then about 70 feet away a few stopped and tails came up!

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Freshwater Action on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: chasinfins

Forum member chasinfins shared some of his recent freshwater catches on fly. All the fish were caught on flies he tied.

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First Tailer of the Season

Florida Sportsman member: E-type

Forum member E-type posted his first tailing redfish of the fall. It's hard to beat catching skinny water reds on the long rod. Tight work!

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First Redfish on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: staysalty

Forum member staysalty scored his first redfish on fly. This fish ate a small white minnow fly out of a docklight near Siesta Key. Congrats!

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A Juvenile Summer

Florida Sportsman member: redjim

I had a nice day on tuesday and got my 61st baby tarpon of the summer. Most of these fish came from the ditches and canals of Merritt Island, Rockledge and a few from North Indian River Lagoon. I learned early it did not matter what fly I offered these fish yet how I presented my fly to them.

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A Belize Adventure

Florida Sportsman member: DogDoc

He then took us to a flat where the bonefish were tailing and cruising everywhere. Small groups of 5 to 10 fish mixed with singles and doubles. On this one flat I saw more tailing bonefish than all of the bonefish I've seen in the Keys my entire life.

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Fishing the Dream Stream

Florida Sportsman member: greenie-slayer

Fishing Started off red hot landing 5 fish in the first hole with most being 12 to 16 inches. The last fish in that hole though was a true stud of a trout. A 26 inch brown that held tight to the bottom most of the fight. She ended up taking a run and pulling the hook but I told the guide that I could still see the fish sitting in about 2 feet of water. Put another cast in and she ate again.

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Sanibel Snook

Florida Sportsman member: SUPER D

I ended the week with 5 snook, 2 trout, and 1 tarpon. I jumped 4 other tarpon and the one I caught plus 2 of the snook at Ding Darling. I had a big snook try to eat one of the trout as I pulled it in, which was kinda cool.

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Putting Them in the Air

Florida Sportsman member: E-type

Forum member E-type got some killer Gopro video of some fun size tarpon. What's better than a tarpon jump? A tarpon jump in slow motion!

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Light Leader Peacock Bass

Florida Sportsman member: Beto_Matheus

The powerful attack and subsequent run left no doubt it was the butterfly. With the light leader I had to work the fish and he gave two good runs taking all my fly line out. It then ran towards the only submerged branch in sight to my right where bushes blocked my way. There was only one thing to do if I wanted the fish: had to get in the water.

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Flood Tide Reds

Florida Sportsman member: T-Shirt Bob

Forum member T-Shirt Bob has been catching some nice flood tide redfish in Jacksonville. Tying up his own rendition of a fiddler crab and the fish seem to love it. Nice tie and great fish!

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Bonito Blitz

Florida Sportsman member: FlyFishJax

Gotta love the hottest time of the year! We had a great fly bite and reel screaming test this past Sunday 8/17 out of St. Augustine with about 12 to 15 of these speedsters running between 9 and 12 pounds. on the 9wt. We also caught some on spin gear too. What a blast!

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Big Blackfin on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Capt. Scott

I had this guy show up in the melee of false albacore, big blue runners, rainbow runners and ravenous sharks I was chumming with live chum. The fish ate the fly 4 feet from the side of the boat. I have no idea how I got it past the sharks, weighed in at 34 pounds.

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Baby Tarpon on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: E-type

Forum member E-type put together a video of some aerial action of baby tarpon on fly. These fish are a ball in the backwaters, always willing to put on a show.

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Summertime Trip to the North

Florida Sportsman member: Ol'DirtyCaster

Laurentides was no different, but the weather didn't cooperate so I was forced to dredge weedlines with tungsten heads for pike, which actually produced more bass than anything else. I did have some odd catches, I caught my first lake trout, my first walleye, and a 20 inch brown trout in a river that I was told didn't have any trout. I fished the St. Laurence, the Ottawa, the Saranac, and the Ouaro rivers.

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Bahamas Bonefish

Florida Sportsman member: Prhea36

Forum member Prhea36 put together a video of some DIY bonefish on fly! Chasing these fish with a fly rod can really get your blood flowing. Nice work!

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Gorge Fly Fishing

Florida Sportsman member: remo_5_0

Hit Flaming Gorge a few weeks ago with a buddy, there has been an epic Cicada hatch this year and the lake was covered in them and the trout and bass were killing them, and so were we! Nothing like surface action with some big ugly bugs.

I woke up at 6am every morning to watch the sunrise and have a cool morning alone, with no tourist. Having the beach to myself I sight casted fish non stop, Most schools of snook where 5 to 10 fish thick, with a few Tarpon mixed in.

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West Coast Snook

Florida Sportsman member: Slamaholic

I woke up at 6am every morning to watch the sunrise and have a cool morning alone, with no tourist. Having the beach to myself I sight casted fish non stop, Most schools of snook where 5 to 10 fish thick, with a few Tarpon mixed in.

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Summer Snook

Florida Sportsman member: twobbles

Was tossing a big white fly and was making casts every few minutes to singles or little groups cruising along. Most would come up and nose the fly before either turning away or opening their mouths to inhale it while I let it drift, while others tried to rip the rod from my hands as soon as the fly hit the water.

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Sanibel Snookin'

Florida Sportsman member: Tgrass

My best day on the water was when I found a pod of Snook cruising the beach about 30 feet off shore on a long flat and I was able to pull 4 fish from the same school before the 5th fish wore through the bite tippet. It was my best day of the week with sight casting and landing 12 fish and at least 5 others that hit and came unbuttoned,some on some really wild jumps.

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Withlacoochee Slam

Florida Sportsman member: capt louie

Pete has a couple of 3/4 weights really light fly rods and we had 4 pound tippets and small popping bugs. The fish were ready.

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New Personal Best

Florida Sportsman member: Pmoconnor89

The fish was on the edge of muddy water created by an eddy on the shoreline. I was able to sight fish it and had an excellent 4 to 5 minute battle with two long runs. It's rare that I catch a beach snook on fly that can't be stripped in, but this one was on the reel almost immediately.

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First on the Fly

Florida Sportsman member: HenrySRQ

I had borrowed a friends fly rod and after getting some casting tips I went out to a bridge light for a try at some snook with it. Practice payed off with this nice snook.

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Big Trout Out Back

Florida Sportsman member: ShallowPersonality

Got home today after a long day and decided to throw the fly rod a bit in the back yard. Went down to the dock and casted my gurgler over to a fishy looking mangrove line and got nailed first cast. Ended up being a beautiful trout.

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Hitting the Ditches

Florida Sportsman member: weetza

Had an interview in Naples on the way back decided to hit the famed Tamiami Trail. Middle of the day in the sweltering heat, hit a couple of spots last one finally paid off.

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First Snook on Sand

Florida Sportsman member: pjstevko

I had a lot of followers but only 2 hook ups and only landed one but a sight fished beach snook on fly is a big deal for me! This little guy was in 6 inches of water and followed the fly right up to the sand before he hit.

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Matlacha on the Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Capt. Gregg McKee

The one in the second photo ate a Crazy Charlie that we were blind casting over a wide open grass flat in the Indian Fields and was followed up by a similar sized gator on the very next cast. Smaller shrimp patterns like the Charlie really worked well on these guys all week.

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A Change of Pace

Florida Sportsman member: remo_5_0

Forum member remo_5_0 Shared his recent trout fishing trip in Wyoming. A change of pace from what Florida has to offer to fly fishermen. Beautiful fish!

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Fighting the Wind, Catching Fish

Florida Sportsman member: DKT

First time out in almost a year, neck and back surgery suck! Even though conditions weren't the best I was stoked just to be out. All in all it was a good day, got to use a new rod & reel I've been couch fishing with and caught a few fish.

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Smashing the Docklights

Florida Sportsman member: Snookslayer772

Docklight fishing with the fly rod is one of my favorite types of fishing to do and it's been producing pretty good lately. Went out the other night with the 6 and 8 weight and put a hurting on them for a few hours. Ended up with 14 snook and 2 trout.

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Busting Them on Top, The Fly Way

Florida Sportsman member: redjim

I have been spending the last couple of weeks throwing a Pole Dancer fly around. Most of the time I usually end up throwing some type of topwater fly, usually a gurgler, so I really was excited to give this gal a test. In two weeks ended up with four tarpon, six or seven snook and a bunch of trout and of course jacks.

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Night Time Fly Fishing in Boca

Florida Sportsman member: fishfullthinking

Got out to do some night fishing throwing flies. My son landed his first tarpon on the fly and we had a double hookup on snook. Landed 4 snook total with one just making the slot. Took a few casts at 100 plus pound tarpon but could not get them to bite.

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Keeping the Rod Bent

Florida Sportsman member: SUPER D

The West bank gave up 12 trout and two blue fish. Most of the trout 17 to 19 inches, all keepers that swam free. The East bank, gave up only one snook, a 21 inch fish that ate the bend back, the trout and blues destroyed my Shrimp fly. Could not find a red, or tarpon to complete the slam, but had a bent rod most of the day.

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The Best By-Catch

Florida Sportsman member: Docked Wages

After we were convinced that no cobia were in tow we broke off pursuit and stumbled across a school of redfish. It took me a while and finally I got one to eat! This being my personal best redfish on fly. He got so far into my backing I got really nervous about breaking the line or pulling the hook.

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Red on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: E-type

Forum member E-type shared this video of a nice redfish on fly in shallow water, something that many epitomize as the best fly fishing has to offer.

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Charlotte Harbor Snook on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: E-type

Forum member E-type shared some awesome pictures of stud snook on the long rod that him and friends have been enjoying this winter in Charlotte Harbor.

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Guides Day Off

Florida Sportsman member: FlyFishJax

In this video forum member FlyFishJax decided to share what he likes to do on his day off from guiding, which is to fish!

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First Snook On Fly

Florida Sportsman member: LilJim

First night out hitting the lights I managed to convince this guy to take a bite after just 3 casts, ended up getting a small trout on fly as well.

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Pompano On The Buggy Whip

Florida Sportsman member: sunflower

Pompano running this am. Got them on a kind of bright, high-tied clouser minnow.

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Only One Fish, But Made It Count

Florida Sportsman member: SUPER D

Florida Sportsman Member SUPER D caught this beautiful 29 inch trout while fishing the north Indian River. Fish was caught on a tan shrimp fly while working it through a sand hole.

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Always Will Remember Your First Fish

Florida Sportsman member: JonathanT305

I decided to try tying my own fly. I saw a version of a Mayan cichlid fly on here and wanted to try for myself. After attempting to make one with yarn, feathers, a sharpie, and some eyes from other lures it came together. Within 10 minutes I was connected to my first fish, a respectable peacock, about 3 pounds.

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Tampa Bay Reds On Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Icatcher22

Have been sight fishing reds on fly off the kayaks recently. Had some luck with the Northeast wind last week blowing all the water out of the bay. The reds were real shallow and gave us some good opportunities.

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D.I.Y. Louisiana

Florida Sportsman member: Chief_Osceola

My friends and I just got back from my first Louisiana marsh trip. It is truly a sight fishing paradise. We went in totally blind, and caught our first 25 fish within two hours. We caught way too many fish to count in three days, I can't wait to go back. All in all the trip cost less than $400.

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Good Outcome On A New Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Snookslayer772

I figured to just go for it and went to a buddy's dock with the 6 weight in hand, I love the fight on the 6 weight compared to the 8 weight, and fired it in his dock light a few times. Put in right in the fishes face and they couldn't resist. caught two that measured out to 25 inches a piece and called it a night, 2 fish in 5 minutes is good with me.

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Docklight Trout

Florida Sportsman member: bubujimbo

The second set of lights was loaded with trout and not feeding so we knew it would be a challenge. We were able to pull a couple nice fish off the light and had a great night. Our best luck was on a size two ep baitfish pattern.

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Two Days of Action : Tarpon & Reds

Florida Sportsman member: mangohunter11

Another beautiful day and miles of gin clear flats. After polling around and nothing in sight I caught a silver flash to my 3 o'clock. As I made my way I saw a tail... " is this it?" I asked "a permit"... I followed it for some time until I saw an opening I creeped up only to see something I was not to egger to see... I decided I may not cast at it... As I put the rod down and the lure hit the water Mr. tapron had other endeavors. it raced over and took my lure and we began the dance yet again... Didn't even have to cast and I was hooking tarpon what luck... Still a good way to open the day.

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Trip to the Black Canyon of Gunnison

Florida Sportsman member: razorreilly09

razorreilly09 recently made a scenic and fish-filled trip to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado.

"Just got back from a three day solo hike/camp into the canyon. This is my current favorite place on earth. The hike into is not for the weak of heart, and the hike out even more considerable, but that's what makes the fishing so good. The fishing was great, although very hot temps."

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Boca Peacock Action

Florida Sportsman member: Prhea36

Before I left I was on a really awesome peacock bite and couldn't wait to get back at it, so I grabbed the 6 weight and headed down to some of my favorite areas! Within a couple minutes of my arrival, it seemed like nothing changed. They were everywhere. Ended up landing 5 with some being in the 3-pound range over all awesome hour and a half of bank hopping.

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Sebastian Offshore Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Flyguy1

I got the opportunity this past Friday to make it out with a friend of mine to slay some big mangrove snapper on the flats skiff. We did end up whacking the mangroves up to 12 pounds on spin gear, but I also brought the 10 wt. out with me so I could have some fun! First up was a small mahi that spit the fly after charging it. Then bonita charged the chum and I made short work of three of them before a small cobia swam up. I didn't care if it was small, I wanted a cobia on fly!

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A Day in the Park

Florida Sportsman member: mangohunter11

As we approach our first destination there weren't too many tarpon, so I suggested moving onto an area I knew the target species would be waiting. As we pushed on I gave the guys some direction and an instruction and sent them on there way. It didn't take long for all of us to find some nice tailers waving for our attention. I was the first the first to hook up onto a decent tailer. Another victim of the fly... Lesson learned don't cross my path!

The flat was much alive at this point and the guys where taking shots at fish but couldn't connect. Tony finally hooked up only to see the nice red break off next to the yak. I continued my assault on these fish with target practice was in full affect at this point...

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Battling Bonito

Florida Sportsman member:Capt. Scott

Anchored up in 40 ft of water on a rock pile chumming up blue runners, small bonito and a few rudder fish when some significantly larger boils appear around the boat. I ask my guy if he'd like to switch up from the eight weight and he says "Whats the worst that could happen? I'll stick with the eight". Right about then I lose my grip on my chum throwing scoop and throw it over the side and the current immediately pulls it out of reach. "I guess I'm going to have to go after that" come out of my mouth at the same moment client gets nailed and fish goes off on a screaming run. I get to the anchor line, untie and toss the release ball, fish still screaming. Walk back, get the motors started and say to my guy, "You know to let me know before you run out of line, right?" He starts sputtering and stuttering, his way of saying "I'M OUT OF LINE!" I guess....

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Daytona Tarpon

Florida Sportsman member: SUPER D

I took a vacation day to fish the new moon hoping for a nice tarpon, on fly. It was a little cool in the morning with calm conditions until the wind picked up around noon. I found some fish rolling, and was able to get one to eat. At the end of April, I jumped one 60 to 80 pounds, this one was probably 50+ pounds, 4 to 5 feet long, thick, and my best one to date. This fish would not give up, leadering it 4 times, and having to let go. This fish would not open its mouth, and I did not want to lip gaff it. The fourth time I had the DNA pad next to my knee, the shock in my hand, and it shook hard[...]

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Biscayne Evening Tarpon

Florida Sportsman member: mbowers

When my friend Bob was interested in splitting the trip we drove down to Miami to fish with Capt LeMay. As expected Capt LeMay was very friendly with lots of experience in the area. We got a touristy trivia tour around the Bay and hit a couple of docklights while waiting for the tide to start going out. The first bridge did not show any tarpon. The second bridge showed a couple of tarpon cruising but not eating shrimp. Bob used a live shrimp to prove that the fish far from the bridge busting in packs were in fact jacks. The third bridge (first bridge now on the outgoing) showed a couple of tarpon busting and Bob hooked one on live shrimp. A decent battle but it finally got into some bridge pilings and broke the 10lb test. We moved to the fourth bridge[...]

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Miami Peacocks and Bones

Florida Sportsman member: paint it black

Finally, with a forecast for light west winds, Dan and I hitched up the skiff and made our way to Biscayne Bay. The objective was to finally get Dan his first bonefish. We had put in a lot of time throughout the winter, but it was so inconsistent, that things were tough. He had a shot at a couple finning bones early on, but as the fly landed ahead of the only two fish we saw, it actually landed on top of a school of bones that we could not see due to the low light. With a few scattered shots throughout the morning, we finally found some fish that were eager to chase down a fly[...]

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Peacock Bass, Bonefish, and Snook, Oh My!

Florida Sportsman member: paint it black

The other day, a friend hit me up to go harass some peacock bass, so we tied up a few clousers and were on our way. The high sun and hot weather made for aggressive fish cruising the shallows. They sure put a nice bend in the 6 wt. Then we made our way to a flat off the edge of a bank. The shallow area extended about 80 feet at the furthest point. The fish would come in from the deep and assault minnows. We caught a nice amount in about 45 minutes before calling it a day.

The same friend called me the day after to do some more fishing. But I told him I had something else in mind, and he was up for it. The wind was a little harder than we anticipated, but it was still very doable. After about 45 minutes of not seeing a single fish, finally, he saw bait scattering, so he shot the fly out to the commotion. He instantly hooked up and was in his backing in no time. We were looking for bonefish, but it wasn't pulling like a bone[...]

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Stuart Evening Snook

Florida Sportsman member: snook87

Set out for my normal Thursday night fishing around Stuart. We started out fishing with jigs and then came upon a favorite dock of mine to fly fish. The current was ripping out so getting the fly in the zone was hard. I got a few jacks and a seatrout on a small white schminnow. About to give up on a snook I had a few more bonus casts. Saw the snook take after and engulfed the fly and it was fish on! An awesome fight it put up and got my blood pumping to keep it away from the dock and I quickly stripped line to the boat. I landed it and it was much bigger then I thought and measured 23 inches. Have it a quick revive and released.

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Flamingo, It's That Good

Florida Sportsman member: paint it black

The weather man was calling for low winds, but cloudy skies, so my buddy Ramiro and I made the two hour trek down to Everglades National Park. Only to be greeted by strong 20mph winds, so we headed for cover in disgust by the once again wrong forecast. We worked a protected shoreline for quite a bit. I managed to get an eat from a nice 10lb jack, but didn't get the hook to stick. Then managed to get a dink rat red minutes later. After exhausting all of our options for sheltered areas, we were forced to just head for open flats, and use the wind to aid us in the direction it was blowing. We missed some eats on a few scattered tailing reds, and at about noon, decided to make one last stop before calling it a day. Shortly after arriving at the last spot, the clouds passed, winds laid down and the bay become a sheet of glass. The tails began to surface.

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First Black Drum on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Dj Dan Decibel

Well its almost spring and it seems like the fish are biting. I've been going out and it has been pretty good. Some days are really good and some days are not so good. It usually has to do with the wind situation. Calm mornings has been really good but around 10 a.m. the wind starts kicking and everything goes to hell after that. Sight fishing for reds and snook has been really fun. Also I was able to catch my first black drum on fly. I thought he was a red but looked kinda funny as he got closer [...]

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Fishing High and Low

Florida Sportsman member: mangohunter11

Well, with winter in full affect patterns are showing up finally. Snook are starting to hold up where they should be and reds are still prevalent in some areas. Biscayne Bay has stayed the same with over slot trout bedded up with plenty of little trout and jacks mixed in with bluefish to keep things honest. I have had the opportunity to fish several new locations in the everglades on the boat scouting new grounds in search of the next big fish. High winds have kept me at bay but has not stopped the bite.

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Backyard Tarpon

Florida Sportsman member: Joupdog1

Went over to the pond in my apartment complex, like I do every evening, to cast the fly rod for some bass. I've always seen some tarpon rolling and caught one, but it was only 10 inches or so. Hooked up to a big fish but never saw it before it spit the fly. I fished around the pond a little ways with nothing. Then I came to a spot in between some trees that looked fishy. Cast my fly out and strip two or three times and slammed! Fish on! The slack line is flying back out and then up comes a really nice tarpon flying out of the water! I manage to keep it hooked, but it is burning the drag on my 5 weight. It would make another jump and I'd gain on it, but then it would make another hard run. At one point, it was on the other shoreline and I was well into my backing. Got the line back and then called my mom to come down when I realized I had a shot at landing this one.

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Flipping the Coin

Florida Sportsman member: Dj Dan Decibel

As of lately, I have been flipping a coin for every fishing trip I go on. Usually because I am not sure of where I want to go and it usually has to do a lot with the weather. Fishing has been pretty good despite of the bad weather. There has been couple of windows were you can have a really good day on the water with calm winds but other days you want rip your head off. I have been going on out on the Kayak, Gheenoe and friend's boat. Some days have been really bad with finicky fish on the flats. And some days you find yourself with tailing fish all day long.

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Chunk Bass on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: ShallowExpectations

I tied on a bend back that I had whipped a few nights before to see how it swam. My buddy was using a gurgler and was getting 2lb bass all day. I ended up tossing towards a culvert, two strips, and the water erupted. Had to remind myself where I was because it was such an aggressive strike I imagined tarpon or big snook. Solid chunk for a Kook.

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Red Races

Florida Sportsman member: SUPER D

It was cold and windy today, and the sun did not come out all day. The conditions were pretty bad for sight fishing. I went to the peacocks pocket area today. I found two reds tailing next to each other, they saw the fly at the same time, and the race was on, it ended with a great whoosh, and fish on. It was the coolest take I have ever had. I just had to share it with you guys.

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Happy Days on the Fly

Florida Sportsman member: mangohunter11

Well with Christmas, New Years and the BCS bowl game all mixed in a month span I have been stuck at work since late December. Watching the calendar days zip by with only my thought and memories of 2012 to hold me through the long days. I finally got a chance to hit the water and do what I know how to do best, disconnect and get some fishing in. Here is where I left off in 2012, my last trip [...]

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Son's First Fish on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: sunflower

Not much of a fisherman, but he showed an interest so we went out this weekend and he made some casts. A lot of blind casting, he missed a few fish on the strike, and finally he hooked what I thought was big pinfish. We can both die happy.

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Yankeetown Reds

Florida Sportsman member: deerfly

Broke into the new year on my Panga skiff and decided I'd try to get back on those Yankeetown reds I wrestled with last Friday in the canoe. The boy wanted to sleep in, so I was solo again. Launched at the end of SR40 for the first time too. Ramps aren't too bad out there and saves me the long run through the barge canal. Weather was a little weird at first [...]

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Dorado Gone Wild

Florida Sportsman member: Carl Blackledge

My Loreto trip this year would more than do justice to this title. The Dorado is arguably the most aggressive fish that swims in the ocean, and has also been called the perfect saltwater fly rod fish. I agree totally. Only in Loreto can you watch the fired up fish fight to bite. When hooked, he rips a few hundred feet of line off your reel, then jumps and throws the fly only to have his partner swimming next to him grab it. What a rush!

If anybody loves to cast floating lines with poppers and Crease flies to Dorado, and watch the wild top water action, then I feel sorry for anyone who didn't get to enjoy the phenomenal Dorado and billfish bite in Loreto this year. I guess I was especially lucky because this was the year I chose to go for three weeks instead of my usual two. I had made that decision based on last year's abundance of small Dorado; I figured maybe this year they had grown up! That turned out to be an understatement, because this year we were inundated with giants[...]

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Banana River Reds

Florida Sportsman member: Flyguy1

We got out early and started poling looking for tails and other signs of fish activity. The fishing was very slow for the first few hours but once the sun got up pretty high we started catching fish. My buddy is a spin fisherman so he stuck with jigs the whole day and he ended up with 4 mid slot reds and a small trout. I started out with the jig and once I got a fish or two I switched to the fly. I ended up with 4 mid slot reds and a rat as well as a few nice trout and one snook.

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Carolina Trout

Florida Sportsman member: Bullshark

My father and I crewed off the boat at the same time this hitch so we decided to hit up NC for some trout action. We went two days solo, along with one with a guide I used three times before. The water was very low and the fishing was a bit tougher than its been in the past but we were able to catch about 40 trout on our own and another 60 with the guide Josh. I landed the odd looking giant brown on a one last chance stop at the river on the way to the airport.

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Back in No Man's Land

Florida Sportsman member: mangohunter11

Been doing quite a bit of exploring fishing with some of my good fishing buddies deep in the Everglades in no man's land. The paddles are long full of creatures that would not mind having you for dinner or biting to fill there stomachs but the fishing has been outstanding. Fly fishing exclusively for these fish has been a challenge but the rewards have been all that sweeter!

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Merry "Carpmas"!

Florida Sportsman member: KyTrkyHntr

After the front pushed through last night today was Sunny and perfect for sight fishing these jokers, but all I found were a lot of laid up fish!! No one was in the mood to eat and I didn't see a lot of mudders! I did manage to find one working the bank and connected! Ho, Ho, Ho Merry "Carpmas" Everyone!!

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The "Gold" Mining Continues

Florida Sportsman member: KyTrkyHntr

With the abundant sunshine today I decided to take advantage of it! Found numerous fish, but they were stubborn today. They were mudding and tailing pretty consistent, but for the life of me I couldn't get them to eat! Changed up the fly, but still no connections. Went back to the Olive Backstabber and finally connected on a couple of fish.

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Fly Fishing Tampa Bay

Florida Sportsman member: Shadowcast

Decided to take advantage of low tides early in the afternoon and look for some reds with the fly rods. The fishing was tough even though Rob and I saw over 100 redfish, several snook, and found a pocket holding some very large trout. Clean water was at a premium. The outgoing tide made the water off color which made it tough to sight the fish until we were on top of them. We managed a few fish by blind casting some deeper holes on the low tide [...]

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Kentucky Carp

Florida Sportsman member: KyTrkyHntr

Man, these jokers have driven me crazy all summer long! They've haunted my dreams every night! I've had fish turn off every fly I've thrown, spooky fish and with the drought this spring/summer all the weeds and vegetation grown up where the fish usually hang out! It's taken the lake draw down to winter pool to get them back on the mud flats to even get a shot. I didn't think they would eat with this colder weather, but today I found a couple of hungry fish after it warmed up a little! Got some payback! Now I can sleep at night![...]

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Fly Times in the Everglades

Florida Sportsman member: mangohunter11

Still tearing it up in the Everglades! I have dropped the spinning rod and picked up the fly thanks to my buddy Dan Decibel and have been having a blast. Not as easy as one thinks but I could attest this has freshened things up from the same old routine.

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Everglades City on the Fly

Florida Sportsman member: miket1515

As we headed down Tamiami Trail we noticed that there was fog everywhere and for me this was the first time I have witnessed this in the Glades, so I thought this would be an interesting time out on the water. We arrived at Everglades City and launched at the Ranger station. We started paddling out into the fog [...]

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Bass and Bream on Fly

Florida Sportman member: Pmoconnor89

There is something to be said about the simplicity of fly fishing for bluegill. I love tossing a popper, letting the rubber legs quiver and being greeted by that classic slurp. If you were ever looking to get in to fly fishing this is surely the way to do it. Any rod from a 3-to 6-wt is proficient, and it doesn't have to be technical [...]

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Crystal River Snook on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: sparse grey

Made it to Crystal River Wednesday with my son Sean for our first time scalloping. After launching, getting a couple of miles into the Gulf, seeing way more wind than was expected and seeing no boats on the scallop grounds and lousy visibility we changed plans and went back into the river to spend some time fishing. Drifted a good looking shoreline with good looking sand and oyster beds in about 2 feet of water. Saw no fish or bait. Heading towards the ramp I saw some action along a built bulkhead so we set a drift [...]

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Fly Fishing in the Summertime

Florida Sportsman member: Dj Dan Decibel

How's it going guys? I hope everything is good, its been a while since I've posted but this has been my catches as of recently. I've been leaving the spinning gear at home, strictly fly fishing as of lately. The days have been hot and the Paddles have gotten Longer by the day. Seems like the only good time to fish is until about 10 or 11 am because the fish and myself can't stand this heat wave going on outside unless you wanna fish until later on in the day [...]

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Jupiter Snook on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: ABayne

Fished Jupiter again last week with Captain Dino and it was real good. Hammered them under the lights and managed a slob in the 35 pound range on a popper. Hopefully the pics uploaded properly. Thanks again Dino. Great time.

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Big Linesider on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Capt.Dino

A couple of fly catches from some recent fishing trips [...]

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False Albies on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: ABayne

Fished with Capt. Dino last weekend for albies off of Jupiter. It was another amazing trip with him. We had fish all day long. Saw some amazing shark attacks as well. Thanks Dino. See you in August for some snook!

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First Snook on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: saltybum

Been trying for a while now to get a snook on fly. Tied up a bunch of white flies for Sanibel a couple years ago but was greeted by filthy water after the first tropical storm hit that August. Cleaned up the last day we were there. Had to leave. No snook. Hit the surf and around Port Canaveral and had more than plenty my share of lady fish, jacks etc. but no snook [...]

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Biscayne Bay Nights

Florida Sportsman member: lemaymiami

This past week the 'Glades along the coast north and south of the Little Shark River were the destination of choice during the daytime. I was able to add one night in Biscayne Bay where the tarpon action was pretty strong (and will stay that way for weeks to come...). Here's an extract of the fly fishing that we did [...]

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Independence Day Tarpon on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: sunflower

Perfect day for beach tarpon off Venice. Flat ocean, full moon setting, no wind, and tarpon rolling all around. Weird thing, something went wrong, my toad started getting pulled away, and my 12-weight got all bent over and stuff!

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Multi-Fish Mojo

Florida Sportsman member: KyTrkyHntr

After being off these fish for the last two weekends it was time to get back to work!! The lake is still down almost 4 feet below summer pool and the flats are still covered in "green stuff" Fish are scattered and you have to find a "gravel" bank with some kind of shelf on it. Fish sit on this shelf and feed along or face the bank waiting for something to fall in.... I missed 2 eats and I think it was because the water so so clear that I was just so mesmerized watching these fish inhale the fly and then spit it out that I didn't strip strike for a hook set! [...]

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Canada Northerns & Walleye on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Docked Wages

Spent 10 days at a very remote fly-in only lodge on Carol Lake in Northern Canada, 60 miles north of Lake LaRonge, Saskatchawaan. I am still relatively inexperienced with fly fishing and stopped by the Fishing Hole in Saskatchatoon on the way for some local flies. I ended up with two new species under my belt, Northern Pike and Walleye on fly [...]

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Past Month on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: FLA_tony

I haven't posted much lately. Between the baby on the way (5 more weeks) and working the bugs out of the new to me maverick. The new boat is awesome just working out some bugs. I have still been managing 1-2 trips a week everywhere between Goodland and Pine Island sound. The snook fishing has been on fire way in the back creeks all the way out to the beaches. First thing in the morning i have been throwing topwater flies, there is nothing more exciting then top water explosions [...]

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Tarpon on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: Tight Loops

Got an invitation to fly fish Pine Island for tarpon. Met up with Joe Harley at dark thirty and headed out for dawn patrol. it a lot of spots running and gunnin. I was first up and got a fantastic eat by a 24 inch fish. He struck and missed the fly and would not give up. Missing it over and over all the way back to the boat. Just as I was out of line and out of room he ate! Wish I had a video of that. Next up is Joe who hooks up on baby tarpon. What a beautiful fish that was carefully photographed and released [...]

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Black Drum Redemption

Florida Sportsman member: freshfromthesalt

Using a heavier weight fly rod (9 wt.) and having someone on board to land the fish all make for a recipe for success. A 3 plus hour fight becomes a half hour fight and your fish actually makes it to the deck. No need for lengthy, amateurish video to prove to friends and family that you truly had an enormous fish on the fly. By noon, we had 5 eats and 3 fish landed [...]

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Carp-O-licious!

Florida Sportsman member: KyTrkyHntr

With the lake trying to come up to summer pool It's tough to find a flat with no "green stuff".... If you find fish up in the shallows, they are in so much debris it's tough getting a fly in an open spot! Found some fish that were up on the rocks and facing the bank. These guys were waiting for stuff to fall in the water and then they would turn and feed around. Finally connected with a nice fish that turned and ate the fly!

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Fly Fishing Tailing Reds

Florida Sportsman member: FlyFishJax

I fished with my friend Tim over the weekend in St. Augustine. We saw over 40 tailing Reds up on the flooded grass flats to kick the season off. They were challenging to say the least playing there typical hide and seek games. Most were in the lower slot size. I ended up catching a couple mid to upper slot Reds with this bigger one pictured below which was caught on my last cast of the night before the lights went out. Redfish grass hunting season is officially open.

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Big Peacocks on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: kahmad

Got to the water around noon, the fish were thick around our launch area. Tons of mayans, largemouths and peacocks just sitting around, occasionally busting up some bait. Threw in a couple of casts before launching the boat and I pulled out a small largemouth, about 1 pound. As I'm getting the hook out Jim is casting at a pipe. All I hear is "OH MY GOD!" and I turn to see a solid mass of bright orange and green take off about 3 feet out of the water.

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Fly Fishing Carp in the Bluegrass State

Florida Sportsman member: KyTrkyHntr

My home waters (Barren River Lake) has been below summer pool for a while now and that has the vegetation growing and my mud flats are just "green" now... With the lake coming up to Summer pool it's been a little tough to find "open" spots to get some decent shots at fish. You have to find spots with no weeds/grass to get a fly in there on mudding fish or fish looking for an easy meal. Some fish are still spawning up in the vegetation and I've never witnessed anything like it! [...]

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Up The Creeks

Florida Sportsman member: Capt. Gregg McKee

Thanks to the huge moon and more boat traffic than ever, I couldn't put my charter on anything decent yesterday on any of my favorite spots. Since I finally had some time to myself this morning I decided to do a little exploring and find where all the fish were hiding. There was a great incoming tide in Matlacha Pass around 10AM so I let the current carry me into one of the longer creeks in the north part of Buzzard Bay. I started seeing a lot of fish when the water started turning the same color as cherry soda. I was casting an 8wt fly rod and a 3/0 deer hair slider since I thought spinning tackle would make too much noise.

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Jacksonville Surf Report

Florida Sportsman member: FlyFishJax

I fished the beachfront with my long time fly buddy Scott from Ponte Vedre on Sunday morning. We caught a couple of the ghostly colored Redfish. We saw some Black Drum to and way to many Sharks. Action was a little on the slow side and ended up taking a lot of video for making a movie. It was a nice change of pace. Seems like there's nothing more refreshing than getting and break from guiding and taking a long walk on the beach and getting washed up by waves.

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First Albies of the Year in Jupiter

Florida Sportsman member: Capt. Scott

Here they come! Got these guys fired up on live glass minnows and had at em'. Landed six or eight. Nice sized 12 pound plus fish. Tight lines indeed.

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Sight Casting Snook at Night on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: snookcook

Took a quick trip out tonight after a week of ever blowing wind. The river was a sheet of glass. Thought it would be good to get out and throw the fly rod at some snook under the lights. Put in at Sandsprit Park on the end of the incoming tide. Hit the first couple of docks and found a bunch of small fat snook chowing down some small creatures that were floating by. I put a cast in with a small white deceiver & it got picked up right a way. It was small too, about 14 inches. Could have stayed there all night [...]

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Solid Day Fly Fishing

Florida Sportsman member: SUPER D

I launched, at the 406 bridge and went south around peacocks pocket. I have never been to this place, thought I would give it a try. The day was perfect, not a ripple on the water all day. Caught nothing big, but I had a blast. All I used all day, was my 7 weight, and 1 fly, a white shrimp looking fly. I end up with 5 Reds, from 17" to 25", and 12 Trout, from 17" to 22". I had the hook pull out on two upper slot reds, and 4 big trout, and I lined a couple of tailers, oops. The most fun though, was sight fishing trout [...]

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Banana River Red

Florida Sportsman member: Ol'DirtyCaster

I was double booked today, sort of. My freind John came down from Ontario and I'd already made plans with Mr. Adam Sanderson, so all of us hit the water this morning at about 8am. We started seeing fish right off the bat and it wasn't long before Adam hooked his very first redfish on fly tackle. The pictures are great, and just thought I'd share. It's great to see an 11yr old that has no love for video games, and would rather spend time at the vise than in front of a TV.

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St. Lucie River to the Indian River

Florida Sportsman member: snookcook

Heard about a fly fishing tournament out of The Back Country Fly shop in Vero, so I decided to pay the fifty bucks and have a go at it. Invited a friend to fish with me. So we got to the spot for lines in a 7:00 AM. Fished at the first spot way too long, about forty mins with no action, so I moved over to the spots I regularly see big fish, but have never thrown a fly to. We worked the Seawalls & docks really hard with poppers & clousers.

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St. Lucie River Dock Lights

Florida Sportsman member: snookcook

New to this Forum and I wanted to start reporting my fly fishing adventures. I am a fishing guide in Stuart, Fl I took a client out Friday to some dock lights in Downtown Stuart. Waited until about 8 pm until the tide really started moving. We pulled up to the first light & the trout were jumping out of the water tearing up shrimp. After we posted up on the light, he put his first cast in. Bam! It gets picked up by a nice 19.5 inch trout [...]

Shad Running in the St. Johns River

Florida Sportsman Member duke6543brings an encouraging report to the Fly Catching Forum this week. The shad are indeed on the run in the St. Johns River, as anticipated in this month's print edition of FS.

Here's what duke6543 had to say:

"I got out of work at lunch and made a run to meet up with my fishing partner who has targeted the shad run a few times on the St. Johns river. I have only heard the stories of catching them on fly so I was pretty excited to finally get on the river. I have crossed the St. Johns several thousand times but never actually fished it. The weather was quite windy with a chill in the air.

"It didn't take five minutes and Greg was hooked up to a nice striper that nailed the clouser minnow he was using. The second hit was a big shad. What a great show they put on. He had me schooled for the first two hours until I hooked up with a catfish that made me feel a little better. Once the ice was broken I finally hooked up with the target species. Then a few small crappies decided to hit my fly. So there were several first time catches for me.

"There were six species of fish caught in the four hour trip with a few really nice stripers coming boat side and a total of four shad caught with the largest being about two pounds. Great afternoon of fly fishing. Now I can't wait to get back to the river."

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One Fly Reds and Trout

Florida Sportsman member: Super D

FS Member Super D reported a great trip on the Fly Catching Forum this week. Launching from the SR 406 bridge in Titusville and fishing south on the Indian River, he caught 5 redfish and 12 trout... all on a 7-weight fly rod ... and all on the same fly (a shrimpy-slidey-thingy some of us recognize as a Kwan fly). For the full thread, click here. Super D fishes a 15-foot Alumacraft tunnel boat.

Juvenile Tarpon on Fly

Florida Sportsman member: jkayakfly

Gary from NH wanted to set out this weekend to try to catch his first ever tarpon. Mission accomplished with several landed and multiple grabs on fly. Take advantage of the mid to the last of the incoming tide to catch more than your fair share of tarpon and snook in the backwaters and canals [...]

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